Podcasts about Douglas Mawson

Douglas Mawson wasn't just a survivor—he was a scientific powerhouse who helped put Australia on the map of polar exploration. His adventures began with the 1907–1909 Nimrod Expedition under Ernest Shackleton, during which he became one of the first to reach the Magnetic South Pole and climb Mount Erebus. But it was his own Australasian Antarctic Expedition from 1911 to 1914 that sealed his place in history.Mawson's leadership, grit, and heartbreak defined that journey. Stranded alone after the deaths of his companions, he hauled himself across 160 kilometres of ice, surviving crevasses, starvation, and the brutal cold. His story isn't just about endurance—it's about the pursuit of knowledge at the edge of the world.Join Holly & Matthew as they explore the trials, triumphs, and enduring legacy of Douglas Mawson—Australia's Antarctic hero.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/weird-crap-in-australia--2968350/support.

John Mawson returns to the podcast after successfully launching his "Unsinkable" project with partner Misha Crosby. Unsinkable follows the adventures of the 16 surviving crew members of the San Demetrio, a fuel ship abandoned on a North Atlantic convoy crossing in 1940 after being attacked by a German "Wolf Pack." After floating at sea for several days and nights, the crew was left with no choice but to execute an audacious plan: reboard the vessel, extinguish the fire, then heroically repair the ship enough to limp through rough seas and U boats into western Scotland, navigating without charts or instruments. The 11-episode series stars Brian Cox, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, John Malkovich and Nathalie Emmanuel. Mawson worked on this project for more than a decade before bringing it to life. The Ojai resident talked about his own career at sea as a navigator, the Age of Exploration, his own dauntless probably ancestor Douglas Mawson, his future plans for this project as a TV series and what's next for him. We did not talk about the Atlantic Overturning Meridonial Overturning Circulation, Senegalese hip hop or Dolly Parton. For more information or to listen to the podcast, sign up for a free trial at Wondery: https://wondery.com/shows/unsinkable/

Author Joanna Grochowicz has written about Antarctic explorer Douglas Mawson in a new book and Sophia Minter describes a replica of Mawson's Antarctic hut on Hobart's waterfront.

Foundations of Amateur Radio The other day I was handed a sheaf of paper. The person handing it to me, an amateur, was insistent that I take custody of this little collection. I asked what it was that they intended for me to do with it and the response was that because I did things with history, I should do this too. Aside from taking on a new project, trying to juggle life and income, their observation was pretty spot on, even though I had never quite seen it in that way. Over the years I've often explained things in the context of the era in which it came into being, the first transatlantic telegraph cable in 1858, the first 20m contact between the UK and Australia, back in 1925, the founding of the IARU, also in 1925. For some years I've been playing with the idea of documenting the journey from Spark Gap to SDR. I started writing down milestones, collecting information about the various protagonists along the way, attempting to capture their life milestones and their radio related accomplishments. One friend went so far as to take photos of the replica spark gap transmitter in Hobart, Tasmania as used by Douglas Mawson between 1911 and 1914 during their Antarctic expedition. Between being entrusted with the written history of 28 Chapter of the Ten-Ten International Net and today I've started a spreadsheet. If you know me at all, you know that I love a good spreadsheet. This one is pretty simple, date, event, event type, protagonist, note and source. So far I've got about 85 rows. I'm using it to capture milestones directly related to our hobby, when the first EchoLink node went live, when RTTY came to be used on-air, the invention of FM, when we got access to the 2m band, when 160m was taken away during World War II, ultimately, all of it. There is already a website that documents some of this but it's USA centric, even though our community is global, and it does not include any sources, so there's no way to verify any of the events, which I think is essential if you're going to capture this in any meaningful way. I want this list I'm creating to include all manner of amateur related things, the first time F-troop went on-air, the first CQWW, perhaps even every CQWW. I have also set-up a form so you can contribute your events and over time grow it into something that captures what it is that we've done over the years. Perhaps it will grow into a section on Wikipedia, perhaps it will become its own thing, it's too early to tell. As I've said many times, if you didn't write it down, it didn't happen. So, this is me, or us, writing it down. Perhaps we'll be able to find a way to make it through the next 100 years. You can find the Amateur History Project under Projects on my home-page at vk6flab.com - I look forward to reading your contributions. So, thank you Christine, VK6ZLZ for pushing that sheaf of paper into my hands. I hope I'm worthy of the history that it represents. I'm Onno Vk6FLAB

The Long Man, Sir Douglas Mawson, and his improbable survival story through a widely uncharted territory in the early 20th century. Antarctica. A mysterious, unruly, frozen goatee on the chin of the planet. An area we dared not comb through until the face of the earth was sufficiently covered.Subscribe to Marooned. A new podcast from Jack Luna of Dark Topic and Aaron Habel of Generation Why, exploring tales of the catastrophically lost.Sources:Timeline: https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P000631b.htmMawson Synopsis: http://www.douglasmawson.com.au/synopsis.htmlSY Aurora full crew list/Mawson's book: https://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/History/antarctic_whos_who_aurora_mawson.phpMuseum info on Mawson expedition: https://australian.museum/learn/collections/museum-archives-library/historic-expeditions/heading-south/Antarctic clothing notes: https://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/science/clothing_in_antarctica_2.phpMawson expedition details: Just Have One More Try – The Amazing Story of Douglas Mawson's 300-Mile Antarctic Trek (todayifoundout.com)Our Sponsors:* Check out Factor 75 and use my code darktopic50 for a great deal: https://www.factor75.com/* Check out Rosetta Stone and use my code TODAY for a great deal: https://www.rosettastone.com/Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this riveting episode of the Crux True Survival Podcast, join us as we venture into the heart of Antarctica to uncover the astonishing story of explorer Douglas Mawson's harrowing journey of survival. Facing some of the most unforgiving conditions on Earth, Mawson's 1911 expedition took an unexpected turn as he found himself battling not only the elements but also the limits of human endurance. As we delve deep into Mawson's unparalleled determination and resourcefulness, we'll unravel the gripping narrative of his solo trek back to base camp after a tragic series of events. Trapped in a realm of ice and isolation, Mawson's unwavering spirit and ingenious survival tactics are a testament to the human capacity for resilience in the face of unimaginable odds. Join us as we journey alongside Douglas Mawson on his frozen odyssey, exploring the depths of courage and fortitude that define the essence of true survival. This episode is a tribute to the indomitable spirit of an explorer who emerged from the Antarctic wilderness not only as a survivor but as a living embodiment of the human will to conquer the impossible. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kaycee-mcintosh/support

There may be times when you feel ready to give up, but perseverance is key. Never lose hope! To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/779/29

Vi har I denne sæson af Den yderste grænse den ene mere ubegribelige overlevelseshistorie efter den anden. Og hvis I troede, I havde hørt den værste, så bare vent til dagens afsnit. For mange omtaler Douglas Mawsons ekspedition ”The Australian Antarctic Expedition”, som måske netop den mest ufattelige… Douglas Mawsons rejser byder på alt, hvad en vaskeægte lejrbålshistorie bør indeholde: Isende storme, sult, mænd der falder i gletsjersprækker, hunde der dør, frostskader, galskab og rygter om kannibalisme. Vært: Bjørn Harvig. Medvirkende: Henrik Egede-Lassen, naturfotograf med talrige rejser på alle kontinenter både over og under vand. Medlem af Eventyrernes Klub og forfatter til bogen ”Hvis jeg overlever det her, bliver det en god historie”. Henrik har en stor viden om ekspeditionshistorie, og har selv været på Antarktisk 6 gange, hvor han b.la. dykkede, som den første dansker. Redaktør: Rikke Caroline Carlsen.

Vi har I denne sæson af Den yderste grænse den ene mere ubegribelige overlevelseshistorie efter den anden. Og hvis I troede, I havde hørt den værste, så bare vent til dagens afsnit. For mange omtaler Douglas Mawsons ekspedition ”The Australian Antarctic Expedition”, som måske netop den mest ufattelige… Douglas Mawsons rejser byder på alt, hvad en vaskeægte lejrbålshistorie bør indeholde: Isende storme, sult, mænd der falder i gletsjersprækker, hunde der dør, frostskader, galskab og rygter om kannibalisme.Vært: Bjørn Harvig. Medvirkende: Henrik Egede-Lassen, naturfotograf med talrige rejser på alle kontinenter både over og under vand. Medlem af Eventyrernes Klub og forfatter til bogen ”Hvis jeg overlever det her, bliver det en god historie”. Henrik har en stor viden om ekspeditionshistorie, og har selv været på Antarktisk 6 gange, hvor han b.la. dykkede, som den første dansker. Redaktør: Rikke Caroline Carlsen.

