Slashdot Mirror
Design Wanted For Antarctic Base
colonist writes "According to the BBC, The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) have begun a major international competition to design a new scientific research station at Antarctica. The old station, Halley Research Station, was built in 1992 and its ice shelf will break off by 2010." According to the article: "The first four bases were built on the surface and gradually got covered with snow and ultimately got so deep they became crushed by the weight of ice and had to be replaced", though the "current base on stilts" fared better until the ice shelf problems.
Kurt Russell and his crew had a pretty nice place in The Thing, why not copy that? Just make sure you don't dig up any... you know.. weird things.
That way, you would not have to transport any building materials except maybe shovels and saws.
Terran bases are mobile.
...just a plain igloo?
The competition begins with a call for Expressions of Interest from multi-disciplinary design teams. A shortlist will be invited to submit Concept Proposals and selected teams will then be commissioned to further develop their proposals. The winning design will be announced in September 2005. Deadline for Expressions of Interest is 3 August 2004. Details from www.ribacompetitions.com.
Craig Steffen
http://www.craigsteffen.net
All Your Antarctic Base Are Belong To Us!
Sorry I couldn't resist.
www.rdex.net
The should build the base on imperal walkers like in that Zahn? book. It could just move around as needed.
Here you go, hot off the presses:
Polar Base Prototype
Your hybrid is not saving the environment. Its purpose is to make you feel good about buying something.
or the Brits are building two of these things.
They need a new design because currently, All Your Base Are Belong To Ice.
...as would an ice castle. Even an igloo (as another Slashdotter suggested) would be cool (ahem).
They can build them above the ground again, only this time use steel beams and concrete, as opposed to cardboard.
Don't get me wrong, good ol' corrugated is a fine building material for forts and tree houses, but for a scientific station that is supposed to get covered with ice, one should invest into some steel.
That's my two cents, anyway...
If you don't know what AltaVista is (was), get off my lawn.
One of the bases disappeared mysteriously after the Vorlons needed it to fight the Shadows in the last Great War.
are belong to -1, redudundant
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
... a bunch of AT-AT's storming the rebel base on Hoth?
...I read the BBC article (unusual for here...), but it didn't seem to say whether or not the designers of the 1992 base knew the shelf would eventually break off...will this new base be designed to be easily expendable?
Listen, lad. I built this kingdom up from nothing. When I started here, all there was was snow. Other kings said I was daft to build a base in the snow, but I built it all the same, just to show 'em. It was buried in the snow. So, I built a second one. That was buried in the snow. So, I built a third one. That burned down, fell over, then was buried in the snow, but the fourth one... stayed up! And that's what you're gonna get, lad: the strongest base in Antarctica.
"The first four bases were built on the surface and gradually got covered with snow and ultimately got so deep they became crushed by the weight of ice and had to be replaced",
Nice try, but a truer Babylon 5 comparison would be to havethe first *three* bases covered in snow, and the fourth base disappear after 24 hours of being operational......
Mod Karma -1: I sed bad wurds. If I cep my mouf shut, I wud be at riyses.
As long as the current base is operative, could the thing just be towed a few miles or however far the thing has to go? Of course it might actually be worthwile to ditch the old one & start new, but why give up on a perfectly good building?
They could build a base to resist the weight of accumulated snow and ice, and just expand the passageways as the base further gets buried... until they have to move to another ice-shelf.
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY:
The base must be terrorist proof, with extra security, metal detectors, and the ability to survive a impact from an airliner.
wrong pole. supes would charge extra for the change i'm sure.
My idea is a boat. Since all the ice will be melting in a few years anyway, might as well begin the Waterworld-like transformation.
1) Put in the water, on pylons. Concrete ice-breaker pylons like they use on bridges.
or maybe..
2) Don't fight the mounting ice. Use a modular, extendable lift system, and build down into the ice. Much like the ice caves they build into glaciers, but with structural reinforcement and climate control + serious bilge pumps. Your computers will love it down there.
Slashdot announces competition for the design of new All Your Base cliches.
Mod me redundant all you want...Just making an observation...
#define CLUE 0
Given the extremely low temperatures I think the British government should consider funding the project by pimping out space in the facility for web servers and the like. Imagine a Beowulf cluster of servers in the Antarctic!?!?!?
