Antarctica

View of a glacier at Chiriguano Bay in South Shetland Islands, Antarctica on November 07, 2019. (Photo: Johan Ordonez, Getty Images) As the world’s ice sheets have been cracking up and melting down, climatologists have warned that further decimation could cause devastating levels of sea level rise. Now, a recent…

Slime moulds aren't well known, but they can be found everywhere, even in Antarctica. Here's a close-up look at these magical, colourful and tiny little creatures.Hollett says this genus of slime mould called Lamproderma is known for its iridescent colours. (Submitted by Jeff Hollett)What the heck are those things? They…

Ever thought about going to Antarctica for the day? It's possible through sightseeing tours by Antarctica Flights. The company operates flights that depart from Australia and fly one of 19 routes over the ice-covered continent. Flights depart and land at the same airport, making this one trip that actually is…

British singer Ed Sheeran and wife Cherry Seaborn have welcomed their first child. Ed, on Tuesday, made an announcement that their daughter, Lyra Antarctica Seaborn Sheeran was born last week.Ed Sheeran returned to Instagram, the first time since September 2019, and shared a photo of cute socks. "Ello! A quick…

Ed Sheeran and his wife, Cherry Seaborn, have announced the birth of their daughter, Lyra Antarctica Seaborn Sheeran. The British singer said in an Instagram post that the couple’s “beautiful and healthy daughter” was born last week. “We are completely in love with her,” he wrote. “Both mum and baby…

Nitrous oxide formation formation. Credit: Getty ImagesHere are some brief reports about science and technology from all over, including one from Antarctica about how there’s something funny about penguin poop.Hi, I’m Scientific American assistant news editor Sarah Lewin Frasier. And here’s a short piece from the August 2020 issue of…

A team of astrobiologists from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the Carnegie Institution for Science has found a wide diversity of amino acids in Asuka 12236, a carbonaceous chondrite meteorite recovered from the Nansen Ice Field in Antarctica by Belgium and Japan researchers in 2012. This SEM image shows…

The image seen below is an illustration of a creature called a Lystrosaurus. The strange-looking creature had claws on its digits, a beak reminiscent of a turtle, and a pair of tusks. Scientists believe that the creature was able to survive the harsh winters in Antarctica by hibernating. The researchers…

The Japanese icebreaker ship Shirase near the tip of the Shirase Glacier during the 58th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition. Credit: Kazuya Ono Ice is melting at a surprisingly fast rate underneath Shirase Glacier Tongue in East Antarctica due to the continuing influx of warm seawater into the Lützow-Holm Bay. Hokkaido…

Antarctica’s Larsen B ice shelf—a large ledge of ice, jutting out from the edge of the continent into the ocean—captured international attention in 2002. Over the course of just a few weeks, the ice shelf splintered, broke into pieces and collapsed entirely into the sea. Nearly 20 years later, it’s…