IceCube, the Antarctic neutrino detector that in July of 2018 helped unravel one of the oldest riddles in physics and astronomy — the origin of high-energy neutrinos and cosmic rays — is getting an upgrade.
Ah, penguins! Who doesn’t love them? Both of IceCube’s winterovers got to view and photograph penguins recently, but not at the South Pole—no animals can survive the extreme cold temperatures of the Pole.
Life at the South Pole is full of traditions. And as one year ends and another begins, anticipation always mounts for a special tradition: the unveiling of the new South Pole marker.
The last full week of 2019 was a busy one at the South Pole. Yes, there were the holiday festivities (and a group photo!), but plenty of work was going on as well.
IceCube researchers at the Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center (WIPAC), a research center of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, recently found that IceCube is capable of seeing GZK neutrinos in a much larger portion of the sky than previously thought, thanks to an effect called tau neutrino regeneration. The researchers also used tau neutrino regeneration to eliminate a possible explanation for anomalous events detected by another Antarctic neutrino experiment, ANITA.
It’s always a white Christmas at the South Pole. It was also summer solstice at the Pole, and the winterovers got outdoors for some nice shots of the station.
