“Polarstern” is currently anchored right next to the ice shelf, which is formed by layers and layers of snow accumulated over thousands of years forming a vertical cliff dropping more than 30m to the sea (surface). Fuel and other goods are being discharged to supply Germany’s Neumayer station in Antarctica. At longitude 8°48' west, this part of East Antarctica’s ice cap is considered stable. The complete opposite is true for the Antarctic Peninsula heading towards the southern tip of South America. This area will form the backdrop for a scientific mission of an expedition that started two weeks ago in Cape Town. During the past 15 years atmospheric warming led to the collapse of major parts of the Larsen A and B ice shelves. These areas together made up only one percent of Antarc...

The Stellar Axis land art project is currently being deployed in Antarctica, to be completed for the Southern hemisphere Summer Solstice on 22 December 2006. Perhaps the largest and most ambitious arts project to take place in Antarctica, Stellar Axis is the work of the internationally known, Los Angeles based artist, Lita Albuquerque, and is sponsored by the US National Science Foundation and US Antarctic Programme. The concept is to mirror the southern constellations through the placement of 99 blue spheres on th...

I thought I was the first Portuguese to study Wandering albatrosses but I was five hundred years too late. When fifteenth-century Portuguese sailors first ventured down the coast of Africa, they encountered large black and white birds with stout bodies, which they called alcatraz, the Portuguese word for large seabirds; English sailors later corrupted alcatraz to albatross. I was studying aspects of their diet and feeding behaviour in ways that could not be done five hundred years ago, information which may help save them from extinction. That made me feel better... Read more here This is an essay...

The IPY logo is available for download in several formats: As a GIF file, 142x142 pixels; as a GIF file, 198x198 pixels; as a ZIPped TIFF file, and as a B/W zipped EPS file. Here is a PDF version of the logo (248 KB). For a logo without the '2007-2008' text, useful for legacy applications, use this ...

The IPY logo is available for download in several formats: As a GIF file, 142x142 pixels; as a GIF file, 198x198 pixels; as a ZIPped TIFF file, and as a B/W zipped EPS file. Here is a PDF version of the logo (248 KB). For a logo without the '2007-2008' text, useful for legacy applications, use this ...

The IPY logo is available for download in several formats: As a GIF file, 142x142 pixels; as a GIF file, 198x198 pixels; as a ZIPped TIFF file, and as a B/W zipped EPS file. Here is a PDF version of the logo (248 KB). For a logo without the '2007-2008' text, useful for legacy applications, use this ...

The IPY logo is available for download in several formats: As a GIF file, 142x142 pixels; as a GIF file, 198x198 pixels; as a ZIPped TIFF file, and as a B/W zipped EPS file.

Here is a PDF version of the logo (248 KB).

For a logo without the '2007-2008' text, useful for legacy applications, use this version (PDF, 248 KB).

The logo can be used for promotion of IPY events and activities only. If you are unsure about its application, please see IPY_Branding_Policy.pdf or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it the IPY International Programme Office ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

The logo has also been adapted for specific projects and countries... send us your version!

ANDRILL’s website provides a wide range of information and activities from simple interactives, photos and images, videos, interviews and blogs from the field, and hands-on inquiry activities developed by the ARISE teachers, to an explanation of the science of drilling for sediments and developing a paleoclimate record from the evidence found in the sediment core samples. This site includes information on ice sheets and ice shelves, drill rig technology. Educators’ journals from the field in Antarctica explain the science in words and photos for non-technical audiences and children. Teachers can sign up to receive polar science curriculum materials and e-mail updates and link to many other worthwhile websites. Activity: On ...

ANDRILL’s website provides a wide range of information and activities from simple interactives, photos and images, videos, interviews and blogs from the field, and hands-on inquiry activities developed by the ARISE teachers, to an explanation of the science of drilling for sediments and developing a paleoclimate record from the evidence found in the sediment core samples. This site includes information on ice sheets and ice shelves, drill rig technology. Educators’ journals from the field in Antarctica explain the science in words and photos for non-technical audiences and children. Teachers can sign up to receive polar science curriculum materials and e-mail updates and link to many other worthwhile websites. Activity: On ...

Read about how Barrie Ford of Kuujjuaq, in Northern Canada, is spreading the word of IPY. Nunatsiaq News has the story: It could have been just called a northern office, but the idea was to have people in the North who would be concrete and visible, Ford said. Part of my job is to spread the word about IPY so people are more aware of it and know what is going on, and also to be a point of contact for scientists. Ford has spoken to schools in Nunavik, designed posters and contacted the region's mayors, where a growing awareness of climate change is sparking interest in IPY. ...