This week is definitely more uplifting. We're looking at some incredible people from history who went on amazing (albeit somewhat poorly thought out) adventures and lived to tell about them. We're looking at the stories of Alexander Selkirk, Douglas Mawson, Ernest Shackleton, and the Robertson Family.Listen on Podurama!Like the show on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/OurWeirdWorldPod/Follow John on Twitter and Instagram @TheJohnHinsonFollow the show on Instagram @OurWeirdWorldPodWant more John? Everyone wants more John. Visit www.johnhinsonwrites.com for all the books, podcasts, waterfalls, and more!

Polar explorer Douglas Mawson made several mistakes on his harrowing journey across Antarctica. But the biggest blunder involved eating animal livers oversaturated with vitamin A, a sure death sentence...Our Sponsors:* Check out Rosetta Stone and use my code TODAY for a great deal: https://www.rosettastone.com/Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Douglas Mawson ventured to Antarctica, TWICE, but it almost cost him his life. Find out how he almost died getting his literal rocks off in this week's episode.

What would you do when you're out of luck and your only communication is as far as you can shout? That's what faced Antarctic explorers of the Heroic Age, and Brad Borkan has analyzed their decisions — good and bad — and identified the behaviors and skills that we can apply to everyday scenarios on the other six continents. In When Your Life Depends on It: Extreme Decision-Making Lessons from the Antarctic, we go on a storytelling journey and explore eleven situations through the eyes of Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amundsen, and Douglas Mawson.   Music Antarctica by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Artist:  http://audionautix.com/   Full show notes are available at: https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/extreme-decision-making Please subscribe to the Timeless & Timely newsletter. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.timelesstimely.com/subscribe

It was quite an emotional day when I interviewed this week’s guest, the former rugby international turned best-selling author, Peter FitzSimons. Because it was the day after my father died. I’ve written about my Dad, Desmond Zwar, a lot on social media. He was the author of 20 non fiction books, including The Loneliest Man In the World about Rudolf Hess, In Search of Sir Keith Murdoch, This Wonderful World of Golf, where he went on the golf tour with Peter Thomson, and the runaway best seller, Golf: The Dictionary with illustrations by the great Jeff Hook. Dad, an avid reader, was in a nursing home towards the end of his life, so I ran his Kindle account. Whenever he wanted to read another book, I would buy it and sync it into his Kindle. And the last book I bought Dad, and the last book he read, was Peter FitzSimon’s biography of Ned Kelly. So it was strangely appropriate that the day after Dad’s passing, I was interviewing Peter. I didn’t tell him the situation. I didn’t want to make him feel weird. But the coincidence was not lost on me.Some would know Peter from his seven rugby tests with the Wallabies as a lock forward from 1989 to 1990. Others would know him from his columns in the Sydney Morning Herald. But most would have read, or at least threatened to read, one of his 27 books – many of which have become best sellers. There have been the rugby books, which we’ll talk about later, joke books, a book on Nietzsche, historical biographies on Nancy Wake, Kim Beasley, Douglas Mawson, Kingsford Smith, Breaker Morant, and James Cook, and then there have been the books on big subjects like Gallipoli, Kokoda, the Batavia and the Eureka Stockade. And now he’s written The Opera House :The extraordinary story of the building that symbolises Australia. In this interview, we get into the guts of how Peter came to be a writer, the word he most overuses in his books, and how he gave up the grog and managed to fit even more into his day. PETER ON GIVING UP THE GROG This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit adamzwar.substack.com

Note dell'Episodio Grazie per aver ascoltato questa puntata di DA QUI AL POLO. Qui trovate tutti i link utili del podcast, come Facebook, Instagram, Mail, Sito web: https://linktr.ee/daquialpolo Se volete contribuire al podcast: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/da-qui-al-polo La puntata di oggi è dedicata all'inizio dell'epoca meccanica dell'esplorazione polare. Iniziamo questo nuovo viaggio con Douglas Mawson e la Discovery, quindi altre 3 missioni, brevemente raccontate per scoprire qualche nuova storia. Disclaimer: il podcast è un progetto realizzato interamente da me, tutto quello che sentite è frutto della mia passione e delle mie conoscenze che ho coltivato in questi anni, spero che mi perdonerete per eventuali errori o problemi di pronuncia di nomi particolarmente difficili. Grazie! Crediti e Fonti:https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spedizione_BANZARE https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epoca_eroica_dell%27esplorazione_antartica https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Evelyn_Byrd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Australian_and_New_Zealand_Antarctic_Research_Expedition https://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/history/exploration-and-expeditions/banzare-1929-31/ https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hjalmar_Riiser-Larsen Crediti Musica: Dewdrop Fantasy by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3645-dewdrop-fantasy License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daquialpolo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daquialpolo/ Web: https://da-qui-al-polo.pinecast.co/ Mail: daquialpolo@gmail.com Support Da Qui al Polo by contributing to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/da-qui-al-polo Find out more at https://da-qui-al-polo.pinecast.co

Plunging into the next week of unprecedented events, Haley and Jillian try to distract themselves by talking about a recent mudslide in Brazil, as well as delve into the story of Douglas Mawson, a man who found himself alone, with barely any supplies, 300 miles into the untouched wilderness of Antarctica. Sources: Brazil mudslides kill more than 90, with dozens still missing, NPR Alone on the Ice: The Greatest Story in the History of Exploration, David Roberts Douglas Mawson: An Australian hero's story of survival, Andrew Luck-Baker, BBC

Note dell'Episodio Grazie per aver ascoltato questa puntata di DA QUI AL POLO. Qui trovate tutti i link utili del podcast, come Facebook, Instagram, Mail, Sito web: https://linktr.ee/daquialpolo Se volete contribuire al podcast: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/da-qui-al-polo La puntata di oggi è dedicata all'Aurora di Douglas Mawson, in una missione tanto importante quanto tragica. La forza di sopravvivenza sarà messa a dura prova dalle condizioni dell'habitat polare. Una storia unica e incredibile. Disclaimer: il podcast è un progetto realizzato interamente da me, tutto quello che sentite è frutto della mia passione e delle mie conoscenze che ho coltivato in questi anni, spero che mi perdonerete per eventuali errori o problemi di pronuncia di nomi particolarmente difficili. Grazie! Crediti e Fonti: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spedizione_Aurora https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Mawson https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_(yacht) https://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/History/Douglas-Mawson2.php https://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/History/Douglas-Mawson.php Crediti Musica: Dewdrop Fantasy by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3645-dewdrop-fantasy License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daquialpolo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daquialpolo/ Web: https://da-qui-al-polo.pinecast.co/ Mail: daquialpolo@gmail.com Support Da Qui al Polo by contributing to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/da-qui-al-polo Find out more at https://da-qui-al-polo.pinecast.co

