Documenting my time at the South Pole, along with videos explaining the science and interviews with the scientists.
Curated by: Joe Spins the Globe (36 videos)
Of all the science projects and experiments in Antarctica, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory is by far the biggest and most difficult to build. Although the visible part of IceCube appears deceptively simple, the real challenge was placing the sensors that have allowed IceCube to make multiple major scientific discoveries. See the Facility Tour and Science of IceCube here: https://youtu.be/gLbegYWCqkg 00:00 Intro 00:38 The Hot Water Drill 01:27 The Firn Layer 01:52 The Firn Drill 02:17 The Rod Well 02:52 Water tanks and pumps 03:26 The Boiler Array 04:08 Tower Operations Site 05:33 DOM placement 06:21 Seasonal logistics at the South Pole 07:22 Final thoughts For a more technical breakdown of the drilling operation (and source for this video): https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/annals-of-glaciology/article/icecube-enhanced-hot-water-drill-functional-description/F2A93B250A9FDB4E8A94101787BA3A68 Video clips credit: IceCube Collaboration/NSF The IceCube drill operation site 3D model created by myself and contains some publicly available RF models. CORRECTION: The boiling point of water at 9000 ft is actually ~195 Fahrenheit; however due to atmospheric effects at the South Pole, the air pressure is much lower than an equivalent altitude somewhere else, making the boiling point around 190F