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100-Year-Old Photo Negatives Discovered In Antarctica

Posted by samzenpus on from the cold-storage dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A box of 22 photographic negatives from Robert Falcon Scott has been discovered after lying nearly a century in the famous explorer's hut. From the article: 'The photos were taken during Ernest Shackleton's 1914-1917 Ross Sea Party, another failed exploration whose members were forced to live in Scott's hut after their ship blew out to sea. The cellulose nitrate negatives were found clumped together in a small box in the darkroom of Herbert Ponting, Scott's expedition photographer, the trust said. The trust took the negatives to New Zealand, where they were separated to reveal 22 images.'"

114 comments

  1. so by Osgeld · · Score: 0, Troll

    in 100 years no one bothered to check the dark room of "famous explorer" Robert Falcon Scott's fucking hut, and yet we are suprised to find negatives in said darkroom?

    FAIL

    1. Re:so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      in 100 years no one bothered to check the dark room of "famous explorer" Robert Falcon Scott's fucking hut, and yet we are suprised to find negatives in said darkroom?

      FAIL

      When an expedition "fails"; why not make it epic. Their ship floats away, lololol!

    2. Re:so by game+kid · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well it is an Antarctic "fucking hut", so I imagine they'd prioritized that just a bit under "maintain climate observation equipment", "take new pictures", "inquire about those sparse supply shipments", and "avoid freezing ass off".

      They've improved at all of 'em, but bad things still happen, so forgive them for not heading over to fetch some (historically important) photos hastily enough. There are reasons Scott ended up in that hut. :)

      --
      You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
    3. Re:so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well it is an Antarctic "fucking hut"

      So they found porn?

    4. Re:so by JamieIanMacgregor · · Score: 2

      It is a 'dark room' after all, it's not easy to find stuff in the dark.

  2. CNN link warning!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    In light of a certain Der Spiegel revelation in the last few days, you you at least warn people that the lionk goes to CNN.

    1. Re:CNN link warning!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

      warn people that the link goes to CNN.

      Something wrong with the status bar in your browser?

    2. Re:CNN link warning!!! by someone1234 · · Score: 2

      Does your status bar prints: "Warning, In light of a certain Der Spiegel revelation in the last few days, consider following this link." ?

      I, for one, didn't know anything about any problems in following a CNN link.

      --
      Patents Drive Free Software as Hurricanes Drive Construction Industry
  3. Awesome by future+assassin · · Score: 4, Funny

    they must have felt like kids finding it.

    --
    by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
  4. Space suits? by Boawk · · Score: 2

    A couple of the photos show the explorers. My immediate thought was how ill equipped for the cold they look by today's standards. Then I started wondering about space suits. They obviously can withstand the cold and also have some durability for the elements given that on earth astronauts train wearing them under water. What are some practical limitations of space suits (perhaps modified to, e.g., not have to carry oxygen) that make them impracticable for working near the poles?

    1. Re:Space suits? by Brainguy · · Score: 4, Informative

      I think the biggest problem would be that those suits weigh something like 200-300 pounds.

    2. Re: Space suits? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I guess your need heaps more flexibility in Antarctica where you maybe skiing, working with dogs, etc etc. My skiing and cold weather gear is pretty good these days and flexible. Wouldn't way to wear it in space though.

    3. Re:Space suits? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Enormously expensive ($12M), uncomfortable. Besides the space isn't really as cold as the Antarctic. You only lose heat from radiating infrared whereas in the Antarctic you have the wind to deal with.

    4. Re:Space suits? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Power limitation is a big factor. Spacesuits require battery power for heating and cooling, which doesn't last forever. They also don't have a great deal of insulation (heat transfer to the surroundings in space is due to radiation, which is not nearly as fast as convection in blowing wind).

      So if you used one in Antartica, odds are that the convective heat loss would overwhelm the heating capacity of the batteries in short order, and once the batteries died, so would you.

    5. Re:Space suits? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      In space there is one thing that makes space suits usable at all. That thing is lack of gravity.

    6. Re:Space suits? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They're pretty heavy, limit your range of motion, limit your field of view and and are intended for a limited duration before you attach back to the mothership.

    7. Re:Space suits? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      YEAH or maybe what about a giant magical box that moves around and has a heater inside of it. Maybe it could have a robotic to grab things?

    8. Re:Space suits? by EligibleToModerate · · Score: 1

      Like... a sno-cat?

