4 ms·

Not nearly as improbable, but one time I was reading the New York Times and happened upon the top picture in this article: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/i

by cozzyd 9y ago

Not nearly as improbable, but one time I was reading the New York Times and happened upon the top picture in this article: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/insider/freezing-temperatures-glacial-winds-volcanic-dust-all-in-a-days-work-for-a-times-team-in-antarctica.html?smid=pl-share https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/insider/freezing-temperat... Not only did I find that I was (barely) in the picture, but I had a picture of the photographer either before or after he took that picture (not at the same time, obviously, since I was turned the other way at the time of his picture): http://kicp.uchicago.edu/~cozzyd/coincidence.jpg http://kicp.uchicago.edu/~cozzyd/coincidence.jpg

marknadal 9y ago
Wow, what was working in Antarctica like?
- cozzyd 9y ago
  I was working on a long-duration balloon payload (ANITA-IV), so I was in a hangar much of the time. Since it was summer, it wasn't that cold, but the constant daylight is disorienting. The isolation from the rest of the world is the hardest part, even though at McMurdo, unlike pole, there is (slow) internet all day long. McMurdo is an interesting place with a lot of fascinating people and the scenery is very beautiful. As our balloon launched pretty quickly after we were ready to launch, I unfortunately didn't get much downtime to do all of the hiking trails and such (but on the plus side, I got to go home earlier). If you ever get a chance to go (either as a scientist or, possibly more likely for many, as support staff), I highly recommend it.
  - GuiA 9y ago
    Maciej Ceglowski wrote about McMurdo: http://idlewords.com/2016/05/shuffleboard_at_mcmurdo.htm http://idlewords.com/2016/05/shuffleboard_at_mcmurdo.htm
  - nolok 9y ago
    Always been a dream of mine, sadly I don't think as a lowly French IT person that there is a way for me to have that experience. Thanks for sharing
    - mseebach 9y ago
      Have some growth mindset :) > France operates two stations in Antarctica: Dumont d’Urville Station, in Adelie Land, and the French-Italian joint Concordia Station. Dumont d’Urville was built in 1956 on Petrel Island where it houses a maximum of 30 people in winter (about 100 in summer). Concordia was built in 1997 and is operated year round since 2005. It can house 15 people in winter and 60 people in summer. The inland Concordia Station is re-supplied annually by three ground traverses leaving Cap Prudhomme Station, a small annex station of Dumont d’Urville. In addition, France operates three stations in the Sub-antarctic islands: Crozet, Kerguelen and Amsterdam Islands. https://www.comnap.aq/Members/IPEV/SitePages/Home.aspx https://www.comnap.aq/Members/IPEV/SitePages/Home.aspx Qualified IT personnel are in demand. If this is something you want to do and you apply yourself towards this goal, I'm sure it's quite achievable.
    - rflrob 9y ago
      I have a friend who sometimes works at Pole, and they apparently do need people to winter over and manage the IT infrastructure. I don't know whether they have citizenship requirements (it's a US-led station), but it's apparently a hard enough position to recruit for (six+ months in the dark) that they might be flexible.
      - cozzyd 9y ago
        I believe that this is the US Antarctic Program's IT contractor's jobs page: https://ghgcorp.applicantpro.com/jobs/ https://ghgcorp.applicantpro.com/jobs/ It looks like they only hire Americans though (probably some requirement imposed on the contractor). There are of course lots of other contractors for other sorts of jobs.
    - mgerdts 9y ago
      Project ice cube seems to always be looking for people to winter over. I suppose the hiking isn't as good then. :) http://icecube.wisc.edu/jobs http://icecube.wisc.edu/jobs Since the employment would not be in the US, I'm guessing that no work visa would be required. If you are really interested, I think it would be worth your while to contact them.
dahart 9y ago
Improbable or not, that's great! Two people taking the same photo with phones seems likely these days, but accidentally discovering a picture of yourself taking a picture of the photographer, published in the NYT, that's an awesome coincidence. I love how completely and dramatically different those two photos of the same place and time are. The reporter was telling a story of somewhere remote and hard to get to and barely touched by humans. One single sturdy but old Siberian looking truck and a half dozen crazy scientists in front of vast stretches of nothing but snow. And yours is showing a bit more of the day in the life there for humans standing next to an airport. The real dot on the i, and extra minor coincidence is the jet taking off right next to the reporter's head. Both photos are true, and both photos, one could say, give misleading impressions taken only on their own.
- cozzyd 9y ago
  It's quite possible I was trying to take a picture of the plane taking off, so that might make that aspect less of a coincidence.

