Category: Antarctica

Australia to Create a Marine Park Bigger Than Japan

Australia is set to triple the size of its marine park on Macquarie Island, making it far larger than Japan. After rejecting an application for fisheries to trawl through the new Macquarie Island Marine Park, Australia’s federal environment minister Tanya Plibersek signed off on a final design for the expansion on June 5, which will allow two fisheries to continue operating. Local fisheries…


Beijing’s Antartica Land Gab: China Continues Constructing 5th Base Near South Pole

Beijing is undergoing the “most significant” expansion of its footprint in Antarctica after new satellite images revealed the communist regime was resuming construction on a fifth polar station. A Washington-based think tank believes the new station, located on Inexpressible Island near the Ross Sea, could double as a spying operation. “While essential for tracking and communicating…


Beijing’s Antarctic Land Grab: CCP Builds 5th Base Near South Pole

Beijing is undergoing the “most significant” expansion of its footprint in Antarctica after new satellite images revealed the communist regime was resuming construction on a fifth polar station. A Washington-based think tank believes the new station, located on Inexpressible Island near the Ross Sea, could double as a spying operation. “While essential for tracking and communicating…


Off the Grid in Antarctica

After years of consideration—and several COVID delays—my husband and I decided this was the year to attack our bucket lists with vigor. At the top of my list was a trip to Italy full of culture, wine and history. My husband’s was literally the polar opposite: He wanted us to explore Antarctica. It wasn’t something…


In the Steps of Explorers: Finding Antarctica

I have never been to the moon, or any other planet beyond, of course, Earth. But I do know what it’s like to land on terra incognito, and enter a landscape that is—literally, mostly—unknown. To be surrounded by the alien. When you steam south from Ushuaia, as most Antarctica-bound ships do, you have no idea,…


Where to Go in 2023: 8 Top Travel Destinations

Antarctica Gentoo penguins may be seen while sailing Antarctica’s coastline. (Vadim_N/Shutterstock) Believe it or not, this mostly undiscovered continent is getting busy. This year, a record 82 passenger ships will visit the coldest, darkest, windiest, highest, driest place on earth. Most of those will travel the relatively short distance from the tip of South America…


Travel to Antarctica Suspended Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has suspended all travel to Antarctica for at least two weeks following a COVID-19 outbreak at a U.S.-operated research station. In a Nov. 4 statement, the NSF said more than 70 people tested positive at McMurdo station, the largest American facility located on the southern tip of Antarctica’s Ross Island. “Following…


Australia Commits $800 Million to Strengthen Antarctic Foothold Amid Chinese Expansion

Australia will be reinforcing its strategic and scientific capabilities in the south pole while concerns loom of Chinese economic expansion in the region. The $800 million (US$580 million) boost will raise Australia’s total investment in the region over the next decade to $3 billion. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison highlighted the funding would bring a…


Study Nixes Mars Life in Meteorite Found in Antarctica

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—A 4 billion-year-old meteorite from Mars that caused a splash here on Earth decades ago contains no evidence of ancient, primitive Martian life after all, scientists reported Thursday. In 1996, a NASA-led team announced that organic compounds in the rock appeared to have been left by living creatures. Other scientists were skeptical and…


Chile Astronomer Gets Front Row Seat to Eclipse

Chilean astronomer Patricio Rojo witnessed the total solar eclipse from the Chilean Antarctica that for nearly two minutes turned the bright sky into dusk. Rojo, of the University of Chile, said the good weather made it possible to see the corona. Personnel from the Chilean Air Force operating at the Joint Scientific Polar Station “Union…