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The Last Egg

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121–130 of 204 posts

Re: The Last Egg

#121
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think the UK pasteurizes their milk to the same degree as North America. When I lived in the UK a pint of milk would last a week or so at most, but here in Canada it can last a month.

A month??? That’s definitely different.

UHT can easily last longer, it's shelf-stable (like literally on the shelf, no refrigeration needed) for months.

It's kinda wild it has as small of an impact on taste as it does. There's absolutely a difference, but it's surprisingly decent.

Re: The Last Egg

#122
post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not hard, just expensive. Airdropping supplies through winter was routine until it was cut for budgetary reasons.

At the South Pole? A 2011 midwinter airdrop of emergency medical supplies was treated as a big deal; when did it become routine?

It was routine up until IIRC 1996-1999 (which lines up with when they switched over from Navy to National Guard operation).

Re: The Last Egg

#123
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm surprised you can't tell the difference between UHT and regular milk. I've tried a few brands in the UK, and there's a clear difference in tea / coffee, and it's particularly marked if you're drinking milk on its own. Maybe the UK is lagging behind on UHT? Or I'm just buying the wrong brand.

I don't think the UK pasteurizes their milk to the same degree as North America. When I lived in the UK a pint of milk would last a week or so at most, but here in Canada it can last a month.

> here in Canada it can last a month.

This seems to depend on the container as well as the brand / market segment.

"low end" Nielson / Sealtest / Beatrice in bags seems to last < 2 weeks, whereas stuff like Natrel / Lactantia / Nielson Truetaste in cartons seems to last around a month.

Re: The Last Egg

#124
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think you deserve all the down votes. I grew up in the U.S. in the 90's drinking healthy 1% or skim milk, then lived in Europe for two years drinking probably 3.5% or 4% and I tried going back to low fat milk and just can't. Whole milk all the way

2% is semi-skimmed. I can’t imagine confusing what with whole milk. Even 3.5% and 5% are quite different from each other.

Here (Ontario Canada) 5% is sold as light cream.

Re: The Last Egg

#125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm fairly certain the air will be conditioned and inside humidity kept to an acceptable standard.

From the article: "The greenhouse is a volunteer affair, and it yields enough for herbs and the occasional salad! It’s also the only place on station with humidity! Since the rest of the station has near-zero humidity, it’s a treat to spend time in here."

I'd have to question what "near-zero" actually means. I don't doubt that outside the humidity is super low, but inside I have my doubts.

Super low humidity increases the risk of ESD which wouldn't be fantastic for any electronics.

You'd need to walk around with a grounding strap all day otherwise you'll be zapping every bit of metal you encounter. I worked in a newly built data centre where the air conditioning (not the chillers) wasn't tuned quite right and the humidity dropped so low that we were being zapped left right and centre. So I'd love to see the actual figure they're using as "near-zero".

Re: The Last Egg

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't a larger greenhouse require more power and therefore more fuel for the generators? I would figure that's a major reason why. I was wonder why they don't have chickens somewhere so that they can have fresh eggs/meat/etc. It could potentially be a good way to re-use food scraps, although I'm sure they're already doing something useful with those.

> I was wonder why they don't have chickens somewhere It's probably a bio security thing. If these chickens escape into the wild there's the risk of infecting the local bird life with new diseases or viruses that the local population have no defences against.

[dead]

Re: The Last Egg

#127

Weird they don't stock UHT milk. I buy milk for 6 months and keep it in my pantry. I honestly can't tell the difference between modern UHT milk and mass-produced "fresh" milk (at 2% anyway). They could in theory ship in UHT milk instead of fresh, and stock enough extra to last a few more months in winter. It would be fun to make your own cheese down there as a hobby! Eating by the seasons is also pretty interesting,…

I'm surprised you can't tell the difference between UHT and regular milk. I've tried a few brands in the UK, and there's a clear difference in tea / coffee, and it's particularly marked if you're drinking milk on its own. Maybe the UK is lagging behind on UHT? Or I'm just buying the wrong brand.

I agree that the difference is very noticeable, but it's still small enough that if OP was, say, a smoker they might not be able to notice it.

Re: The Last Egg

#129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you care?

Well, I personally would be interested to see the talk/learn more about those in tech who have gone to the pole.

There are several Polies here (and folks who've spent time in other cool places - Ross Island, Greenland, Atacama Desert come to mind) and at least some are in tech.

My Pole experience is a bit dated, but happy to chat about it. Blog from that is https://weaknuclearforce.wordpress.com/

(also, I dig the single-page latex resume format!)

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