    9. Re:Space suits? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The antarctic is alot colder than space... Not in absolute terms. But in real world terms as it applys to humans and their stuff.

      In space you have very little heat loss because it doesn't transfer very well to a vacuum. Why spacesuits do double duty as cooling units to keep you from overheating. The whole no air thing is a great insulator and your only losses are radiation.

      On the pole however. It's cold. AND filled with air... Cold air. Moving cold air. Lots of it. You have much greater heat loss than just radiation.

      You'd freeze in a space suit on the pole. Likely pretty quick too.

    10. Re:Space suits? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your on the last freakin' frontier, deal with it.

    11. Re:Space suits? by EligibleToModerate · · Score: 2

      I'm not sure if you're referring to the Antarctic or space.. but let's try both. Antarctic? Last frontier? Not unless we go extinct. We know squat about the deep ocean. Space? Nah, we've barely begun to poke our heads out from under our rock.

    12. Re:Space suits? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Your on the last freakin' frontier, deal with it.

      In suits designed to operate in zero gravity, or perhaps more to the point, weighted enough to operate in an environment with 1/6th the gravity of the Earth?

      Sure, why not trek across the Antarctic with a couple of scuba tanks on your back too.

      Use your damn head.

    13. Re:Space suits? by Artifakt · · Score: 1

      Until I know just what the robotic {blank} AC wants on the 'giant magical box' is, I'm going to imagine things much more interesting than a sno-cat. AC, you are one sick puppy!

      --
      Who is John Cabal?
    14. Re:Space suits? by Paradise+Pete · · Score: 5, Funny

      In space there is one thing that makes space suits usable at all. That thing is lack of gravity.

      Oh man you'e just asking for a flock of pedants to jump on you about a "lack of gravity." Right after they explain to me that pedants do not come in flocks. (I believe the proper group name is an Annoyance.)

    15. Re:Space suits? by swb · · Score: 1

      I'm sure there's all kinds of environmental protection provided by spacesuits that's not needed and just adds weight and bulk, like radiation shielding and even cooling systems.

      I live in Minnesota where it gets cold (current temp, -4F, projected high Monday, -14F) and in my experience conventional snowmobile suit combined with snow boots with the right clothing layers underneath does a pretty good job of keeping you warm.

      I would think that a snowmobile suit with some kind of internal heating system would be all the space suit tech you would need for your body. You can get electric warming for ski boots, but I think it's too much of a PITA for skiing but for Antarctica might be good and less of a headache. They make chemical heat packs with adhesive you can stick on your toes and this works for me down to -5F and that's about as cold as I'm willing to ski, but electrical heat would be better and I think a snow boot implementation would be less hassle.

      The "space suit" component that would be nice would be the helmet, but not the hard helmet like a space suit, more like the helmets used in fire suits, the soft kind with the extensions that come over your shoulder. You would want some kind of moisture venting inside to keep the face shield from fogging, but in my experience keeping your face warm, especially if you wear glasses, is the hardest part.

    16. Re:Space suits? by Lumpy · · Score: 1

      The fact that when you lose power your heat goes away. Space suits have heaters and chillers in them to maintain temperatures.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    17. Re:Space suits? by Golden_Rider · · Score: 1

      A couple of the photos show the explorers. My immediate thought was how ill equipped for the cold they look by today's standards. Then I started wondering about space suits. They obviously can withstand the cold and also have some durability for the elements given that on earth astronauts train wearing them under water. What are some practical limitations of space suits (perhaps modified to, e.g., not have to carry oxygen) that make them impracticable for working near the poles?

      The major point against using space suits for arctic exploration imo might be that space suits actually are COOLING suits. They are designed to prevent the astronauts from overheating, because evaporative cooling (sweating) does not work in space. Also, the suits are pressurized and quite hard to move in, plus they are very heavy.

    18. Re:Space suits? by SydShamino · · Score: 1

      Here's a sketch of the AC's suggestion.

      --
      It doesn't hurt to be nice.
    19. Re:Space suits? by Agripa · · Score: 1

      because evaporative cooling (sweating) does not work in space

      Evaporative cooling works fine in space and the new NASA spacesuit uses it. It does not work inside of a pressurized spacesuit unless air can be circulated and dried. Skin-tight spacesuits take advantage of it directly to allow the body to regulate its own temperature through evaporation through the skin.

    20. Re:Space suits? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Someone with a basic knowledge of physics, if not basic english grammar. Which part would you like help with?