A team of six conservations will set sail for Antartica from Tasmania in order to preserve huts built by early explorer Douglas Mawson and his crew 110 years ago. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Grab your parkas, put on those winter boots, don't forget those big ol mittens and hang out with us tonight as we head to the place where the coldest temperature on earth has ever been recorded, a mild -89.2°C (-128.6°F). Maybe we should bring swim trunks instead, eh? Well, aside from the coldest temps known anywhere, there is also possibly Nazis, maybe a hole to the center of the earth, a blood waterfall, and giant sea spiders with legs ranging up to 70cm, and for those of you who aren't sure if that's big or not cus we're a bunch of archaic buttholes that don't do metric… It's big.. Like close to 28 inches big… oh and how could we forget… the Penguins!! Lots of penguins! Well, if you haven't figured it out yet, we're heading to Antarctica! We're going to be discussing the continent and find out a little about it and then we'll talk about some creepy natural things going on and of course creepy conspiracies. It should be a fun one so let's get going!!!   So let's learn a little about Antarctica first off. Antarctica, on average, is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents. Most of Antarctica is a polar desert, with annual precipitation of 200 mm (8 in) along the coast and far less inland; yet 80% of the world's freshwater reserves are stored there, enough to raise global sea levels by about 60 metres (200 ft) if all of it were to melt. The temperature in Antarctica has dropped to −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) (or even −94.7 °C or −138.5 °F, as measured from space), although the average for the third quarter (the coldest part of the year) is −63 °C (−81 °F). Organisms native to Antarctica include many types of algae, bacteria, fungi, plants, protista, and certain animals, such as mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades. Vegetation, where it occurs, is tundra. Wanna know some fun facts… Well, tough shit negative Nancy, we're gonna tell ya anyways.    Antarctica holds most of the world's fresh water An incredible 60-90% of the world's freshwater is locked in Antarctica's vast ice sheet. The Antarctic ice sheet is the largest on Earth, covering an incredible 14 million km² (5.4 million square miles) of Antarctic mountain ranges, valleys and plateaus. This leaves only 1% of Antarctica permanently ice-free. Some areas are ice-free in the summer, including many of the areas we visit on the Antarctic Peninsula.   At its deepest, Antarctica's ice is 4.5km (2.7 miles) thick – that's half the height of Mt Everest! Again, If it all melted, global sea levels would rise about 60 m (200 ft).   As mentioned, Antarctica is a desert With all of that fresh water held in the ice sheet, how could Antarctica be a desert?   When most of us think of deserts we think of sand dunes, cactuses and sizzling temperatures, but technically a desert doesn't have to be hot or sandy, it's more about how much precipitation the area receives as rain, snow, mist or fog. A desert is any region that receives very little annual precipitation.   The average annual rainfall at the South Pole over the past 30 years was just over 10 mm (0.4 in). Although there is more precipitation towards the coast, the average across the continent is low enough to classify Antarctica as a polar desert.   So, while Antarctica may be covered in ice, it has taken an incredible 45 million years to grow to its current thickness, because so little rain falls there.   As well as being one of the driest continents on Earth, Antarctica is also the coldest, windiest and highest.   Antarctica used to be as warm as Melbourne Australia! Given that the coldest ever land temperature was recorded in Antarctica of -89.2°C (-128.6°F), it can be hard to imagine Antarctica as a warm, temperate paradise. But Antarctica hasn't always been an icy land locked in the grip of a massive ice sheet. In fact, Antarctica was once almost as warm as Melbourne is today.   Researchers have estimated that 40-50 million years ago, temperatures across Antarctica reached up to 17°C (62.6°F). Scientists have also found fossils showing that Antarctica was once covered with verdant green forests and inhabited by dinosaurs!   The Antarctic Peninsula is one of the most rapidly warming areas on Earth The Antarctic Peninsula is warming more quickly than many other areas on Earth. In fact, it is one of the most rapidly warming areas on the planet. Over the past 50 years, average temperatures across the Antarctic Peninsula have increased by 3°C (37.4°F), five times the average increase on Earth.   This has led to some changes, for example where and when penguins form colonies and sea ice forms. It also means that the lush mosses of the Antarctic Peninsula have a slightly longer growing season.   There is no Antarctic time zone The question of time in Antarctica is a tricky one. At the South Pole the lines of longitude, which give us different time zones around the globe, all meet at a single point. Most of Antarctica experiences 6 months of constant daylight in summer and 6 months of darkness in winter. Time starts to feel a little different without the normal markers for day and night.   Scientists working in Antarctica generally stay in the time zone of the country they departed from, but this can cause some issues. For example, on the Antarctic Peninsula you can find stations from Chile, China, Russia, the UK and many other countries. You can imagine that if all of these neighbouring stations keep to their home time zones it could get a little confusing trying to share data and resources without accidentally waking one another up in the middle of the night!   For travellers with Aurora Expeditions, they generally stay on Ushuaia time – unless they're travelling to the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. Then they adjust to their local times, changing as they travel.   Every way is north! If you stand at the South Pole, you are at the southernmost point on Earth. It doesn't matter which way you look, every direction is north. So why do we talk about the Antarctic Peninsula as being in West Antarctica, and the section directly south of Australia as East Antarctica?   It's based on the prime meridian, an imaginary line which passes through Greenwich in the UK at 0 degrees of longitude. If you stand at the South Pole and face towards Greenwich, everything to your left is west Antarctica and everything to your right is east Antarctica. Got that?   Antarctica has active volcanoes Antarctica is home to several volcanoes and two of them are active. Mount Erebus, the second-highest volcano in Antarctica, is the southernmost active volcano on Earth. Located on Ross Island, this icebound volcano has some unique features such as ice fumaroles and twisted ice statues that form around gases that seep from vents near the volcanic crater.   The first ascent of Mt Erebus was made in 1908, when a team led by Australian scientist Edgeworth David, and including Douglas Mawson, completed an arduous and very chilly five day climb to the steaming crater.   The second active volcano is on Deception Island, a volcanic caldera in the South Shetland Islands. Once home to a thriving whaling station and later a scientific station, it was abandoned after the most recent eruption in 1969, and today it is a fascinating place that we visit on some of our Antarctic Peninsula voyages.   Antarctica has its own Treaty When humans caught their first glimpse of Antarctica in 1820, it was the only continent without an indigenous population. Several nations quickly made claims to the continent, which led to significant tension. While some countries argued that Antarctica was rightfully theirs, others heartily disagreed.   As tension mounted, everyone agreed on the need for a peaceful resolution. In December 1959, 12 countries signed the Antarctic Treaty, an unprecedented international agreement to govern the continent together as a reserve for peace and science. Since then, 41 other countries have signed the Treaty and participate in annual meetings, where decisions are made about how human activity in Antarctica is managed. All decisions made within the Antarctic Treaty System are made by consensus, with collaboration and agreement as the central pillars. Today, the Antarctic Treaty System has expanded to include strict guidelines for commercial fishing, sealing, and a complete ban on mining and mineral exploration.    We got those fun facts  from Aurora expeditions. Com   So let's look at some of the weird natural phenomena that goes on in Antarctica.    You guys like weird sounds? Well we got weird sounds for you. Scientists and researchers at the Ross ice shelf have recorded a slow seismic hum being generated by wind whipping across the Antarctic ice shelves. The scientists also discovered that the frequency of the vibrations changed in response to changing weather conditions on the shelf — when the temperature rose or fell, for instance, and when storms resculpted the shelf's snow dunes. The firn was "alive with vibration," Douglas MacAyeal, a glaciologist at the University of Chicago, said in a written commentary that accompanied the paper. "This vibration was found to be driven by the wind blowing across the firn layer and interacting with the intrinsic roughness of the surface called sastrugi." MacAyeal also offered a more poetic description of the sound, comparing it to "the buzz produced by thousands of cicada bugs when they overrun the tree canopy and grasses in late summer."   Julien Chaput, a geophysicist and mathematician at Colorado State University in Fort Collins and the leader of the research, told NBC News MACH in an email that the sound was "a little like yodeling, except with 10 people all singing in dissonance. It's a little eerie." But the singing ice is more than a sonic curiosity. Chaput and his colleagues argue in their paper that it might be possible to tap into seismic data to help monitor the health of ice shelves, which have been thinning in response to global warming — and causing sea levels to rise around the world. so that's all pretty crazy. Antarctica is singing to us. (Play sound)   Ever hear of a solar pillar? Well you're about to. The air in Antarctica is frequently very dry. The low temperatures mean that little or no water vapour is held in the air, instead it freezes and falls out, or builds up on surfaces as frost. Sometimes however, depending on the particular atmospheric conditions, the frozen water vapour remains in the air as suspended ice crystals. In these conditions the crystals can reflect sunlight in a variety of ways forming atmospheric phenomena of different types.   One of these phenomena is the "Solar Pillar" in the picture. The sun is reflected very strongly off tiny suspended flat ice crystals in the air which are oriented at or almost horizontally, so that the reflection is almost as bright as the sun itself. Like a rainbow, this sight depends on the viewing angle, where the light is coming from and where the observer is standing. The pillar appears to move when the observer moves, but always remains directly below the sun because the ice crystals are found throughout the air but only act as mirrors for the sun at the correct viewing angle.   Most of you have heard of the northern lights, but did you know there are southern lights? The Southern Lights, commonly known as the Aurora Australis, is one of the world's greatest wonders. The Southern lights are much more elusive than their Northern Hemisphere counterpart-Aurora Borealis. There is significantly less land mass in the Southern Hemisphere and fewer ideal viewing spots to see the Aurora. However, the Southern Lights are just as, if not more, impressive. Boasting a breathtaking colour palette that goes beyond the green and blues commonly seen at the Northern Lights, to include pinks, purples, oranges and golds.   Here's a little nerdy science for ya: The Aurora Australis phenomenon occurs when charged particles from solar winds bombard the Earth's atmosphere and interact with gases in our planet.   These highly energised particles are emitted from the sun and smash into the Earth's magnetic field at more than 6 million kilometres per hour.   For the most part, Earth is protected from solar winds by the magnetosphere, which sounds like Magneto from the X-Men franchise's bachelor pad. The magnetosphere is a region of space that surrounds the Earth's magnetic field and has a primary purpose of preventing cosmic rays, such as solar winds from entering Earth's atmosphere. However, occasionally, at particular times of the year, a few charged particles from solar winds make their way through the magnetosphere into our atmosphere. The charged particles move along the Earth's magnetic field lines towards the south and north pole. When they reach the each pole, they collide with atoms in the atmosphere, particularly nitrogen and oxygen, and become increasingly charged. Once the electrons settle back down to their normal level of excitement they glow, creating the magnificent light display, we know as an Aurora.   One more fun natural thing for you guys and probably the creepiest. BLOOD FALLS! THIS FIVE-STORY, BLOOD-RED WATERFALL POURS very slowly out of the Taylor Glacier in Antarctica's McMurdo Dry Valleys. When geologists first discovered the frozen waterfall in 1911, they thought the red color came from algae, but it's true nature turned out to be much more spectacular.   Roughly two million years ago, the Taylor Glacier sealed beneath it a small body of water which contained an ancient community of microbes. Trapped below a thick layer of ice, they have remained there ever since, isolated inside a natural time capsule. Evolving independently of the rest of the living world, these microbes exist in a place with no light or free oxygen and little heat, and are essentially the definition of “primordial ooze.” The trapped lake has very high salinity and is rich in iron, which gives the waterfall its red color. A fissure in the glacier allows the subglacial lake to flow out, forming the falls without contaminating the ecosystem within. If you've never seen the falls it's pretty awesome and metal. We'll post pics for sure.   Ok so enough of the sciency and nerdy stuff let's get into the crazy shit.    The first one is a fun one. In 2020 a clip from Google Earth was loaded onto youtube showing what appears to be an ice ship! So what exactly is it? Well friends, it depends on what you want to believe. The video sparked a conversation of epic conspiracy proportions! Some think that the "ship" is something connected to a secret Nazi base, which we'll get to later. Others claim ties to the secret elite and illuminati.    “I was told a couple of years ago that there are ships built underground somewhere on upper east coast (like the ones in the movie 2012) to save the rich and powerful when canary islands get hit with massive earthquake that will take out east coast,” one commenter wrote.    Other theory's range from military and government cover ups to some claiming it to be Noah's ark. The mundane exfoliation is that it's our minds playing a trick on us… but that's fucking lame and we're going with the fact that it's something creepy and crazy!!   Another fun thing found by Google Earth is a giant mountain sized alien face. Yes you heard right. And if you don't think this is leading to crazy talk… You are seriously mistaken.    