Antarctic

SpaceX launched its first Starlink satellite in 2019 with a vision of blanketing the globe in high-speed internet, and it has this week ticked off an important milestone in this grand plan, beaming the service down to scientists in Antarctica.

Scientists have deployed an advanced robotic submarine to gain a new perspective on the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica, with the groundbreaking seafloor imagery highlighting its precarious state in concerning new detail.

One of the best ways to analyze Earth's past climate is with samples drilled from deep ice cores. Now, scientists have dated what may be the world’s oldest ice core, with some sections potentially preserving samples as old as 5 million years.

Researchers stationed in Antarctica have been left mesmerized by the skies overhead, brought on by the aftereffects of a volcanic eruption and captured in jaw-dropping, unedited images by science technician Stuart Shaw.

An international team of scientists and cartographers has released the most detailed map of the seafloor of the Southern Ocean that surrounds Antarctica. It covers 48 million km² and includes the deepest spot yet found in the region.

The ongoing discovery of microplastics in remote, seemingly pristine corners of the world continues to add important detail to a troubling picture of widespread pollution, and the latest finding takes the threat into new terrain.

In the same week that record-setting temperatures were logged in East Antarctica, satellite images have revealed the complete collapse of its Conger Ice shelf, a first for the region and a potential sign of things to come, according to experts.

Scientists have long warned that with the climate continuing to change we can expect extreme weather events to increase in frequency, and freak heatwaves to hit either end of the planet this week serve as a pertinent example.

The wreck of one of the most famous exploration ships in history has been located. Using a robotic submersible, the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust has found Sir Ernest Shackleton's Endurance, which was crushed in the Antarctic pack ice in 1915.

In ice cores from both ends of the planet, scientists have discovered evidence of an extreme solar storm that struck Earth around 9,200 years ago, and strangely it seemed to have occurred during a period when the Sun should have been rather quiet.

The environmental impacts of iceberg A-68 are still being assessed. A new study has calculated that the largest chunk, A-68A, released billions of tonnes of freshwater into the sea near a marine nature reserve, with untold effects on the ecosystem.

German scientists have announced the discovery of what is claimed to be the world's largest fish breeding area known to date. Described as a globally unique ecosystem, it consists of tens of millions of icefish nests on the Antarctic sea floor.