This content is a reflective documentary exploring Antarctica not just as a frozen continent, but as a unique environment that attracts extraordinary individuals and serves as a lens through which to examine fundamental questions about nature, human existence, and the universe.
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[Music] oh
these images taken under the eyes of the
ross scene in antarctica
were the reason i wanted to go to this continent
the pictures were taken by a friend of mine
mine
[Music] um
um [Music]
so [Music]
the best connection is on military
planes out of new zealand
loaded with chained down parts of polar stations
stations [Music]
most of the passengers had tucked into
their laptops in their books
and many of them were sleeping [Music]
[Music]
who were the people i was going to meet
in antarctica
at the end of the world
what were their dreams [Music]
we flew into the unknown a seemingly
endless void
i was surprised that i was even on this plane
plane
the national science foundation had
invited me to antarctica
even though i left no doubt that i would
not come up with another film about penguins
my questions about nature i let them know
know
i told them i kept wondering why is it
that human beings put on masks or feathers
feathers
to conceal their identity
and why do they settle horses and feel
the urge to chase the bad guy [Music]
[Music]
and why is it that certain species of
ants keep flocks of plant lice as slaves
i asked them why is it that a
sophisticated animal like a chimp
he could straddle a goat and ride off
into the sunset [Music]
despite my odd questions i found myself
for most of the austral spring and
summer which lasts from october through february
february
planes can land on the eight-foot thick
in the distance the mountains of the
the ross sea is the largest bay in the continent
continent
this bay alone covers the size of the
on this very same frozen ocean the early
explorers ship
here shackling's expedition evacuates
their vessel
which would later come to ruin leaving
everything in this expedition was doomed
including the first ancestor of the snow mobile
mobile
the idea was too big for the technical possibilities
possibilities
a hundred years ago at that time
every step meant incredible hardship [Music]
the first thing that caught my eye upon landing
landing
this is ivan the terror bus he's one of
seven in the world
weighs 67 000 pounds and is the largest
vehicle on the continent what do you do
when you're back home i a taxi driver
i'm not a taxi driver at home before i
came to antarctica i was actually a
banker in colorado
and after two years there i changed my
pace a little bit and
decided to help the people of guatemala
so i joined the peace corps
and there i worked in small business development
development
just realized that the world's not all
about money where i lived in guatemala
was in the northern part it's
a kekuchi mayan village 99
mayan and therefore nobody spoke spanish
i had to learn
when i first moved to chisek i was just
out on a normal walk
and before i knew it i had uh six people
with machetes chasing me down wanting to
talk to me
turns out the little brother told them i
was there to steal children
i was however not there to steal children
children
they took me back to my my judge and jury
jury
was the 14 year old boy in the town who
could speak both spanish and keck gene
luckily they let me go and we ended up
being great friends over the two years
the jury acquitted you i was acquitted i
made it out of there
but it could have been dangerous it is
it is and you know a story not too long ago
ago
is a lady was just taking a picture of a
child and you know the same type of
group of people with machetes and she
wasn't so fortunate
she didn't make it out what happened to
her she was killed
approaching mcmurdo station the largest
american base
in fact the largest settlement in antarctica
antarctica
right there's captain scott's hut built
in 1902
during the austral summer about a
thousand people live here
experiencing a strange state
mcmurdo serves as a logistical hub and
provides fixed laboratory facilities for research
research
all the decisions about scientific
projects are the domain of my host
the national science foundation
day-to-day logistics are run by a
defense contractor
i had been told by some disgruntled
former inhabitants
that they ran things in the spirit of a
actually they were decent people just too
too
of course i did not expect pristine landscapes
landscapes
and men living in blissful harmony with
fluffy penguins
but i was still surprised to find
mcmurdo looking like an
ugly mining town filled with caterpillars
caterpillars
who are the people who drive the heavy machinery
machinery
oh that uh it's a long story i
i've uh explored many different uh
lens of the mind and many uh worlds of
ideas and uh
i started uh before i even knew how to
read and write my grandmother was reading
reading
the odyssey and the iliad to me so i
started my
uh journey in my fantasy uh before i
even knew
the means of of accomplishing it but my
mind and my psyche was ready for it i
was already traveling with odysseus
and uh with with the argonauts and
to those strange and amazing lands and
that always stayed with me that uh that
fascination of the world and that
i fell in love with with the world and
and it's been
very powerful and and it's been with me
this whole time
and how does it happen that we are
encountering each other here
at the end of the world i think that uh
that's that's a logical place to find
each other because this place works uh
almost as a natural selection uh for
people that have this intention to jump
off the margin of the map
and we all meet here where all the lines
of the map converge
there is no point that is south of the
south pole
and i think there is a fair uh amount of
the population
uh here which are uh full-time travelers and
and
part-time workers so yes those are the
professional dreamers they
they they dream all the time and and i think
think
through them uh the great cosmic dreams
come come into fruition because the universe
universe
dreams through our dreams and um
i think that uh there is
different many different ways to for the
reality to to
bring itself forward and dreaming is
hmm [Music]
[Music] [Applause]
[Applause] [Music]
[Music]
as banal as mcmurdo appears
it turns out it is filled with these
at night laying in my bed here in mcmurdo
mcmurdo
i am again walking across the top of b15
might as well be on a piece of the south
pole but yet
i'm actually adrift in the ocean
a vagabond floating in the ocean and
below my feet
i ca and i can feel the rumble of the iceberg
iceberg
i can feel the change the the cry of the iceberg
iceberg
as it's screeching and as it's bouncing
off the seabed
as it's steering the ocean currents as
it's beginning to move north i can feel that
that
sound coming up through the bottoms of
my feet
and telling me that this iceberg is
coming north
so here i'm sitting in this lovely warm lab
lab
and just outside is the environment that
scott and shackleton first faced when
they came here about a hundred years ago
