Three new stamps featuring Antarctic landscapes have been issued by the Republic of San Marino on November 18th to celebrate the fourth International Polar Year. San Marino is one of the oldest republics in the world (it was created in 301 AD) as well as one of the smallest (61 Km2, with a population of 30,000). It is landlocked between the regions of Emilia-Romagna and Marche, in Italy. The Philatelic Bureau of the Republic of San Marino was created in 1981, but the republic issued the the first stamp back in 1877. The three IPY stamps were designed by Marco Mussoni, with photos taken by Lucia Simion, professional photograher and science writer specialized on Antarctica and the subantarctic. The three new stamps' dimensions are 30 x 40 mm; they feature Mount Melbo...

By Hayley Hung, INCATPA The IPY INCATPA (INterContinental Atmospheric Transport of Anthropogenic Pollutants to the Arctic) project has completed its first results workshop, held in Toronto, Canada, from September 31 - October 2, 2008. The workshop was attended by 34 participants and partners including international collaborators from China, Vietnam, Russia, U.S. and U.K. Presentations, discussions and activities during the 3-day workshop focused on current status of sampling activities, challenges and strategies for the next several months. Timelines were built for data submission and QA/QC. Achievements that were highlighted at the workshop included: Air sampling activities for persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and mercury (Hg) have been ini...

Dai Ghiacci allo Spazio — The history of the Navy Officer Carl Weyprecht and of the development of his international scientific research project in the political and cultural context of the 19th century, and up to the present IPY, IGY, IYPE, eGY and IHY. Published in Italian by Biblion Edizioni in 2008. The First International Polar Year was born from an idea of the Austro-Hungarian Naval lieutenant, Carl Weyprecht. Coming back to Trieste, Italy, from his expedition in the Arctics, Weyprecht developed his plan ...

On Sept 1 it was announced in Melbourne that Meredith Hooper won the Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-Fiction 2008 for her book ,The Ferocious Summer, (Profile Books UK, Allen & Unwin Australia, Greystone Books USA and Canada). These prestigious awards were established in 1985 by the Premier of Victoria to mark the centenary of the births of Vance and Nettie Palmer – distinguished writers and critics in Victorian and Australian literary culture. Meredith’s citation reads: This book effortlessly gives the reader a lucid yet crucial understanding of what climate change is doing to penguins in the Antarctic and by extension to our world. Important information is engrossingly conveyed on every page through the engaging yet unsentimental voice of a super...

While most biologists relish field studies, computer scientists are more known to spend long hours indoors, logged on the Internet, eating pizza. What happens when computer scientists and biologists team up to deploy an advanced monitoring system in the arctic? No pizza, no Internet, and beautiful, unpredictable nature — how does a computer scientist cope in the arctic? This is the story of the MANA diary, which gathered the impressions of an outsider during a 10 days stay at Zackenberg, Greenland, last August: from the logistics problems, the encounter with a polar bear, or outdoors volleyball to the amazing sight of a three-mast. ...

The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has released a second set of sea ice animations for Google Earth. As before the images are available in 30- 60- and 90-day animations of sea ice concentration and extent. While the first set of animations, released in late August, are based on data from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) on the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) F13 satellite, the new set is based on data from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) sensor on NASA's Aqua satellite. The significant differences between the two datasets are: AMSR-E has twice the resolution as SSM/I (12.5km vs 25km) and AMSR-E has a wider swath so there is better coverage near the pole. Monthly average sea ice...

The Prince Albert II of Monaco foundation is financing the participation of scientists and students in the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Aquatic Sciences Meeting to be held in Nice, France, Jan 25-30, for the Topical Session 054: Impacts of Climate Warming on Polar Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. As a result of this financing, 12 fellowships worth 1000 euros each are available, to be used to finance the participation in this polar session of 12 scientists from developing countries, countries bordering the southern Mediterranean, or students. If you are eligible, please, contact the co-chairs of the 054 Topical session after confirmation of your abstract submission (...

From October through December of 2008, the Offshore New Harbor Expedition will seismically image sediments located below the sea floor in the New Harbor area of Antarctica that were deposited when the Earth was transitioning from a Greenhouse World (>34 million years ago) to an Icehouse World (34 Ma to Today). This project is part of the ANDRILL Program (ANtarctic DRILLing), a multinational initiative with the objective to recover stratigraphic core records for the use of interpreting Antarctic’s climatic, glacial, and tectonic hi..

From October through December of 2008, the Offshore New Harbor Expedition will seismically image sediments located below the sea floor in the New Harbor area of Antarctica that were deposited when the Earth was transitioning from a Greenhouse World (>34 million years ago) to an Icehouse World (34 Ma to Today). This project is part of the ANDRILL Program (ANtarctic DRILLing), a multinational initiative with the objective to recover stratigraphic core records for the use of interpreting Antarctic's climatic, glacial, and tectonic hi...

The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) - Sixth Continent Initiative fellowship 2008 award has just been granted to the Hungarian Ramón Hegedüs. The marine environment around Antarctica offers unique possibilities for studying the adaptations of visually-based animal navigation systems and foraging techniques. Currently working on a PhD in statistical and biological physics, this 26-year-old intends to investigate 'The role of polarized skylight in animal navigation and foraging in the Antarctic'.In his abstract research plan, Ramón explains that migration between h...