PEOPLE
Matt Newcomb, computer scientist and a member of the South Pole winter-over crew.
Extreme latitude: As a beaker - one of a dozen scientists who keep polar research experiments running during the southern hemisphere's winter - Newcomb spends his days sorting data collected by a telescope that searches for undiscovered galactic clusters.
High lonesome: It's his third stint at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. "You winter the first time for adventure, the second for the money, the third because you don't fit in anywhere else."
Feel the burn: Depending on software breakdowns and mechanical glitches, Newcomb can work as few as 5 hours a day or as many as 30 straight. Among his daily chores: replacing the liquid helium and nitrogen that supercool the telescope's detector, which performs best at minus 459 degrees Fahrenheit.
Party like it's minus 99: The science costs millions, but entertainment comes cheap. Newcomb plays "radio darts" with other Antarctic stations, or uses the satellite phone to call Car Talk. One night a week, the staff makes slushies from glacial cores. When covered in syrup, the thousand-year-old ice crackles.
START
Stretching Physics
Nanotech's Teeny Tiny Truth
Wired | Tired | Expired
Food Fight
Deep See
Instant Refills
Plastics Surgery
Darpa: Lost in the Translation
Adidas Reboots
X-ray Specs
Better Teeth Through Biochemistry
Watch Where You're Going
Pole-Sitter
In the Driver's Seat
DVD Lasers: Why Blue Beats Red
Junk Nouveau
Jargon Watch
Hacking the Genome
Intellectual Capitals
