Purty Lights:

One of our own was featured at Space Weather for his superior efforts as a shutterbug. On July 5th there was an outstanding Aurora display and Dana was there to capture in on - well, not film, but the digital equivalent. The featured photo (shamelessly hotlinked):

Jupiter looms brightly in the sky above the South Pole Telescope during this magnificent Auroral display

I don't understand all the science behind it all, but the article at space weather explains that these auroras were fueled by the interplanetary magnetic field tipping south which opened a crack in earth's magnetosphere and allowed solar wind to pour in - sure is pretty. I guess before I came down, I aspired to take some photos of my own of the aurora Australis - and I have managed a few, but when temps are below -70 the idea is much less appealing not to mention that cameras operate at quite a bit less than peak efficiency in those temps. Fingers used to press shutter release buttons don't fare much better.

Antarctic Treaty Meeting
Each year the 46 (?) member nations of the Antarctic treaty have a meeting to discuss the future of the treaty and compliance of the same. Lots of interesting topics are discussed. Of special interest to me is the United States' management plan of the South Pole Station. I intended on summarizing it here, but - well, maybe it isn't so interesting after all. If you can navigate the site you can find it here or, for a better look at it, check out Bill's unofficial South Pole Station web site.