The Not-So-Simple Life

Everything from food to fuel must be brought to Antarctica

In Antarctica, you learn not to take anything for granted.  Not even things as basic as food, water, or energy. The reason? Everything people depend on has to be shipped or flown into the continent. Why? There are no farms in on the icy continent. The only plants are mosses and lichens. There are certainly no cows, pigs, or chickens. Whether your favorite food is pizza or burritos, all of the ingredients have to come from other continents. As for drinking water, special systems and a great deal of energy are needed to take to salt out of seawater to make it useable.

Then there is the matter of waste. The U.S. Antarctic Program is committed to reducing its impact—or footprint—on the Antarctic environment. That means that every bit of garbage a person might produce in a day has to be transported off the continent. That's true whether it's the wrapper from your candy bar or the green beans you didn't want to eat or the paper towels you used to wipe your hands.

MIKE CASEY—NSF

Three wind turbines produce energy for the U.S.'s McMurdo Station and New Zealand's Scott Base.

McMurdo Station managers remind community members to adopt the values and habits of conservation. The station has put into place technology that helps it reduce its footprint. It starts with energy. The U.S. research base has partnered with its nearby neighbor, New Zealand's Scott Base, to share energy produced from three large wind turbines. Scott Base Kiwis—as the New Zealanders are called—get 100% of their power from wind, says power-plant manager Ron Blevins, while the American base gets about 35% of its energy from wind. The much larger U.S. base uses oil-fired generators to supply the rest of its energy needs. The waste heat produced by the generators is then used to warm many of its buildings.

Water-plant manager Paul Jones says it takes energy and special technology to remove the salt from seawater to produce drinking water. McMurdo uses about 45,000 gallons of water a day. People are encouraged to conserve water. At the South Pole Station, where snow and ice must be melted for drinking water, people are limited to two-minute showers twice a week!

The McMurdo base also has a wastewater treatment plant that takes care of sewage. Yubecca Bragg, who is an organic farmer in West Virginia during the Antarctic winter, manages the treatment plant. Bragg explains that sewage treatment depends on allowing microorganisms to break down the wastes until the liquid part of the waste can be safely released into the ocean. Between 150,000 and 180,000 pounds a year of the remaining solid waste, called sludge, is packed into containers and sent back to the U.S.

LISA HARDING—NSF

All garbage at McMurdo Station is collected at this waste barn to be shipped off the continent.

What’s on the Cargo Ships?

The people who live and work in McMurdo fly into and out of the continent along with their luggage and scientific equipment. But the food and fuel, machinery and supplies that keep the town running come in by cargo ships. There is one ship that brings fuel and another ship that brings cargo. The cargo ship takes back all of the waste, from construction materials to glass, paper, plastic, and metal that has been carefully recycled. Both ships will be arriving at McMurdo in the next two weeks.  It takes 10 days to unload and reload the cargo ship, and about 40 hours to unload the fuel. All fuel and supplies must be delivered during the short Antarctic summer. Nothing comes in or goes out during the long, dark Antarctic winter.

To live and work at the bottom of the world, whether you are there to study penguins or bake bread, requires very careful planning. And as visitors to Antarctica quickly discover, every plan always requires a backup plan—and a backup plan to the backup plan.

David Bjerklie is filing reports while traveling to Antarctica with the National Science Foundation. Track his progress and learn all about the icy continent at TFK’s Antarctica Mini-Site.

To see a live web broadcast on January 23, teachers and parents can join the TFK community at edweb.net/tfk. All participants will receive printable worksheets with maps, time lines, and more.

Mapping Antarctica

Cartographers help unlock the continent’s secrets

Antarctica was on the map long before anyone ever laid eyes on it. Nearly 2,400 years ago, ancient Greek philosophers such as Aristotle believed that a great continent must exist at the bottom of the world. They thought it was needed to balance out the continents at the top of the world. In the 1500s, mapmakers often included a fanciful continent they referred to as Terra Incognita (Latin for “unknown land”) at the bottom of their maps. But it was not until the 1800s—after explorers had sighted and set foot on Antarctica—that mapmakers got down to the business of really mapping the continent, which is one-and-a-half times the size of than the U.S.

©COLE KELLEHER—POLAR GEOSPATIAL CENTER

Kelleher carries a Trekker camera as he stands near a glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys.

While the coastline could be mapped by ships sailing around the continent, it took airplanes—and later, satellites—to chart Antarctica’s vast interior. That job continues today. And it is a job that can still require a mapmaker, or cartographer, to put on boots and head out into the wild.

Cole Kelleher is familiar with that. He is a cartographer with the Polar Geospatial Center (PGC), which is based at the University of Minnesota and has a staff at McMurdo Station. PGC teamed up with Google to use the company’s Trekker technology to capture images of Antarctica for the Internet giant’s popular feature, Street View. A Trekker camera, which is the size of a basketball, is perched about two feet above a backpack. The camera records images in all directions. “It weighs about 50 pounds. I was out for two and a half days, hiking 10 to 12 hours each day,” says Kelleher. It was hard work, but really an incredible experience.” According to Kelleher there are plans to use the technology to create educational apps for museums.

A Mapmaking Service for Scientists

BRIEN BARNETT—NSF

A high-tech balloon used to carry scientific instruments high into the atmosphere is filled with helium near McMurdo Station.