      Has it ever occurred to you that you are in fact the retard? Or are you convinced you've reached complete and correct understanding of the subject and therefore have nothing to learn from anyone?

    21. Re:Space suits? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      The retards that can read more than seven words and see what was actually meant by the whole sentence, or dare even read the entire short post to see them explain what was meant. If that is too hard for people like you, who take words out of context and change punctuation, to understand, then we can just look at what you already wrote:

      Jesus Christ marked this insightful.

    22. Re:Space suits? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A couple of the photos show the explorers. My immediate thought was how ill equipped for the cold they look by today's standards. Then I started wondering about space suits. They obviously can withstand the cold and also have some durability for the elements given that on earth astronauts train wearing them under water. What are some practical limitations of space suits (perhaps modified to, e.g., not have to carry oxygen) that make them impracticable for working near the poles?

      "The cold dark of space" is a metaphor. In reality space suites are designed to cool the astronaut who would otherwise overheat both from solar heat and from the airtight pressure suit making the astronauts sweat ineffective as a temperature control mechanism.

      They are also designed for low (usually zero) gravity environments, are not hardened to survive weather (like high winds), and are bulky and restrictive in service of maintaining pressure (completely unnecessary on Earth's surface).

      Space suites have basicly no useful design features for a cold terrestrial environment. The experimental Mars exploration suites might have some use, but those are more like unpowered mechs than "suits".

    23. Re:Space suits? by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      There's the fact that you essentially can't move around in them whatsoever if you're on the surface of the earth. The only reason why they work in the NBL (Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, i.e. the giant pool) is because of the...wait for it...neutral buoyancy. When they're not underwater, the astronauts are essentially trapped in the suit as if it was a giant, person-shaped prison. The risk of drowning in the NBL is a very real one as well. I seem to recall hearing from an astronaut friend of ours that there was an emergency situation a few years back, and that it took them something like 8 minutes just to get the astronaut out of the water, let alone get them out of the suit. And the NBL is about as controlled of an environment as we can create, with multiple divers underwater with them at all times, cranes and operators always at the ready to lift them out, and dozens of specialists monitoring video feeds of what's going on underwater from a control room located just a few steps away. If the situation there is that tenuous, I wouldn't dare put those suits to use in an uncontrolled environment unless I had absolutely NO other option (e.g. space).

      And then there's the cost as well. If you're underwater, you'd be better served by a wet suit or some other more common form of thermal protection than you would be by a space suit that costs several orders of magnitude more to purchase. And if you're not underwater, then the space suit simply isn't a feasible option, as I already said.

    24. Re:Space suits? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      pedants do not come in flocks

      What is the proper collective noun for pedants? If there is one, I'm sure some pedant will point it out, but otherwise I'd vote for "nitpick" (i.e. a nitpick of pedants)

    25. Re:Space suits? by istartedi · · Score: 1

      Jesus Christ. What retard marked this insightful?

      For an answer to this question, visit some place where the air is 50F and the lakes are 40F. Take a short walk in the 50F air, keep all your clothes on and go jump in the 40F lake.

      --
      For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
    26. Re: Space suits? by Miamicanes · · Score: 1

      That's also why summer in Antarctica can feel warmer than winter in Chicago, even if the dry-bulb temperature is lower. Inland from the coasts, Antarctica is basically a desert, while Chicago is relatively humid. When it's cold + humid, the moisture in contact with your body can absorb more heat than dry air can radiate away. Being in liquid water is just a more extreme case, with even faster negative consequences.

  5. Digital camera by renzhi · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the title is, hmm, let's put a digital camera or an SD card full of digital pictures in Antartica for 100 years, and see if we can recover it :)

    1. Re:Digital camera by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      On the other hand, modern tech allows the expediters to upload nice 10Mpix color photos to a remote server soon after shooting them.

    2. Re:Digital camera by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Why would they have to be shot?

    3. Re:Digital camera by EligibleToModerate · · Score: 1

      I'll venture a guess that the Antarctic has pretty good climate control, if you're protected inside a hut from debris (wind, wind-borne particles, etc.). Doesn't exactly heat up and cause everything to condense.... and refreeze... and condense... and refreeze... Cosmic radiation (bit flipping) might be more of an issue at that point. (Then there's UV, which destroys virtually everything, given enough time, and often, when given not very much time. Major problem for archivists.)

