Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Science
Related: About this forumAntarctic 'pole of ignorance' finally addressed
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38333629Antarctic 'pole of ignorance' finally addressed
By Jonathan Amos
BBC Science Correspondent, San Francisco
15 December 2016
From the section Science & Environment
The last major unknown region on Earth has just been surveyed: the South Pole. Although the Americans have had a base at the bottom of the planet for decades, what lies underneath the thick ice there has been a mystery. Now, European scientists have flown instruments back and forth across the pole to map its hidden depths. As well as finding previously unknown valleys and mountains, the team says it has acquired important data that will have uses far from Antarctica.
Known as PolarGAP, the project was largely funded by the European Space Agency (Esa) to gather measurements over an area of Earth that its satellites cannot see, as they generally only fly up to about 83 degrees in latitude. In particular, Esa wanted to understand the pole's gravity field, to complete the dataset gathered by its recent gravity-sensing spacecraft, GOCE. But in plugging this data hole, the project has also now helped scientists to realise their century-long quest to describe how the pull of gravity varies across the entire Earth.
Prof René Forsberg from the National Space Institute at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU-Space) said gravity data was fundamental knowledge needed to understand height across the planet. GPS and other satellite systems depended on having a universal reference, he explained.
(snip)
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
3 replies, 2143 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (9)
ReplyReply to this post
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Antarctic 'pole of ignorance' finally addressed (Original Post)
nitpicker
Dec 2016
OP
Wounded Bear
(58,654 posts)1. K & R ...... nt
pscot
(21,024 posts)2. I thought Capitol Hill
was the 'Pole of Ignorance'.
lastlib
(23,233 posts)3. centered on Louie Gohmert's office.......