The PGC staff at McMurdo Station provides highly specialized mapmaking services for the U.S. Antarctic Program. For one project, Kelleher used satellite images to map huge cracks in the ice, called crevasses. That helped a team of seal researchers know whether they could safely approach their field camp on snowmobiles. Another recent project was to help recover a giant, high-tech helium balloon used to carry scientific instruments high into the atmosphere. These balloons are launched in Antarctica because there is no danger that they will hurt anyone when they fall back down to Earth. Using satellite images, Kelleher and colleagues created maps of where the balloon could be found.

Antarctica may no longer be Terra Incognita, but it still holds countless mysteries. Cartographers and the maps they make will continue to be essential in helping scientists unlock those secrets.

David Bjerklie is filing reports while traveling to Antarctica with the National Science Foundation. Tomorrow, he'll report on his visit to the South Pole! Track his progress and learn all about the icy continent at TFK’s Antarctica Mini-Site.

At the South Pole

Getting there is a trip, but the work being done there is remarkable

We were headed to the South Pole! Travelers were told to report to the passenger pick up in McMurdo at 6:45 am. But passenger-service staffer Kristy Queen informed us that because of a mechanical issue, our flight would be delayed. Nearly 12 hours later we would finally take off from McMurdo and head south. Because of weather and the complications of flying in Antarctica, our experience wasn't unusual, explained Queen. This is her fourth season at McMurdo. She is considering “wintering over” this year, which means she will stay to work during the dark Antarctic winter. Queen grew up in Granville, Michigan, and read TFK in school. She says she was inspired to seek adventure and look for a job in Antarctica after talking to a friend who served in the Peace Corps.

DAVID BJERKLIE FOR TIME FOR KIDS

The view from the cockpit: On its way to the Pole, the plane soars over mountains.

Pilot Dave LaFrance of the New York Air National Guard has been flying to and from the Pole since 1997. He piloted the plane that took us to the Pole and back. I was lucky to sit next to him in the cockpit. As we fly over the spectacular Transantarctic Mountains, LaFrance points down to the extraordinary view. “This is our milk run,” he says. “I’ve flown this hundreds of times.” As remarkable as the view is, LaFrance says he prefers the views he sees on flights to the “deep camps” way out in the middle of nowhere. He has taken research teams that look for meteorites and others that look for dinosaur bones to these deep camps. Flights to deep camps are not routine.

From the window, I observe large "wrinkles" far below the plane in the snow. LaFrance explains that the wrinkles are large cracks in the ice called crevasses. They are one reason flights to deep camps are not routine. Glaciers move fast—some move more than three feet in a day. When they rub and push against each other or against mountains, the result can be cracks and tears in the ice. “Back in 1998, one of our planes landed on a crevasse that was covered by snow,” says LaFrance. “It was big enough for the plane to get stuck in it and we lost an engine. But it was actually lucky we ran into it. Two hundred yards further, there was a crevasse that would have swallowed the plane.”

Scientists at Work

While I was waiting for the flight to take off, I had the opportunity to talk to Jason Gallichio. He is a physicist who worked for nearly a year at the South Pole Telescope. The telescope is used to look at the universe far beyond what can be seen with the naked eye.  Visible light is just a narrow portion of the electromagnetic energy that fills the universe. Electromagnetic energy of different wavelengths can tell astronomers things about the universe that visible light can't.

ELAINE HOOD—NSF

Scientists use the South Pole Telescope (seen here) to explore the universe.

The South Pole Telescope isn't the only large science experiment at the Pole. There is a project called Ice Cube that consists of a large grid of detectors buried deep into the ice. The detectors are designed to “catch” particles called neutrinos that constantly bombard the Earth from space. Neutrinos are produced by nuclear reactions in space, including those that take place in the Sun. These particles are much smaller than even atoms. They are so unimaginably tiny that they pass right through the Earth. That’s what makes them so incredibly hard to detect.

A third major project at the South Pole Station is the Atmospheric Research Observatory, which is run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It is referred to as the "Clean Air" Observatory and is responsible for collecting information on changes in the global atmosphere, particularly the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. (Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas produced by human activity that scientists believe is responsible for climate change.) Antarctica is a perfect place on the planet to sample air and detect changes in the atmosphere. That's because the continent's air is so clean and not affected by the pollution from the rest of the world.

An Epic Journey

What’s more difficult than getting to the South Pole? Building a research station there! The current research station was completed in 2008. LaFrance said it took five years to build it. “Crews were making five flights a day to the pole,” he says. The planes carried construction materials, equipment, and workers.

It’s possible to drive to the South Pole. But vehicles only make the trip a two to three times a year. The trip is done for one very special reason: to bring fuel to the Pole. In Antarctica, all equipment —from power plant generators to bulldozers that travel at a speed of four miles per hour—use jet fuel. It doesn’t freeze or thicken at low temperatures like other fuels do. A plane can bring only a relatively small amount of fuel. This is why a few times a year, a special expedition called the South Pole Traverse is mounted from McMurdo to the Pole. Heavy tractor-like vehicles drag large thick bladders of fuel that sit on thick plastic sheets. The bladders look like huge, super-tough balloons. One traverse can drag 120,000 gallons of jet fuel to the Pole.

DAVID BJERKLIE FOR TIME FOR KIDS

While it's possible to drive to the South Pole, most visitors get there by plane.

