Advertisement
Cyprien
Verseux is a glaciologist and astrobiologist, currently working on the most
remote scientific base in the world: Concordia Station in Antarctica. Even the
International Space Station, 400km above the Earth, is closer to civilization
than this place, deep in the icy wastes of our most isolated and inhospitable
continent.
“In spite of being in an inhospitable desert, Concordia is highly attractive to researchers from different fields such as astronomy, human physiology (The European Space Agency is using it to study human adaptation to what is very similar to future conditions of a Moon or Mars base), glaciology, atmospheric sciences, and geophysics.”
Cyprien and
his fellow scientists work is vitally important, as it sheds light on how the
climate has changed in the past, and gives an insight onto possible changes in
the future. “Research done here yields invaluable information on climate
change,” he told us. “It is thanks to the EPICA project conducted here that we
know that greenhouse gas levels, specifically carbon dioxide and methane, have
never been so high in at least the past 800 000 years.”
Just for
fun, Cyprien decided to go outside and have a go at ‘cooking,’ taking photos of
different kinds of foods in the deep freeze. Of course, it was just a game, but
the gravity-defying pictures vividly illustrate the absolute intensity of the
cold down there in Antarctica, this is no picnic! “We run out of fresh food
early in the winter (as we have no resupply from early February to early
November), so we eat mostly frozen food: given that the temperatures never are
in the positive, we just store it in containers outside.”
Scroll down
below to check out the incredible images for yourself, and let us know what you
think in the comments!
Cyprien
Verseux is a glaciologist and biologist, currently working on the most remote
scientific base in the world: Concordia in Antarctica
When not
busy doing research about climate in eras past, Cyprien keeps a blog to share
his experience of living in this extreme environment
Just for
fun, Cyprien decided to go outside and have a go at ‘cooking,’ taking photos of
different kinds of foods in the deep freeze
Of course,
it was just a game, but the gravity-defying pictures vividly illustrate the
absolute intensity of the cold down there in Antarctica
This is no
picnic!
“It is in
the coldest area on Earth, with temperatures reaching below -80°C in winter,”
Cyprien told Bored Panda
“We saw the
Sun again in August after 3 months without it ever passing the horizon. The air
is extremely dry and poor in oxygen”
“We run out
of fresh food early in the winter (as we have no resupply from early February
to early November), so we eat mostly frozen food”
“We are
currently 13 people. Technicians, scientists, a cook and a medical doctor”
“In spite of
being in an inhospitable desert, Concordia is highly attractive to researchers
from different fields such as astronomy and human physiology”
“We are
using it to study human adaptation to what is very similar to future conditions
of a Moon or Mars base”
“Also,
thanks to a project conducted here, that we know that greenhouse gas levels
have never been so high in at least the past 800 000 years”
Here’s what
people had to say
Comments
Post a Comment