Special Feature

Podcast: Life at the South Pole Science Station

Physics 16, 51
Two physicists and a chef talk about the joys and challenges of spending the entire polar winter at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station.
Artsiom P/stock.adobe.com; adapted by APS/Alan Stonebraker

LISTEN HERE, ON APPLE PODCASTS, OR ON OTHER PODCAST PLATFORMS.

In this episode of This is Physics, Physics Magazine speaks with two researchers and a chef who have spent the entire polar night at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station. The two researchers work with telescopes observing the cosmic microwave background.

Podcast host Julie Gould speaks with the following guests: Thomas Leps, BICEP/NSF/University of Minnesota; Allen Foster, SPT/NSF/Case Western Reserve University; Kelly Murphy, breakfast/pastry sous-chef, NSF.

Music credit: Symphony Antarctica (excerpts from The Seasons: I. Summer and IV. Spring; Telescopes to the Stars: III. Cosmic Strings and IV. Quiet Nights) by Valmar Kurol and Michael Stibor. The symphony is the duo’s fourth album inspired by Antarctica.

–Julie Gould

Julie Gould is a freelance science journalist and podcast producer based in London.


Recent Articles

Some White Dwarfs Might be Older than Previously Thought

Some White Dwarfs Might be Older than Previously Thought

A process that reheats some white dwarfs might mean they are much older than previously thought, indicating a potential need to recalculate the age of stellar populations such as the Milky Way. Read More »

Seeing Collisions in Cold Molecular Clouds
Atomic and Molecular Physics

Seeing Collisions in Cold Molecular Clouds

Dense ensembles of laser-cooled molecules allow the observation of molecular collisions—a result that could lead to applications of cold molecular gases in quantum simulation and fundamental physics tests. Read More »

Enhanced Interactions Using Quantum Squeezing
Quantum Information

Enhanced Interactions Using Quantum Squeezing

A quantum squeezing method can enhance interactions between quantum systems, even in the absence of precise knowledge of the system parameters. Read More »

More Articles