This group is all smiles, so it looks like they survived their 14-hour journey following Frodo and Sam from the Shire to Mount Doom. Well, “follow” in this case means doing cardio for the duration of the movies’ combined run times. This was their “Walk to Mordor,” which was preceded a while back by a […]
The window of good weather that IceCube’s winterovers were waiting for arrived, so last week saw the installation of the IceAct telescope. Half a dozen station members came out to assist the winterovers in the operation. There’s lots of helping out at the South Pole, especially with the small crew during the winter. They still […]
When cosmic rays crash into the Earth’s atmosphere, air showers containing atmospheric muons and neutrinos are produced that rain down on Earth. During their journey, atmospheric neutrinos can morph or “oscillate” between three different flavors: electron, muon, and tau. These neutrinos can interact weakly with other particles and, thus, are still observable by detectors such […]
You may have seen one midwinter at the Pole, but that doesn’t mean you’ve seen them all. Although it’s an annual tradition, each year’s crew puts their individual spin on this celebratory event, whether in the details of the formal table settings (notice fresh flowers from the greenhouse) or in the planned activities that follow […]
Neutrinos are tiny, nearly massless particles that traverse long distances across the universe, interacting with matter only through the weak force. They come in three different types, or “flavors”—electron, muon, and tau—and during their journey through the atmosphere and the Earth can transform, or “oscillate,” from one flavor to another. Over the last few decades, […]
Ever since high-energy astrophysical neutrinos were first observed in 2013, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole has been hunting for their astronomical sources. Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are promising candidates as sources of astrophysical neutrinos given their very high levels of electromagnetic emission—from radio waves to gamma rays—that can outshine their host galaxies […]
Almost two years ago, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole announced evidence for high-energy neutrinos spewing from the “nearby” active galaxy NGC 1068. NGC 1068 is an active galactic nucleus (AGN) with a central, supermassive black hole that actively gobbles up surrounding matter. Classified as a Seyfert galaxy, NGC 1068 is not dominated […]
That’s the IceCube Lab after dark, showing off its form as it’s backlit by red lights and standing under a multitude of stars overhead. The IceCube Lab—or ICL, as it’s called—is the building that houses all the computers collecting raw data from the detector. The silos on either side are where the cables come up […]
The photos from last week are all indoor shots, but clearly auroras aren’t the only source of color at the Pole. Last week the station celebrated a New Orleans–themed cocktail party, hosted by the SPT and BICEP winterovers. Décor and dress code were in the spirit of Mardi Gras (colorful), and all attendees enjoyed an […]
This year, over 200 students across 20 research institutions in Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Thailand, Sweden, and the United States participated in the eleventh edition of IceCube Masterclass. The masterclasses were held between the months of January and May, with many of them running an in-person program. This year, the University of Utah and Chiang […]