I just finished reading “Alone” by Richard Byrd [0]. It’s about a man who wintered alone in Antarctica during the dark night in 1934. I found it very captivating and I think a lot of those on HN would find it interesting; especially those who find this blog interesting.
Last Flight Out
31–40 of 322 posts
Re: Last Flight Out
#32Always wondered if at least one-way resupply was possible (containers airdropped and guided by GPS to land at precise point)?
Re: Last Flight Out
#33I feel like my Emacs setup would be perfect after the winter isolation. :) - Has anyone studied the Antarctic winter with respect to deep focus and personal productivity?
Don't think it'd be about deep focus, but definitely spiritual.
Re: Last Flight Out
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
Except that Mount Everest is full of people supposedly.
Mount Everest is full of trash and bodies too iirc. There's a couple spots where you pass bodies on the way up that no one will recover.
And those bodies are waypoints. For example "green boots".
Re: Last Flight Out
#35Blows me away everytime I see these bases and the amount of 'stuff' they have there considering it's literally in the middle of nowhere.
Re: Last Flight Out
#36> "Slow and intermittent Internet access." Hmm, how long until Starlink (or similar) reaches the South Pole?
Once inter-satellite links are operational, presumably. Looking at [1], there are already some polar orbit satellites, but without these links, that doesn't help Antarctica much. (I'm also not sure if the polar satellites are operational for regular traffic yet.) [1] https://satellitemap.space/
The laser links are active, have been for a few months now
Re: Last Flight Out
#37> "Slow and intermittent Internet access." Hmm, how long until Starlink (or similar) reaches the South Pole?
https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-internet-service-antar...
Edit: as someone pointed out this is McMurdo.
Re: Last Flight Out
#38As someone who has lived rather isolated for long stretches, I think the one thing that helps fight feeling isolated is to find your joy and practice it. My joy is in creative outlets. When I'm alone, I sing, woodwork, cook new recipes, garden [indoors or out], sew. If I had a large indoor space I'd probably practice slacklining, aerial arts, tumbling, parkour, climbing. And then there's the computer, where I can create music and endless programs, websites. I haven't even touched on painting, drawing, playing music. And all that can be supplemented by podcasts, music, movies/TV, reading, chores, working out. There's really so much to do indoors if you can cultivate a creative mindset.
Re: Last Flight Out
#39If you're interested in the people and personalities and activities at the South Pole, the Werner Herzog film Encounters at the End of the World is a revealing and interesting documentary. It includes a fascinating part about a deluded penguin choosing to leave its flock and begin a fatal journey towards the center of the island... - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encounters_at_the_End_of_the_W... - https://www.imdb.c…
The famous scene[0] from this film is a masterpiece. It never fails to sink me to my nadir, so I avoid watching it even if I love it so much.
Re: Last Flight Out
#40The shower page was interesting, you get 4 minutes of shower time a week
https://brr.fyi/posts/showering-at-the-south-pole
I'm surprised they can't just melt snow water to run things like showers.
Oddly no suggestions on the page about doubling up your shower with someone else to have longer or more frequent showers.