Office of Polar Programs (OPP) Discoveries

NSF's public investment in science, engineering, education and technology helps to create knowledge and sustain prosperity. Read here about the Internet, microbursts, Web browsers, extrasolar planets, and more... a panoply of discoveries and innovations that began with NSF support.

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		Glacier Movement Limits How Fast Sea Level Can Rise Study finds 3 to 6 feet by 2100 possible Released  September 18, 2008
		A Season at the Penguin Ranch in Antarctica A veteran Antarctic researcher talks about the whys and hows of studying the diving physiology and behavior of emperor penguins on the "Ice" Released  May 19, 2008
		How Desert Dust Feeds the World's Oceans Scientists sample dust and trace metals in seawater to learn more about climatic change Released  May 9, 2008
		High School Students Build Antarctic Submersible Two female high school graduates build an underwater, camera-equipped "rover" that can operate beneath polar ice Released  April 14, 2008
		2007: Year in Review A look back at some of the NSF-supported advances and activities reported last year Released  January 30, 2008
		Clues to Waterproof Glue Found in Antarctic Creature Understanding how forams build their shells could lead to stronger biological adhesives Released  January 2, 2008
		Getting to the Core of Climate Change Graduate student tells how University at Buffalo geologists communicate their research on climatic change and its impact to local people Released  October 26, 2007
		Demise of Antarctic Ice Shelf Reveals New Life A research expedition to the site of the former Larsen B ice shelf leads to the discovery of an underwater habitat surviving in the most extreme conditions Released  July 26, 2007
		2006: Year in Review A look back at some of the NSF-supported activities highlighted last year Released  January 9, 2007
		Cold Flashes: Astrophysics at the South Pole What one scientist calls the world’s weirdest telescope was built to detect high-energy particles, not the light from distant stars. In 1997, AMANDA recorded the first precise map of neutrinos from outer space as they zipped through Antarctic ice. Released  October 13, 2004
		Scientists Use Seals as "Underwater Eyes" By employing Weddell seals as "spies" through novel use of technology, Antarctic researchers have gained new insights into the behavior of two little-known fish species. Released  July 30, 2004
		Arctic Carbon a Potential Wild Card in Climate Change Scenarios An international team of scientists has determined that most of the 28 million tons of carbon that enters the Arctic Ocean each year is young and unlikely to affect the global climate balance. However, Arctic warming trends could change the equation. Released  July 30, 2004
		Arctic Thaw May Release Greenhouse Gases from Siberian Peat Bogs Siberian peat bogs, the frozen home of untold kilometers of moss and hordes of mosquitoes, are huge repositories for gases that are thought to play an important role in the Earth's climate balance, according to a team of U.S. and Russian scientists. Released  July 27, 2004
		Antarctic Treasure: The Underwater Images of Norbert Wu Each year NSF enables a select group of artists to visit Antarctica. Norbert Wu, a world-renowned photographer and cinematographer, returned with new views of an otherworldly realm in his spectacular high definition film, "Under Antarctic Ice." Released  July 9, 2004
		Antarctica Yields Two Unknown Dinosaur Species Antarctic researchers in separate sites, thousands of miles apart, find what they believe are the fossilized remains of two species of dinosaurs previously unknown to science. Released  June 9, 2004
		Bacteria May Thrive in Antarctica's Buried Lake Vostok Two investigations suggest that bacteria may thrive in Lake Vostok, a suspected lake thousands of meters below the Antarctic ice sheet -- and that microbes could thrive in similarly hostile solar system outposts, such as Jupiter's icy moon, Europa. Released  December 9, 2003