Thursday, February 12, 2015

Q&A & Tractor Girl

Today's Q&A:

Q: From J.C. (St. Louis, MO): “What is the capitol of Antarctica? Wait, does Antarctica have a capitol?”
A: Antarctica does not have a capitol! It is not a country and, according to international treaty, cannot be claimed by any country or countries. There are several dozen countries that have scientific research bases on the continent (as they must, according to that same international treaty, in order to have a future say in what happens to Antarctica's mineral and other riches in the coming century). And there are islands that lie between the continent and South America that are technically Antarctica but are claimed by Chile or Argentina (though these claims are not internationally recognized). So there you go.

And a random tidbit for you: One of this summer's tourists to the South Pole was a Dutch woman (and her support team) riding a Massey-Fergusen tractor to the Pole to (and I'm still struggling to grasp the logic of this, but perhaps it's not mine to grasp) raise awareness for sustainable farming. Don't ask. Eventually at the station we just started calling her "Tractor Girl" (though she's a grown adult and mother of an infant.) They were taking so many publicity shots and footage that the ground around the ceremonial pole looked like it had been the site of a drag race for many weeks after, until some wind started to blow in snow to cover the tracks. But several of the people working here went out there to meet her and said she was really nice. A news article about the expedition, and a photo I took from the galley window when they first arrived.



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