Tag archives for exploration
Exploring the Ghosts of Wrangel Island
Posted by Jennifer Niven on May 17, 2013 The history of Russia’s Wrangel Island is as dramatic and rugged as the island itself. The tragic 1913 Canadian Arctic Expedition and the equally tragic 1921 Wrangel Island Expedition were just two episodes from the island’s history as a holy grail of sorts for Arctic explorers. They were also the subjects of my first two…
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This battery-powered rover has all the toughness of an abominable snowman, surveying undetected hazards at scientific-research sites in Greenland and Antarctica.
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Filmmaker and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence James Cameron made history one year ago when he became the first person to reach the bottom of the ocean by himself, in his high-tech sub DEEPSEA CHALLENGER (learn all about the groundbreaking project on the official website). To mark the one-year anniversary of that voyage, Cameron has now announced…
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By Cassandra Brooks and John Weller Things are getting desperate. The last of the browning lettuce disappeared unannounced weeks ago. The bananas barely made it through the first few meals. Our days of eating fresh mangoes, pineapple, tricolored bell peppers, cucumbers, radishes, and avocado (oh the delicious avocado!) are all gone. The last tomato –…
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After six hours of bushwhacking up a trail-less mountain side, Marty and Ross come upon a breathtaking sight- the Northern Patagonian Ice Field.
Geography in the News: The Races to the Pole
Posted by Neal Lineback of Maps101.com and Maps.com on January 22, 2013 
By Neal Lineback and Mandy Lineback Gritzner, Geography in the NewsTM and Maps.com A little more than 100 years ago, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole. While the feat was an amazing story in itself, the races that preceded it to reach the southernmost point on the Earth are even more fascinating—and heartbreaking.…
Lessons from a Little Yellow Submarine
Posted by Youth Radio Investigates on December 7, 2012 
On a foggy night, a little yellow submarine is docked in Monterey Bay. The research submersible is about to introduce a group of young people to a whole new world and possibly a new line of work. Youth Radio’s Denise Tejada went along for the ride. Chris Randolph and Bailey Da Costa are juniors…
Posted by Swiss watchmaker Rolex announced five awards for Young Laureates at a press conference in New Delhi, India, today “to encourage leadership and excellence in the next generation and to acknowledge a surge of applications from young people for the Rolex Awards for Enterprise this year.”
George Kennan: An Investigative Reporter Who Helped Found the National Geographic Society
Posted by Cathy Hunter on September 21, 2012 
Asked once where he was educated, George Kennan supposedly replied, “Russia.” That one word sufficed, for he was not quite 20 years old when he decided to make his first journey there, a journey that resulted in his first book, in a series of difficult assignments in dangerous places, and in his being a founder of the National Geographic Society. From the horrors of the Russian prison system to the volcanic destruction of Martinique, Kennan was one of the pre-eminent globetrotting journalists of his day–one who wrote with such authority that his words have had far-reaching impact.
Gilbert Thompson, Lying Bob, and the Ballad of Croppy the Mule
Posted by Cathy Hunter on August 9, 2012 
When National Geographic founder Gilbert Thompson enlisted in the Union Army, a clerical error identified him as a painter instead of a printer. The typo proved to be serendipitous, leading to his work as an engineer, then a cartographer, and then on to a lifetime of adventures as he explored and surveyed the western United States.
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Follow along as NG Grantee Rhian Waller explores the little known world of corals that dwell in the fjords of South America.
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Breaking Orbit guest blogger Marc Kaufman describes the joyful atmosphere, relief and pride inside the NASA Jet Propulsion Jet Laboratory a few hours ago, when scientists, engineers and technicians got confirmation from Mars that after years of hard work and a nail-biting descent their roving science laboratory Curiosity had been placed on the Red Planet apparently exactly as planned.
By dropping the one-ton rover Curiosity into a Martian crater (with a three-mile high mountain nearby!), and equipping it to search over two years for the building blocks of possible extraterrestrial life; humans are once again at a great moment of adventure and exploration to savor.
