Articles & Interviews
Sciencepoles articles look at key findings from a range of polar science and research fields. Our articles RSS feed will inform you when new articles are published on this website.
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Steven Goderis: Collecting Meteorites in Antarctica with JARE 51
21.12.2009
Antarctica is not only a valuable place to conduct research about the Earth, its climate and its geological history; it's also a good place to learn more about our solar system and its history. The massive ice sheet covering Antarctica and the continent's relative isolation from human development make it…
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Frank Pattyn on Ice Sheet Models and Ice-ocean Interaction
05.11.2009
A glaciologist and ice sheet modeller at the Glaciological Laboratory, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) , Frank Pattyn is a key member of the international ice sheet modelling community and a leading expert on ice sheet dynamics. His most recent interest lies…
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Princess Elisabeth Antarctica: A Marvel of Sustainable Development
06.03.2009
On February 15th, 2009, the Brussels-based International Polar Foundation (IPF) officially inaugurated the new Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Station, the very first Antarctic research station ever designed and built to run entirely on renewable solar and wind energies.The new "zero emission" Belgian research station is the only research platform completed during…
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How Does Physical Activity Affect Sleep Quality in Antarctica?
18.11.2008
Last year, Sciencepoles reported a sleep study being carried out on the BELARE (Belgian Antarctic Research Expedition) 2007-2008 expedition team members during the Princess Elisabeth Antarctic station's first building phase. Dr. Nathalie Pattyn, who works in the Department of Cognitive and Biological Psychology of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and…
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CAML Observing Top Predators at Sea Onboard the Ivan Papanin
03.07.2008
In December 2007, the Russian "ice-class" ship Ivan Papanin left Cape Town, bound for Antarctica. The vessel carried the 120 containers with all the elements for the construction of the Princess Elisabeth station in East Antarctica. Onboard, were the Russian crew, a dozen military officers, one photographer, and two Belgian…
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Grand Designs: New Antarctic Stations during the IPY 2007-08
28.05.2008
One of the lasting legacies of the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-08 will be a series of high-tech scientific research stations recently completed or in the process of being constructed in Antarctica. Never since the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58 has the frozen continent seen such intense infrastructure building activity,…
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Philippe Mettens on Belgium’s Return to Antarctica
17.03.2008
Philippe Mettens, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO), offered some of his time to SciencePoles to discuss his thoughts on Belgium's new Antarctic research station, Princess Elisabeth Antarctica.
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Frank Pattyn: Launching the Princess Elisabeth Station Research Programme
14.02.2008
Professor Frank Pattyn is a glaciologist and ice sheet modeller at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). In November 2008, he will lead the first team of five scientists to the new Belgian polar research station "Princess Elisabeth Antarctica".
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Venturing into New Frontiers: Johan Berte Talks about the Princess Elisabeth Station
27.08.2007
Alain Hubert, Johan Berte, Nighat Amin and their colleagues at the International Polar Foundation have been hard at work to make the dream of the first ever "zero emission" Antarctic station a reality. Once completed, the Princess Elisabeth Station will be the first functioning Belgian station in the Antarctic in…
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International Collaboration during the IPY 2007-2008
28.11.2006
In addressing the subject of international scientific collaboration during the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008, it seems only appropriate to start by asking if this is something new? Perhaps a unique concept spearheaded by this 4th IPY?
