Antarctica

Marine algae blooms like these in the northern Ross Sea are often vast enough to be visible from space.

Who Owns Antarctica's Pristine Oceans?

How humans finally stopped squabbling and protected one of the world's most pristine marine areas

Blood Falls

Antarctica's Blood Falls Helps Unravel the Inner Workings of Glaciers

A new study maps the path of the water that feeds the falls and explores how water can exist under the ice

Gentoo penguin takes on a slope near its nesting colony.

A Penguin Colony's Rise and Fall, Recorded in Poop

A nearby volcano has decimated the gentoo colony on Ardley Island three times

View out of the window during the inaugural Flight to the Lights

New Charter Flight Takes Passengers to See the Southern Lights

The first "Flight to the Lights" took 130 skygazers to get up close with the Aurora Australis

The latest iteration of the four-legged LEMUR exploration robot clings to a test rock surface in Aaron Parness’ lab in a recent test of its microspine capabilities.

A New Generation of Interplanetary Rovers Is Crawling Toward the Stars

These four-legged, wheel-less robots will explore asteroids and the frigid outer worlds of our Solar System

A wide view of the rift in Larsen C as seen on November 10, 2016. The crack has since lengthened by about 12 miles.

An Iceberg Larger Than Rhode Island Is Poised to Break From Antarctica

Its break from the ice shelf could spell trouble for the frozen expanse

Johanna Davidsson training in Norway

Swedish Woman Smashes Record for Skiing Solo to the South Pole

Skiing for 38 days, 23 hours and 5 minutes Johanna Davidsson beat the previous record by almost 10 hours

Cherry-Garrard during the Scott expedition

This Catastrophic Polar Journey Resulted in One of the Best Adventure Books Ever Written

Apsley Cherry-Garrard's travel memoir is still the one to beat, and not only because it features penguins

At the top of Dome A, an unmanned research station, is a smattering of antenna masts, small shipping containers, scientific equipment and a lot of footprints that take years for the snow and meager wind to cover up.

The Coldest, Driest, Most Remote Place on Earth Is the Best Place to Build a Radio Telescope

This remote Antarctic field station is an ice-covered arid desert, perfect for peering deep into space

View from under the sea ice of the Ross Sea, Antarctica.

World's Largest Marine Sanctuary Declared Off Coast of Antarctica

The 25 parties to the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources voted to protect 600,000 square miles of the Ross Sea

Rendering of Vegavis iaai in flight

Antarctic Fossil Suggests Ancient Birds Honked Not Sang

Recent analysis of two fossils provides the first evidence of ancient noisemakers

Are these kinds of experiences worth the carbon footprint?

Visiting Melting Glaciers Can Be Profound. But Is It Morally Wrong?

How to weigh the moral costs of your climate change tour

A drone shot of a researcher collecting data on cryoconite holes on the Greenland Ice Sheet.

The Tiny World of Glacier Microbes Has an Outsized Impact on Global Climate

Microbes living on glaciers collectively cover an area the size of New Hampshire—and they could have a big influence on global climate

Climate Change Could Devastate Penguin Populations by Century's End

Loss of ice and rising sea temperatures could impact 60 percent of the Adelie penguin colonies in Antarctica

Chris Torres and Eric Gorscak take in the scenery at Cape Lamb—scenery that included lots of fossils.

Fossil Hunters Uncover 71-Million-Year-Old Trove in Antarctica

After a plane flight, boat ride, helicopter lift and a lot of hiking, the scientists returned with a massive cache of fossils

What's Over the Horizon? These New Maps Will Show You

Andy Woodruff's line of sight maps show what you're facing from any coastline in the world

Shackleton brought everything from trashy novels to accounts of Arctic rescues with him to Antarctica.

Historians Finally Figured Out What Was on Shackleton’s Bookshelf

The brave explorer likely found solace in his library

Emperor penguin chicks huddle for warmth. New research shows that huddling behavior, or aggregation, may vary across penguin colonies.

Here's the Latest on Penguins

From invasive "fairies" to huddling chicks, penguins are the perfect pick-me-up

Are you a global citizen? Then you might need one of these.

You Can Get an Antarctic Passport

Pledge your loyalty to the southernmost continent—and to the ideals of peace, equality and sustainability

Polar explorer Henry Worsley (right) with Prince William of Britain in October, 2015.

Antarctic Explorer Dies 30 Miles Short of Goal

Henry Worsley nearly crossed Antarctica, unaided

Page 7 of 10