Conspiracy theorists Blake and Brett Cousins – of YouTube channel thirdphaseofmoon – shared their thoughts on the Google Earth image.   "It appears to be a massive, ancient structure of some kind of face that is being revealed for the first time on Google Earth,” Blake said in his video.   "I would have to concur that whatever we're looking at resembles some sort of megastructure."   Brett added: "Could this be something that was left behind by the ancient civilisations of Antarctica?   "Ice melting could be revealing structures that would baffle the world."    There it is folks, a giant alien face structure hiding a civilization under Antarctica. Can't argue with the facts. I mean I guess you could say that it's just a case of pareidolia but that's not really that fun so… You know… Alien civilization it is.    Speaking of aliens, A video posted to an “alien" sub-section on Reddit shows how zooming in on a certain area of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands reveals a mysterious vast section of disturbed snow. It shows what looks like something that crashed into the snow and skidded some 3000ft. Of course that brought out the nut jobs, and moody, claiming that it is a ufo crash site.    Reddit user Hey-man-Shabozi captioned the post: "What's over 200ft long, casts a shadow of 50ft, and appears to have crashed on an antarctic  island, moving so fast that it slid over 3,000ft?”   The island, located near Antarctica, has a strange snow formation in the area near Mount Carse.   It looks very similar to an avalanche but the video posted on Reddit goes into detail about how it could be more than what it seems. The main point of contention for the Reddit user is that there appears to be a long thin object that has created a lengthy straight track away from the disrupted area as if it crashed at speed. The Reddit user estimated that the tracks were more than 3,000 feet long.   He also claims to have worked out that the object responsible was 200 feet long.   Let's be honest… If you can't trust a reddit user… Who can you trust these days? Of course most people will say “oh it was just a big rock falling during an avalanche”, but everyone else who actually knows… They know it's a ufo. And they all know that the claims of a rock falling during an avalanche is just another global cover up to hide the fact that there are aliens.  Another one comes thanks to a visual grab from Google Earth, which seems to suggest that there might actually be a tall building standing on the ice in Antarctica. These findings have been uploaded to YouTube Channel MrMBB33 (who coincidentally was also responsible for finding the ice ship we discussed earlier) and the conspiracy theorist who runs this channel suggests that this structure is as much as 2,000 feet in height and the width spans six football fields. Viewers are clearly interested in what they are seeing. “Strange that all countries want to take over land but no country claims Antarctica. I think there is something they know that we don't," comments a user Lorrie Battistoni. Another user suggested that something on the lines of the Project Iceworm was active in Antarctica—the Project Iceworm was a then top-secret project of the United States Army which attempted to build a network of tunnel based and mobile nuclear missile launch sites under the ice sheet in Greenland. Equally, there are sceptics who suggest this is nothing more than a block of ice, albeit with a slightly different shape.     Since we brought up tunnels, there's supposedly an air vent on top of a “metallic shield” in a no-fly zone on the icy continent. Estimates are that the area is over 150 feet wide — based on measurements using Google Earth tools. Its two distinctive features: a pitch-black “opening” and a metal-like “shield.”   "That looks like some sort of vent, a thermal vent that goes underground. You can tell that the snow is darker than any other snow in the surrounding area,” one person said “That would imply to me that there is heat transfer going on” and suggests the top section is some metal or metal alloy man-made structure “over an opening that goes underground.   Someone else points out there is no volcanic activity nearby: “It is just there all by itself.”   So what is it? Just a cave? A man made structure hiding a secret underground base? Should we just go back to aliens for this one? What do you guys think? Ok how about Hitler and the Nazis? Well since people believe there are Nazis and maybe even Hitler himself still hiding out in Antarctica. This theory originates from a story about a Nazi expedition to Antarctica.  The story says that while exploring and mapping the area, they uncovered a multitude of underground caves and rivers.  One of the caves was particularly large and was turned into a large city that would be home to both Nazi's and other powerful groups, like the illuminati.  Along the way, the Germans either came across alien technology or made contact with the aliens.  The Germans learned how to use the technology and were able to build a number of weapons.  This belief is extraordinary because there is no evidence that the Nazis ever did, or were even capable of building such a base.  Geologist and Oceanographer, Colin Summerhayes, partnered with journalist and historian, Peter Beeching, to examine evidence about Antarctica and the Nazis. In  support of this claim is the fact that the Nazis did at one point carry out an expedition to Antarctica in 1938.  Many conspiracy theorists claim that this was a large-scale expedition, with militarized and scientific ships. Another bit of evidence for this theory is about the Nazi's agreeing to The Antarctic treaty.  The treaty makes Antarctica a research zone and states that Antarctica cannot be targeted in any way by bombs or missiles.  Conspiracy theorists jump on this and say why would Nazi Germany sign this agreement?  The claim is that they signed this agreement to deter other nations from visiting Antarctica and stumbling upon their base and the research being done there.  There has been no evidence found to corroborate that point.  Additionally, some claim that Hitler himself is actually in Antarctica.  The evidence for this idea is based on the claim that a German ship arrived at an Argentinian base located in Antarctica after the war ended.  Another popular conspiracy theory is that Hitler escaped to Argentina at the end of the war, and so therefore he was picked up by a German ship, and sent to Antarctica to live at the secret bunker.  However there is no evidence that Hitler ever made it to Argentina or that the supposed German boat ever went to Argentina's Antarctic base… At least that's what they want you to believe! Since there have been other strange military activity there such as supposed German boats coming or the U.S. project “Operation Highjump”, since people really think that this is a feasible thing. Of course These strange events, and the lack of information around them, often lead people to conclude that it must be because there is something going on there that the government doesn't want us to know about.  Many of these beliefs actually come from Flat Earth.  Flat Earthers often propose that it is illegal to go to Antarctica and has a constant military presence, that's why none of them can go investigate if the ice wall is out there.  There is a subgroup of flat earth who believes that part of the reason you “can't go” to Antarctica is because of the Nazi base there. So think about that one...flat earthers believing there are Nazis bases in Antarctica… Good Lord. In 1978, Miguel Serrano, a Chilean diplomat and Nazi sympathizer, published El Cordón Dorado: Hitlerismo Esotérico [The Golden Thread: Esoteric Hitlerism] (in Spanish), in which he claimed that Adolf Hitler was an Avatar of Vishnu and was, at that time, communing with Hyperborean gods in an underground Antarctic base in New Swabia. Serrano predicted that Hitler would lead a fleet of UFOs from the base to establish the Fourth Reich. In popular culture, this alleged UFO fleet is referred to as the Nazi flying saucers from Antarctica. Oh boy. We really gotta figure out if the Nazis are on the moon or in Antarctica!   How about pyramids… You like pyramids? We got pyramids… maybe. THE oldest pyramids on Earth are hidden away under the deep cold snow of Antarctica, conspiracy theorists have shockingly claimed . Ancient alien theorists who are certain secret pyramids are concealed all around the globe, think some may be hidden on Antarctica. Conspiracy theorists, in particular, point to a pyramid-like structure near the Shackleton mountain range on the icy continent. The “pyramid” in question, when viewed on satellite imagery, does appear to have four steep sides much like the Great Pyramid of Giza. Conspiracy theory author David Childress told Ancient Aliens there is a distinct possibility the Shackleton pyramid is the oldest of its kind on Earth.   He said: “If this gigantic pyramid in Antarctica is an artificial structure, it would probably be the oldest pyramid on the planet and in fact, it might be the master pyramid that all the other pyramids on planet Earth were designed to look like.” Another conspiracy theorist agreed, saying: "All the way around the world we find evidence of pyramid structures.   "We should start looking at the possibility there was habitation on Antarctica.   "Was it a lost civilization? Could it be ancient astronauts?   "And just maybe, the earliest monuments of our own civilization came from Antarctica.”    But the theory was challenged by Dr Michael Salla, author of Exopolitics Political Implications of the Extraterrestrial Presence. The alien expert argued the Antarctic pyramid is just one node in a global network of power-generating pyramids strategically placed around Earth.   A popular pyramid conspiracy claims the triangular structures act as power generators of sorts, built for the purpose of transiting vast amounts of energy wirelessly.   Dr Salla said: “There has been extensive research done on pyramids throughout the world, in terms of their structure and what they really are.   “One of the theories is that pyramids are power generators and so if you have these pyramids strategically placed around the world generating a charge, it's possible to create a general standing wave around the world that is a wireless transmission of energy.”   Also There is a claim that the British set up a base called Maudheim-1 (there are no records) in Dronning Maud Land during the war to observe the apparent Nazi base, this was supposedly attacked by the Nazis in July 1945 followed by SAS led (failed) retaliatory attacks from October to December that year.   How about a couple quick hits:    Some think that the remains of a  Motte and Bailey castle were uncovered. Motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to build with unskilled labour, but still militarily formidable, these castles were built across northern Europe from the 10th century onwards, spreading from Normandy and Anjou in France, into the Holy Roman Empire in the 11th century. The Normans introduced the design into England and Wales. Motte-and-bailey castles were adopted in Scotland, Ireland, the Low Countries and Denmark in the 12th and 13th centuries.    The structure is about 120m across which makes it of the appropriate size range and has two sort-of circles, though the whole thing appears to be more or less completely flat rather than having any significant raised earthworks which in part define a Motte and Bailey castle, the mounds of such castles in towns, cities and in the countryside in Europe are particularly enduring across the centuries. There's a scientific explanation for it but that doesn't stop people from believing what they want.    Then of course you have the flat earthers . There is a weird conspiracy theory that Antarctica and the South Pole do not exist. This belief is most common among flat-earthers who claim that our planet is flat. Flat-earthers believe that the North Pole is at the center of the world while the South Pole surrounds the Earth. According to flat-earthers, Antarctica is actually a thick wall about 30 to 60 meters (100 to 200 ft.) high that surrounds our planet. The wall stops everything from falling over the edge of the Earth. Flat-earthers say we cannot confirm the existence of the wall because world governments and the United Nations have strict no-fly and no-sail zones around Antarctica. Conspiracy theorists believe that the British Captain Cook is one of the few humans to have ever seen the wall apart from government agents. Supposedly, Captain Cook reported seeing the huge wall during the three voyages he made to Antarctica. The wall covered the entire coastline, and he could not land anywhere because it was just too tall to climb.   Speaking if stupid, we touched on this not long ago so we'll just mention it in passing… But apparently there's a hole at the south pole that is the entrance to the hollow earth...I mean… Come On people… Is this where we are as a society??   Going along with this theory of a hole at the pole, there are people that think the world is hiding that fact with a fake south pole. So when people go to the spot that is thought to be the south pole is actually an arbitrary random spot chosen by the powers of the world to throw everyone off the trail of hollow earth.    Some people also believe that there is actually a tropical region that is  hidden in Antarctica. Yes, a tropical region. Some say it is in the no fly zone that is also attributed to the spot where the hole to hollow earth is… we think these guys should fight it out. To the death. Like, no survivors. On the other hand there is recent evidence that there used to be rain forests on the continent so maybe the believers aren't as crazy as we think. Just kidding. They're nuttier than squirrel turds.   Some other crackpots also really believe Antarctica is the Land of The Ancient Race of Super-Beings With Big Angular Heads. Some of them tried to leave many years ago and made it to Easter Island where their enormous weight made them sink into the ground and a simple common bacterial infection turned them to stone. The bacterium cannot live in Antarctica so they continue their highly sophisticated secret society under the ice, dude we can't make this stuff up. Maybe it was Medusa… see, we can make shit up, too!   And finally… Is Antarctica really the lost city of atlantis? The theory that Antarctica is Atlantis is a relatively new one, dating back to the mid 20th Century.   According to Charles Hapgood's 1958 book 'Earth's Shifting Crust',  the continent of Antarctica was in fact originally much further north than its current position. Due to the shifting of the Earth's crust, the continent was displaced, and the climate of the continent, which had been mild, plummeted to below freezing.   This shift in location and temperature has led some to argue that an ancient Civilisation existed on the continent, which was subsequently destroyed by this monumental geographical realignment.   In 2016, faint credence was given to this claim with the revelation that remains of a human settlement had been found under the Antarctic ice.   One report claimed, 'the pictures, taken using remote sensing photography for NASA's Operation IceBridge mission to Antarctica, show what online sleuths believe could be a city.' Ranker list of best winter thriller movies https://www.ranker.com/list/thriller-movies-set-in-snow/ranker-film