unlike scott and shackleton who viewed
the ice as this sort of static
monster that had to be crossed to get to
the south pole
we scientists now are able to see the
ice as a dynamic living entity
that is sort of producing change uh like
the icebergs that i study
um for me it's been a wild ride
first of all i found out that the
iceberg that i came down to study
not only was larger than the iceberg
that sank the titanic
it was not only larger than the titanic itself
itself
but it was larger than the country that
built the titanic
that's pretty big this is b-15
so what we see here is the white cliff
it's about 150 feet tall so that means
that there's over a
thousand feet of ice below the water
line this iceberg is so big that the
water that it contains
would run the flow of the river jordan
for a thousand years it's so big that
the water that is inside of it
this is a little bit of video that we
shot when we were flying up to the iceberg
iceberg
it looks big and it looms above us even
if we're on an aircraft flying above the iceberg
iceberg
the iceberg is always above us it's
above us because it's a mystery that we
don't understand
here's a picture of what it looked like
once we had arrived in the center of the iceberg
iceberg
we put out our instruments now we're
gonna have an opportunity
to monitor how the iceberg drifts north
they're so big there's an element of fear
fear
we don't know really what's going to
come ahead when they eventually begin to melt
melt
what we're seeing now here is a time-lapse
time-lapse
sort of animation of satellite imagery
of the sea ice and of the continent of antarctica
antarctica
and what you see are three shades of
gray this sort of lighter shade of gray
is the sea ice and these little bits and
pieces here
these are titanic icebergs this little
fella right here
he's not a very big iceberg compared to
these other ones
but that guy there might be the size of
the island of sicily in the mediterranean
mediterranean
it's like a little tiny bumblebee
zipping around in a circle happy to be
in the warm waters as it's drifting north
north
i'd be happy to see antarctica
as a static monolithic environment a cold
cold
monolith of ice sort of the way the
people back in the past used to see it
but now our comfortable thought about antarctica
antarctica
is over now we're seeing it as a living being
being
that's dynamic that's producing change
change that it's broadcasting to the
rest of the world
possibly in response to what the world
is broadcasting down to antarctica
certainly on a gut level it's going to be
be
frightening to watch what happens to
these babies once they get north
what environment would the men of
shackleton's expedition encounter
check it and seen here would finally
make it to the pole
a quest he had to abandon a mere hundred
would there be any ice left would he
have to construct an artificial
antarctica in the studio
and try to find his route through paper
would our only modern recourse be to create
create
ice with machines this is frosty boy
here in mcmurdo it's the equivalent of
ice cream in the states
and it's a really big hit everybody
loves it it's
what they go for three or four times a day
day
and it has the texture of ice cream but
it's not quite ice cream
there's a lot of crisis that happen in
mcmurdo when the frosty boy runs out
um it's bad news words circulate
everywhere throughout mcmurdo when
frosty boy goes down
it's really good stuff
from the very first day we just wanted
to get out of this place
mcmurdo has climate-controlled housing facilities
facilities
its own radio station a bowling alley
and abominations such as an aerobic studio
studio
and yoga classes
for all these reasons i wanted to get
out into the field
as soon as possible [Music]
[Music]
but before we could do that it is
mandatory that every inhabitant of
mcmurdo attends survival school
before being allowed to leave [Music]
camper [Music]
[Music]
students learn to build survival
trenches and igloos
the bad news is that night you have to
sleep in your own construction
as long as i end up with 10 fingers and
10 toes at the end it's all good [Music]
[Music]
oh god sorry you guys need to break
ourselves into two different groups now
we're going to brief this group over
here for the burning vehicle scenario first
first
then we're going to come back over and
we're going to brief the uh bucket head
white out scenario
for everybody else essentially we're
trying to create conditions where we
wouldn't be able to
see the wind is so severe the snow is
blowing so severely
very very cold exposed skin might
actually create frostbite
instantaneously the winds are so severe
you could be blown off of your stance of
just simply standing out
invisibility is pretty much none you
can't see flag to flag you might not be
able to see your hand
in front of your own face therefore what
we're going to do as a simulator
is incorporate a bucket to simulate a
whiteout condition
to a point where i can barely hear myself
myself
you can't necessarily even hear me and i
so that's the whole idea behind the
bucket head is to actually be
a whiteout simulator and it works really
quite well
so some of the parameters for this are
gonna be
we're gonna start inside the sea ice hut
i said i was gonna go to the bathroom
and in fact i did i needed to go to the
bathroom right
so i've gone out i've been gone for
quite some time now
though you know like 10 15 all of a
sudden 20 minutes you're like
first off where's the chocolate second
off where's kevin
are you with us number one number one is up
up
the goal is clear to find the instructor
next to the outhouse number two's out
number three number three
all right number one you're gonna have
to walk in one simple direction
it looks pretty good they seem to be
but very soon the front man veers off course
course
pulling everyone else with him [Music]
[Music]
where are you at number two [Music]
[Music] so
[Music]
okay i think we're gonna go this way
follow me this way guys
this way guys
part of what we want to do here is the
educational opportunity to see if they
realize what they've done
come back to a hut come up with a new
game plan or if they just keep going
down that
cascading air phenomenon where one
mistake leads into another mistake which
leads to a third and it just gets really bad
bad
when pulling on this line number one
number one don't pull on that that's the
line going back to the hut
back
but rather than pulling everyone in last man
man
first along the rope they drift
completely off course
for most of our time here we had
postcard pretty weather conditions
this was frustrating because i loathe
the sun both on my celluloid
so it almost came as a relief when a few
days later
the storm soon broke and we were allowed
to venture out of mcmurdo for the first time
time [Music]
[Music]
we set out on snow mobiles in front of
we were heading toward a field camp of scientists
scientists
who study seals [Music]
[Music]
it was amazing to consider that a mere
six feet under us
was the expanse of the ross sea [Music]
these scientists here are particularly
interested in the feeding cycle of the
