When Polar Science Goes beyond the Poles
24 May 2005 - Articles, Logistics
Test of a Cryobot - ice-penetrating robe
© NASA / NASA
Aside from pure information such as, for example, the insight into the evolution of climate change provided to us by ice cores, polar research often also produces direct and sometimes unexpected applications for humans.
These applications touch on everything from space and material sciences, to medicine and cold enzymes.
See below for a quick - and non exhaustive! - tour.
Some applications of Polar Research
- NASA uses Lake Vostok, buried under four kilometres of Antarctic ice, as a testing ground for developing a "cryobot/hydrobot" tandem vehicle, able to penetrate the liquid realm hidden under the thick icy crust of Europa, one of Jupiter's satellites.
- ESA has been supporting the Frenchman, Gilles Elkaim, in his 12,000 km solo Arctic trek to benefit from his experience of isolation for future manned missions to Mars.
- Stuart Egginton, from the University of Birmingham's Medical School, studies the physiology of an Antarctic cod to better understand the problems faced by the human heart when confronted with hypothermy. Details are available at the BAS website.
- Cécile Thouzeau from the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique investigates the bactericides produced in King penguins' stomachs for biomedical applications, including long term food storage.
- The European funded BIOTECH 2 program is devoted to studying cold enzymes found in Antarctic bacteria and used extensively by industry in applications as diverse as preparing food, formulating detergents and detecting pollutants using biosensors. More details can be found at the EU's Research and Results website.
- Christian Hamm from the Alfred Wegener Institut finds inspiration in polar plankton bioceramic shells' geometry to improve the performance of stable lightweight constructions.
By: Jean de Pomereu