    4. Re:Digital camera by ciderbrew · · Score: 1

      I expect the Sun exploding (whist not altogether in the UV light range) would make it hard to get data off an SD card.

    5. Re:Digital camera by Paradise+Pete · · Score: 2

      Why would they have to be shot?

      You can't trust those remote servers. It's better to shoot them first and ask questions later.

    6. Re:Digital camera by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought we were shooting the expediters (sic).

    7. Re:Digital camera by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think the Sun exploding would make it hard to get anything off anything.

      You know how much The Sun STAINS clothes?
      Not to mention the mind.

    8. Re:Digital camera by Captain+Hook · · Score: 1

      kill them all and let the pengiuns sort them out

      --
      These comments are my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the other voices in my head.
    9. Re:Digital camera by citizenr · · Score: 1

      The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the title is, hmm, let's put a digital camera or an SD card full of digital pictures in Antartica for 100 years, and see if we can recover it :)

      SD card will lose data after >~20years
      First SD cards used SLC in big geometries, that could maybe last 60-80years.
      Nowadays you get garbage quality 20nm TLC that loses data even WHEN YOU READ said data (card needs to periodically rewrite stored data or else it will forget it).

      --
      Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
    10. Re:Digital camera by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      Cold temperatures will enhance data preservation. Leakage is smaller at lower temperatures.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
  6. yeah, but.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    probably some kind of patent would make it illegal or very expensive for anyone to read the memory card and/or work with chosen image format.

  7. Robert Falcon Scott, time traveller by DrXym · · Score: 5, Informative

    Scott (of the Antartic) died in 1912 and had nothing to do with the pictures. Shackleton's later expedition was using his hut and left the pictures there.

    1. Re:Robert Falcon Scott, time traveller by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      It is interesting to see how little snow is there. Even Scott remarked in his journals how little snow there was in 1912 compared to the first time he was there, only 5 years later. "I have never seen the ice of the Sound in such a condition or the land so free from snow. Taking these facts in conjunction with the exceptional warmth of the air, I came to the conclusion that it had been an exceptionally warm summer." (Scott, 1912)

      These photos are from 1914. Yet we are to believe all the snow/ice melt has happened in the last 50 years according to the "experts". e.g. http://news.sky.com/story/1078276/antarctic-ice-melt-is-worst-in-1000-years

      GW/CC fail.

    2. Re:Robert Falcon Scott, time traveller by laejoh · · Score: 1

      A great documentary about Scott (of the Antartic) can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qGeapgeDGk!

    3. Re:Robert Falcon Scott, time traveller by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Great Scott! A time traveller? Soon we'd be finding a 1.21 gigawatt stove in the hut?

  8. Re: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Here's an even better 360 view of the inside of the hut , which is a protected historic site - which might explain why no one has pried open every box inside looking for treasure.

  9. Pics... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Or it didn't happen

  10. Re: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Here's an even better 360 view of the inside of the hut , which is a protected historic site - which might explain why no one has pried open every box inside looking for treasure.
    (stupid broken link...)

  11. mountains of madness by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the lost photographs...

  12. Re: by Amouth · · Score: 1

    Thanks, that is one amazing view. i can only dream of visiting it one day.

    --
    '...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
  13. This won't happen in the future. by thegarbz · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is amazing every time we see it. But alas I can see a different summary in the future:

    Posted by samzenpus on Thursday January 02, 2114 @05:06PM

    An anonymous reader writes

    "A microSD card has been discovered after lying nearly a century on the moon in an ancient Chinese rover. From the article: 'It is presumed to contain photos which were taken during the PRC's 2013-2014 Moon mission. The microSD card was found in a rusted pile of what appeared to be the remains of the small rover. The card was taken to New Zealand, where even their ancient technology was unable to read it due to historic use of patent encumbered file systems and file formats where all documentation has been lost.'"

    This is the future of discovering man kind's left overs. A piece of plastic with a small microchip containing unreadable gibberish.

    1. Re:This won't happen in the future. by EligibleToModerate · · Score: 2

      Who cares about a little piece of plastic gimmickery when the future is apparently that samzenpus outlives us all?

    2. Re:This won't happen in the future. by dominux · · Score: 1

      rusted pile?!?

    3. Re:This won't happen in the future. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Clearly the moon has been terraformed in the future to allow for rusting.