weddell seal
in just a few short weeks pubs grow rapidly
rapidly
weight
bagging the seal's head keeps the animal
[Music] sample
sample [Music]
well this really is quite a wonderful
group of animals to work on
wet health seals in particular you could
see they're very big
they're very strong and yet they allow
us to work with them
they're not very aggressive nor are they
very timid
after we even though they struggle
somewhat when you have them in a bag or
in the net
when you release them they lie down
there's a mother behind us who
we just worked on and she's just lying
quietly with her pup we've had pups
start to nurse within a couple of
minutes of releasing them so even though
they are a bit uh perturbed at being
handled they recover very quickly from
it and seem to behave normally after
that and really that's the ideal for us
is to have an animal species that we can
work on that
will not be so disturbed by the work
that's being done on them that they
behave abnormally because we want to
know how these animals survive
in a field laboratory adjacent to the colony
colony
they prepare the milk samples that may
ultimately provide
insight into human weight loss this was
just collected still warm from the animal
animal
so if you see that
see it's like you know it's almost like
pouring wax it's really something else
and if i let this cool down it would get
pretty pasty i wouldn't be able to pour
it like that at all
it's like about body temperature right now
now
the milk of the medal seal is about 45
fat it's um about
60 dry matter 65 dry matter it's very
very high in protein
about 20 10 12 protein and contains no
lactose at all which is very unusual
and there's many things about this place
that ever unusual and one of the things
that i find
very fascinating is how quiet it gets
it's the quietest place when the wind is
down when there's no wind
it wakes you up in the middle of the
night because there's no wind and
there's no sound at all and if you walk
out on the ice you can hear your own
heartbeat that's how
still it is and you can hear the you can
hear the ice crack and it sounds like
there's somebody walking behind you but
it's just the ice it's sort of
you know these little stress cracks
moving all the time because we're actually
actually
right here we're on ocean we're not on
solid ground so
and you can hear the seals um you can
hear the seals call and it's the most
amazing sound they make these really
um it sounds like i don't know pink
floyd or something they don't sound like
mammals they definitely don't sound like animals
animals
it's it's really out of this world i can
you get used to a surface being solid
and you sort of think in your mind that
you're on land
and then all sudden you'll hear the
sound coming up through the floor you'll
hear the chucks and the whistles
and the booms and the booms that come
which are that you realize there's a
whole world underneath you
the seals are moving and competing and
fighting beneath you under the ice while
you're here sleeping in a tent or
here [Music]
we soon returned to the prosaic world of
today's mcmurdo
david pacheco works in maintenance in construction
construction
as a journeyman plumber he prides
himself on his heritage
he is part apache but has claims to yet
another lineage
it's funny but uh i'm revealing my my
hands and
they are very distinct
and i was told by my doctor who operated
me that it is from the
aztec and the incas royal family
an anthropologist told me that and
one of our daughters is very similar but
everywhere i go i try to find somebody see
see
and i can turn it around too if you want
to see it this way it's very distinct
the line here
and i was at ah when they told me it was
from the
royal family of the of the indians
when you when you work with which
fingers do you work best
for your best i don't know if i should
say this it's funny but
in school likes to not reach the
chalkboard with this so i used to point
with this
and they called my father in and said
that i was being a bad boy but
i still have the habit of pointing like
that i have a long rib cage
he could not find a gallbladder i have a
lung rib cage like the aztecs
used to have i guess
and if you can come to antarctica
please do plus be aware of global
warming it's real
i'm a green person i'm a green as i can
be i
build adobe homes solar homes
i'm a contractor back home too but it's
so hard for a small
buenos dias les de dios [Music]
so [Music]
[Music]
our next journey took us 85 kilometers
over frozen ocean we were heading from
ross island in the direction of mainland antarctica
antarctica
the empty interior beyond these mountains
mountains
is larger in size than continental north america
america
the vast majority of it is covered in a
layer of ice
we are heading for new harbour a diving camp
camp
which lies on the coastline of the ocean
to the right is the frozen sea where
they dive
we were welcomed by my friend henry kaiser
kaiser
a musician and expert diver whose
underwater footage it was
that brought me to this place
we had arrived at an opportune time and
went straight to this shelter which
protects a primary diving hole
sam bowser is the head of the scientific field
field
team we found him in a pensive mood
sam bowser this is a special day for youth
well i think i think everyone should
should stop when they've reached the
point where they've
done what they've wanted to do and and
today is probably going to be my last
antarctic dive
i think i think we've accomplished what
at least i've accomplished what i've set
out to do here
and it's time to pass the ball off to
the next generation of uh
biologists i think so it's it is a bit
of a special day
i had heard that he was also a great
science fiction fan
the creatures that are down there that
are are like science fiction creatures they
they
range in the way that they would gobble
you up from
uh slime type blobs uh but creepier than
than classic science fiction blobs these
would have long tendrils that would
ensnare you
and as you tried to get away from them
you just become more and more ensnared
by your own actions
and then after you would be frustrated and
and
exhausted then this creature would start
to move in and
take you apart so that's one example of
one of the creatures then there are
other types of worm
type things with horrible mandibles and
jaws and
just bits to rend your flesh it really
is a violent
horribly violent world that uh is
obscure to us because we're encased in
in neoprene and
you know and we're much larger than that
world so it doesn't really affect us
but if you were to shrink down
miniaturize into into that world
be a horrible place to be just horrible
and this is a world
earlier than human beings do you think
that the human race and other
mammals fled in panic from the oceans
and crawled on solid land
to get out of this yeah i think
undoubtedly that's
exactly the driving force that that
caused us to leave
the horrors behind to grow and evolve
into larger creatures to escape
what's what's horribly violent at the
miniature scale
the water under the ice is minus two
that uh that keeps us uh
2 30.