On this week's episode, April takes over with a tale of adventure and peril. The story of Douglas Mawson.

Douglas Mawson - muž, který přežil tři měsíce v AntarktiděJan Baalsrud - norský národní hrdina, co unikl gestapu přes celé Norsko. Zázrak v Andách - tragédie rugbyového družstva, která se proměnila v zázrak.

This week I went on a snowmobile trip. In History I cover Douglas Mawson part 1 Links Room with a view Wonderful Tonight

There was a period in history between 1898 and 1922 dubbed the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. It marked a time when daring adventurers set their sights on one of the few lands that still escaped humanity’s reach - the Antarctic. And this land was harsh, cold, and unforgiving, and all the people who dared face this unknown knew there was a good chance they might not come back. Generally, 17 expeditions are considered part of this era which made legends of men such as Ernest Shackleton, Douglas Mawson, and Robert Falcon Scott.

Denel tells the story of Sarah Brady who fought off a women trying to steal her baby, and Jenny talks about Douglas Mawson who survived in insane conditions in the Arctic.

Terwijl  de lentezon onze huid kietelt, duiken we in een ijskoud verhaal.  Douglas Lawson hield van stenen. Dat is een beetje kort door de bocht,  maar hey, het is waar hij van hield. Als geoloog wilde hij onderzoek  doen op de laatst ontdekte kilometers van onze aardbol: het meedogenloze Antarctica. Op zijn expeditie daar maakte hij ongelooflijke dingen mee, en had hij het bovenal heel koud. Een geweldig overlevingsverhaal.

Tim Jarvis has endured a great deal of physical privation as a world-leading polar adventurer. In order to authentically recreate two epic journeys by Sir Douglas Mawson and Sir Ernest Shackleton, from the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, Tim willingly stripped himself of all modern equipment and undertook these expeditions with the same clothes and gear that his predecessors used in the early 1900s. On this episode of Talking Australia Tim talks about his adventures and how he since then has become a climate change advocate, public speaker and as of late started the “Forktree Project”, a non-profit demonstration site in South Australia to show how large scale rewilding of degraded pastoral land is possible. This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Chrissie Goldrick (Editor-in-chief at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com) You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic

Tim Jarvis has endured a great deal of physical privation as a world-leading polar adventurer. In order to authentically recreate two epic journeys by Sir Douglas Mawson and Sir Ernest Shackleton, from the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, Tim willingly stripped himself of all modern equipment and undertook these expeditions with the same clothes and gear that his predecessors used in the early 1900s. On this episode of Talking Australia Tim talks about his adventures and how he since then has become a climate change advocate, public speaker and as of late started the “Forktree Project”, a non-profit demonstration site in South Australia to show how large scale rewilding of degraded pastoral land is possible. This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Chrissie Goldrick (Editor-in-chief at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com) You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Non tutti gli esploratori dei poli sono famosi. Ma non per questo le loro imprese meno spettacolari.