The South Pole Traverse is an epic journey. It takes four weeks to drive to the Pole. That's about 45 miles each day, driving 12 hours a day. A special vehicle goes ahead with a radar instrument on a long boom, which is used to detect crevasses. “The first traverses were done back in the 1950s. It was very dangerous and there were accidents,” says McMurdo Station Area Manager Steve Dunbar. “Aerial images helped map out a route.” He explains that the jet fuel that Antarctica runs on is a special blend that not many refineries make. This year’s supply comes from a refinery in Athens, Greece. It will be delivered by ship to McMurdo in the next two weeks.

More than a 100 years ago, the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen was the first to reach the South Pole. Just a month later, the British explorer Robert Falcon Scott also reached the Pole, but tragically died on the return trip. Reaching the South Pole was an extraordinary achievement. Traveling to the Pole today, as well as living and working there, may have become more routine, but it is every bit as remarkable.

Dry Valleys and Seal Mummies

Scientists find tiny life forms and ancient animal remains in a cold desert

The largest ice-free region in Antarctica is a barren but beautiful area known as the McMurdo Dry Valleys. When the British explorer Robert Falcon Scott first came across the valleys more than 100 years ago, he described them as lifeless: "... we have seen no living thing, not even a moss or a lichen; all that we did find... was the skeleton of a Weddell seal, and how that came there is beyond guessing. It is certainly a valley of the dead..."

Scientists have since found that Scott was wrong. The Dry Valleys are one of the driest deserts in the world—they average less than half an inch of precipitation a year. But they are not lifeless. In that dry habitat of sand and rocks, there are entire ecosystems of microscopic organisms that spring to life when water is added. For a few weeks each summer, the temperatures are warm enough—and the sun strong enough—to melt glacial ice, which can create streams. Colorful mats of bacteria grow along the streambeds and tiny organisms live in the damp soils surrounding the streams. But the streams dry out completely, so the organisms must be able to withstand freeze-drying, often for many years.

Survival of the Fittest

LYNN REED FOR TIME FOR KIDS

Scientist Byron Adams (right) explains the research he is conducting in Antarctica to TFK's David Bjerklie.

The organisms that survive—and thrive—in such harsh conditions can withstand freeze-drying. Most are microscopic, but a few are visible (barely) to the naked eye. The largest organisms in the Dry Valleys are the collembola, commonly known as springtails. (In the northern part of the Antarctic Peninsula, there is an insect called a midge that is larger.) But what about penguins? Like sea birds and seals, penguins aren't considered truly terrestrial, even though they spend time on the ice and land. Researchers joke that springtails are the "elephants" of the continent (30 springtails lined up would be about an inch long). Other common, but uncommonly tough, organisms include tiny worms called nematodes. There are also rotifers, mites, and tardigrades (also called water bears, which look like potatoes with eight bear-like claws).

Byron Adams of Brigham Young University and Eric Sokol of Virginia Tech are two researchers in the group of scientists who call themselves "The Wormherders." They study the relationships between the organisms and the soils they live in. Many teams of scientists study the Dry Valleys as part of a worldwide project called LTER, for Long Term Ecological Research. As Sokol explains it, "a common thread among all of us is our effort to understand how the biota [living organisms] and the environment are connected, and how they will change as the climate changes. Some scientists focus on nutrients in the soil or water, others study glaciers. Many study the biota that live in the soils, streams, and lakes, others study geology."

Preserved Pieces of the Past

EMILY STONE—NSF

A mummified seal sits on the ground in an area of Antarctica's McMurdo Dry Valleys.

But what about that mummified seal that Scott and his team of explorers found so many miles from the sea? Good question! It turns out that a lot of seals end up in the Dry Valleys, but not on purpose. It's clear the seals got lost, but not clear why. Once a seal ends up there, its body can be preserved by the dry cold for a thousand years, which is why there are so many seal mummies scattered around the valleys. Paul Koch of the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Brenda Hall of the University of Maine, are two researchers who have been studying the seal mummies to find clues about the conditions in which the seals once lived hundreds, or even thousands, of years ago. Their findings help scientists know what questions to ask about how animals lived, their diets, and how they responded to changing climate. According to John Nye, a researcher on the team, more than 300 seal mummies were found this season.

Koch and Hall have also found mummified elephant seals in areas where the animals are very rare today. They believe that a warmer climate thousands of years ago enabled animals such as the elephant seals to live along the Ross Sea coast. By studying the mummified remains of seals, researchers might be able to anticipate the effects of climate change on wildlife.

A Night at the Penguin Rodeo

Scientists research penguin chicks to learn about their colonies

"We call it the penguin rodeo," says Jean Pennycook. It's only a 20-minute helicopter ride away from McMurdo Station, but the place we are flying to, Cape Royds, is also a doorway into two other worlds. The first is the world of penguins. The second is the historic world of the first explorers to Antarctica.

There are eight of us flying above the snow and ice and rocky peaks. The volcano Mt. Erebus looms above us. Our crew consists of the penguin research team, which includes Pennycook, Scott Jennings, and Annie Schmidt. There is Peter West of the National Science Foundation (NSF), teacher and NSF Einstein Fellow Lynn Reed and myself. And there is also helicopter pilot Keith Cox, crew member Taylor Smith, and mechanic Seth McCallister.

When we reach Cape Royds, we all climb out, and head down the rocky hill to where the penguins nest.  As we walk, we all marvel at the beautiful landscape, the ice, the water, and most of all the penguins.

PETER WEST—NSF

Researchers use a small fence to surround penguin chicks that they want to study.