to me the divers look like astronauts
floating in space
but their work is extremely dangerous
they are diving without tethers to give
but here you can't trust a compass so
close to the magnetic pole the needle
would point straight up
somehow you have to find your way back
to the exit hole
so i selected some uh areas that have the
the
tree for them in the front they're the
ones we're interested in right now
to find out if they're carnivores
whether or not they eat shrimp-like creatures
creatures
multicellular creatures and also i found
a few of the
urchins that have i think they're the
ones that have a
a parasitic worm that lives in their anus
anus
it's a pretty beautiful scarlet worm but
it must be a horrible way to make a life
i tell you gentlemen science has agreed
that unless something is done and done quickly
quickly
man as the dominant species of life on earth
earth
sam bowser likes to show doomsday
science fiction films
many of them express grave doubts about
our long-ranging presence
on this planet nature
they predict will regulate us stay in your
the safety of the homes city depends
upon your full cooperation
with the military authorities yes cities nations
nations
even civilization itself threatened with annihilation
annihilation
because in one moment of history making violence
violence
nature mad rampant wrought its most
awesome creation
for born in that swirling inferno of
radioactive dust
where things so horrible so terrifying
so hideous there is no word
we may be witnesses to a biblical
prophecy come true and this will be
destruction and darkness come up in creation
creation
this is just the flower part the body is
somewhere in the dirt over here
all that the divers had brought back
from the ocean floor
were a few spoonfuls of sand containing
the strange single-celled creatures
the scientists are studying here
they are known as tree foraminifera
primordial single-celled organisms
they branch out in the shape of trees
the branches give of pseudopodia microscopic
microscopic
false feet that gather and assemble
grains of sand
these are the pseudopodia that are
secreted by foraminifera
they're long thin tendril like projections
projections
what the forearm does is it wakes up
sends out the pseudopods and then just
grabs every particle in its environment
there's a certain pattern to the way
that they sort the particles
they can select particular grains out of
everything in the environment
and just end up with them they're
beautiful masons
could that be a very early appearance of
intelligence i say it with great care
yeah i have to say with great care too because
because
there are stories about how these
particular organisms have fit into that debate
debate
turn of the last century for example
there's a scientist a british scientist
named haran allen
who apparently during one of the debates during
during
one of the debates in one of the british
societies was
pointing out the fact that every
definition of intelligence that
that was being formulated could be
fulfilled by these single-celled creatures
borderline intelligence at the single
cell level
i mean it's a manifestation of the best
of our abilities really
the way that they build their shells
art [Music]
i noticed that the divers in their routine
routine
to me they were like priests preparing
under the ice the divers find themselves
in a separate reality
where space and time acquire a strange
new dimension
those few who have experienced the world
under the frozen sky
[Music] oh
r [Music]
say [Music]
[Music] [Applause]
[Music] [Applause]
wow [Music]
foreign [Applause]
[Applause] [Music]
back from the strange world underwater scientists
scientists
study the samples one of the foremost
scholars in the world in his field
dr pavlovsky studies the dna sequences
of foraminifera
what looks esoteric is in fact one of
the fundamental questions
about life on earth
in the same way that cosmologists search
for the origins of the universe
the scientists here are tracing back the
evolution of life
sometimes the building blocks of the sequences
sequences
jan what uh what have you found today so
far on the sample
that we found in your species three new
species pieces in the dish
that's fantastic this is from the romeo
site family yeah
from the army site it's uh one small
silver and two elongated ones i don't
know what it is we have to do the dna to
the node is this a great moment
yeah yeah anytime you increase the known
diversity of these types of creatures it's
it's
pretty exciting that is very special [Music]
apologies to rock musicians everywhere
once the importance of the discovery has
sunk in
sam bowser and his group plan to
celebrate the event
in their own way [Music]
[Music]
they are rehearsing for a late night
[Music] okay
[Music] hello
hello [Applause]
after the helicopter had dropped us off back
back
at mcmurdo nobody was around
the sundial showed that it was close to [Music]
1am [Music]
[Music]
it did not feel like night so we had a
look around
this unobtrusive building had raised my curiosity
curiosity
[Music] so
so [Music]
here amongst unripe tomatoes we ran into
this young man
how did he end up in this place oh yeah
well you know
um i i like to say uh if you if you take
everybody who's not tied down they all
sort of uh fall down to the bottom of
the planet so
uh you know i haven't been that's how we
got here you know we're all at loose
ends and
here we are together i remember that
when i first got down here i sort of
enjoyed the sensation of recognizing
people with my travel markings you know
i was like hey these are
these are my people phds washing dishes and
and
you know linguists on a continent with
no languages
that sort of thing yeah it's great yeah
specifically i was uh in a graduate program
program
and we had lined up to do some work with
one of the
one of the people who was identified as
a native speaker and a competent native
speaker of
of uh one of the languages of the
winnebago people the chunk i think is
how they pronounced it and um to make a
complicated story short
he ran into new age ideologues who made insipid
insipid
claims about black and white magic
embedded in the grammar of this language
some of the oral traditions that have
been passed along hence
in this stupid trend of academia it
would be better to let the language die
than preserve it
you know i could document a language he
had to destroy his entire phd research
so just imagine uh you know 90
of of languages will be extinct probably
in in my lifetime
it's a catastrophic impact to an
ecosystem to talk about that kind of
extinction culturally we're talking
about the same thing i mean
you know what if what if you lost all of russian literature or something like
russian literature or something like that or russian you know if you took all
that or russian you know if you took all of the
of the slavic languages and just they went away
slavic languages and just they went away you know and
you know and no more tolstoy it occurred to me
no more tolstoy it occurred to me that in the time we spent with him in
that in the time we spent with him in the greenhouse possibly three or four
the greenhouse possibly three or four languages had died
languages had died in our efforts to preserve endangered
in our efforts to preserve endangered species
species we seem to overlook something equally
we seem to overlook something equally important
important to me it is a sign of a deeply disturbed
to me it is a sign of a deeply disturbed civilization
civilization where tree huggers and whale huggers in
where tree huggers and whale huggers in their weirdness are acceptable
their weirdness are acceptable while no one embraces the last speakers
while no one embraces the last speakers of a language
of a language [Music]
[Music] mcmurdo is full of characters like our