    4. Re:This won't happen in the future. by Lumpy · · Score: 3, Funny

      Until they find an old interface to read it, and discover it has only a single copy of "Never gonna give you up" on it.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    5. Re:This won't happen in the future. by fulldecent · · Score: 1

      >> This is the future of discovering man kind's left overs. A piece of plastic with a small microchip containing unreadable gibberish.

      In other words, a small piece of plastic.

      --

      -- I was raised on the command line, bitch

    6. Re:This won't happen in the future. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Chinese quality control is that bad.

    7. Re:This won't happen in the future. by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1

      The microSD card was found in a rusted pile of what appeared to be the remains of the small rover.

      I'd think the amazing thing about such a find would be the "rusted pile of what appeared to be the remains..." since lack of O2 on Luna pretty much makes rust impossible.

      Never mind that the rover is made of materials that don't rust even with O2 present.

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    8. Re:This won't happen in the future. by slashmojo · · Score: 1

      Glacier would seem to be the appropriate technology.. ;)

    9. Re:This won't happen in the future. by citizenr · · Score: 1

      This is the future of discovering man kind's left overs. A piece of plastic with a small microchip containing unreadable gibberish.

      Unlikely. Actually what will doom data retention is constant race of storage providers to give us more for less at a cost of quality. Smaller silicon processes, TLC NAND, SMR ( http://www.hgst.com/science-of-storage/emerging-technologies/shingled-magnetic-recording ) all lead to terrible data persistence.

      --
      Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
    10. Re:This won't happen in the future. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah I saw that too.
      In Star Trek they have supposedly terraformed the moon, maybe the OP is assuming that Star Trek is true?

    11. Re:This won't happen in the future. by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Who cares about a little piece of plastic gimmickery when the future is apparently that samzenpus outlives us all?

      Samzenpus is just a slashdot bot. You don't think we have any actual editors here do you?

    12. Re:This won't happen in the future. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's a little problem with that. Flash memory loses charge over time. Flash memory is only rated to retain data for 10 years and that's coming down as the feature size shrinks.

  14. And the point is? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Pictures of 100 year old snow. And the snow is probably older than that.

  15. Filter by sprins · · Score: 2

    That's a cool Instagram filter they used. Anyone know which it is?

    1. Re:Filter by wbr1 · · Score: 1

      It's called old fart pictures for dummies.

      --
      Silence is a state of mime.
    2. Re:Filter by mikael · · Score: 1

      It's called Silver Nitrate on a glass plate. No electronic timers, electric circuits, auto-flash, matrix-weighting, zoom, auto-stabilization, JPEG compression, white-balance, macro-mode, red-eye mode, auto-timer, auto-upload available. Just place the plate in the wooden-box, remove the lens cap, wait 15 seconds, then cover the cap again. Then take the plates to the dark room and develop them.

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
  16. cold temperatures & undeveloped film by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This was featured on hackaday recently:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0mraHHyBrA

    Somewhere in the explanation of the chemistry they actually state that undeveloped film of such type is easily preserved in the Arctic cold.

  17. Epic expedition stories! by Archimonde · · Score: 4, Interesting

    For anyone not knowing the expedition stories, even just by reading Wikipedia you can get the sense of how much those people went through. It is well worth your time: (warning: it is worse than tvtropes;)

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroic_Age_of_Antarctic_Exploration
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimrod_Expedition/
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amundsen's_South_Pole_expedition
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Trans-Antarctic_Expedition
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Sea_party

    --
    Trolls are like broken clocks. They show the truth two times a day. The rest of the day they talk nonsense.
    1. Re:Epic expedition stories! by PingXao · · Score: 1

      Seconded. Coincidentally, just a few weeks ago I was pseudo-randomly websurfing and came upon the wikipedia articles about the so-called Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. I easily spent two evenings reading about those journeys and the men - and animals - that undertook them. Fascinating stuff.

      One of the participants in one of the expeditions was Apsley Cherry-Garrard. He subsequently wrote a book, "The Worst Journey In The World", which is on Project Gutenberg's site http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14363 In the preface of the book he wrote a semi-famous couple of lines

      For a joint scientific and geographical piece of organization, give me Scott; for a Winter Journey, Wilson; for a dash to the Pole and nothing else, Amundsen: and if I am in the devil of a hole and want to get out of it, give me Shackleton every time.

      After reading about Shackleton's harrowing Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Trans-Antarctic_Expedition it's not surprising that the IAU named a crater on the Moon for him. Shackleton didn't fuck around. When he said he was coming back for you, by god he was coming back for you.

