Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 12/10/2009 - 13:09
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IceCube: In-ice Antarctic Telescope

More questions from 6th Period Physics to Mr. O’Hara

CHRIS Z: Are the tastes in meals there altered from where we are in terms of quality?

Gino: Do you choose when what you eat?

Kenton: How good is the chocolate soft-serve on a fresh brownie?

Steve: What do you eat more: crab or soft serve ice cream?

Tori: Why would they need to deliver cables around the South Pole?

Mackenzie: Why is there a scrap cathedral tunnel and what is it used for?

Josie: Does the wood that you use for the project have no effect from the cold?

Martin: Is it dangerous in a whiteout?

Patrick: Is the elevation affecting your breathing at all?

Lauren and Sammi H.: What is the immediate effect of this expedition to the rest of the world?

James and AJ: What is the significance of spoolhenge?

Sun, 12/13/2009 - 11:22

Casey OHara

Hi class! It was good to hear from some of you on Friday! Here are some quick answers:
Gino, Chris - re: Food - The food is good here, for cafeteria-style. It's not as good as a fine restaurant but it's much better than what you'd expect from being in the middle of a frozen wasteland.  There are 4 meal times a day (3 on weekends) but if you get hungry in between, you can stop by the galley (it's always open) and help yourself to cereal, snacks, leftovers from previous meals...
Steve and Kenton - The crab was a special occasion, not an every-day or even every-week thing.  I wish Frosty Boy was working so I could have more ice cream.  But it's been broken pretty much the entire time I've been here except for about 2 days early on.  But that brownie with soft serve was TASTY!
Tori - the cables are used for the research projects, mostly for IceCube, to get power and data to and from the detectors and to the IceCube Lab where they run all the computers.  That's probably the biggest use of the cables.  Other cables are all over for supplying power to other parts of the station.
Mackenzie, James, and AJ - the scrap cathedral I think is just a "decoration" - someone got creative with the old parts they pulled out, and instead of piling them up in an ugly way they made a little structure.  I don't think it's used for anything.  Spoolhenge is about the same.  It's good I got pictures of Spoolhenge because now they're taking it apart!
Josie - the wood is affected by cold, just like the other materials, but it still stays pretty strong because the fibers in the wood hold their strength.
Martin - whiteouts can be very dangerous if you are away from base.  Near the station, paths and roads are marked with flags to help you find your way back, but out in the middle of nowhere, you'd be in big trouble if you didn't have a radio to call for help.
Patrick - yes, the elevation still affects my breathing - but I'm getting more used to it.  When I return to sea level, I should be able to run and exercise much better for a while until my body re-adjusts.
Lauren and Sammi - this is a tough question.  IceCube's effect won't be apparent for years, they will be collecting data for a long time before they get conclusive evidence.  They are planning to gather evidence for 20 years, though they might make discoveries sooner than that.  And even then, the average person probably won't be affected by it - we aren't looking for neutrinos for any real reason other than understanding the universe better.  Maybe we'll learn more about cool stuff like black holes and what happens when two galaxies collide.
One good thing that often comes out of scientific or military research is that maybe some technology they invented or perfected for IceCube might be really useful - such as CERN inventing the world-wide web, or NASA taking a little-known invention like Velcro and making it useful for everyday life. (not to mention, without NASA we probably wouldn't have freeze-dried ice cream!)
see you all soon!
--O'Hara