March 7th, 2025 8:00am - South Pole, Antarctica - IceCube Neutrino Observatory

When: March 7th, 2025 8:00am (March 8th 3:00am at the South Pole - Instead of days based on daylight, work hours are based on satellite locations) 

Where: South Pole, Antarctica

Who: IceCube Neutrino Observatory - https://icecube.wisc.edu/

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Skaggs Library - HFMS (@skaggslibrary)

IceCube Lab (ICL) ICL houses the IceCube data center which processes ~2,800 events per second, after filtering to remove background interference, ~6 events per second. 100GB a day are uploaded over satellite. 1TB a day is saved to hard drives. After analysis, they find ~20 astrophysical neutrinos per year. They’ve had 99.84% uptime over the last 10 years. 5410/5484 DOMs collecting data. The area where the lab is based is very snowy and has lots of track marks from supposedly moving objects or boxes of some sort. McMurdo is the largest research station in Antarctica that has up to 1500 people in summer and ~150 people in the winter. It’s home to Captain Scott's Hut (1912). They wear puffy red coats, black overalls and black and brown heavy set boots. There is a greenhouse with the only available fresh food. There are rest areas like lounges and a music room along with gyms. There are costumes and traditions where they wear costumes for fun. Everyone is on the emergency team, and everyone goes to all emergencies. One of the challenges is the isolation. The closest people are over 800 miles away, and at certain times planes don’t even fly through. There are about 5 different languages in Antarctica including English! Antarctica is around 19 hours ahead of us, making it 3:00 am on a Saturday, I think. :D

2:00 PM - South Pole, Antarctica

When: March 7th @ 2:00PM (March 8th @ 9:00AM in Antarctica)

Where: South Pole, Antarctica

Who: IceCube Neutrino Research Center

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Skaggs Library - HFMS (@skaggslibrary)

IceCube Neutrino Observatory

A neutrino interacts with ice

Digital optical modules

Looks at stars in many ways

Madison-Denver-Houston-New Zealand-South Pole.

McMurdo largest research station in Antarctica 

Whole lot of nothing

-15F to -121F temp’s

Small (very!!!) dorms 

LIBRARY??

GREEN HOUSE??!

Sledding hill 

The best spider ever named, “Specimen #0001” I couldn’t have named him better myself.

South Pole Zoo population: one spider found on plane

Extreme isolation

Communication limited 

One doctor on duty 

And don’t die or severely injure yourself because no one will save you in the next few weeks

They have to do their own check ups (There is no Doc McStuffins…)

No deliveries in the winter 

~15 hours of WIFI (slow)

McMurdo: 1200 miles away 

International Space Station: 200 miles above your head

Telescopes 

Microwave detector 

Event horizon telescope

Climate observation 

26 mile marathon 

Warmest day -13F 

Have soup as an option every day

Ice cream on ice 

This one guy was dressed up as Hand Sanitizer. I want to be a hand sanitizer person in the South Pole when I grow up!!! 

Everyone out there has similar likes and dislikes, so it's pretty easy to make friends. I kinda wish middle school was that easy. 

Station was built in 2008!!

10 years worth of shrines are hidden in tunnels underground. There’s a large fish frozen in ice.

There’s a shrine with a famous guy’s snotty tissues… 

They get tourists?!?! ONE OF THEM WILL SMITH AND HIS FAMILY?!?!? I think I need to visit the South Pole more often…

Almost everyone misses nature and warm weather

Run around the world

Sauna 200F in a -50F weather

Soooooo much preparing before you get there (personally, that’s too much work for me)

Only 100 pounds of stuff to bring with you

10:00 AM - IceCube Array, Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica - IceCube Neutrino Observatory

When: March 10th @ 10:00 AM (March 11th @ 5:00 AM at the South Pole)

Where: IceCube Array, Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica - IceCube Neutrino Observatory

Who: IceCube Neutrino Observatory

The second to last stop on our world tour is Antarctica. We were able to talk to 4 different scientists about some of the science that happens down there. They showed us a presentation entailing the details of the IceCube experiment. Their base is in the middle of Antarctica, right at the South Pole. McMurdo is a base located on the coast of Antarctica and is the first stop on the scientists' way to the South Pole. When the scientists make it to their station in the South Pole, there is a library, greenhouse, gym, music room, and anything else that they would need to live at the base for a year inside. In between the months February and October, the scientists are isolated because it is too cold for the planes to fly. They have put 5,484 IceCube detectors into the ice, with some going so far down they almost reach bedrock. In the summer, the snow is mild enough for the scientists to go outside and make repairs to their outside instruments. Some of the station duties include refueling transportations, gathering weather data, and releasing weather forecasts. One of our guests showed us the tool that they use to make sure that they always know where the South Pole is located. While the base will occasionally get earthquakes they don't get any other natural disasters, just exuberant amounts of snow. The snow and ice though comes from the wind carrying it inward from the coast. The scientists told us that the hardest part about living at the base is acclimating to the climate. The weather is very cold, windy, and dry.

6:20PM South Pole, Antarctica

When: March 12th, 2020 @ 6:20pm CST

Where: South Pole, Antarctica

Who: Research Base

We are now interviewing Antarctica! As many people would think, it's very cold, -59°F, to be exact. The way people are able to get to Antarctica is they fly in a plane. The elevation is 9,300 ft. They have 65000 sq ft to move around in. 42 people are there this winter. They use 450k gallons of fuel for tractors. The rooms they stay in are small, but they are pretty comfy. The ice shifts 30 ft per year. They have some of the most fresh water in the world, and all they have to do is melt it. The coldest temperature was -107°F to -113°F. The average temperature is about -60°F, and the warmest it's ever been is about 8°F. The hardest parts of being there are that they have to miss holidays with their families and feeling home sick.