mcmurdo is full of characters like our linguist
linguist the bleak motel six drabness of the
the bleak motel six drabness of the corridors is misleading
corridors is misleading behind every door there's someone with a
behind every door there's someone with a special story to tell
special story to tell [Music]
[Music] back in the 80s i took a garbage truck
back in the 80s i took a garbage truck across africa
across africa from london to nairobi that was a trip
from london to nairobi that was a trip four months in a garbage truck
four months in a garbage truck it was horrible on numerous occasions we
it was horrible on numerous occasions we came pretty close to
came pretty close to i don't know about dying but pretty
i don't know about dying but pretty close to being in some straits where
close to being in some straits where we didn't know if we were going to get
we didn't know if we were going to get back out of it you know um
back out of it you know um we got taken over by the military in
we got taken over by the military in uganda
uganda and we were kidnapped basically truck
and we were kidnapped basically truck was turned around
was turned around we were going back to entebbe we got out
we were going back to entebbe we got out of that one um
of that one um we were trying to wait for this uh this
we were trying to wait for this uh this um
um uh ferry in wadi halfa the one that blew
uh ferry in wadi halfa the one that blew up and 800 people died
up and 800 people died well we didn't get on that one we took
well we didn't get on that one we took off across the desert and uh
off across the desert and uh we got stuck we got stuff for five days
we got stuck we got stuff for five days of absolute agony of of clawing this
of absolute agony of of clawing this truck with we're using uh plates just
truck with we're using uh plates just did the dinner plates that we were using
did the dinner plates that we were using for dinner
for dinner clawing at the uh at the tires we we had
clawing at the uh at the tires we we had no water
no water he had used all the water tanks for
he had used all the water tanks for gasoline so basically we had a cup of
gasoline so basically we had a cup of water a day or two cups
water a day or two cups her story goes on forever she dealt with
her story goes on forever she dealt with a bout of malaria
a bout of malaria with a herd of angry elephants pursuing
with a herd of angry elephants pursuing her through sexy fly infested swamps
her through sexy fly infested swamps got caught in a civil war spent a night
got caught in a civil war spent a night in a bombed-out airport with rebels
in a bombed-out airport with rebels fighting and shooting in a bar room
fighting and shooting in a bar room brawl
brawl and was finally rescued by drunk russian
and was finally rescued by drunk russian pilots
pilots slaloming around crater holes in the
slaloming around crater holes in the runway
runway this is how you get yourself to any
this is how you get yourself to any place in america
at the so-called freak train event at one of mcmurdo's bars
one of mcmurdo's bars karen is not surprisingly one of the
karen is not surprisingly one of the most popular performers
this is her famous travel s hand luggage act
act [Applause]
[Applause] [Music]
[Music] [Applause]
[Applause] [Music]
out of another one yeah i traveled from uh
uh ecuador to lima peru in a sewer pipe
forgot to mention that i hitchhiked once from denver to
from denver to um bolivia and back up and part we got a
um bolivia and back up and part we got a ride from a truck
ride from a truck in uh it was a flatbed truck with three
in uh it was a flatbed truck with three huge sewer pipes
huge sewer pipes on the back so i spent there was days in
on the back so i spent there was days in the back of this truck
the back of this truck in a sewer pipe watching the world go by
in a sewer pipe watching the world go by just like that that's all you can see
travel for those who have been deprived of freedom
of freedom means even more these are the ones you
means even more these are the ones you find in antarctica
find in antarctica liber zija works as a utility mechanic
liber zija works as a utility mechanic he lived like a prisoner behind the iron
he lived like a prisoner behind the iron curtain
curtain you escaped and how big a drama was that
you escaped and how big a drama was that was a drama but the tragic events
was a drama but the tragic events surrounding his escape haunt him to this
surrounding his escape haunt him to this day
day if we can
for me um the best description of hunger is the description of bread
is the description of bread a poet said that once i think and uh
a poet said that once i think and uh for me the best description of freedom
for me the best description of freedom is what you have in front of you you are
is what you have in front of you you are traveling a lot
traveling a lot that's right yeah that's that's my
that's right yeah that's that's my freedom and
freedom and i will be glad to show you
i will be glad to show you he keeps a rucksack packed and ready to
he keeps a rucksack packed and ready to go at all times
go at all times inside is everything he needs to set out
inside is everything he needs to set out in a moment's notice a sleeping bag
in a moment's notice a sleeping bag a tent clothes
a tent clothes cooking utensils
how much weight is this all it's uh i usually
usually don't go over 20 kilos that's
don't go over 20 kilos that's that's my limit and it's the limit also
that's my limit and it's the limit also for
for airlines
some of the contents of his backpack are quite surprising
that's about the size of the raft it's how quickly can you leave
how quickly can you leave oh i am always ready uh my back is
oh i am always ready uh my back is always
always prepared and i'm always ready for
prepared and i'm always ready for adventure and
adventure and and explore new horizons
and explore new horizons [Music]
back in the days of amundsen scott in shackleton
shackleton scientific exploration of antarctica
scientific exploration of antarctica began
began and this opening of the unknown
and this opening of the unknown continent is their great achievement
but one thing about the early explorers does not feel right
the obsession to be the first one to set his foot on the south pole
it was for personal fame in the glory of the british empire
the british empire [Music]
[Music] this is shackleton's original hut
this is shackleton's original hut preserved unchanged for a hundred years
but in a way from the south pole onwards there was no further
there was no further expansion possible and the empire
expansion possible and the empire started to fade
started to fade into the abyss of history
into the abyss of history [Music]
[Music] it all looks now like an extinct
it all looks now like an extinct supermarket
supermarket [Music]
on a cultural level it meant the end of adventure
adventure exposing the last unknown spots of this
exposing the last unknown spots of this earth was irreversible
earth was irreversible but it feels sad that the south pole or
but it feels sad that the south pole or mount everest
mount everest were not left in peace in their dignity
were not left in peace in their dignity it may be a futile wish to keep a few
it may be a futile wish to keep a few white spots on our maps
white spots on our maps but human adventure in its original
but human adventure in its original sense
sense lost its meaning became an issue for the
lost its meaning became an issue for the guinness book of world records
scott and amundsen were clearly early protagonists
protagonists and from there on it degenerated into
and from there on it degenerated into absurd quests
absurd quests a frenchman crossed the sahara desert in