by cozzyd 9y ago

marknadal 9y ago

Wow, what was working in Antarctica like?

cozzyd 9y ago
I was working on a long-duration balloon payload (ANITA-IV), so I was in a hangar much of the time. Since it was summer, it wasn't that cold, but the constant daylight is disorienting. The isolation from the rest of the world is the hardest part, even though at McMurdo, unlike pole, there is (slow) internet all day long. McMurdo is an interesting place with a lot of fascinating people and the scenery is very beautiful. As our balloon launched pretty quickly after we were ready to launch, I unfortunately didn't get much downtime to do all of the hiking trails and such (but on the plus side, I got to go home earlier). If you ever get a chance to go (either as a scientist or, possibly more likely for many, as support staff), I highly recommend it.
- GuiA 9y ago
  Maciej Ceglowski wrote about McMurdo: http://idlewords.com/2016/05/shuffleboard_at_mcmurdo.htm http://idlewords.com/2016/05/shuffleboard_at_mcmurdo.htm
- nolok 9y ago
  Always been a dream of mine, sadly I don't think as a lowly French IT person that there is a way for me to have that experience. Thanks for sharing
  - mseebach 9y ago
    Have some growth mindset :) > France operates two stations in Antarctica: Dumont d’Urville Station, in Adelie Land, and the French-Italian joint Concordia Station. Dumont d’Urville was built in 1956 on Petrel Island where it houses a maximum of 30 people in winter (about 100 in summer). Concordia was built in 1997 and is operated year round since 2005. It can house 15 people in winter and 60 people in summer. The inland Concordia Station is re-supplied annually by three ground traverses leaving Cap Prudhomme Station, a small annex station of Dumont d’Urville. In addition, France operates three stations in the Sub-antarctic islands: Crozet, Kerguelen and Amsterdam Islands. https://www.comnap.aq/Members/IPEV/SitePages/Home.aspx https://www.comnap.aq/Members/IPEV/SitePages/Home.aspx Qualified IT personnel are in demand. If this is something you want to do and you apply yourself towards this goal, I'm sure it's quite achievable.
  - rflrob 9y ago
    I have a friend who sometimes works at Pole, and they apparently do need people to winter over and manage the IT infrastructure. I don't know whether they have citizenship requirements (it's a US-led station), but it's apparently a hard enough position to recruit for (six+ months in the dark) that they might be flexible.
    - cozzyd 9y ago
      I believe that this is the US Antarctic Program's IT contractor's jobs page: https://ghgcorp.applicantpro.com/jobs/ https://ghgcorp.applicantpro.com/jobs/ It looks like they only hire Americans though (probably some requirement imposed on the contractor). There are of course lots of other contractors for other sorts of jobs.
  - mgerdts 9y ago
    Project ice cube seems to always be looking for people to winter over. I suppose the hiking isn't as good then. :) http://icecube.wisc.edu/jobs http://icecube.wisc.edu/jobs Since the employment would not be in the US, I'm guessing that no work visa would be required. If you are really interested, I think it would be worth your while to contact them.

dahart 9y ago

Improbable or not, that's great! Two people taking the same photo with phones seems likely these days, but accidentally discovering a picture of yourself taking a picture of the photographer, published in the NYT, that's an awesome coincidence. I love how completely and dramatically different those two photos of the same place and time are. The reporter was telling a story of somewhere remote and hard to get to and barely touched by humans. One single sturdy but old Siberian looking truck and a half dozen crazy scientists in front of vast stretches of nothing but snow. And yours is showing a bit more of the day in the life there for humans standing next to an airport. The real dot on the i, and extra minor coincidence is the jet taking off right next to the reporter's head. Both photos are true, and both photos, one could say, give misleading impressions taken only on their own.

cozzyd 9y ago
It's quite possible I was trying to take a picture of the plane taking off, so that might make that aspect less of a coincidence.