Banding Penguins

The purpose of our trip is to band penguin chicks. This means we will put a small metal band with an identifying number on the chick's left wing. We will then weigh the chick and measure the length of its wing. Being able to identify individual chicks will help researchers answer important questions. Why does the size of penguin colonies vary so much? Why would one colony have 4,000 breeding pairs of penguins, when nearby colonies have 36,000 and 130,000 pairs? What are the benefits to the penguins of living in a small or large colony?

We use low movable fences to quietly corral, or surround, a group of penguin chicks. The chicks are about a month old and still stay pretty close to the nests in which they hatched. Pennycook invites everyone to help out, including the helicopter crew, explaining to us how to make sure we don't hurt the penguins. Pennycook loves to share her excitement about all things penguin! We get started around 8:00 pm (remember it's light 24 hours a day here this time of year). For more than three hours we carefully move the corral and gently band, measure, and weigh fuzzy gray penguin chicks.

After we are done banding, Pennycook collects samples of penguin waste she will later analyze. She is looking for the tiny disk-shaped earbones (called otoliths) of the fish the penguins eat. A penguin's diet is a combination of krill, the tiny shrimp-like crustacean that is food for so many other animals in the Antarctic, particularly whales. Sometimes penguins eat mostly fish and sometimes they eat mostly krill. It was a puzzle, says Pennycook. Why would they change their diet? It turns out that penguins eat mostly fish when groups of Minke whales are feeding on krill in the same area.  Those whales don't eat penguins, but penguins still like to give them plenty of room!

It is the last day of Pennycook's field season and so she also lowers the flag that flies above the camp. Pennycook invites classrooms to send her homemade flags that she flies over the camp and then returns to the class. She also posts photos and stories each day during the research season that students can read at the penguin science website.

PETER WEST—NSF

These grey penguin chicks are about a month old.

Early Explorers

It was after midnight when we finished banding the chicks. But the evening was beautiful and we weren't ready to go home yet. We all visited the nearby historic hut of the British explorer Ernest Shackleton, who first explored Cape Royds in 1908. The hut has very carefully restored with the help of the Antarctic Heritage Trust. Pennycook has seen the hut many times, but says "it still takes my breath away." In the hut you can see socks hanging out to dry, shoes by the stove, clothes laid out on the bed, and cans of food neatly lined up on pantry shelves.

After we are done, we board the helicopter. But we still aren't quite ready to go home. We have one more stop, at Cape Evans, the home of another historic hut. This hut, built in 1911, was from the expedition of Robert Falcon Scott, the British explorer who made it to the South Pole in January, 1912, just a month after the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen reached it first. Scott's hut at Cape Evans was larger than Shackelton's and even had a stable for the Siberian ponies that he brought on the expedition.

We fly from Cape Evans and get back to the helicopter pad at McMurdo at 2 a.m. It is definitely late! But everyone agrees that it has been an extraordinary journey into the world of penguins as well as the heroic age of early Antarctic explorers.

Camping With the Stream Team

At work with scientists in Antarctica

If there is one thing that people who live and work in Antarctica say they miss, it is fresh fruits and vegetables. "Freshies," as they are called here, are hard to come by and always a treat. That's especially true for the people who live and work in field camps, which are often far from major research stations. This is why, when we learn our helicopter flight to a field camp is approved, an old hand in the group suggests we bring fresh apples as a present.

PETER REJCEK—NSF

At Lake Hoare base camp, scientists study the way water moves through the environment. TFK's David Bjerklie, second from right, looks on.

The camp we are visiting is Lake Hoare, named for the lake that it overlooks. We are in an unusual area known as the Dry Valleys. The camp sits in front of a towering wall of ice called Canada glacier. The rest of the valley is completely ice-free and at first seems barren. When we land and climb down from the helicopter, we are greeted by Rae Spain, who manages the day-to-day activity at the camp. That includes coordinating helicopter flights and cargo drop offs, opening and closing the camp each season, and cooking and baking, too. Spain has been at Lake Hoare for 16 seasons and has worked in the U.S. Antarctic Program for 32 years.

Mike Gooseff is a researcher at Lake Hoare who has spent nine seasons on the ice. Gooseff is a hydrologist, which means he studies the way water moves through an environment. For several weeks in the Antarctic summer, the 24-hour sunshine and warmer temperatures are enough to melt a tiny amount of ice from the surrounding glaciers. The runoff is enough to create small temporary steams that feed nearby lakes. Adam Wlostowski, a student of Gooseff's, explains how the glacial stream flow is measured. In recent years, the flow has increased, which is causing Lake Hoare to rise. There are many things affecting this system that scientists want to understand better, says Gooseff.

We eat a delicious carrot cake and researchers talk about their favorite camp foods.  It starts to lightly snow and each of the nine people at the camp heads to his or her tent to sleep. There is a main building which houses the kitchen, communication center and work desks, plus smaller buildings for labs, bathrooms, and storage areas. Tents for sleeping are arranged in a large area around the camp.

The next morning Spain is on the radio confirming our helicopter ride to another location and updating weather conditions at the camp. "Winds are calm, view is unrestricted," she reports. We get ready to head out to meet researchers in a nearby valley. Gooseff and his student, along with another researcher and a mountaineer, will take measurements on Canada glacier. They strap on special climbing harnesses. "Today we will be roped in for safety," explains Gooseff, "because we are going higher up on the glacier." We can hear a helicopter from far away. Gooseff identifies the model even before we see it because of the deep and distinctive thump-thump-thump it makes.