Non tutti gli esploratori dei poli sono famosi. Ma non per questo le loro imprese meno spettacolari.

Non tutti gli esploratori dei poli sono famosi. Ma non per questo le loro imprese meno spettacolari.

Elizabeth Leane talks about Sidney Jeffryes, radio operator for Douglas Mawson’s Australasian Antarctic Expedition in 1913. Jeffryes’ struggle with mental illness challenged Mawson’s expedition party as well as the way Mawson tried to present his expedition to audiences back home. Leane is a professor of English at the University of Tasmania and an Australian Research Council Future Fellow. She’s also the co-author (along with Ben Maddison and Kimberley Norris) of “Beyond the Heroic Stereotype: Sidney Jeffryes and the Mythologising of Australian Antarctic History.”

How strong is your will to survive?

This episode, we’re heading south for a story of Antarctic disaster. Did Sir Douglas Mawson’s 1911 expedition end in survival cannibalism? Carmella unravels the cold case in a tale of overland hauling, extreme rationing, and all the unpleasant things that can happen to sled dogs. TRANSCRIPT https://castinglotspod.home.blog/2020/01/09/12-ice-part-iii-douglas-mawson/ CREDITS Written, hosted and produced by Alix Penn and Carmella Lowkis. Theme music by Daniel Wackett. Find him on Twitter @ds_wack and Soundcloud as Daniel Wackett. Logo by Riley. Find her on Twitter and Instagram @tallestfriend. Casting Lots is part of the Morbid Audio Podcast Network. Network sting by Mikaela Moody. Find her on Bandcamp as mikaelamoody1. BIBLIOGRAPHY Chalmers, S. (2007). ‘The icecap cannibal’, Daily Mail, 27 Oct. Available at: https://www.pressreader.com/uk/daily-mail/20071027/282235186299099 Day, D. (2013). Flaws in the Ice. London: Scribe. Hurley, F. (c.1914-16). Tom Crean.jpg. Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tom_Crean.jpg Leane, E. and H. Tiffin. (2011). ‘Dogs, meat and Douglas Mawson’, Australian Humanities Review, 51. Available at: http://australianhumanitiesreview.org/2011/11/01/dogs-meat-and-douglas-mawson/ PM. (2009). ABC Radio, 20 May. Available at: http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2008/s2576375.htm Shearman, D.J.C. (1978). ‘Vitamin A and Sir Douglas Mawson’, British Medical Journal, 1(6108), pp. 283-285. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1602734/ Taylor, G. (1959). ‘Obituary: Sir Douglas Mawson, O.B.E., F.R.S.’, Australian Geographer, 7(4), pp. 164-165. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/00049185908702341 Yusoff, K. (2005). Arresting visions: a geographical theory of Antarctic light. PhD Thesis. Lancaster University. Available at: https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/49392/ Yusoff, K. (2007). ‘Antarctic exposure: archives of the feeling body’, Cultural Geographies, 14(2), pp. 211-233. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1474474007075355

Elizabeth Leane talks about Sidney Jeffryes, radio operator for Douglas Mawson’s Australasian Antarctic Expedition in 1913. Jeffryes’ struggle with mental illness challenged Mawson’s expedition party as well as the way Mawson tried to present his expedition to audiences back home. Leane is a professor of English at the University of Tasmania and an Australian Research Council Future Fellow. She’s also the co-author (along with Ben Maddison and Kimberley Norris) of “Beyond the Heroic Stereotype: Sidney Jeffryes and the Mythologising of Australian Antarctic History.”

Douglas Mawson’s Australasian Antarctic Expedition concluded, and the last of the expeditioners arrived back in Adelaide in February, 1914.  A lot had happened, both on the frozen continent and across the world, in the years they had been away.  We wrap up the “Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration” in this episode, by reflecting on the AAE, on Mawson’s ongoing relationship with the Antarctic, and Australia’s connection to Antarctica.  We’ll also just touch on the outcome of Scott and Amundsen’s attempts on the pole, which took place while Mawson was in the Antarctic, and just for interest, also discuss Shackleton’s return journey, which pretty much brought the Age to a close. (54 Mins)  www.australianhistoriespodcast.com.au Brilliant stories from Australia’s past! Help support the show

Douglas Mawson’s expedition was well underway, and the teams from the Cape Denison base had returned, after completing their various research programs.  All except Mawson and his team.  They had undertaken the most ambitious and distant trek, and were now overdue.  We turn our attention to the trek Mawson, Ninnis & Mertz undertook for the AAE.  (48 mins)  www.australianhistoriespodcast.com.au Brilliant stories from Australia’s past! AHP Facebook                         AusHistPod Twitter    australianhistoriespodcast Instagram 

After returning from Shackleton’s Nimrod Expedition and despite rejecting any idea of returning to Antarctica, the trauma of his polar trekking faded and Douglas Mawson began to consider all the exploration & discovery that still lay waiting there.  He set about planning the “Australasian Antarctic Expedition”, to undertake an ambitious scientific & survey program for Australia & the Empire.  This time though, the harsh elements would extract a greater cost for giving up it’s secrets. (51 Mins)   www.australianhistoriespodcast.com.au Brilliant stories from Australia’s past! AHP Facebook                         AusHistPod Twitter    australianhistoriespodcast Instagram   

Douglas Mawson, who would later become the leader of Australia’s first Antarctic expedition, undertook his first trip to Antarctica as part of Ernest Shackleton’s “Nimrod Expedition”,  1908.  Though he was young and this was his first foray in to the icy territory, his obvious intelligence, robust constitution and leadership skills, marked him out early for momentous work, and he was tasked with joining teams to explore Mt Erebus and to locate the Magnetic South Pole. The following episode will then focus on Mawson’s leadership of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition itself. (52 Mins)   www.australianhistoriespodcast.com.au Brilliant stories from Australia’s past! AHP Facebook                         AusHistPod Twitter    australianhistoriespodcast Instagram     

Australia’s first formal expedition to Antarctica in 1911, the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, was led by Douglas Mawson, a geologist from Adelaide University.  This episode we’ll look at what brought Mawson to the Antarctic, and at the earlier British expeditions that helped scaffold Mawson’s later venture.  The following episodes will focus on Mawson’s first trip South with Shackleton and then look in detail at the Australasian Antarctic Expedition itself. (50 Mins)   www.australianhistoriespodcast.com.au Brilliant stories from Australia’s past! AHP Facebook                         AusHistPod Twitter    australianhistoriespodcast Instagram   

