My engineering students typed up this list of questions for you - sorry for the repeats from one class to another, but they all wanted to hear about the food! I told them I am jealous - I did not get to go in the Ob Tube on my trip, and I didn't see any penguins!

3rd period questions 1. what are the ice cube reels used for? Mackenzie 2. What type of vehicles are down there? Charles 3. How long do the supplies last? Sergio 4. How do they get large equipment down there? Dustin 5. What's a berm? Samuel 6. When was the telescope created? Claudio 7. What is going to be done with all the gathered information? Conner 8. What's the purpose of discovering neutrinos? Andre 9. What is the purpose of the Ob tube? Daniel 10. What kind of dangerous animals are down there? Brandon 11. What can be done about the melting of ice sheets? Stephan 12. How and where were neutrinos discovered? Emma 13. How did you prepare yourself for the trip? Sammi 14. What is the food like? Colin 15. are there any pets down there? Zach 16. What are you getting out of the trip? Mackenzie

Stay warm!

Katey Shirey

Dear Mr. O'Hara's 3rd period! Great questions. Here goes nothing:1. what are the ice cube reels used for? Mackenzie
The reels are very large cords wound up on spools. They store the cables in spools until they're ready to deploy down the holes drilled in the ice. Each cord is 2.5 km long and there are 80 strings.
2. What type of vehicles are down there? Charles
Charles, I'm inspired! Please look out for a vehicles post.
3. How long do the supplies last? Sergio
We have lots of supplies here, some for the station and some for the science project IceCube. The supplies for the station are replenished every day during the summer (that's now) but during the winter season (after March) they aren't replenished until late October. So there has to be enough here to last that whole time. Right now we get "freshies" (fresh produce) every week or so.
4. How do they get large equipment down there? Dustin
Large equipment comes on the same big C-17 Hercules planes that the people come down in. The planes come in twice a day during this summer season. You should check out the journals I posted about getting down here. There was some really big stuff on my planes! A friend's plane had a whole helicopter on it!
5. What's a berm? Samuel
A berm is a long line of equipment or supplies out in camp. The berms are cataloged and used for storage because there's just not room for everything inside a building here. All the stuff in the berms must be frozen so there are a few places here that are DNF (Do Not Freeze) but mostly everything is stored frozen here out in a long line called a berm.
6. When was the telescope created? Claudio
An earlier version of IceCube caled AMANDA was built in 1995. It lasted until 2000. IceCube deployed its first string in 2004 and will be finished this year.
7. What is going to be done with all the gathered information? Conner
We're hoping that the information we gather about neutrinos will inform us about extra-galactic events like supernovae, black holes, gamma ray bursts and even the Big Bang.
8. What's the purpose of discovering neutrinos? Andre
We have already discovered neutrinos-they were predicted to account for a huge amount of energy discharged from nuclear fusion in 1930 by Wolfgang Pauli. We've been detecting them since the 1950s. Now we're hoping that they'll give us information we can't find anywhere else, information from the farthest reaches of the universe without interruption.
9. What is the purpose of the Ob tube? Daniel
So we can experience being under the ice! Check out my journal on the ob tube, that should help make it make sense.
10. What kind of dangerous animals are down there? Brandon
There are no dangerous animals at the South Pole, in fact, there are no animals at the South Pole at all, only humans. Really. There's no food here, no bacteria here, no hospitable environment for animals to exist. There are animals on the coasts of Antarctica: penguins, seals, fish, whales, birds. But there are no animals here, not even bugs, not even birds.
11. What can be done about the melting of ice sheets? Stephan
There are lots of things that we can do to stop global warming, but most of the things we can "do" trace back to reducing the amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to reduce the greenhouse effect in our atmosphere. Using less gas emits less new carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere. Planting a tree will help to recpature carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into carbon in trees. Using nuclear power will reduce the need for fossil fuels which will reduce carbon emissions. Trying to sequester carbon dioxide at the bottom of the ocean will reduce the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Basically everything they say you should do: recycle, use less water, walk more, and eat less beef (it uses more resources than you would imagine!), will all help to reduce global warming and stop the melting of ice sheets.
12. How and where were neutrinos discovered? Emma
Hey Emma, see #8. Also, the first real detection project saw neutrinos off of a nuclear reactor using a device with water and reverse light bulbs. It was done in 1956 by Cowan and Reines and was called "Project Poltergeist." It was called that because before that neutrinos were undetectable so they are called "ghost particles." They're still referred to as ghost particles sometimes, even though IceCube, and other experiments around the world, detect hundreds of neutrino events every day--and that's just through a few detector arrays on our little planet Earth!
13. How did you prepare yourself for the trip? Sammi
I prepared for this trip by training in Physics, learning about IceCube, practicing how to teach about these topics, and even taking a class in outdoor survival. In total I've been waiting several years to come down so I was very prepared mentally.
14. What is the food like? Colin
The food rocks! Get ready for a journal on Thanksgiving feasting.
15. are there any pets down there? Zach
No, there are no pets here. I miss my favorite dog friends, Charlie, Julia, Cosmo and Lucca, though. They all live in and around DC.
16. What are you getting out of the trip? Mackenzie
I'm having the trip of a lifetime but it's also very hard work. I've learned a ton of cool, modern Physics--both IceCube stuff and other stuff. I've flown on military aircraft and met some fantastic people. Plus, I'm at the South Pole! How cool is that?