"was built in 1992 and its ice shelf will break off by 2010."
What about an unbreakable ice shelf?
It may already be copyrighted, however I don't think it will apply in non-governmental areas of the world.
d uc ed/icestationzero.shtml
http://www.yojoe.com/action/other/extreme/unpro
My Other Computer Is A Data General Nova III.
As long as it was properly supported and insulated. You could even have some fun with it and make it look like an igloo.
http://www.monolithic.com/
Is there such a hurry to put more wastes in this area of the world?
This design
Try building it out of the native turtle shells!
"Derp de derp."
"You gotta be fucking kidding me!"
- Palmer, right before McReady toasts the walking spider head!!
May the Maths Be with you!
How about a research station with a heated roof to melt the snow and such? I would have thougth that was obvious.
What is your penile percentile?
I must've been really tough to copy that earlier post and replace "sank into the ice" with "sank into the water"
With out knowing the physical limitations or the like from the average submarine, why not use something of this style. The deepest diving subs can tolerate pressures on the hull far that of the average structure on land. Could something of this general style sustain the pressures exerted by a large amount of snow piled on top of it? Plus it would have the added benefit of being able to handle the under water conditions after the next ledge breaks off sending the base into the cold seas.
he old station, Halley Research Station, was built in 1992 and its ice shelf will break off by 2010."
Hmmm.. Ice shelf breaking. This reminds me a cool movie. I think they should build it on solid ground instead of ice or make it mobile so they can retreat if the shelf is about to break.
maybe then need to invest in some shovels.
Villain Supply!
Trolls lurk everywhere. Mod them down.
... it should be self contained sufficiently to handle the hyper-glaciation (the atmoshphere freezes onto the surface)predicted by the eco-friendly elements among us. And it should have the ark like capacity to repopulate the planet after the thaw.
Mod me troll if you must, I couldn't resist.
Mod me troll, if you must, I can't help it.
Use the against against itself...
Snow / Wind / Ice all blow up there, so several hundred meters out from the base build a ring of a wall, and let nature naturally build up this ring.
Basically building a valley in the snow, inside of the ring use high launching snow blowers to blow snow to the outside of the walls, just like mowing the lawn, could use an autonomous robot to do this even, they got the technology from lawn mowers.
Would make the base less windy / easier to heat, and a safer overall environment.
This should last them for a while, at least until the base is discovered.
They could build the base in Hawaii and send pictures from a large freezer.
like Lance Henriksen?
Maybe if they went out and shovelled the driveway every once and a while they wouldn't have this problem now would they..
sincerely,
Dad
Someone tell the guys at Google it isn't funny anymore!
If my answers frighten you, stop asking scary questions.
Call Jesse James. He could do a Monster Garage show on this.
They need help. The ice is overwhelming, and they don't know what to do. Frankly, I would put up a building that can be moved inland every year. Put stilts on it that can be raised up.
-- No sig for you!
..Just ask superman to chuck a crystal over there.
The rest just comes naturally.
Fortress of Solitude INDEED.
no
I can't believe they didn't remember this!
/.'d beyond all recognition within moments and I'll be able to get back to work...)
Oh, great: now I've gone and distracted myself from my actual JOB (fortunately, this site'll be
This space intentionally left (almost) blank.
I can't figure out which is more shameful: that you're basing a scientific theory on Waterworld, or that you publicly admit to seeing the movie in the first place.
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
... but unfortunately, magic is required.
[You have a stable society when some nut guns down a schoolyard and the law doesn't change.]
Pascal, thinks you're a dumbass. Please come back after you get your GED.
"The first four bases were built on the surface and gradually got covered with snow and ultimately got so deep they became crushed by the weight of ice and had to be replaced"
Why, you'd think it's not that difficult to grab a shovel and *remove* the snow from the roof.
I spent 2 years doing research in Alert, Nunavut (Canada) -- this is the furthest north there is any human settlement in the world. When I was there it was unusually cold, and I mean COLD! The average temps in the daytime were about -50 to -70 F and at night it would get even colder. Most of the time we would just get sent convicts who would need to serve a portion of their sentence constantly sholving/plowing through the winter (it is a US/Canada weather station and military outpost) I don't know if this is unclassified, but now it is... Well, that is what they need to do in Antartica.
