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The Polarstern ("Pole Star") is a ship of the AWI (Alfred-Wegener-Institute [0]). Another project of theirs, which you might know from images because it has a c

The Polarstern ("Pole Star") is a ship of the AWI (Alfred-Wegener-Institute [0]). Another project of theirs, which you might know from images because it has a characteristic look, is the current Neumayer-Station [1][2]. It sits on columns that can hydraulically raise and lower the station to adapt to different heights of snow. This is off-topic but you might like it as well. The station is of course host to experiments of others as well. The DLR (Deutsches Luft- und Raumfahrtzentrum, "German Aerospace Center") has an indoor-container-greenhouse called EDEN ISS [3][4] there which grows vegetables, herbs and fruits under artificial conditions [5] (german). The fresh produce is a welcome variation of diet for the crew during the long months of winter which otherwise consists solely of dried or deep-frozen food. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Wegener_Institute_for_Polar_and_Marine_Research https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Wegener_Institute_for_P... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neumayer-Station_III https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neumayer-Station_III [2] https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Neumayer-Station+III https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Neumayer-Station+III [3] (english) https://eden-iss.net/ https://eden-iss.net/ [4] While ISS refers to the international space station (see [3]), it is almost certainly a play on words because "Iss!" means "Eat!" in german) [5] (german) https://www.mdr.de/wissen/dlr-antarktis-gewaechshaus-gaertner-zabel-bilanz-eden-iss-100.html https://www.mdr.de/wissen/dlr-antarktis-gewaechshaus-gaertne...

lordgrenville 6y ago
Tangentially, there's a great bit in Patti Smith's book M Train about joining a society dedicated to Wegener's memory: > Formed in the early 1980s by a Danish meteorologist, the Continental Drift Club is an obscure society serving as an independent branch of the earth-science community. Twenty-seven members, scattered across the hemispheres, have pledged their dedication to the perpetuation of remembrance, specifically in regard to Alfred Wegener, who pioneered the theory of continental drift. The bylaws require discretion, attendance at the biannual conferences, a certain amount of applicable fieldwork, and a reasonable passion for the club’s reading list. All are expected to keep abreast of the activities of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, in the city of Bremerhaven in Lower Saxony. > I was granted membership of the CDC quite by accident. On the whole, members are primarily mathematicians, geologists, and theologians and are identified not by name but by a given number. I had written several letters to the Alfred Wegener Institute searching for a living heir in hopes of obtaining permission to photograph the great explorer’s boots. One of my letters was forwarded to the secretary of the Continental Drift Club, and after a flurry of correspondence I was invited to attend their 2005 conference in Bremen, which coincided with the 125th anniversary of the great geoscientist’s birth and thus the 75th of his death. I attended their panel discussions, a special screening at City 46 of Research and Adventure on the Ice, a documentary series containing rare footage of Wegener’s 1929 and 1930 expeditions, and joined them for a private tour of the AWI facilities in nearby Bremerhaven. I am certain I didn’t quite meet their criteria, but I suspect that after some deliberation they welcomed me due to my abundance of romantic enthusiasm. I became an official member in 2006, and was given the number 23. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/sep/27/patti-smith-m-train-extract-its-not-so-easy-writing-about-nothing https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/sep/27/patti-smith-m-...

lordgrenville 6y ago

Tangentially, there's a great bit in Patti Smith's book M Train about joining a society dedicated to Wegener's memory: > Formed in the early 1980s by a Danish meteorologist, the Continental Drift Club is an obscure society serving as an independent branch of the earth-science community. Twenty-seven members, scattered across the hemispheres, have pledged their dedication to the perpetuation of remembrance, specifically in regard to Alfred Wegener, who pioneered the theory of continental drift. The bylaws require discretion, attendance at the biannual conferences, a certain amount of applicable fieldwork, and a reasonable passion for the club’s reading list. All are expected to keep abreast of the activities of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, in the city of Bremerhaven in Lower Saxony. > I was granted membership of the CDC quite by accident. On the whole, members are primarily mathematicians, geologists, and theologians and are identified not by name but by a given number. I had written several letters to the Alfred Wegener Institute searching for a living heir in hopes of obtaining permission to photograph the great explorer’s boots. One of my letters was forwarded to the secretary of the Continental Drift Club, and after a flurry of correspondence I was invited to attend their 2005 conference in Bremen, which coincided with the 125th anniversary of the great geoscientist’s birth and thus the 75th of his death. I attended their panel discussions, a special screening at City 46 of Research and Adventure on the Ice, a documentary series containing rare footage of Wegener’s 1929 and 1930 expeditions, and joined them for a private tour of the AWI facilities in nearby Bremerhaven. I am certain I didn’t quite meet their criteria, but I suspect that after some deliberation they welcomed me due to my abundance of romantic enthusiasm. I became an official member in 2006, and was given the number 23. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/sep/27/patti-smith-m-train-extract-its-not-so-easy-writing-about-nothing https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/sep/27/patti-smith-m-...