a frenchman crossed the sahara desert in his car
his car set in reverse gear and i'm waiting for
set in reverse gear and i'm waiting for the first barefoot runner on the summit
the first barefoot runner on the summit of everest
of everest or the first one hopping into the south
or the first one hopping into the south pole
pole on a pogo stick
on a pogo stick well i had i had this idea of breaking a
well i had i had this idea of breaking a guinness record in every continent
guinness record in every continent and antarctica would be the sixth so now
and antarctica would be the sixth so now i'm trying to think of a way to get to
i'm trying to think of a way to get to antarctica
antarctica ashrita furman did not want to travel
ashrita furman did not want to travel this way
this way because he already holds a guinness
because he already holds a guinness record in this discipline
record in this discipline and also in this one so he decided upon
and also in this one so he decided upon the more prosaic approach
the more prosaic approach and took an airplane we flew down to
and took an airplane we flew down to antarctica anyway it was thrilling
antarctica anyway it was thrilling because i'm in antarctica and i'm
because i'm in antarctica and i'm trying to break a guinness record being
trying to break a guinness record being in antarctica is like being on the moon
in antarctica is like being on the moon it's so i mean it's so peaceful it's so
it's so i mean it's so peaceful it's so pure it's so it's desolate i mean it's
pure it's so it's desolate i mean it's just a great place
just a great place [Music]
[Music] antarctica is not the moon even though
antarctica is not the moon even though sometimes it feels like it
yet on this planet mcmurdo comes closest to what a future space settlement
to what a future space settlement would look like
we left mcmurdo for the penguin colony at cape roy's
at cape roy's everyone spoke about penguins however
everyone spoke about penguins however the questions i had were not so easily
the questions i had were not so easily answered
i was referred to a penguin expert out there
there who had studied them for almost 20 years
who had studied them for almost 20 years i was told that he was a taciturn man
i was told that he was a taciturn man who in his solitude was not much into
who in his solitude was not much into conversation
conversation with humans anymore but dr ainley gave
with humans anymore but dr ainley gave his best effort
his best effort well here we are at uh cape roy's
well here we are at uh cape roy's this is um 2006 and it's
this is um 2006 and it's just about the 100th anniversary of the
just about the 100th anniversary of the first
first penguin study that was ever done which
penguin study that was ever done which was done here at cape roy's by
was done here at cape roy's by a person that was part of the shackleton
a person that was part of the shackleton expedition
they're all had a good winter and they're very fat
they're very fat the they've claimed their territories
the they've claimed their territories and
and eggs have been laid and females have
eggs have been laid and females have left and now there's just males that are
left and now there's just males that are sitting on eggs using their
sitting on eggs using their fat preserves and waiting for females to
fat preserves and waiting for females to return to relieve them
return to relieve them and then go to see
i tried to keep the conversation going dr ainley i read somewhere that they are
dr ainley i read somewhere that they are gay
gay penguins what are your observations
um i've never s strange sexual behavior can you
never s strange sexual behavior can you talk
talk about that's um there's been i've seen
about that's um there's been i've seen triangular
triangular relationships where there's um
relationships where there's um one female and uh two males and female
one female and uh two males and female lays the egg and
lays the egg and um or eggs and the males and the female
um or eggs and the males and the female trade off over the season um
trade off over the season um there are misidentities
there are misidentities initially of the sex of penguins
initially of the sex of penguins um oh somebody recently described
um oh somebody recently described what they call prostitution where
what they call prostitution where a female who's very who
a female who's very who is out collecting rocks for a nest and
is out collecting rocks for a nest and of course some
of course some penguins are the only way they collect
penguins are the only way they collect rocks is to steal it from others so in
rocks is to steal it from others so in order to do that they have to be very
order to do that they have to be very submissive
submissive in order to get close to a male who's
in order to get close to a male who's maybe advertising for a mate and so
maybe advertising for a mate and so she'll come in next sit in his nest and
she'll come in next sit in his nest and um sometimes he'll copulate but
um sometimes he'll copulate but eventually really her
eventually really her her idea is to get a rock and so she as
her idea is to get a rock and so she as soon as she can she escapes with a rock
soon as she can she escapes with a rock doctor andy is there such thing
doctor andy is there such thing as insanity among penguins
as insanity among penguins i try to avoid the definition of
i try to avoid the definition of insanity or derangement
insanity or derangement i don't mean that a penguin might
i don't mean that a penguin might believe he
believe he he or she is lenin uh napoleon bonaparte
he or she is lenin uh napoleon bonaparte but could they just go crazy because
but could they just go crazy because they've had enough of their colony
they've had enough of their colony um well i've never seen a penguin
um well i've never seen a penguin bashing its head against a rock
bashing its head against a rock they do get disoriented they end up
they do get disoriented they end up in places they shouldn't be long way
in places they shouldn't be long way from the ocean
from the ocean [Music]
these penguins are all heading to the open water
open water to the right
to the right but one of them caught our eye the one
but one of them caught our eye the one in the center
in the center he would neither go towards the feeding
he would neither go towards the feeding grounds at the edge of the ice
grounds at the edge of the ice nor return to the colony
nor return to the colony shortly afterwards we saw him heading
shortly afterwards we saw him heading straight towards the mountains
straight towards the mountains some 70 kilometers away
dr ainly explained that even if he caught him
caught him and brought him back to the colony he
and brought him back to the colony he would immediately head right back for
would immediately head right back for the mountains
the mountains [Music]
[Music] but why
[Music] one of these disoriented or deranged
one of these disoriented or deranged penguins
penguins showed up at the new harbour diving camp
showed up at the new harbour diving camp already some 80 kilometers away from
already some 80 kilometers away from where it should be
the rules for the humans are do not disturb
disturb or hold up the penguin stand still and
or hold up the penguin stand still and let him go on his way
let him go on his way [Music]
[Music] and here he is heading off into the
and here he is heading off into the interior of the vast continent
interior of the vast continent with five thousand kilometers ahead of
with five thousand kilometers ahead of him he's heading towards certain death
the last field camp we visited was at mount erebus
mount erebus this active volcano is 12 500 feet high
