Antarctica

[kwilco]

On 12/27/2024 at 7:52 PM, rattlesnake said:

Like in a military base,

No - like a conservation area....I'm sorry but I have family connections with Antarctica going back through generations to the 1960s and NOBNE not one is remotely connected with military - however they ALL were world leading scietists - you just haven't got a clue - but the saddest thing is you are unaware of that.

[kwilco]

it was civilian work in Antarctica that finally brought the hypotheses of global warming into respectable scientific theory - research into ozone layer was crucial and boring into the ice has given us a climate history dating back 800 thousand years

[rattlesnake]

22 minutes ago, kwilco said:

No - like a conservation area....I'm sorry but I have family connections with Antarctica going back through generations to the 1960s and NOBNE not one is remotely connected with military - however they ALL were world leading scietists - you just haven't got a clue - but the saddest thing is you are unaware of that.

 

[rattlesnake]

[kwilco]

1 hour ago, rattlesnake said:

 

what kind of remark is that? - explain yourself...you appear to be using a cryptic comment to hide your ignorance

[rattlesnake]

47 minutes ago, kwilco said:

what kind of remark is that? - explain yourself...you appear to be using a cryptic comment to hide your ignorance

I would say it is a pretty straightforward clue and well within your grasp.

Read the text you replied to, then your reply, and spot the dialectic flaw.

[kwilco]

30 minutes ago, rattlesnake said:

I would say it is a pretty straightforward clue and well within your grasp.

Read the text you replied to, then your reply, and spot the dialectic flaw.

"Like in a military base,"

 

you just have no idea how stupid you are do you? You no absolutely nothing about antarctica and have no critical thinking abilities and you think that writing regurgitation of a word you used is in some way nuanced or clever but it basically just illustrates the utter paus=city of your cognitive abilities - all of which you are totally oblivious to.

[parallelman]

On 1/13/2025 at 5:34 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

Yes and they go to only a very very few places and then only under the most stringent environmental control. They might sleep on the ice in a tent for a night, but that would be the extent of it. No way they just go wandering around by themselves.

 

When I was working there, every scientific party going into the field had a mountaineer minder along to make sure they didn't die.

Good comment. I might add that the last thing the authorities want is a bunch of 'flat Earthers' going there and making mess.

[Nid_Noi]

On 12/24/2024 at 2:48 PM, black tabby12345 said:

 

A treaty signed by all countries of the world prevents ordinary citizens from going there.

 

Is it?

I have heard of quite a few Antarctica tours are operated from Australia and Argentina though.

 

 

105000 tourists visited Antarctica in 2022, an increase of 40% compared to 2020.

There are 3 main runways in Antarctica: the famous Ice runway at McMurdo Station (USA), the Williams field (USA) and the Wilkins runway (Australia). You can add Paulus Skiway, Novo Airbase, Casey Station Skiway, Phoenix Airfield, Rothera Point Airport, Teniente Marsh Airport (the last two are on the Antarctic Peninsula operated by Argentina and Chile). Charter flights are organized from Chile (Punta Arenas), New Zealand and South Africa. Just need to book your trip through a tour operator. 
For alpinists who want to add to their list the successful climbs of the highest mountains on each continent several operators organize your ascent for more or less US$50K with flight to the Union Glacier (Ilyushin Il-76 Cargo) then to the Vinson base camp with a DH Twin Otter on skis (1 hour flight) then the climb of Mt. Vinson.

Antartica is not what it used to be, cost of the trips is what limits the number of visitors (8 days cruise through the Drake Passage and fly back to Punta Arenas or Puerto Natales roughly US$14K; only requirement tour operators need to make sure no garbage is left behind, medical assistance is available on cruise ships in order to avoid expensive evacuation and visitors do not stress the local wild life.

Now flights to the South Pole are available in December and January from Cape Town or Punta Arenas. Price from US$63K to US$105K. Number of visitors are restricted to 500 due to limited accommodations.

[Nid_Noi]

8 hours ago, rattlesnake said:

Nowadays most of the continent is accessible to visitors, alpinists or “scientific expeditions”. If you have the financial means you may organize a trek to the South Pole from a coastal base, 350 people did the trek alone or in group. Some did trek across the whole continent others drove from the North Pole to the South Pole (Chris and Julie Ramsey with an electric Nissan Ariya).

[Hummin]

8 hours ago, rattlesnake said:

do you know the hight of the Antarctis icecap? 

 

Do you understand the climate there, or is it just a huge freezer machine controlling the earth temperature? Do you know the age of Antarctis icecap? Who built it? and why do the compass always point north ?

 

 

[Nid_Noi]

3 minutes ago, Hummin said:

do you know the hight of the Antarctis icecap? 

 

Do you understand the climate there, or is it just a huge freezer machine controlling the earth temperature? Do you know the age of Antarctis icecap? Who built it? and why do the compass always point north ?

 

 

Average height of the ice sheet is 2500 meters with a maximum of 4800 meters in the Terre Adelie (French Antarctic Settlement).

magnetic compass needles always point to the south magnetic pole because because the magnetic field lines run from the north magnetic pole to the south magnetic pole. Basic 101 course in navigation.

[rattlesnake]

9 hours ago, kwilco said:

"Like in a military base,"

 

you just have no idea how stupid you are do you? You no absolutely nothing about antarctica and have no critical thinking abilities and you think that writing regurgitation of a word you used is in some way nuanced or clever but it basically just illustrates the utter paus=city of your cognitive abilities - all of which you are totally oblivious to.