    2. Re:Epic expedition stories! by Archimonde · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I'm was planning to read this book too. I've read Shackleton's South, it is a bit dry, but epic nonetheless.

      I'm working on a expedition ship and went couple of times to the Elephant Island/ Point Wild/Valentine, and when you see it in person, I found it absolutely incredible that those guys survived there for many months. Simply unbelievable!

      And when you see the ice on the continent itself, it is breathtaking, looks like white desert with with steep mountains.

      --
      Trolls are like broken clocks. They show the truth two times a day. The rest of the day they talk nonsense.
  18. Atlantic Heritage Trust Image Collection by fred911 · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://www.nzaht.org/AHT/antarctic-photos/
    for a complete collection of the images.

    --
    09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B - D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
  19. In other news... 100 year old story posted to .\ by thesandbender · · Score: 1

    This story is pushing a month old and has already made the rounds on the DrudgeReport, Digg and other aggregators and is dead and buried. Note to /. editors... you can actually find and post new content ... your job isn't limited to filtering out dupes.

  20. Re:In other news... 100 year old story posted to . by Ozymandias_KoK · · Score: 1

    That doesn't appear much to be part of their job, either.

  21. Carbon dating placed them at 20 million years old by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    KIDDING

  22. Too bad they were all work and no play. by grub · · Score: 1

    Pictures of ice and snow. I was hoping that they would have had a sense of humour during their predicament and we would get to see the world's first goatse image.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
  23. PDX by DarthVain · · Score: 2

    That's nothing. Going through my Dad's thumb drives over Christmas I found one that contains all his digital photos. Fully about half of them are in an unreadable PDX (Photoshop Deluxe Express) format. So they are already unreadable gibberish, and that is only a handful of years in the past. No amount of software would convert them to something useful. Just image what someone would find in 100 years.

    1. Re:PDX by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      Sure certain formats have fallen out of use, but many haven't. I can still read BMP files I created 20 years ago on my first computer. My first digital camera from 12 years ago used JPG, and so does my new one. Almost invariably, even when a technically superior format exists, the more popular format will continue to be used. OGG never took over MP3 even though some would say it sounded better at the same bitrate. JPEG2000 never got off the ground because JPG was already good enough. As for physical interfaces we are seeing the same as well. A lot of stuff from the early days cannot be connected to new equipment, but anything from the past 15 years is pretty much directly connectable to a new machine, or can be easily connected with a cheap dongle.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    2. Re:PDX by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think GraphicConverter might help you. http://www.lemkesoft.de/en/products/graphicconverter/

    3. Re:PDX by operagost · · Score: 1

      On the first page of results from Google are three converter programs that read PDX.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    4. Re:PDX by DarthVain · · Score: 1

      Have you tried any of them? Because I have. Some say they support it, but don't. Even when they do there are apparently two types of PDX files, one produced by Photoshop, and one produced by Photoshop Deluxe Express, and it seems most can only do those produced by actual Photoshop. The Deluxe Express which came with digital cameras as free software isn't quite the same it seems. Of those that even say they support that, I found two, however when I tried either one of them neither of them actually worked and produced images that were not the picture that was taken.

      It is likely you might be able to buy a retail copy of Photoshop to convent them, and that probably would work, but then you are spending thousands of dollars. Potentially you might be able to take it to a store that has Photoshop capability, and they might convert it for you for a fee. However I am not sure if it would have batching (or the people using it would know how to batch it), and if thousands of photos have to be converted individually...

      Anyway all in all, a pretty shitty deal. I told my dad this is what happens when you use proprietary formats. However my dad and most digital camera users wouldn't know any better, and just used whatever software came with the camera. Anyway it probably isn't impossible, but it is very difficult and a huge pain in the ass. This is after say maybe 10 years. Now make that exponentially more difficult after 100 years.

    5. Re:PDX by DarthVain · · Score: 1

      Also you mention music. Try video.

      I have a hell of a time to get all the various video formats working on my computer that are modern and produced now, and have all sorts of codec packages, players, etc... and even then some will or will not play, or be missing subs or whatever. Try using any of those down the road!

    6. Re:PDX by mikael · · Score: 1

      Fifteen years ago, I used to do my file backups using burnable CD's (and some software like Nero). About five years later, the external CD burner stopped working, and it was hit and miss as to whether any other PC drive would read those "unclosed" disks.