this active volcano is 12 500 feet high it is of particular importance as inside
it is of particular importance as inside the crater the magma of the inner earth
the crater the magma of the inner earth is directly exposed
there are only two other such volcanoes in the world
in the world one in the congo and the other in
one in the congo and the other in ethiopia
ethiopia because of political strife in those
because of political strife in those places
places it is actually easier to conduct field
it is actually easier to conduct field studies here in antarctica
first thing we were instructed in the etiquette
etiquette of dealing with this volcano one
of dealing with this volcano one very important thing to keep in mind
very important thing to keep in mind when you're on the crater
when you're on the crater is that the lava lake could explode at
is that the lava lake could explode at any time
any time and if it does it's vital to
and if it does it's vital to keep your attention face toward the lava
keep your attention face toward the lava lake and watch for bombs
lake and watch for bombs that are tracking up into the air and
that are tracking up into the air and try to pick out the ones that might be
try to pick out the ones that might be coming toward you and step out of the
coming toward you and step out of the way
way it's the last thing you want to do is
it's the last thing you want to do is turn away from the crater
turn away from the crater or run or crouch down keep your
or run or crouch down keep your attention toward the lava lake
attention toward the lava lake look up and move out of the way
we were fortunate that the lava lake was not enshrouded in mist
not enshrouded in mist this day this here is a new observation
this day this here is a new observation camera
william mcintosh is a leader of the team of volcanologists here
of volcanologists here this camera designed for prison riots or
this camera designed for prison riots or to be explosion proof
to be explosion proof and then it's coated with this thick
and then it's coated with this thick teflon
teflon housing here's the lens here
housing here's the lens here this is a camera the camera inside is
this is a camera the camera inside is made by a
made by a small company in canada extreme cctv
small company in canada extreme cctv the inside housing is a uh specifically
the inside housing is a uh specifically designed for explosion
designed for explosion to be explosion proof oh there's a bang
to be explosion proof oh there's a bang from the lava lake right now
from the lava lake right now no bombs though
[Music] this is the magma lake filmed 30 years
this is the magma lake filmed 30 years ago
ago [Music]
[Music] at that time there was a bold attempt to
at that time there was a bold attempt to descend into the crater
halfway down there is a plateau from there
there it is a gaping hole straight down into
it is a gaping hole straight down into the magma
they were in for near disaster the magma exploded striking one of the
the magma exploded striking one of the climbers
climbers who got away with minor injuries
who got away with minor injuries today the larva is monitored by dr
today the larva is monitored by dr mcintosh's camera
dr clive oppenheimer a true englishman from cambridge university
from cambridge university surprised us with his tweet outfit which
surprised us with his tweet outfit which he wears as a tribute
he wears as a tribute to the explorers of old he analyzes gas
to the explorers of old he analyzes gas emissions from volcanoes
emissions from volcanoes all over the world if this were one of
all over the world if this were one of those
those active volcanoes in indonesia i'd be far
active volcanoes in indonesia i'd be far more circumspect about standing on the
more circumspect about standing on the crater rim
crater rim this this is a very benign form of
this this is a very benign form of volcanism
volcanism and even the eruptions we've seen in the
and even the eruptions we've seen in the historic period are
historic period are relatively minor affairs if we go back
relatively minor affairs if we go back into the geological record
into the geological record we see that there are huge
we see that there are huge volcanic eruptions massive explosive
volcanic eruptions massive explosive eruptions
eruptions that produced thousands of cubic miles
that produced thousands of cubic miles of pumice showering
of pumice showering large parts of the earth with with fine
large parts of the earth with with fine ash
ash and these these have been demonstrated
and these these have been demonstrated have had a strong impact on climate
have had a strong impact on climate and one of the biggest of these events
and one of the biggest of these events 74 000 years ago
74 000 years ago has been argued even to have affected
has been argued even to have affected our human ancestors
our human ancestors and may have played an important role in
and may have played an important role in the origins and dispersal
the origins and dispersal of early humans
so these events will recur and i think the more we understand about them
the more we understand about them the better we can prepare for their
the better we can prepare for their their
their eventuality
eventuality [Music]
[Music] for this and many other reasons
for this and many other reasons our presence on this planet does not
our presence on this planet does not seem to be sustainable
seem to be sustainable our technical civilization makes us
our technical civilization makes us particularly vulnerable
particularly vulnerable there is talk all over the scientific
there is talk all over the scientific community about climate change
community about climate change many of them agree the end of human life
many of them agree the end of human life on this earth
on this earth is assured
human life is part of an endless chain of catastrophes
of catastrophes the demise of the dinosaurs being just
the demise of the dinosaurs being just one of these events
one of these events we seem to be next
and when we are gone what will happen thousands of years from now in the
thousands of years from now in the future
future [Music]
will there be alien archaeologists from another planet
another planet trying to find out what we were doing at
trying to find out what we were doing at the south pole
they will descend into the tunnels that we had dug
we had dug deep under the pole
deep under the pole it is still minus 70 degrees here
it is still minus 70 degrees here and that's why this place has outlived
and that's why this place has outlived all the large cities
all the large cities in the world
[Music] and then this as if we had wanted to
and then this as if we had wanted to leave
leave one remnant of our presence on this
one remnant of our presence on this planet
planet they would find a frozen sturgeon
they would find a frozen sturgeon mysteriously hidden away
mysteriously hidden away beneath the mathematically precise true
beneath the mathematically precise true south pole
south pole [Music]
they stash it back away into its frozen shrine
shrine for another eternity
for another eternity [Music]
[Music] and then they find more memories of a
and then they find more memories of a world one screen
as if the human race wanted to preserve at least some lost beauty of this earth
at least some lost beauty of this earth they left this framed in a garland of
they left this framed in a garland of frozen popcorn
due to the considerable altitude once in a while the volcanologists
a while the volcanologists need medical care
need medical care but soon we find them back at work
[Music] oh
face is frozen [Music]
all right quite cold up here today
despite having that fantastic lava lake down there with all that energy