-eric
Hmm, if ice accumulation is the problem then there are a couple of things they could do. One build a strong structure well anchored in the ground. Two, build the outer cover out of something that the snow and ice would have trouble sticking to.
If the snow can stick, then the problem of accumulation is reduced without the use of more expensive measures. The surface could either consist of some kind of composite or a structural arrangement that makes it hard for snow to accumulate. In particular, I think the base will need to be very well insulated to such a degree that snow landing on the outside surface will not be melted by heat within the base. That should further aid its slipperiness with respect to snow and ice. Anyway you slice it though, very expensive. The harsh weather conditions will also dictate that much of this base will be prefab and then quickly assembled on site.
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
And I suppose that's not surprising given where this is posted. We do, afterall, know everything about everything. :/
As a professional architect I have no hesitation in recommending a high rise tower faced in glass. This is the best solution for all needs everywhere which is why every city looks the same. Send me my $50,000,000 fee and I will fax you the basic plans.
They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
that's so obvious i'm positive there are reasons why that isn't feasible although it seems no physicists or meteorologists have weighed in yet. as possibilities i'll advance:
1) you can't melt the stuff fast enough for it to flow off.
2) even if you could, you need to shunt it someplace, in heated pipes or other methods, to deposit the mess someplace where it won't accumulate and create the situation you're trying to avoid.
3) daunting power requirements to heat the exterior of any structure of adequate size.
my guess is that it's impossible to heat the exterior sufficiently to cope w/ the overnight lows they routinely experience there.
ed
renders it just fine (there is not much there to render anyway, just a jpeg)
I was going to try 0.9 when all my favorite extension are up to it. But now you've got me wondering...
I have discovered a truly remarkable sig which this 120 chars is too small to contain.
I think I'll just open a Superman comic and rip off the design for the Fortress of Solitude. Chaching!
"The first four bases were built on the surface and gradually got covered with snow and ultimately got so deep they became crushed by the weight of ice and had to be replaced"
They went all the way to the South Pole and nobody thought to bring a snow shovel? Shovel you nerdy bastards and your home won't be crushed by snow!
Ian: "Ay, Nigel. That snow onna roof's getting a might thick, eh? Maybe we should shove it or sumfing?"
Nigel: "Ian old mate, I didn't go to university for 15 years to shovel snow. Bugger the bloody roof. Let the Queen buy us a new one. 'Ere now. What's that crushing sound anyway...? And is it getting a bit close in here?"
I believe something like this was the source of a wall of ice falling on a Russian outpost a couple of months ago. CNN had some passing story on a rescue underway then just let it fade away like all of the other good stories lately.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one the bus load of girls just went down.
When I first came here, this was all swamp. Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built in all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. And that one sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, and then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. And that's what you're going to get, Son, the strongest castle in all of England.
I'm entering my design. Basically I just copied the base they have now. Then I added some fins to lower wind resistance. And I added a racing stripe which I feel is pretty sharp.
For more reading about living and working in Antartica, see Big Dead Place
I'm betting that if you could find a way to spray and cure the concrete in the extreme cold you could use something like these...
From what I understand they have a more than strong enough structure and could easily insulate well enough. Just my $.02 worth.
"Bah!" - Dogbert
Going further down one of your reasons why not to - if you melt the ice, where is it going to go? Melting the snow on your roof would only result in wet ground around your house, i imagine melting ice off the roof would just put ice around the building, eventually locking it into place!
I submitted this story last night, and it didn't get posted.
I believe water is at its densest|heaviest at 4C, which is 39.2F. Considering Antarctica's environment, that's not likely to occur.
Hasn't anyone suggested a Bucky Dome yet? I'm surprised. (actually, I'm shocked).
When the ice shelf breaks off, we'll have bigger problems than a new Antarctic base. Like Manhattan transformed into a 3rd Millennium Venice.
--
make install -not war
Geodesic Dome.
Apparently they didn't build the walls out far enough.... silly russians skimping on the wall funds :P
From the logbook of the 4th base:
"Listen, lad. I've built this continent up from nothing. When I started here, all there was was ice. All the scientists said I was daft to build a base on an ice shelf, but I built it all the same, just to show 'em. It sank into the ice. So, I built a second one. That sank into the ice. So I built a third one. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the ice. But the fourth one stayed up. An' that's what your gonna get, lad -- the strongest base in these climes."