Searching For Sunken Treasure, Discovering a DIY Community
Posted by Youth Radio Investigates on July 10, 2012 
When James Cameron plunged to the bottom of the Marina Trench in his sleek, $8 million submarine, it heralded a new age of underwater exploration. But the deep sea isn’t the only aquatic frontier left to explore. Around the world, there are countless undersea caves, flooded mine shafts and other underwater tight spots that have remained off limits to divers because they’re too narrow or dangerous to navigate. And happily, the right craft for the job probably isn’t a multi-million-dollar submersible, but something so accessible you can make it yourself.
Diving the Cavern Zone – part 2
Posted by Fabio Esteban Amador of National Geographic Waitt Grants Program in Explorers Journal on March 27, 2012 
Training to Dive the Cavern Zone I was so anxious the get in the water, but I knew that I must first demonstrate proficiency in the skills necessary to pass the course and most importantly, the stay alive and enjoy this wonderful world. We decided that the best course for us was the one offered…
Related National Geographic News story: Human Waste to Revive Haitian Farmland?
“There is still so much to explore and discover about our planet,” National Geographic Executive Vice President for Mission Programs, Terry Garcia, said today at the launch of National Geographic’s new Global Exploration Fund. “We are at the beginning of our greatest age of exploration.”
That’s One Stale Biscuit
Posted by Michael Jourdan on September 21, 2011 
How much would you spend for a 104-year-old biscuit? What if it was all that stood between you and starvation in the heart of the Antarctic?
Recalling a Tragic Tale in Arctic Exploration
Posted by Cathy Hunter on May 6, 2011 Donald Macmillan, left, confers with A.W. Greely. By Renee Braden When veteran Arctic explorer Captain Donald B. MacMillan set out on his 1923-24 expedition to northern Greenland and Ellesmere Island, he hoped to carry out an ambitious program of scientific research. But he also intended to discharge a very special duty. Within the hold…
On Everest, It Is Always the Wind
Posted by Cathy Hunter on April 29, 2011 It’s climbing season on Mt. Everest, so let’s take a look back at one of the pioneers of that deadly mountain. Thanks to his fortitude and harrowing tale of survival, Barry Bishop became the stuff of legend around National Geographic.
Posted by Since posting last week about volunteers for a one-way trip to Mars, several of you have written in asking where to sign up. Planetary scientist Pascal Lee at Haughton Crater, Devon Island, wearing the upper torso of an advanced space-exploration concept suit (color-enhanced image). —Photograph courtesy NASA Haughton-Mars Project/Pascal Lee Hearing your comments and suggested…
Population, Exploration: Talk of the Nation at NGS
Posted by Ford Cochran on December 30, 2010 NPR’s Talk of the Nation returns to National Geographic’s Washington, D.C. headquarters from 2-4 p.m. ET on Thursday, January 6 for a second free NG Live event and radio broadcast. The first hour focuses on “The Next Two Billion: Can the Planet Take the Strain?” The past 50 years have seen the most rapid population…
Growing Up Cousteau
Posted by Ford Cochran on October 19, 2010 Jean-Michel Cousteau, the first son of the red-capped captain who brought deep ocean exploration into living rooms worldwide, spoke earlier this month at National Geographic’s Grosvenor Auditorium about growing up with the renowned Jacques-Yves Cousteau. By Valentine Quadrat Celebrating the 100th anniversary of his father’s birth, this producer of more than 80 films and founder…
By Ford Cochran News Watch has reported on National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence and renowned marine conservationist Sylvia Earle‘s recent Mission Blue Expedition to the Galapagos. Now BigThink.com sends word of their new interview with the oceanographer many refer to as “Her Deepness.” Here’s an excerpt, courtesy of our friends at BigThink. What do you do as…
In December 2008 NASA put out a press release that pretty much cinches the upcoming retirement of the space shuttle program: Shuttles for sale, $42 million/ea. Well, it’s not really that the shuttles are gonna cost ya—that’s just the price for shipping and handling. And if you’re really keen, lucky for you, the cost has…