Sampling a Stream

After 15 minutes in the air, the helicopter pilot spots three figures in the distance. Diane McKnight and two of her students are waiting for us. The researchers are part of the group known as the "stream team." One of the students, Aneliya Sakaeva, will be taking samples of the water that flows in the temporary streams. She will also take samples of the orange and black mats of microorganisms that live on the bottom of these shallow streams. The organisms that live in the streams survive being freeze-dried most of the year. And yet they spring back to life within 15 minutes when water enters the stream again.

DAVID BJERKLIE FOR TIME FOR KIDS

The Lake Hoare base camp is named for the lake that it overlooks. It sits in front of a towering wall of ice called Canada glacier.

Sakaeva is studying a group of organisms called diatoms. The water is freezing cold but she is patient and careful, taking samples and recording measurements at certain points along the stream. Another group of researchers called the "wormherders" sample the organisms that live in the soils surrounding the streams. And still other research teams study the lakes into which the streams flow. The research being conducted in the Dry Valleys is part of a much larger project called Long Term Ecological Research (LTER), which has 25 sites worldwide.

We hike with McKnight and her students to a small nearby field camp next to another lake. We have tea and coffee, and some of the researchers eat lunch. The Lake Hoare camp will be open for another couple of weeks, but this camp is closing for the season today. Life in the field camps is clearly a challenge, but one that researchers and the people who make their work possible also love. "You don't really think you'll never come back," says Spain. "There may come a time when I'm not coming down here. But his place will never leave me."

The Future of Science at SoSTEM

TFK talks to an astronaut and other STEM leaders at a special event in Washington, D.C.

Have you ever wondered what it is like to be the President’s Science Advisor or to travel in space? How about designing and building prototypes or finding a way to reduce carbon emissions? On January 28, 2014, 15 scientists gathered in Washington, D.C., to share their experiences with kids at SoSTEM—State of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Their goal: to educate kids about the importance of STEM fields and inspire them to pursue a career in STEM.

“Technology opens doors of new opportunities and ways of doing things we may have never have imagined possible,” said Todd Park, the Chief Technology Officer, “and you [kids] are the ones who will keep America innovating for discoveries we can’t even dream of today and towards solutions to the world’s most important problems.”

COURTESY RIGSBY FAMILY

Environmental advocate Tyrone Davis shares his story with TFK.

What is SoSTEM?

SoSTEM, an annual event begun last year, gives kids the chance to question those in charge of science and technology as well as to talk to the special guests who sat in the First Lady’s Box at the President’s State of the Union address, delivered the night before. This year, the topics ranged from robotics to solar energy to marshmallow cannons. Panelists even covered ways to incorporate the movie Gravity into science lessons.

Among the guest panelists at SoSTEM 2014 were Dr. John P. Holdren, President Obama’s Science Advisor; Joey Hudy, “Maker” and Inventor; Tyrone Davis, Environmental Advocate; Joe Acaba, NASA Astronaut; the 2013 NASA Astronaut Class; and other prominent figures in science. I had the opportunity to speak with some of the guests before the panel and ask them about their STEM careers, their plans for the future, and their advice for kids.

Advice from an Astronaut

Joe Acaba remembers developing an interest in space as a young child. “It was probably when I was a little kid, and my grandfather would show me the old film of the Apollo missions to watch the astronauts walking on the moon, so that was pretty cool,” Acaba told TFK. “I always loved to read science fiction books, so I always thought about going to different planets, and that kind of sparked my interest and made me want to become an astronaut someday.”

In 2004, Acaba began working for NASA and his dream of being an astronaut came true. During his NASA career, Acaba visited space twice—first on the space shuttle Discovery in 2009 and then on the International Space Station in 2012, logging a total of 138 days in space.

Kid Reporter

Kristen Rigsby

Over the years, Acaba has received a lot of guidance that has helped him in his career. But he credits his success to his parents’ words of wisdom. “The biggest piece of advice I’ve received is from my parents, and it’s one I try to share with people. It is that your education is the most important thing you can do. It doesn’t matter what you study, but the more education you have, the more opportunities you’ll get. So I think that if you study hard and take advantage of those opportunities, good things will happen.”

An Inspiring Environmental Advocate

Tyrone Davis has been legally blind since the age of 9, but that hasn’t stopped him from reaching his goals. In high school, he ran track and cross-country, and he went on to graduate from North Carolina State University with a degree in political science. But perhaps his most noteworthy accomplishment was his work with Elizabeth City State University, in North Carolina: he showed the school how to save $31,000 per year by reducing its carbon emissions by 200 tons. Still, Davis doesn’t want to stop there. In fact, he has gone back to school once again to earn a degree in law and already has plans for after graduation.

“I hope to pursue a career in environmental law and environmental policy,” Davis told TFK. “I want to continue to address environmental issues in a common sense type of way and in a problem-solving type of way, trying to figure out ways to solve our nation’s and our world’s issues in a balanced approach.”

At SoSTEM, Davis wanted not only to share his experience in a STEM field, but he also wanted to share one life-changing lesson he learned from his past: the importance of perseverance.

“Never give up on something that you want to do,” Davis said. “Set goals for yourself. There may be roadblocks in your way, but try to find a way to get around those roadblocks so that you can accomplish your goal. Always evaluate where you are so that you know where you have to go, how far you have to go, and who you have to talk to to achieve those goals.”

