Driving from Alaska to Siberia 183
Pelerin writes "The team from the
Ice Challenger project are driving from
Alaska to Provodanya, in Siberia; across the
56-mile field of ice floes that each winter
"joins" America
and Russia. At the last minute the Russian
authorities
have denied the entry permit but the
crew says they're on track to reach the Big
Diomedes islands, which lie across the date
line, thereby proving it's possible to do this.
This feat
is not as easy as it sounds due to the
harsh Artic winter conditions, and the fact
that the ice floes themselves are drifting
at a pretty good clip. It takes
a specially built vehicle
to tackle this adventure. Geek quotient: pretty
high :)" If you just want to drive to Alaska, you might go with Philip Greenspun. And if these guys don't make the trip to Russia this year, they might not get a chance. Update: 04/08 12:21 GMT by T : DrShrink adds to the story: "The two made it to Siberia, however were turned back due to not gaining permission to enter Russian territory."
Similarly Across Antarctica (Score:2, Interesting)
Note: it _could_ have been the arctic, i forget now... but it's awesome all the same.
Amphibious vehicle? (Score:3, Interesting)
Downplayed link at the bottom of the article (Score:1, Interesting)
I think that was the first time I ever read something and thought "Crap, it could all be CO and Methane by the time my unborn kids are old enough to drive." That's some scary shit to think at 22.
These are the kind of environmental articles that get my attention. It's not some steven seagal-like attempt to blame it all on big business nor an impassioned plea to adopt neo-luddite policies. It offers no solution (at least it hadn't when I got to the point I could no longer read it). It just throws out the facts and leaves and unspoken challenge to do something about it.
Who the fuck knows what's going on with our planet, but until we can figure out a way to break free of this solar system, maybe we should be taking better care of the place. Maybe that's just me though and I should be modded down for being a flamebait-throwing, karma seeking troll.
I just wanted to go on record there.....
Taking the Tunnel. (Score:5, Interesting)
After the completion of the English Channel Tunnel, this is now seen to be at least in the realm of possibility.
Heck, there has been some discussion on this [kuro5hin.org] already.
Re:Downplayed link at the bottom of the article (Score:1, Interesting)
Despite the rather fatalist view of the article, there is a LOT of fluctuation in nature, and really, we're only beginning to notice it now, methinks, because we're far enough along in our record keeping...
Re:Driving from America to Asia (Score:2, Interesting)
Chukotka itself has no reliable connections (no hard-surface roads, no railroads) with Russia
mainland.
You Can't Believe?! (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Oh my... (Score:3, Interesting)
By the way, a comparison using Google as an ad hoc measure of the popularity of a spelling of a word showed "arctic" to be vastly more common than "artic." "Artic" is little more than a common misspelling of "arctic."