Ships need a reliable way to know their exact location at sea -- and for centuries, the lack of a dependable method caused shipwrecks and economic havoc for every seafaring nation. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll meet John Harrison, the self-taught English clockmaker who dedicated his life to crafting a reliable solution to this crucial problem. We'll also admire a dentist and puzzle over a magic bus stop. Intro: Working in an Antarctic tent in 1908, Douglas Mawson found himself persistently interrupted by Edgeworth David. In 1905, Sir Gilbert Parker claimed to have seen the astral body of Sir Crane Rasch in the House of Commons. Sources for our feature on John Harrison: Dava Sobel and William H. Andrews, The Illustrated Longitude, 1995. William J.H. Andrewes, ed., The Quest for Longitude, 1996. Katy Barrett, "'Explaining' Themselves: The Barrington Papers, the Board of Longitude, and the Fate of John Harrison," Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London 65:2 (June 20, 2011), 145-162. William E. Carter and Merri S. Carter, "The Age of Sail: A Time When the Fortunes of Nations and Lives of Seamen Literally Turned With the Winds Their Ships Encountered at Sea," Journal of Navigation 63:4 (October 2010), 717-731. J.A. Bennett, "Science Lost and Longitude Found: The Tercentenary of John Harrison," Journal for the History of Astronomy 24:4 (1993), 281-287. Arnold Wolfendale, "Shipwrecks, Clocks and Westminster Abbey: The Story of John Harrison," Historian 97 (Spring 2008), 14-17. William E. Carter and Merri Sue Carter, "The British Longitude Act Reconsidered," American Scientist 100:2 (March/April 2012), 102-105. Robin W. Spencer, "Open Innovation in the Eighteenth Century: The Longitude Problem," Research Technology Management 55:4 (July/August 2012), 39-43. "Longitude Found: John Harrison," Royal Museums Greenwich (accessed Aug. 27, 2017). "John Harrison," American Society of Mechanical Engineers (accessed Aug. 27, 2017). J.C. Taylor and A.W. Wolfendale, "John Harrison: Clockmaker and Copley Medalist," Notes and Records, Royal Society Journal of the History of Science, Jan. 22, 2007. An Act for the Encouragement of John Harrison, to Publish and Make Known His Invention of a Machine or Watch, for the Discovery of the Longitude at Sea, 1763. John Harrison, An Account of the Proceedings, in Order to the Discovery of the Longitude, 1763. John Harrison, A Narrative of the Proceedings Relative to the Discovery of the Longitude at Sea, 1765. Nevil Maskelyne, An Account of the Going of Mr. John Harrison's Watch, at the Royal Observatory, 1767. John Harrison, Remarks on a Pamphlet Lately Published by the Rev. Mr. Maskelyne, 1767. An Act for Granting to His Majesty a Certain Sum of Money Out of the Sinking Fund, 1773. John Harrison, A Description Concerning Such Mechanism as Will Afford a Nice, or True Mensuration of Time, 1775. Steve Connor, "John Harrison's 'Longitude' Clock Sets New Record -- 300 Years On," Independent, April 18, 2015. Robin McKie, "Clockmaker John Harrison Vindicated 250 Years After 'Absurd' Claims," Guardian, April 18, 2015. Listener mail: Charlie Hintz, "DNA Ends 120 Year Mystery of H.H. Holmes' Death," Cult of Weird, Aug. 31, 2017. "Descendant of H.H. Holmes Reveals What He Found at Serial Killer's Gravesite in Delaware County," NBC10, July 18, 2017. Brian X. McCrone and George Spencer, "Was It Really 'America's First Serial Killer' H.H. Holmes Buried in a Delaware County Grave?", NBC10, Aug. 31, 2017. Daniel Hahn, The Tower Menagerie, 2004. James Owen, "Medieval Lion Skulls Reveal Secrets of Tower of London 'Zoo,'" National Geographic News, Nov. 3, 2005. Richard Davey, Tower of London, 1910. Bill Bailey reads from the Indonesian-to-English phrasebook Practical Dialogues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZZv6D4hpK8 A few photos of Practical Dialogues. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Oskar Sigvardsson, who sent these corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

Douglas Mawson gets a lot done in just twelve months.

Ernest Shackleton heads south in a dodgy ship, short on funds and with a flea in his ear from Scott, but manages to get a lot done and get everyone home safely.  Lots of firsts but the south pole remains unclaimed and, with two teams alleging they made it to the north pole, becomes even more alluring. Douglas Mawson, Aenaes Mackintosh and John King Davis make their Antarctic entrances while Frank Wild and Ernest Joyce make their second forays south.  Professor Philip Samartzis of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology becomes the first artist interviewed for the series and discusses why and how he headed south for the sake of his art. 

Join us in part three of our visit to Hobart Tasmania visit with Rod Ledingham as we dive deeper into our story taking a tour of the Mawsons Huts Replica Museum. Mawson's Huts Replica Museum is rated by trip advisor as the best museum in Hobart being ranked as No 1 out of 15 museums  It has attracted over 100000 visitors in its first two years of operation and continues to set new attendance records with visitors from all over Australia and overseas. Situated on, the citys beautiful waterfront it is just 50 metres from Constitution Dock and opposite Mawson's Place. It was opened on Monday December 2 2013 which was the 102nd anniversary of the departure from Hobart of the Australasian Antarctic expedition 1911 to 14 which Douglas Mawson led. The MISSION  To develop the Mawson's Huts Replica Museum as a boutique world class museum that: provides visitors with the opportunity to learn and understand the history and achievements of the men of the 1911 to 14 Australasian Antarctic Expedition led by Douglas Mawson; helps promote awareness of Australia's involvement in the Antarctic and highlights Hobart as the gateway to the Antarctic continent for the Asia Pacific region Planning Your Visit Make the most of the stunning scenery, waterfront vibe, cafes and restaurants when you plan your visit to our Replica Museum. Located in the centre of Hobart, we are within a few minutes walk of most major accommodation and conference venues. Find more details before your next visit to Hobart Tasmania  

Join us in part two of our visit to Hobart, Tasmania visit with Rod Ledingham as we dive deeper into our story taking a tour of the Mawson's Huts Replica Museum. Mawson's Huts Replica Museum is rated by trip advisor as the best museum in Hobart being ranked as No 1 out of 15 museums.  It has attracted over 100,000 visitors in its first two years of operation and continues to set new attendance records with visitors from all over Australia and overseas. Situated on, the city's beautiful waterfront it is just 50 metres from Constitution Dock and opposite Mawson's Place. It was opened on Monday Deceember 2 2013 which was the 102nd anniversary of the departure from Hobart of the Australasian Antarctic expedition 1911-14 which Douglas Mawson led. The MISSION  To develop the Mawson's Huts Replica Museum as a boutique world class museum that: provides visitors with the opportunity to learn and understand the history and achievements of the men of the 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expedition led by Douglas Mawson; helps promote awareness of Australia's involvement in the Antarctic; and highlights Hobart as the gateway to the Antarctic continent for the Asia Pacific region. Planning Your Visit Make the most of the stunning scenery, waterfront vibe, cafes and restaurants when you plan your visit to our Replica Museum. Located in the centre of Hobart, we are within a few minutes walk of most major accommodation and conference venues.  

Mawson's Huts Replica Museum is rated by trip advisor as the best museum in Hobart being ranked as No 1 out of 15 museums.  It has attracted over 100,000 visitors in its first two years of operation and continues to set new attendance records with visitors from all over Australia and overseas. Situated on, the city's beautiful waterfront it is just 50 metres from Constitution Dock and opposite Mawson's Place. It was opened on Monday Deceember 2 2013 which was the 102nd anniversary of the departure from Hobart of the Australasian Antarctic expedition 1911-14 which Douglas Mawson led. The MISSION  To develop the Mawson's Huts Replica Museum as a boutique world class museum that: provides visitors with the opportunity to learn and understand the history and achievements of the men of the 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expedition led by Douglas Mawson; helps promote awareness of Australia's involvement in the Antarctic; and highlights Hobart as the gateway to the Antarctic continent for the Asia Pacific region. Planning Your Visit Make the most of the stunning scenery, waterfront vibe, cafes and restaurants when you plan your visit to our Replica Museum. Located in the centre of Hobart, we are within a few minutes walk of most major accommodation and conference venues.      

Douglas Mawson expedition across the ice has been met with tragedy. One of his men has fallen down a crevice and died, and with him the majority of the food stores and the good sleigh dogs. He and Mertz have little option but to turn back and try to make their way to the base. But the weather is against them, and they don't have enough food to make back. Guest: Dr David Day (Historian and Emeritus of La Trobe University). Books: Flaws in the Ice: In search of Douglas Mawson (Scribe, 2013) Antarctica: A Biography (Oxford, 2012)

Douglas Mawson expedition across the ice has been met with tragedy. One of his men has fallen down a crevice and died, and with him the majority of the food stores and the good sleigh dogs. He and Mertz have little option but to turn back and try to make their way to the base. But the weather is against them, and they don't have enough food to make back. Guest: Dr David Day (Historian and Emeritus of La Trobe University). Books: Flaws in the Ice: In search of Douglas Mawson (Scribe, 2013) Antarctica: A Biography (Oxford, 2012)

Douglas Mawson has returned from the Shackleton Expedition in Antarctica, but he soon gets the urge to go back to the ice. He journeys to England to raise money for his own Antarctic mission - a scientific endeavour with the primary aim to discover new territory. Guest: Dr David Day (Historian and Emeritus of La Trobe University). Books: Flaws in the Ice: In search of Douglas Mawson (Scribe, 2013) Antarctica: A Biography (Oxford, 2012)

Douglas Mawson has returned from the Shackleton Expedition in Antarctica, but he soon gets the urge to go back to the ice. He journeys to England to raise money for his own Antarctic mission - a scientific endeavour with the primary aim to discover new territory. Guest: Dr David Day (Historian and Emeritus of La Trobe University). Books: Flaws in the Ice: In search of Douglas Mawson (Scribe, 2013) Antarctica: A Biography (Oxford, 2012)

