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Coldest Spot On Planet Earth Identified

Thorfinn.au sends this news from NASA: "What is the coldest place on Earth? It is a high ridge in Antarctica on the East Antarctic Plateau where temperatures in several hollows can dip below minus 133.6 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 92 degrees Celsius) on a clear winter night. Scientists made the discovery while analyzing the most detailed global surface temperature maps to date, developed with data from remote sensing satellites including the new Landsat 8, a joint project of NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Ted Scambos, lead scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., joined a team of researchers reporting the findings Monday at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco. Researchers analyzed 32 years' worth of data from several satellite instruments. They found temperatures plummeted to record lows dozens of times in clusters of pockets near a high ridge between Dome Argus and Dome Fuji, two summits on the ice sheet known as the East Antarctic Plateau. The new record of minus 93.2 C was set Aug. 10, 2010."

37 of 182 comments (clear)

  1. I'm surprised... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I would have guessed "inside Dick Cheney's heart".

    1. Re:I'm surprised... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      That was the researchers' first thought too. But no matter how long they spent looking for it, they just could not find the damn thing, apparently it resides at a "secure undisclosed location".

  2. Cool! by jonyen · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's a great place for a datacenter!

    1. Re:Cool! by Charliemopps · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Our data centers on snow covered mountains are the hardest to keep cool. Snow is an excellent insulator.

    2. Re:Cool! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Is it the snow or the altitude that's causing your cooling woes (or maybe both)? Cooling performance will be negatively impacted with increased altitude and lower air pressure. Telecom equipment environmental operating requirements (like those defined in GR-63/NEBS, for example) often allow equipment to be derated when operated above certain altitudes (e.g. 1800m in the NEBS case).

    3. Re:Cool! by TapeCutter · · Score: 3, Informative

      That is basically the GP's point, a snow covered data centre is like an igloo, the heat generated by the servers/people inside can't escape so it becomes a lot warmer that the surrounding ice, but due to the large amount of ice it's thermal inertia ensures the walls don't melt. You need to get past the ice to dissipate the heat effectively. Old English pubs with 3 foot thick stone walls don't need heaters when full for exactly the same reason.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    4. Re:Cool! by cellocgw · · Score: 2

      um... it doesn't stay winter forever.

      except in pre-wardrobe Narnia, and quite possibly in Westeros, starting somewhere in Book 5.

      --
      https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
    5. Re:Cool! by mcgrew · · Score: 2

      um... it doesn't stay winter forever.

      It does in Antarctica, dufus.

  3. That is fucking cold. by Ralph+Spoilsport · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Considering CO2 freezes at -78C... Yikes. That's cold...

    --
    Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
    1. Re:That is fucking cold. by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Wow. So, what happens the atmospheric CO2 in that case? Would it precipitate as "dry ice" snow?

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    2. Re:That is fucking cold. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideal_gas_law

      It is close to being able to create solid CO2, but the pressure at the altitude might have caused it to remain a cold gas. I'm also not sure how much CO2 is at that location. It isn't China bad down there.

    3. Re:That is fucking cold. by careysub · · Score: 4, Informative

      Wow. So, what happens the atmospheric CO2 in that case? Would it precipitate as "dry ice" snow?

      Vapor pressure of carbon dioxide at -100 C: 100 mm. Actual partial pressure of CO2 on average in Earth's lower atmosphere: 0.3 mm. Partial pressure of CO2 in exhaled breath: 38 mm. So no, no dry ice snow - the vapor pressure is still too high. At around -110 C the possibility of "dry ice frost breath" becomes possible. It would have to be near -140 C before CO2 would start condensing out of the air.

      --
      Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
    4. Re:That is fucking cold. by amaurea · · Score: 5, Informative

      CO2 freezes at 78 C at a partial pressure of 1 atmosphere. That means that if the atmosphere were 100% CO2, and we were at sea level, but still at -93 C, then there would be CO2 snowing out of the atmosphere. However, the partial pressure of CO2 is much lower than 1 atmosphere simply because so little of the atmosphere is CO2. Since only 0.0397% of the air is CO2, and the local pressure (due to the high altitude) is about 0.65 atm, the partial pressure will be 2.6e-5 atmospheres. At that partial pressure the CO2 freezing temperature is less than -140 C (I couldn't find a diagram that went quite far enough down in pressure).