Later in the panel, NASA Astronaut Anne McClain added to Davis’s remark. “The biggest thing you can do is believe in yourself. And that’s not gender-specific or background-specific. If you believe that you can do it, and you continue to raise your hand to go towards your goals, then you’re going to get there. Keep moving forward. Don’t self-eliminate yourself before you try.”

TFK Kid Reporter Grace Clark also reported from SoSTEM. Check back Friday to read about her experience.

Spotlight on STEM

The Connect a Million Minds program helps kids learn how science, technology, engineering, and math are useful—and fun!

Do you like math? Do you like science? Celebrity chef Anne Burrell asked these questions to a crowd of more than 300 kids from Boys & Girls Clubs on February 1. “When I was your age, I didn’t like or understand math or science at all,” Burrell admitted to them, “but that was also because I couldn’t understand how all of this plays into life as you get older.”

Burrell, along with New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz, spoke to the group as hosts of Connect a Million Minds (CAMM) Day at the Time Warner Cable Studios in New York City. The event was part of the company’s five-year, $100 million program to encourage kids’ interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). CAMM events have taken place across the country since 2009.

Cooking Connections

ASTRID STAWLARZ—GETTY IMAGES FOR TIME ARNER CABLE

Chef Anne Burrell encourages more than 300 kids from Boys & Girls Clubs to get involved in math and science.

Burrell and Cruz joined the kids as they took part in several science and math activities related to television programming. Volunteers from the New York Hall of Science cooked up a chemistry lesson at an activity inspired by the Food Network. Kids used dough to explore electricity and how it moves.

“There’s tons to learn about cooking and science, and what’s really fun is that there’s something to eat at the end!” Burrell told TFK. Burrell also shared that her first class in cooking school was culinary math. “There’s almost more about science in cooking than math but they’re really pretty equal,” she says.

Hands-On Learning

Kids got a behind-the-scenes look at science and math connections in history, sports, and preschool programs too. At a History Channel activity, kids learned about catapults. Warriors first used the machines in ancient times to hurl objects at enemies. Kids learned how the machines work, and used catapults made with Popsicle sticks to launch marshmallows into cups.

GUSTAVO CABALLERO—GETTY IMAGES FOR TIME WARNER CABLE

Kids participated in hands-on STEM activities set up at different stations.

Instructors at the ESPN activity directed kids in an experiment. Kids insulated, or protected, plastic eggs to understand how padding protects athletes. At the Sprout preschool channel activity, kids identified shapes used to make the cardboard props for the Sunny Side Up Show. They also learned how to make cardboard docking stations for cell phones and iPods, and how these tools make sounds louder.

You can learn more about CAMM and search for science and math events near you at connectamillionminds.com. Says Cruz: “If I can get all of you guys having fun doing math and science, then I’ve accomplished my goal.”

Save the Polar Bear

TIME looks at the plight of one of Earth's most charismatic creatures

It’s International Polar Bear Day today, so if you live near the Arctic Circle, hug the closest polar bear. Actually, do not do that—an adult male polar bear is nearly half a ton of hungry predator, and they are extremely dangerous. Still, the beasts deserve a little tenderness.

ERIC GILLESPIE—GOOGLE

A polar bear leans on a Tundra Buggy that is carrying the Google Street View Trekker.

The polar bear is now considered a vulnerable species, under threat from the loss of its sea ice habitat. To draw attention to their plight, Google is now offering glimpses of polar bears in their native environment, via its Street View program. Cameras in Cape Churchill and Wapusk National Park in northern Manitoba, Canada, captured images of polar bears doing their polar bear thing during an annual gathering in the region in October and November. You can see pictures of polar bears sparring, and a mother nursing her cub, all against the flat white and brown background of the Arctic. The footage was taken with Google’s Street View Trekker—15 cameras mounted on a backpack—from aboard the off-road vehicles known as tundra buggies.

Krista Wright is executive director of the conservation group Polar Bear International. She spoke to the CBC, a Canadian broadcaster, about Google’s program. “It provides an opportunity to document what it looks like now, the potential to document what it looks like next year, five years from now, 10 years from now,” she said.

Disappearing Sea Ice

Many scientists and conservationists fear that there may be far fewer polar bears in even the next 10 years, thanks mostly to the effects of climate change. Polar bears use sea ice as a platform to reach their prey—mainly seals—and summer sea ice is melting fast. Despite a rebound from a record low in 2012, the extent of Arctic sea ice is generally trending downwards, often dramatically. As the ice vanishes, polar bears are forced to swim longer and longer distances to reach those hunting platforms, which is taking a toll on the species.

Exactly how vulnerable polar bears are is not clear, partially due to the fact that they live in such a forbidding climate to humans and that polar bears are not exactly friendly. That makes getting a proper count challenging. But Google is helping with this as well: researchers are using Google Earth satellite images to count polar bears from space.

Still, most experts agree that there are about 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears alive, scattered around the Arctic—a perilously small number—though some subpopulations have rebounded, in part because of restrictions on hunting. There’s also evidence that polar bears are changing their dietary habits, possibly to adapt to the loss of sea ice. They are shifting from seals to snow geese, caribou, and berries. But polar bear subpopulations are still trending downward in many areas of the Arctic, and if climate change keeps vaporizing sea ice, the pressure on the bears will only increase.