down there with all that energy we still have to bring old
we still have to bring old petrol generators up to the crater rim
man vs machine chapter 53 professor cly of oppenheimer
of oppenheimer on erebus hands and pockets
on erebus hands and pockets waiting for it to start spontaneously
waiting for it to start spontaneously i think you'll be waiting a long time
have you ever seen two men piss on the top of us before
along the slopes of the volcano there are vents
are vents where steam creates so called fumeroles
where steam creates so called fumeroles bizarre chimneys of ice sometimes
bizarre chimneys of ice sometimes reaching two stories in height
it is possible to descend into some of them
you only have to be careful to avoid the ones containing toxic gases
oh [Applause]
wow [Music]
[Music] is
foreign [Music]
at the foot of arabis out on the sea ice the two tallest buildings on this
the two tallest buildings on this continent are located
continent are located in these hangars scientific payloads are
in these hangars scientific payloads are being readied
being readied for their balloon launch into the
stratosphere [Music]
we were interested in a neutrino detection project
detection project scientists are planning to lift an
scientists are planning to lift an observation instrument
observation instrument 40 kilometers up into the stratosphere
40 kilometers up into the stratosphere in search of almost undetectable
in search of almost undetectable subatomic particles
subatomic particles [Applause]
[Applause] as it rises this small looking bubble of
as it rises this small looking bubble of helium
helium will expand to fill the entire skin
will expand to fill the entire skin which here still looks like a white rope
which here still looks like a white rope it will eventually form a gigantic globe
it will eventually form a gigantic globe more than 300 feet in diameter
when it reaches the stratosphere the detector will scan
detector will scan thousands of square miles of ice without
thousands of square miles of ice without encountering electrical disturbances
encountering electrical disturbances from the inhabited world prior to the
from the inhabited world prior to the launch
launch we were inside the hangar the neutrino
we were inside the hangar the neutrino project is led by dr gorham
project is led by dr gorham of the university of hawaii so
of the university of hawaii so what we're trying to do with this
what we're trying to do with this instrument is to be the first
instrument is to be the first uh scientific group to detect the
uh scientific group to detect the highest energy neutrinos in the universe
highest energy neutrinos in the universe we hope yeah but dr gorham what exactly
we hope yeah but dr gorham what exactly is a neutrino the neutrino is
is a neutrino the neutrino is it's the most ridiculous particle you
it's the most ridiculous particle you could imagine
could imagine it you a billion neutrinos went through
it you a billion neutrinos went through my nose
my nose as we were talking a trillion a trillion
as we were talking a trillion a trillion of them went through my nose just now
of them went through my nose just now and they did nothing to me they passed
and they did nothing to me they passed through
through all of the matter around us continuously
all of the matter around us continuously in a huge huge
in a huge huge blast of particles that does nothing
blast of particles that does nothing at all they're they're like they they
at all they're they're like they they almost exist in a separate
almost exist in a separate universe but we know as physicists we
universe but we know as physicists we can measure them we can make precision
can measure them we can make precision predictions and measurements they exist
predictions and measurements they exist but we can't get our hands on them
but we can't get our hands on them because they seem to just exist in
because they seem to just exist in another place
another place and yet without neutrinos the beginning
and yet without neutrinos the beginning of the universe would not have worked
of the universe would not have worked we would not have the matter that we
we would not have the matter that we have today because
have today because you couldn't create the elements without
you couldn't create the elements without the neutrinos in the very very earliest
the neutrinos in the very very earliest few seconds of the big bang the
few seconds of the big bang the neutrinos were the dominant particle and
neutrinos were the dominant particle and they actually determined
they actually determined much of the the kinetics of the
much of the the kinetics of the production of the elements we know so
production of the elements we know so the universe can't exist the way it is
the universe can't exist the way it is without the neutrinos but they seem to
without the neutrinos but they seem to be
be in their own separate universe and we're
in their own separate universe and we're trying to actually make contact with
trying to actually make contact with that
that otherworldly universe of neutrinos
otherworldly universe of neutrinos and as a physicist even though
and as a physicist even though i understand it mathematically and i
i understand it mathematically and i understand it intellectually
understand it intellectually it still hits me in the gut that
it still hits me in the gut that there is something here around
there is something here around surrounding me almost like some kind of
surrounding me almost like some kind of spirit or god
spirit or god that i can't touch and
that i can't touch and but i can measure it i can make a
but i can measure it i can make a measurement it's like
measurement it's like measuring the spirit world or something
measuring the spirit world or something like that you can go out and
like that you can go out and touch these things not surprisingly
touch these things not surprisingly we found this incantation in hawaiian
we found this incantation in hawaiian language on the side of his detector
language on the side of his detector it was as if spirits had to be invoked
what would we see if we could film the impact of a neutrino
impact of a neutrino what you would see is you would see a
what you would see is you would see a lightning bolt
lightning bolt about 10 meters long about that thick
about 10 meters long about that thick and it would blast at the speed of light
and it would blast at the speed of light over this this 10 meter distance
over this this 10 meter distance and you would see the most beautiful
and you would see the most beautiful blue light your eyes have ever seen
blue light your eyes have ever seen it happens in about um
it happens in about um the entire impulse of radio waves is
the entire impulse of radio waves is up and down in probably uh
up and down in probably uh um 1 100 billionth of a second
um 1 100 billionth of a second it just goes bang and it's gone and
it just goes bang and it's gone and that's what we're looking for
uh [Music]
[Music] there is a beautiful saying by uh uh
there is a beautiful saying by uh uh american um philosopher alan watts
american um philosopher alan watts and he uh he used to say that through
and he uh he used to say that through our eyes
our eyes the universe is perceiving itself and
the universe is perceiving itself and through our ears the universe
through our ears the universe is listening to its cosmic harmonies and
is listening to its cosmic harmonies and uh we are the witness through which the
uh we are the witness through which the universe
universe uh is becomes conscious of its glory
uh is becomes conscious of its glory of its magnificence
[Music] [Applause]
[Applause] [Music]
[Music] so
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