      The physical reason for this is that there are two competing processes involved. CO2 molecules bumping into a solid speck of CO2 and getting stuck (freezing), and CO2 molecules shaking loose from a solid (sublimation). But the former process proceeds faster the more CO2 gas there is, i.e. the more often these collisions happen. Hence the dependence on the partial pressure.

    5. Re:That is fucking cold. by kaatochacha · · Score: 2

      I sense a kickstarter....

  4. On the plus side: Free Dry Ice! by Flyskippy1 · · Score: 2

    Well, as this is cold enough for Carbon Dioxide to freeze, I imagine it gets a cool witch's cauldron effect when it warms up for the summer...

  5. Coldest *Natural* Spot... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Pretty sure we've made colder temperatures in labs...

  6. My ex-wife's heart by bstarrfield · · Score: 4, Funny

    Certainly the coldest spot on earth... just saying.

    --
    /* Dang, I can't type that well. */
  7. Re:Epic Fail. by NatasRevol · · Score: 2

    You haven't raised a family with today's costs on $67k/ year. You could probably buy a house for less than that when you started a family. Now, that'd be a mobile home with no extras.

    Shit, I make 3/4 of what my father did when he was working, but I'm a LOT poorer.

    --
    There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
  8. Re:How long can you survive there? by barakn · · Score: 4, Interesting

    At temperatures even warmer than that, people need special snorkels with heat exchangers to avoid freezing their lungs. Death would be by asphyxiation in mere minutes unless blood freezing in the skin caused some sort of high blood pressure event that triggers a heart attack first.

    --
    "I'm so moist I'm sticking to the leather." -Kermit the Frog on The Late Late Show
  9. With or without by justthinkit · · Score: 2

    With or without a woman present?

    --
    I come here for the love
  10. That was a dumb response by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    What do you think will happen to all the runoff, Einstein?

    It runs down the drains that double as the heat exchangers and off the building?

    Are you really that dumb or do you beat yourself in the head with rocks every day to meet your personal goal?

  11. Re:Epic Fail. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yet disproportionate number of UI recipients find jobs within 1 month prior or after their benefits end date.

    What exactly is a "disproportionate" number, and why is it disproportionate? Please, hard facts only, and none of this "well, just look at the number. It's obvious they were just sitting on their asses."

    After all, "40% of all 'sick' days are taken on either a Monday or a Friday" sure looks like proof of sick day abuse. But once you realize that there are 5 working days in a week, and 2/5 == 40%, it actually makes perfect sense that, on average, 40% of all sick days will be taken on either a Monday or a Friday.

  12. From a friend of someone down there by G3CK0 · · Score: 2

    A friend of a friend just posted this on FB and I thought it was really interesting: "We know someone who is down there right now. They actually have to have heaters in their refrigerators to keep them from getting too cold."

    --
    A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
    1. Re:From a friend of someone down there by hubie · · Score: 4, Interesting

      A friend of mine winter-overed twice in Antarctica. They would play soccer at the South Pole and every now and again they would have to throw the ball in the microwave to warm it up and re-inflate it. Also, on New Years Eve they would go out every hour and have a drink at midnight in a different time zone. :P

  13. Re:Epic Fail. by tchdab1 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I wonder how Switzerland's guaranteed minimum income initiative is working out? Is everyone quitting their jobs to live in minimal-standards misery?

  14. Re:No slashdot article can be complete... by tlhIngan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    No slashdot article can be complete until the remark about how much colder that place was before AGW kicked in.

    Actually, it could be *warmer* before AGW.

    AGW has an annoying effect of moving weather away from moderation to extremes. So the cold gets colder, the warms get hotter, the temperate drier or wetter (droughts/floods), etc.

    That's the main effects of climate change - the weather starts hitting the extremes. You get drought, followed by extensive flooding, followed by drought, etc. Summers get hotter still, winters get even colder.

  15. Re:Epic Fail. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 5, Insightful
    We have been systematically funneling money away from people who would spend 90% to 100% of their income (the poor) towards the ones who would save/invest 90% to 99% of their income (the rich). We tax physical labor more (earned income tax) and treat investment income (dividend, capital gains) leniently. This has been going on for 30 years. Under the guises of Supply-side economics, trickle down theory or Reganomics. The result is capital markets are sloshing with excess investment. Companies are sitting on 2 trillion dollars of cash not knowing what to do or where to invest.