--
make install -not war
ever heard of a plow? Build it with some crazy sloping roof so the snow slides off and someone scoops it up with a bulldozer...damn
I mod down so you can mod up. Your welcome.
investing in the research and development of Transformer technology is so important.
You wouldn't have to worry about this sort of stuff if you had something like Metroplex. You could just tell the city to switch to robot mode and move to a safer location.
And you'd also have a line of defense against Trypticon, to boot. It's a win-win.
Coincidentally, I have a plan all drawn up. Perhaps I could colaborate with the BAS.
-Peter
How about a ball wthin a ball? Kind of like a hamaster ball within a hamster ball. You could roll it slowly to a new location, with the inner ball always staying level to the horizon.
Secondary idea: Build the whole thing on big tank tracks. It ould aslo be moved slowy when needed.
I discovered the Yurt the other day.. They have been used for over 2500 years.
Still learning about them.. This seems like the ideal 'hacker hut' (not to be confused with the honeycomb shack).
Make the current base waterproof and when the poles flip in 2020 and everything is underwater, voila!
You now have Sealab 2020. Just try to be off that thing in 2021, them guys are wacko.
Saw the article and picture of the current base. It's up on four stilts embedded in the ice. It also says it needs to be removed and carted away (before it ends up in the sea) to keep the environment 'pristine'. Sooooo ... why not disassemble the current base and re-assemble it further 'in-land'. Certainly would save the expense of carting in new building materials. What am I missing?
[Insert pithy quote here]
Seems to me if the Continental Drift theory is correct, there SHOULD be large oil fields in Antartica; as it was once an equatorial continent.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
1) The sovereign nation-state-icecube of Antarctica does not recognize your silly Canadia-based patents!
2) Your patent is useless anyway as I will use haphazardly selected blocks of frozen material, ice is ice is ice and down here we got lots of it bub!
3) Robo-ninjas!
4) ???
5) Profit!!
-- I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist. It's not my fault that life sucks so much. --
Seems pretty obvious to me... but then, all of my great ideas do. Unfortunately, so do all of my bad ones.
Make the foundation of the base an inverted cone. That way, inward pressure will push the base up, out of the snow. Additional upward force can be generated with hydraulics, and heaters could be used to melt the ice off of the surface, and reduce friction that would prevent the rise of the base up out of the snow.
It should kick arse! If its going to be multiple stories it should have a lift. And they should give the construction workers some warm kecks but with a flap so they can baba. And there should be a lounge so the scientists can gas and have a fag. This base could be one heck of a gaff for those scientists! They should go the full monty and spend a few million quid.
Just call it (Polar) Babylon 5!
Submitted challenge to my in-house think tank and here is what they came up with: 1) 2,000 foot tall wooden skyscraper anchored into ice. Advantages: Tourist attraction as world's tallest building (added attraction that when viewed outside while standing on head, gives impression of being under world's largest popsicle). 2) Blue police callbox appearing structure that can be moved when necessary to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Advantages: Can be referred to by the highly memorable acronym, BASTARDIS (British Antartic Survey Time And Relative Dimenisions In Space). Can also be relocated back in time to take advantage of warmer eras. 3) The Halle Berry Research Station complete with the Monster's Ballroom and the Swordfish solarium. Advantage: Self-generating heat
Build them in modules , like for the space stations.
Build the base of the module with some heater.
Build two landing spot.
Airlift the base once every 2 month in the unused landing spot.
I have to post this message as AC becaused I've already modded the parent down as redundant. The parent post is a blantant cut-and-paste of the original joke posted at 3:12PM, and the modified joke posted at 3:14PM (each of which has been wrongly modified as "redundant" since they are the originals). Moderators, please remember to check the timestamps, not the position on the page, when determining who is ripping of someone else's original post.
Whatever they do, maybe they should make float! Then they could just reuse it when it sinks!
__________
Huh?
I'm sure it's already been suggested--but it should definitely be made to look like Superman's Fortress of Solitude. When it comes to arctic design, Kryptonians know best.
The windswept outpost was almost completely destroyed when a 10-metre (30-foot) high ice wall reared up from the surrounding ice floe and collapsed on the base on Wednesday.
