Antarctica

Long space missions can force small crews to endure isolation, cramped living conditions, and intense psychological pressure for months at a time. To better understand how those conditions shape teamwork, an international research group studied a ten-month overwintering mission at Concordia Station in Antarctica. The research was led by Jan…

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The people wintering at Concordia Research Station spend four months without sunlight and live beyond the reach of aircraft. Once winter sets in, no plane can reach the Antarctic base, and the nearest other people are about 370 miles (600 kilometres) away at Vostok Station, according to the European Space…

The Taylor Glacier in Antarctica seems normal on the surface, except for one glaring feature: an outflow of blood-red saltwater that makes it look like the glacier itself is sporting a constantly gushing wound. Beneath the glacier, however, lie signs of a hidden community of microbial life. Even in the…

Twice each year, around 40,000 humpback whales follow the Eurobodalla's coast, heading north in winter to breed and calve in warmer waters before returning south each spring to the krill-rich feeding grounds of Antarctica. The 10,000-kilometre journey is one of nature's great migrations and a new short film shows there's…

At the end of a glacier deep in East Antarctica's Taylor Valley, there is a haunting waterfall that oozes red brine like a bleeding wound in the ice. Scientists explained the brine's gory hue several years ago, finding that it is exceptionally rich in iron . And now, they may…

Blood Falls at Antarctica’s Taylor Glacier. Iron-rich subglacial brine emerges, creating the striking red outflow. Image: Bryan Minnear   Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and…

Antarctica still has places that surprise scientists. The discovery of an uncharted Antarctic island during a recent research expedition shows that even in the age of satellites, parts of Earth's southernmost continent remain only partly mapped...Read More

The Blood Falls phenomenon in Antarctica looks like something from science fiction. A stream of bright red water pours from the edge of Taylor Glacier, staining the surrounding ice with what appears to be blood...Read More

Pieces of sea ice drift near Antarctica's Danger Islands in this image, acquired on Jan. 22, 2023, by the Landsat 8 satellite. Several of the islands are stained pink by guano from Adélie penguins with a krill-rich diet. (Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison) The diets of penguins on Antarctica's Danger…