It transports far more than 100 times as much water as all of the Earth’s rivers combined: The Antarctic Circumpolar Current rushes around the southern continent unhindered by land masses […]
polar
Posted inAlpha Centauri, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Desert Worlds, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Press Release
Icy Flow In A Crater On Mars
The material on the floor of this crater appears to have flowed like ice, and contains pits that might result from sublimation of subsurface ice. The surface is entirely dust-covered […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Status Report
South Polar Layered Terrain On Mars
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was captured into Mars orbit on 10 March 2006. Exactly 20 years later on 10 March 2026, we acquired this image of the South Polar layered […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Ice World Expedition: Drilling Through Thwaites Glacier In West Antarctica
A team of researchers from the UK and Korea has reached the most inaccessible and least-understood part of Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica where they will drill through the glacier […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Cryobiology, Extinction events, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Understanding Snowball Earth Extreme Climates
In the whole history of Earth’s climate, few events are as extreme as those that geologists call “Snowball Earth.”
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Status Report
Ice Planet Recon: Looking For Avalanches At Mars’ North Pole
The North Polar Layered Deposits (NPLD) are large layered deposits of dusty water-ice in the northern polar region of Mars. The layering we see is caused mainly by slight variations […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Video, Audio, Webcasts, Podcasts, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Crossovers In Ice Planet Exploration – Earth, Europa, And Beyond
Keith’s note: On 11 February 2026 NOVA PBS Host / NewsHour reporter Miles O’Brien conducted a live broadcast from a ship in the southern ocean around Antarctica where Thwaites glacier […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Sample Return, Status Report
Cytoplasmic Fluidity And The Cold Life: Proteome Stability Is Decoupled From Viability In Psychrophiles
Protein diffusion, critical for cellular metabolism, occurs in the highly crowded cytoplasm. Understanding how this dynamics changes when organisms are adapted to different thermal niches is a fundamental challenge in […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Icy Worlds, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Space Dust Reveals Arctic Ice Conditions Before Satellite Imaging
Arctic sea ice has declined by more than 42% since 1979, when regular satellite monitoring began. As the ice grows thinner and recedes, more water is exposed to sunlight.
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Ice Planet Research: More Polar Ocean Turbulence Due To Planetary Warming
A study published in the journal Nature Climate Change by an international team of scientists, from the IBS Center for Climate Physics (ICCP) at Pusan National University in South Korea, […]