      I've got old image files in AtariPaint format (the cartridge for the Atari 400/800) - they seem to be unreadable, and that's just 30 years ago.

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
    7. Re:PDX by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      My first digital camera used floppy disks and you need to go out of your way these days to buy a reader assuming the magnetic media is still good 15 years later.

      But the reality is you're talking quite a different time scale here. Lets talk about this again in another 80 years and see if you can still do everything. Then after we awake from cryo lets repeat this discussion in another 200 years and then talk about it again. How about 1000?

      The reality is finding a permanent way of recording something is not easy even language can't be taken for granted. Who's to say war won't decimate the population and that no one remembers how to speak English in 1000 years?

      You talk about the same format being used, who's to say we'll still be using binary ones and zeros to underpin the foundation of computing at that time? If you told people what you just told me now 80 years ago they'll reply "Ok dear, time for your electroshock therapy and then right off to bed with you."

    8. Re:PDX by AthanasiusKircher · · Score: 1

      It is likely you might be able to buy a retail copy of Photoshop to convent them, and that probably would work, but then you are spending thousands of dollars.

      I don't know if this is helpful, but you don't need to spend thousands of dollars for an old copy of Photoshop. Adobe has effectively released CS2 as freeware. Officially, I believe you are only supposed to download and use this if you already have a CS2 license, but lots of people appear to have interpreted Adobe's actions as effectively releasing free software.

      So, you might try this as a solution... CS2 was released in 2005, so if your photos are 10 years old, I imagine this could work.

    9. Re:PDX by DarthVain · · Score: 1

      Or I could just pirate their software. However that goes a bit beyond just ethically vague.

      Were it just me, I would likely do the later, using it to figure out how to batch convert the files, convert them, then delete the software. I would assuage my guilt by the fact that I am using for a specific purpose to solve a problem cause by Adobe itself, then ceasing my use of the software.

      However this is my Dad, and I feel more inclined for a legitimate fix. Of course I could just steal the thumb drive with the backups, do it on my own computer and just give him the end product none the wiser I suppose... I just didn't have the resources over Christmas unless I wanted to do it locally on his computer.

      This is even assuming that it works, which it may not anyway.

    10. Re:PDX by DarthVain · · Score: 1

      However I will look into CS2... That may be just want my Dad needs. That is hoping that he can figure out how to get it, or if it is even compatible with Windows 8...

  24. Now find the Antarctic Snow Cruiser! by Medievalist · · Score: 1

    I have somehow ended up with F. Alton Wade's letters that he sent from Antarctica to his girlfriend back in the States. The snow cruiser is apparently an awesome base station, although completely useless as a vehicle.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Antarctic_snow_cruiser_cutaway.jpg

  25. Pics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So it happened.

  26. In the miniseries... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Shackleton told the photographer that he could only keep so many, and they broke the rest...

  27. Interior design for cold weather.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I LOVE the way they have the stove at one end, the chimney at the other, and run the flue diagonally across the hut to act as a radiator...

  28. Space suites have basicly no useful design feature by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't know about you, but I have a COSMIC Couch!

  29. Re: by war4peace · · Score: 1

    That contradicts my idea of "hut". It's bigger than my apartment.

    --
    ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
  30. Re: by TheLink · · Score: 1

    You might like this too then: https://www.google.com/maps/views/streetview/antarctica

    Plenty of other places to explore too on streetview.

    Could also check out http://www.airpano.com/ - not as extensive but aerial.

    --
  31. Re: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    That contradicts my idea of "hut". It's bigger than my apartment.

    Hell, it's bigger than my Mom's basement!

  32. Why do they need these? by scarboni888 · · Score: 1

    Can't they just take new pictures?

  33. Old tech who cares? It's obsolete. by MXB2001 · · Score: 0

    I'm sure that's what all the mob phone idiots are saying anyways...

    --
    01/01/01
  34. Re:In other news... 100 year old story posted to . by JamieIanMacgregor · · Score: 1

    Weird, I think it only made TV news in NZ in the last few days... then again, NZ TV news isn't exactly known to be up-to-the-minute either, even for NZ stories.

  35. (C)opyright by CanEHdian · · Score: 1

    It'd be interesting to see how the copyright is going to be talked into existence on these 100-year-old photographs made by an unknown photographer.

    --
    When the copyright term is "forever minus a day", live every day like it's the last.