Wasn’t last week the last week of the year at the South Pole? Hmm, we thought so, but guess not—so this must be it, with activities covering the end of 2024 and reaching into the beginning of 2025. All of the IceCube people at the South Pole got together for a nice group photo on […]
The nature of dark matter—roughly 85% of all matter in the universe—is one of the most important unresolved questions in modern physics. Thus far, no experiment has been able to determine what dark matter is made of. A possible candidate for dark matter are the hypothesized weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), which hardly interact with […]
The last week of the year at the South Pole was as busy as ever, with all kinds of activity, especially with the IceCube Upgrade. The Upgrade crew has been making good, steady progress despite earlier delays with both cargo and personnel. Clear skies, heavy machinery, and large cable spools are an indication of what […]
Another week, another sun halo—this time complete with sun dogs! The ceremonial pole marker blocking the sun gives some added interest to the photo’s composition. Last week was busy at the Pole, especially out at the IceCube Lab, where all kinds of work was going on, including for ARA, IceAct, IceCube’s surface array, and the […]
Now that’s a nice sun halo! It seems to occupy the whole sky above the IceCube Upgrade seasonal equipment site, on the left, and the IceCube Lab, off to the right. There’s a different, “high-up” view of the same sites shown below, taken from a departing flight last week. Yes, people are still coming and […]
Busy, busy,…busy! There was a lot going on at the Pole last week. The South Pole traverse (SPOT) arrived, delivering much needed fuel along with other cargo. The above image shows the first group of SPOT vehicles arriving over the ice, with additional vehicles off in the distance. In the austral summer, SPOT expeditions run […]
IceCube collaborator and Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) Professor Gwenhaël Wilberts Dewasseige was recently elected to the prestigious Collegium of the Royal Academy of Belgium in the Class of Sciences. The Collegium, a subdivision of the Royal Academy of Belgium, is made up of researchers under the age of 40 who have demonstrated significant achievement […]
Extremely energetic charged particles called cosmic rays are accelerated by violent cosmic objects before raining down on Earth from all directions. Protons and heavier nuclei make up these cosmic rays, which can then collide with other particles in the atmosphere to produce secondary particles that cascade into so-called “air showers.” For more than a century, […]
Last week at the Pole there was a mix of activities. First up was a short visit from a small group of NSF personnel and Congressional staffers. They arrived on a small plane and spent several hours at the Pole—with a tour of the B2 science lab, several presentations, and some outdoor photo ops—before heading […]
It was on the quiet side last week at the Pole. Weather and other delays kept incoming flights to a minimum. Only one LC-130 flight arrived last week, and unfortunately it was not carrying any IceCube cargo, which added to the quietness of the week for IceCube’s summer staff currently at the Pole. Still, there’s […]