Of course, that’s true of many, many species; in fact, a new study in the journal Nature Climate Change just found that global warming dramatically increases the risk of extinction for amphibians and reptiles. Yet how many other species are so popular that Coca-Cola will change the color of its cans just to draw attention to their plight, as the company did for polar bears in 2011? Last year a policy paper in Conservation Letters laid out an ambitious plan to save polar bears in the face of global warming, even going so far as to suggest feeding starving bears directly—an amazing thought, given the obvious risks. Why go to such great lengths to save the polar bear, and not, say Mexico’s critically endangered pygmy raccoon?

The truth is there’s no perfect reason. But as seen in Google Street View and those candid shots of polar bears in their element, there is something majestic about a polar bear against the backdrop of the Arctic, something wild and worth saving. And the polar bear dearly needs saving.

Testing the Five-Second Rule

Researchers in Britain show that picking up dropped food in less than five seconds carries less risk

You may have seen a friend drop food the on the floor, pick it up, and eat it, while declaring, “Five-second rule!” The old adage says that food dropped on the floor for five seconds or less is still likely to be clean. But is that true?

Students at Britain’s Ashton University, led by microbiology professor Anthony Hilton, tested the rule and found it to have some scientific basis. The study’s results show that food dropped for five seconds is less likely to contain bacteria than if it sits there, according to Hilton. Some of the results were published in a news release on Ashton University’s website.

The students also found that the type of flooring where the dropped food lands has an effect. Bacteria are least likely to transfer from carpeted surfaces. It’s most likely to transfer from laminate or tiled surfaces when moist foods make contact with them for more than five seconds.

There is still a risk of infection if certain bacteria are present on the dropped surface, so consumers should still be cautious. “However, the findings of this study will bring some light relief to those who have been employing the five-second rule for years, despite a general consensus that it is purely a myth,” Professor Hilton said in a statement.

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E. coli is a common germ that can cause diarrhea, vomiting, and cramps. Usually people recover from the infection in five to ten days, but it can also cause more severe complications.

Will You Eat That?

To test out the rule, the Ashton University students dropped toast, pasta, biscuits, and candy onto a variety of indoor floor types that had been exposed to two common bacteria, Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus. They measured how much of the bacteria transferred to the food when it was left on the floor for durations that ranged from three to 30 seconds. The university has not yet released the complete study.

The research team at Ashton also surveyed 500 people to find out who employs the five-second rule. Of the people surveyed, 87% said they would eat food dropped on the floor, or have done so in the past. Of those people, the majority were women. “Our study showed . . . [people] are also more likely to follow the five-second rule, which our research has shown to be much more than an old wives' tale,” Hilton says.

Still, scientists say you should be careful about eating food dropped on the floor, especially if you don’t know the cleanliness of the surface. A video about the five-second rule embedded on npr.org from the Smithsonian’s website features molecular biologist Eric Schulze, who points out that one in six Americans get sick from food poisoning every year. “Eating food off the floor is a bit like playing Russian roulette with your gut,” Schulze says in the video.

A Warming World

A new report warns that climate change may push our planet over the edge

There have been thousands of studies published on climate change. The basic message of all those studies is: climate change is real, it is happening, and unless we’re very lucky, we’re not doing anywhere near enough to adapt to it.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently released a large-scale study that focuses on the impacts of climate change, ranging from the effects on endangered species to changes in agriculture. The new report demonstrates just how wide-ranging the effects of a warming world will be. “We have assessed impacts as they are happening in natural and human systems on all continents and oceans,” said Rajendra Pachauri of the IPCC. “No one on this planet will be untouched by climate change.

Sounding the Alarm

The report predicts with high confidence that the negative impacts of warming will be widespread. According to the study, glaciers will continue to shrink as the climate warms. Species on land and in the sea are shifting their range in response to warming, and some will face an increased risk of extinction. Health impacts will be felt from heat waves and from floods in low-lying areas. The seas will continue to become more acidic, destroying coral reefs.

But the report does not try to predict the exact extent of those effects. The world’s scientists are learning just how difficult it is to predict precisely how the planet will respond to rising carbon emissions and rising temperatures.  The report makes clear what can and cannot be known about a changing climate. And it puts climate change in the context of the countless other risks humans face.

A planet that is home to some 7 billion people is already a place that’s on the edge — and unchecked warming could help push us over.

Fascinating Frogs

A biologist talks to TFK about the slimy stars of a new aquarium exhibit

A new exhibit at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, New Jersey, is putting frogs on center-stage. The show, titled “Nature’s Messenger,” features amphibians from around the world and educates visitors about threat facing frogs. Biologist Lauren Hauber, who helped plan the exhibit, talked to TFK about the important role of frogs and other amphibians in our environment.

COURTESY ADVENTURE AQUARIUM

The waxy monkey frog, featured in the exhibit, is covered in a waxy substance that protects its skin.

TFK:

The exhibit has more than 20 species of frogs and other amphibians. Which one do you think is the most fascinating, and why?

LAUREN HAUBER:

The red-eye tree frog is the most popular because its eyes are so bright.

TFK:

Besides frogs, what other amphibians are part of the exhibit? 

HAUBER:

Salamanders, such as the greater siren, are also featured.

TFK:

Why did you decide to host the amphibian exhibit here at the Camden Aquarium?

HAUBER:

We only have two exhibits a year, and frogs were chosen because they are an important part of our environment. Frogs are a signal to people when things become unhealthy in the environment.