So it wasn't the same thing but it reminded me of it.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one the bus load of girls just went down.
really, you need help.
As the snow built up around the base, you would simply drive the vehicle/base forward up and over the new snow/ice. Of course, there is the problem of the extreme cold and what it does to machinery of any kind, and how much weight could be handled under each tread (there would have to be enough space covered by the treads to distribute the weight enough to allow the treads to safely move the base.)
But, a mobile base would allow for some interesting investments to be made in the research capabilities. It would also allow the base to eventually move further inland with much less effort/risk as compared to building a new base closer to the pole (since you would have your habitat right there with you ;-). IANAA(I am not an architect), but I can still dream.
InnerWeb
Freud might say that Intelligent Design is religion's ID.
Seriously, there is snow in northern india.
How come, if ice accumulates at 1.5m per year, steadily burying 4 stations in the past, the shelf is about to calve off by 2010?
Maybe I'm missing something, but doesn't that mean the shelf is getting steadily thicker? Is it melting away from below faster than it accumulates or something?
David
Ice will crush the station...Ha! They're going to need *air conditioning*!
Here's what I think: They should build a huge, cavernous building *surrounding* a giant block of ice. Insulate the walls and build all of the "research facilities" in the outside walls. That way, the trapped ice should keep the offices cool for a decade or so, at least. Once even the captured ice cube melts, create a tropical atrium in it's place and whamo, you have the "Four Seasons Antarctica"
A big sled. Or lots of not so big sleds with "skyway" connections.
Basically, each building is a barge that simply sits on the existing snow with a sled front and three sides vertical.
When needed, the thing is hauled (like a sled) up to the top of the surface of the snow.
Make a slow circle and you can stay more or less in the same spot for years and not care if it snows a lot or a little.
Complicated engineering... but it doesnt fight mother nature but rather lets her do her thing.
Pfft... why build on ice when you can build on bedrock? Us Aussies have a few big bases down there - I think the biggest is Mawson - and since they're built on rock they're not going anywhere. Just need to keep up with the snow plowing.
* Of course, I could be wrong or something and be a complete ass since I don't really know much about this stuff and didn't RTFA.
No problemo.
Here is an Arctic Base.
It's super!
Actually, you can expect to be paid the same as you would at home. I know, having ran across numerous jobs in Antarctica while helping out people at the Alaska Job Bank. Indeed, many jobs in Antarctica do pay minimum wage. One reason is that there are far more people looking for jobs in Antarctica than there are available positions.
-cp-
Alaska Seafood companies need 600 workers immediately for salmon processing jobs
The only reason the nuclear plant at McMurdo Station was scrapped in the early 70's was because of the cost of doing an inspection after a bit of damage. I still think this is the most sensible way to supply power to such a remote area. As for the facility itself, I don't think it takes too much imagination to make something like this work. Maybe put the base on legs similar to an ATAT in starwars? How does science hope to benefit from such a project anyway? I'm not being cynical, I'm just curious.
Should've been pointing to here: Images for download
Funny enough, it isn't. It's a fairly obvious joke that three or four people came up with at about the same time. Tell you what, if you care this much about Slashdot, why don't you go somewhere and killed yourself because you're such a fuck?
If you can get your hands on some rebar and strong concrete: http://www.monolithicdome.com/
... and the conveyor belts would direct the penguins towards the rotating knives...
How 'bout taking an idea from a later post, and making the Antarctic base mobile? It seems these problems could be overcome by this.
Global warming is neither science, nor politics. It is a religion.
"When I first came here, this was all ice. Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on ice, but I built in all the same, just to show them. It got covered by ice. So I built a second one. That got covered by ice. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then got covered by ice. But the fourth one stayed up. And that's what you're going to get, Lad, the strongest castle in all of Antarctica."
Apart from mass/transport issues, there are extreme problems with attempting to use concrete at low temperature - the water content freezes before the (chemical) cure is achieved, despite the concrete 'set' being exothermic. You end up with a powder mix that's frozen togther, but has no integrity. Now, self-skinnning foams...maybe
Why not have a helicoper hanger, and build the base ontop of a cliff, on rock. It does not move, it does not have the problem of snow build up.. like the South African base... but who would want to learn from Africa...