Antarctica: I’m obsessed with the wierd collision of out-of-control bureaucracy, strategic-interests-disguised-as-science, and normal life in a way off-normal place, that is the US Antarctic program. It’s fundamentally a microcosm of what future space exploration bases will be like — lots of high-faluting science talk, quite a bit of ‘making sure we have a strategic foothold’ reality, and people getting on with life in one of the most amazing places they can.
Via MeFi, Sandwichgirl.com is a great journal site describing her life way down under — full of great little tidbits like describing Antarctica as ‘the island’, ie. ‘we are all taking bets to see how long it will be before he’s kicked off the island’.
It’s great, although thoroughly overloaded from all the attention right now.
File alongside Big Dead Place and The Symmes Antarctic Intelligencer — highlight:
‘Once you shelter one magic elf, you gotta shelter ’em all’, says NSF Representative Jack Hjorth. ‘I’ve seen it before. Pretty soon all science comes to a standstill and you’re runnin’ a magic elf halfway house.’Comments closed