The Future of Antarctica... Going Green?

Well, it looks like Antarctica will have more of a 'Big Science' approach instead of just doing little projects. McMurdo Station might be going green to cut down fuel costs, decrease pollution, and make living there much more habitable. There will be tons of new robots that are expected to do a lot of the "heavy lifting" since it costs way too much to keep people down there and transport them around. There is also a possibility that the National Science Foundation will tap into an active volcano in Antarctica (Mt. Erebus) for geothermal heat that can run turbines and produce electricity. Later this year, the first solar panels will be installed. There will also be more nation-to-nation collaboration to get things done.

news.discovery.com...

S&F

My eldest two(11 & 9) are now designing robots to sell to scientists on Antarctica. No doubt the plans will include some sort of ice-cream dispenser.

I don't think they saw the humour when I told them that the robots had to be idiot proof.

reply to post by OccamAssassin




Are they going to make them look like WALL-E?...

Actually this is a good thing not just for green tech but for space tech. Antarctica is the proving ground for technology's that will one day be in use all around the solar system and eventually the average persons home. Just like Tang

Also the robotic tech will be the most important for the future as it will get rid of manual labor for most of humanity in the future. Plus one day robots will be used to start new colonies of people. And yes ice cream making robots will indeed be used most likely at amusement parks in the future.

Originally posted by Dinoking
Actually this is a good thing not just for green tech but for space tech. Antarctica is the proving ground for technology's that will one day be in use all around the solar system and eventually the average persons home.

Very cool

Here's something I came across that I found pretty interesting... Emperor penguins in Antarctica were counted from space using satellite mapping... www.bbc.co.uk...




Now I'm in the mood for a perfectly crafted scoop of ice cream...