TFK:

Kid Reporter

Phoebe Weintraub

Why do scientists study frogs and other amphibians?

HAUBER:

Frogs are an indicator of the health of the environment. Studies on frogs help with medical cures of certain diseases. Since frogs breathe through their skin, they are more susceptible to changes in the environment.

TFK:

In the wild, are these creatures in danger of becoming extinct?

HAUBER:

Yes, they are. There is a fungus called chytrid, which is devastating populations of amphibians around the world. Frequently, pet frogs are released into the wild and disrupt the native populations. When they come in contact with other frogs, they can cause the spread of disease.

TFK:

What can kids do to help frogs and other amphibians?

HAUBER:

Prevent pollution. Don’t throw anything into rivers. Put your trash in the proper receptacles.

TFK:

For kids who don't live near the Camden Aquarium but who want to learn more about frogs, is there a website you recommend?

HAUBER:

You can go to the Frog Watch section of the website for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums for more information. Another website is www.savethefrogs.com.

Late Night Treat for Sky Gazers

On Tuesday, the first total lunar eclipse in three years will be visible across the U.S.

Attention all sky gazers: get ready for a beautiful moon to grace the night sky. Tonight, the first total lunar eclipse in more than three years will be visible throughout North and South America. And, it’s in color.

According to NASA, the total lunar eclipse will take place on the night of April 14–15. Most of the United States will be able to view it, National Public Radio reports. It will last 78 minutes, beginning at 3:06 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time and ending at 4:24 a.m. The U.S. Naval Observatory’s page has a handy link that allows you to input your city and figure out exactly when you’ll see the eclipse. People in the United States will not be able to witness a full lunar eclipse in its entirety again until 2019.

What You Need To Know

In a total lunar eclipse the Earth blocks the Sun’s light from reaching the Moon. The moon becomes dimly lit in an orange or red glow for about an hour, NASA says. Because of its color, it is often called a “Blood Moon.” That's from light around the edges of the Earth—essentially sunrises and sunsets — splashing on the lunar surface and faintly lighting up the moon, says Alan MacRobert, senior editor at Sky & Telescope magazine.

While a lunar eclipse last for a few hours, a total solar eclipse lasts for only a few minutes at any given place. Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are completely safe to watch. So, stargazers do not need special glasses to protect their eyes.

Over the next 18 months, there will be three more blood moons: October 8, 2014; April 4, 2015; and September 28, 2015. But scientists say blood moons are not common. Astronomers have a name for four complete lunar eclipses in a row that happen in six-month intervals—it's called a tetrad, NASA says. The tetrad has happened only three times in over 500 years. Before the dawn of the 20th century, there was a 300-year period when there were no tetrads at all.

"The most unique thing about the 2014–2015 tetrad is that all of them are visible for all or parts of the U.S.A.," longtime NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak said in a statement.

NASA’s Mission

There’s one downside to Tuesday’s lunar eclipse—it could damage a NASA spacecraft that’s been circling the moon since fall. The robotic orbiter is called Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer or LADEE (la-dee) for short. The science-collecting part of the mission was planned to finish in March but it went overtime. The orbiter was not designed to handle a lengthy eclipse. Scientists don't know if it will be able to withstand the cold temperature in the long eclipse. Even if it freezes up, LADEE will crash into the far side of the moon the following week as planned, after successfully completing its science mission. Scientists expect LADEE's final day to occur on or before April 21.

NASA has set up a live web chat starting at 1 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Tuesday to answer questions about the eclipse.

Saturn’s Baby Moon

A NASA space probe spots a possible new moon for the ringed planet

NASA put the first human on the moon in 1969. Should America’s space agency ever set its sights on landing an astronaut on a moon of Saturn, there are plenty to choose from. The ringed planet has 53 known moons. And another one may be on the way. NASA’s Cassini-Huygens space probe has spotted a small shape in Saturn’s outermost ring. It suggests the existence of a new moon. The moon has not been directly spotted yet, but scientists have already given it a nickname: Peggy.

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Saturn is known as "the ringed planet" because it has thousands of rings made of rock, ice and dust.

Moon Maker

The probe’s findings were just published in the journal Icarus. Cassini has been observing the ringed planet and its surroundings since 2004. Saturn is a big and powerful world. With a diameter of 74,732 miles, it is 9 ½ times the size of Earth. It spins very quickly, and takes only 11 hours to rotate fully on its axis. The planet is located about 885.9 million miles from the sun and has an average temperature of -285 degrees Fahrenheit.Brrrr!

Peggy will be joining a large community. Saturn has thousands of rings. The outermost ring, called the A Ring, is the largest and brightest. It measures 750 miles long and 6 miles wide.  Saturn’s rings are made up of rock, dust and ice, and are constantly gathering space matter. As this material gathers and clumps together, moons are born.

Room to Grow

If Peggy is a new moon, it is also a tiny one, measuring only 0.5 miles in diameter. But there is no telling how big this baby will grow over time. “We’ve never seen anything like this before,” said astronomer Carl Murray in a statement. He is the lead author of theIcarus report. “We may be looking at the act of birth, where this object is leaving the rings and heading off to be a moon in its own right.” Once that happens, it will be given a formal name.

However, this mini moon may be one of Saturn’s last. The formation of all its moons, new and old, big and small, has used up much of the rings’ raw material. After 4.5 billion years, Saturn may have finally revealed all its babies.