    The solution is to pay attention to Demand-side economics, where we stop coddling the rich (the self proclaimed job creators) and tax them. If you believe in free markets, you should know that if this captialist won't create the job another capitalist will come along and create that job. They keep telling labor, "If A does not do the job, B will. No one is indispensable". Same thing is true for them too. If A is not willing to invest when there is a job to be done, B will. No single capitalist is indispensable. We have excess capital, and lack of demand. Create demand, jobs will follow.

    Of course, all it takes is a few well placed media stories about "gun control" or "gay agenda" or "baby murders" and all the people who actually would stand to gain, gain a lot in fact, would vote against their own best economic interests.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  16. Re: Epic Fail. by nbritton · · Score: 2

    Giving people a stipend like Sweden is one of the better ideas I've heard in a long time, instead of working to further a few individuals private interests, people would now have the time to dedicate to their own interests, which would be much more diverse and generally non-profit motivated. Myself, for instance, would use my time to further medical research in compounds that can't be patented.

    Socialism isn't the answer, but at the same time capitalism isn't ether. We control the world at this point in our evolution, cooperation is critical now, and there is no other way forward.

  17. Re:Epic Fail. by NatasRevol · · Score: 2

    You might try having more than one person.

    Try having a wife & two kids, thus 2 cars, saving for 2 colleges, and a wife who grew up poor and so wants to spoil her children. I live near enough to schools for my kids to walk to elementary, middle & high school. Thus housing is pricier than if I lived a few miles away.

    But yeah, $67k/person would be fucking awesome. Our household income would be $268k! Sweet!

    --
    There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
  18. Re:Epic Fail. by seven+of+five · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The only cure for ignorance is education. Therefore, I recommend you find out first hand what it's like to be laid off and hunt for a job for months on end before passing judgement on others.

  19. Re:Epic Fail. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Someday you would realize, your job is created by the people consuming the product you make. If this particular investor did not create your job, some other investor would. That is the free market theory. No particular employee, including you is indispensable. No particular employer, including me, is indispensable. There is excess capital right now in the world financial market. They don't know what do with or where to invest. They chase the latest fad and create booms, bursts and bubbles. There is no one willing to borrow my money. They are offering me 2% or less for 2 year bonds. Supply side has run its course. Creating more incentives for investments would be very counter productive. There was a time, when we needed to encourage investments, may be 30 or 40 years ago. But right now we need to stop coddling the investors and job creators and fund the consumers, the demand siders to create long term prosperity.

    I have tons of investments, not quite 1 percenter but quite high and getting there. And real long term viability of my investments, not next quarter or year or even decade depends on not screwing the economic base of this country.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  20. Re:Epic Fail. by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 2

    That's true even in the short term. Asset prices are quite high right now, and growth fairly low. All this points to likely lower than historical averages on returns over the next decade.

    Obviously this means that lowering taxes on the wealthy or on corporations will do nothing. What needs to be done is raise taxes on the wealthy to fund things like infrastructure projects and increase the flow of money to lower and middle class people. This should result in an increased standard of living for all citizens.

  21. Re: Epic Fail. by JeffAtl · · Score: 2

    That might work well in small european states, but in the US that sort of thing would only result in the recipients having more children and in immigration fraud.

  22. Re: Epic Fail. by TapeCutter · · Score: 2

    It doesn't matter what you call the system, if the gap between rich and poor is small (say a factor of 10) then people are generally happier. Obscene disparities in wealth do nothing but fuel revolutions. The "American dream" boils down to wanting to be mega-rich, they want the wealth gap because they believe they are "exceptional" and will one day leap across it in a single bound. The US would probably work a lot better for everyone if it simply stopped arguing with itself about money.

    One of the major reasons why an American can pay up to 10X as much as an Australian for inferior health care, is that the American system is obsessed with finding and eliminating people who are "getting something for nothing". Not just the government but also the hospitals and private insurance companies. There's a veritable army of government and private accountants all spending $5 to save $0.50. Here in Oz the doctor bills the government directly. It's the doctors and hospital admins who are monitored for fraud by cheap automated statistical analysis.

    --
    And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
  23. Re:Epic Fail. by NatasRevol · · Score: 2

    Everything you want to take out?

    Yeah, that's called life.

    --
    There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
  24. Q: Coldest Spot On Planet Earth by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 4, Funny

    A: Ex-Wife's Bedroom

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
  25. Re:Epic Fail. by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 2

    Gosh, silly me, coming in to a Slashdot discussion about Antarctica and here we are again with the standard left-wing talking points, including the one that people who don't agree with us are stupid. Thanks for contributing to a greater scientific understanding of extreme cold weather.

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!