Twitter and Skype From A Remote Polar Research Station

A Leisurely Skype Chat With Astrobiologist Dale Andersen on Axel Heiberg Island

Editor's note: I got an email from astrobiologist Dale Andersen (@daleandersen on Twitter) just before 8 pm EDT tonight telling me to get on Skype. Dale is currently working at the McGill Arctic Research Station (MARS) on Axel Heiberg Island. Within a few moments we had an amazingly good connection with excellent picture quality. Dale picked up his Macbook and used its webcam to give me a tour inside the hut and the went outside to give me a view of the surrounding terrain.

Astrobiologist Dale Andersen Twitters from Axel Heiberg Island at 79 Degrees North

"The following Twitter posts were made by Dale Andersen at @daleandersen from McGill Arctic Research Station (MARS) on Axel Heiberg Island on 27 March 2009. MARS is located 8km inland at Expedition Fjord, Nunavut, on Central Axel Heiberg Island in the Canadian High Arctic (approximately 79º26'N, 90º46'W). Established in 1960, MARS is one of the longest-operating seasonal field research facilities in the high Arctic. The station consists of a small research hut, a cook house, and two temporary structures. MARS can comfortably accommodate up to twelve persons."

The McMurdo Dry Valleys Long-Term Research Project - Life in Extreme Environments; An Antarctic Field Journal (1997)

Editor's note: Dale and I have been doing stuff like this for a long time - often with hardware and comms that are crude by today's standards. Have a look at the "How We Built This Website" section.