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Google unveils 360-degree panoramic images of Antarctica
Google Inc. unveiled a new series of photographs Tuesday showcasing stunning panoramic views of various Antarctic historical sites, landmarks and landscapes, including the homes of some of the first explorers.
Following up on the company’s initial Street View project of Antarctica back in September 2010, the new series of images includes the South Pole Telescope, Cape Royds Adélie Penguin Rookery , the Ceremonial South Pole and the huts of Ernest Shackleton and Robert Falcon Scott.
Penguins aplenty in Antarctica, new satellite map shows
Antarctica boasts almost twice as many emperor penguins as previously thought, researchers have discovered using satellite mapping technology to count to the iceberg-huddling birds from above.
Using satellite mapping with resolution high enough to distinguish ice shadows from penguin poo, an international team has carried out what they say is an unprecedented penguin census from the heavens over the past three years. (Photo: Martin Passingham/Reuters)
Russia drills through 4 km of ice to reach ‘mythical’ subglacial lake
A Russian team has succeeded in drilling through four kilometres of ice to the surface of a mythical subglacial Antarctic lake which could hold as yet unknown life forms, reports said Monday.
Lake Vostok is the largest subglacial lake in Antarctica and scientists want to study its eco-system which has been isolated for hundreds of thousands of years under the ice in the hope of finding previously unknown microbiological life forms.
“Because the lower layer was formed 400,000 years ago, from the composition of the gas it is possible to judge the gas composition in the atmosphere 400,000 years ago and during the time that has passed since the formation of the lake,” Sergei Lesenkov, spokesman for the Arctic and Antarctic Scientific Research Institute said.
“From there, it is possible to identify and forecast certain climatic changes in the future. This is very important.” (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