Douglas Mawson is one of the great explorers of Antarctica, and regarded as a hero in Australia. His first journey to the frozen continent was as a member of the Shackleton expedition, and he was given the task of finding the magnetic south pole. Guest: Dr David Day (Historian and Emeritus of La Trobe University). Books: Flaws in the Ice: In search of Douglas Mawson (Scribe, 2013) Antarctica: A Biography (Oxford, 2012)

Douglas Mawson is one of the great explorers of Antarctica, and regarded as a hero in Australia. His first journey to the frozen continent was as a member of the Shackleton expedition, and he was given the task of finding the magnetic south pole. Guest: Dr David Day (Historian and Emeritus of La Trobe University). Books: Flaws in the Ice: In search of Douglas Mawson (Scribe, 2013) Antarctica: A Biography (Oxford, 2012)

Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - with special guest Justin Hamilton examine Antarctic explorer Douglas Mawson live from Mebourne, Australia SOURCES TOUR DATES REDBUBBLE MERCH

Scientists following in the footsteps of Edwardian explorer, Douglas Mawson, have been trapped in pack ice in the Antarctic. The Chinese vessel that came to their rescue also became "beset" in the ice. The BBC's Andrew Luck Baker talks to Adam Rutherford about the catacylsmic event that caused multi-year ice to break away and trap the Academik Shokalskiy and Professor John Turner of the British Antarctic Survey underlines the importance of differentiating between extreme weather events and the impact of climate change.A team at Rothamsted Research in Hertfordshire has succeeded in genetically engineering plant seeds to contain the Omega-3 oil usually found in oily fish. Seeds from Camelina sativa (false flax) plants were modified using genes from microalgae - the primary organisms that produce these beneficial fatty acids.The oil has now been incorporated into salmon feed to assess whether it's a viable alternative to wild fish oil. Dr Johnathan Napier tells Melissa Hogenboom that he hopes the plants will provide a sustainable source of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids.From fossils we know an awful lot about the animals that walked on the Earth, swam in the sea and flew in the air. But fossils have never been good at revealing the colour of these animals. With increasingly sophisticated sampling techniques however, scientists are starting to get a much better, technicolour glimpse into these extinct fauna. And it turns out that colour played a much more important role than just camouflage and decoration. Johan Lindgren form Lund University in Sweden has been finding out how the pigment, melanin, allowed ancient marine reptiles to travel all over the oceanic globe.Show Us Your Instrument: Dr Andrew Polaszek, Head of Terrestrial Invertebrates at the Natural History Museum reveals his compound microscope (with Nomarski Differential Interference Contrast) which he uses to discover "hidden biodiversity", particularly in parasitoid wasps.Stephen Hawking threw a party for time travellers and issued the invitation after the event. Astrophysicists after a long poker game decided to use Twitter instead, to flush out the time travellers in our midst. Professor Robert Nemiroff from Michigan Tech University and his students mined social media for references to the Comet ISON and the naming of the new Pope Francis, before both those events had actually happened. Producer: Fiona Hill.

The Australasian Antarctic Expedition has been retracing the steps of the first expedition to East Antarctica, a century ago. Its leader was Douglas Mawson, one of the great figures of the heroic age of exploration of the frozen continent. In the last of the programmes from the Antarctic, Andrew Luck-Baker reports on the 10 days the scientists, tourists and crew of the ship, the Academik Shokalskiy, spent locked in the ice and their eventual release via helicopters from a Chinese ice breaker to an Australian vessel.

Alok Jha and Andrew Luck-Baker continue to follow the scientists on the ongoing Australasian Antarctic Expedition 2013. They go out on fieldwork trips with the researchers studying how the wildlife that lives in this inhospitable environment is responding to climate change. Zoologist Tracy Rogers searches for leopard seals with underwater microphones. From a safe distance she takes a small sample from a Weddell seal to find out what it's been eating. Ornithologist Kerry-Jayne Wilson discovers that an iconic breeding colony of Adelie penguins at Cape Denison, the rocky area where Douglas Mawson built his expedition hut, has depleted numbers as the fast ice has grown. Producer: Andrew Luck-BakerImage: Ice-blocked bow of the Shokalskiy and expedition doctor Andrew Peacock

Antibacterial soaps and body washes make up an industry worth millions of pounds, but in the USA, producers have been told that they have just over a year to prove their products are safe, or, re-label or reformulate them. Many believe that using antimicrobial soaps, which often include the chemicals triclosan or triclocarban, keeps you clean and reduces the chance of getting ill or passing on germs to others. But the Food and Drug Administration in the USA says it's the job of manufacturers to demonstrate the benefits, to balance any potential risks. Professor Jodi Lindsay, expert in microbial pathogenesis from St Georges, University of London, tells Dr Adam Rutherford where this leaves British and European consumers.The world's most powerful satellite camera was launched today into space. Its mission, to map the billion stars in our galaxy. Professor Gerry Gilmore, Principal Investigator for GAIA, tells Inside Science about the planned "walk through the Milky Way" and BBC Science Correspondent, Jonathan Amos, spells out how GAIA could help detect future asteroids, like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs on earth.Just after the Second World War in a site in North Yorkshire, the discovery of a flint blade triggered the discovery of one of the world's most important Mesolithic or Stone Age sites. What makes Star Carr so special is that organic artefacts, bone harpoons, deer headdresses and even homesteads, were preserved in the peat 11000 years ago. But these precious artefacts are in trouble. Changing acidic conditions are turning the Mesolithic remains to jelly. Sue Nelson reports from the Vale of Pickering on how archaeologists are working with chemists to try to pinpoint exactly why the Stone Age remains are deteriorating so quickly.And Professor Chris Turney talks to Adam from his research ship in Commonwealth Bay in the Antarctic, where he is leading a team of scientists to recreate the journey made by Douglas Mawson, 100 years ago, on the Australasian Antarctic Expedition.Producer: Fiona Hill.

Join the scientists of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition 2013, as they go about their experiments and seek adventure at the windiest place on earth.This location was named the Land of Blizzard by Douglas Mawson, the Antarctic pioneer who was the first to explore this remote and desolate place 100 years ago.Between 1911 and 1914, Douglas Mawson explored a fiercely harsh part of Antarctica while the more celebrated Scott and Amundsen raced to the South Pole, elsewhere on the frozen continent. Mawson's expedition was dedicated to scientific study in the early Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration but his journey was fraught with horror and danger. The 2013 Australasian Antarctic Expedition aims to repeat many of Mawson's investigations around Commonwealth Bay and Cape Denison in East Antarctica where the original team set up their base. This remote area hasn't been studied systematically for 100 years, so the expedition will reveal any changes that have taken place as a result of climate change.

Badger culls in England have ended and Professor Roland Kao from the University of Glasgow discusses with Dr Adam Rutherford the scientific options remaining to tackle the spread of bovine tuberculosis. Field trials of the TB cattle vaccine are due to start next year and Professor Kao hopes that their success in sequencing the genome of Mycobactrium bovis will also provide a greater understanding about how this devastating disease spreads. The name of Douglas Mawson isn't discussed along with the famous triumvirate, Scott, Amundsen and Shackleton, but one hundred years ago, he led the first science-only Australasian Antarctic Expedition. A century later, Professor Chris Turney is co-leading a repeat expedition, where scientists will repeat many of the measurements of the Mawson trip.Rising inflexion at the end of your sentences is known as "uptalk" or "valleygirl speak" and it's usually associated with young Californian females. But now a new study shows that uptalk is expanding to men. Professor Amalia Arvaniti explains that uptalk has negative connotations which makes men less likely to admit to using it, but it was clear was that this pattern of speech is like totally spreading.Waste plastic makes its way into many areas of the environment which can threaten wildlife. Small particles of plastic can also be ingested by organisms and as they act almost like sponges the plastics attract other chemicals onto their surface. Despite this their hazard ranking is the same as scraps of food or grass clippings. Dr Mark Browne from the National Centre for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, USA, describes his new research in the journal, Current Biology, which shows that these microplastics have toxic concentrations of pollutants in which can harm biodiversity. He also explains how these microplastics transfer toxic pollutants and chemicals into the guts of lugworms. These worms have been nicknamed "eco-engineers" because they eat organic matter from the sediment and prevent the build-up of silt.Producer: Fiona Hill.

Alasdair McGregor. Arguably best remembered for his photographs of Douglas Mawson and Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic expeditions, Frank Hurley was also a renowned war photographer and cine cameraman. He saw service with the AIF from the horrific battles of Flanders in World War I to the Desert Camplaign of North Africa in World War II.