 

But at least I can spell and abide by elementary grammatical rules.

 

You are the educated adult in the room, your delivery needs to reflect that, it will help your relevance a lot.

[Cardano]

On 12/24/2024 at 4:13 AM, rattlesnake said:

A treaty signed by all countries of the world prevents ordinary citizens from going there. Whistleblowers such as Erick Hecker, ex contractor for Raytheon, has testified that there are exotic weapons and technology there that are beyond anything humans could ever produce or conceive.

Any thoughts? Insights?

 

https://rumble.com/v3aapwb-advanced-weaponry-in-antartica-base.html

Just got back, they've even got a starbucks and KFC both run by little green non-binary people with one eye and no nose.

[kwilco]

a simple test for flat earthers

 

 

[parallelman]

12 hours ago, kwilco said:

a simple test for flat earthers

 

 

I am not a FE'r. Your picture doesn't represent quite how FE'rs think. In their opinion the Sun is much closer than what everyone else knows and is therefore smaller. In their view the Sun's EM waves are not affected by the atmosphere under their 'dome' and only spread out so far such that only a portion of their FE receives light. The other portion is in darkness. Of course this has been debunked many times but hey, they believe that every government, every space agency, very scientist are all for keeping us under control, telling us that the Earth is not flat. After some Flat Earth people witnessed the 24 hour Sun in Antarctica (and that there is a 24 hour Moon too) the FErs are now claiming this and that, arguing with each other. One of them who wittnessed the 24 hour Sun has now left the FE community because he accepts that it is simply wrong. He is now getting a lot of flak from former FE associates because he accepts the evidence.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 1/15/2025 at 5:17 PM, Nid_Noi said:

Now flights to the South Pole are available in December and January from Cape Town or Punta Arenas. Price from US$63K to US$105K. Number of visitors are restricted to 500 due to limited accommodations.

I was surprised by that, and looked it up. Very limited info, and didn't find anything to say where they stay when there. I wouldn't have thought there was any spare accommodation on the base.

 

In any event, unless they are given a tour of the base it would be the most boring tour EVER. Nothing to see but snow far as the eye can see. Seems a lot to pay to look at snow.

 

I could easily have gone to Sth Pole just by asking a US pilot to hitch hike, but we were told that if we did that, we'd be going back to NZ soon as back at base. Nobody took the chance, as if one went, the weather might delay the return trip for days.

 

I spoke with some of the guys that did go ( officially ), and they said the brownies were the best thing about it.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 1/15/2025 at 5:17 PM, Nid_Noi said:

There are 3 main runways in Antarctica: the famous Ice runway at McMurdo Station (USA), the Williams field (USA) and the Wilkins runway (Australia).

William's field is snow and only ski planes can land there, normally US Navy Hercules. That's how I got down there. The Ice Runway is used by the US military to airlift people and supplies, with the really large cargo planes.

 

William's field is named after the first US man to die, when his bulldozer fell through the ice which is floating. Since then they put escape hatches in all the bulldozer roofs.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 1/15/2025 at 5:30 PM, Nid_Noi said:

350 people did the trek alone or in group

IMO you'd be a fool to do it alone. Could easily have an accident or fall down a crevasse and that would be a death sentence if alone.

 

[thaibeachlovers]

On 12/28/2024 at 8:52 AM, rattlesnake said:

No motorised vehicles are allowed in order not to disturb wildlife:
“Do not use aircraft, vessels, small boats, or other means of transport in ways that disturb wildlife, either at sea or on land.”

Antarctica stretches across thousands of miles, which are virtually impossible to explore without a means of transport. And permits are required on top of that:

Given that Antarctica has no wildlife except for a few small areas on the coast I suspect that any ban on vehicles is to prevent people driving around and getting into trouble. No government wants to be using valuable resources to rescue idiots.

 

BTW, there is nothing to explore on Antarctica in the interior, so there is no need to have transport. Anyway, there are no fuel stations, so you'd have to take all the fuel with you.

The most interesting places I went were the Dry Valleys and no way they want tourists in there, and the penguin rookeries, and no way tourists are going to get near them. The interesting places for tourists are the places accessible by ship.

 

Antarctica is no place for fools to be let wander around in. The Adelie penguin rookery at Cape Royds ( when I visited there were no penguins so OK to walk around in ) had so many corpses of chicks that died that it was like a carpet of bones ( It was so cold there that nothing biodegrades ).

[thaibeachlovers]

On 1/16/2025 at 2:44 PM, parallelman said:

After some Flat Earth people witnessed the 24 hour Sun in Antarctica

It was great as we could go skiing at "night" without needing lights.

I liked the 8 weeks without any light at all too, and when the moon was out it was so bright I was able to work outside.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 1/15/2025 at 11:48 PM, Cardano said:

Just got back, they've even got a starbucks and KFC both run by little green non-binary people with one eye and no nose.

Wouldn't surprise me at all if Starbucks and KFC down there. The place ( McMurdo ) is getting more like a normal town all the time. I used to go over to eat soft serve ice cream, hot dogs and watch movies. They also had volley ball, 10 pin bowling alley and a sauna.

Plenty of different bars for the different ranks ( McMurdo is run by the US Navy ), with all the pleasures of home, and American scientists really know how to party. Have to say that I did enjoy my time over there.