Experiencing Antarctica

From: Andrew Hiller
Length: 08:50

There are places in Antarctica so thick with meteorites that you can find them like a child would shells on the beach. Others plunge into the ice and extract 3 meter cylinders which they read like the layers of sediment, but the oddest thing about Antarctica may be its sensory starvation diet. No smells. Few colors. And only the sound you bring and that of the whipping wind. Read the full description.

Piece Audio

Playing: Experiencing Antarctica
From: Andrew Hiller

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Sometimes the need to escape the heat and humidity of a D.C. summer can be taken to extremes. Witness a decision made by a pair of scientists to summer in Antarctica. (OK, so 'summer' on the frozen continent goes from November through February. You caught us.)

The scientists are with the Smithsonian Institution and their work ranges from studying climate and meteorites, to researching the very origin of the universe. And even though they're back in D.C. as Andrew Hiller reports, the memory of their trip continues to keep them cool.

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Piece Description

Sometimes the need to escape the heat and humidity of a D.C. summer can be taken to extremes. Witness a decision made by a pair of scientists to summer in Antarctica. (OK, so 'summer' on the frozen continent goes from November through February. You caught us.)

The scientists are with the Smithsonian Institution and their work ranges from studying climate and meteorites, to researching the very origin of the universe. And even though they're back in D.C. as Andrew Hiller reports, the memory of their trip continues to keep them cool.

Broadcast History

Metro Connection, WAMU 88.5 FM

Transcript

Partial Transcript

VO: Maria Banks is a fellow with the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies - - at the National Air and Space Museum. She says living in Antarctica was the experience of a lifetime…

Banks: You have very tiny, very dry ice crystals on top of the snow and as the sun hits it they reflect that light almost like a diamond sparkling. You have very tiny, very dry ice crystals on top of the snow and as the sun hits it they reflect that light almost like a diamond sparkling and it’s just like walking through a field of thousands of diamonds as far as you can see and also you would get these little ice crystals floating in the air around you and they would also reflect the light and and kind of flash as they would zip past you around in the air.

VO: Curator for Antarctic Meteors with the National Museum of Natural History, Cari Corrigan:

Corrigan: It’s phenom...
Read the full transcript

Intro and Outro

INTRO:

Sometimes the need to escape the heat and humidity of a D.C. summer can be taken to extremes. Witness a decision made by a pair of scientists to summer in Antarctica. (OK, so 'summer' on the frozen continent goes from November through February. You caught us.)

The scientists are with the Smithsonian Institution and their work ranges from studying climate and meteorites, to researching the very origin of the universe. And even though they're back in D.C. ... as Andrew Hiller reports, the memory of their trip continues to keep them cool.

OUTRO: