Chat live with scientists flying over Antarctica

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What's it like to live and work in Antarctica? What do we learn by studying the frozen continent? We've dug into it a little here at BoingBoing. But this Wednesday, you can get the story straight from the scientists themselves.

NASA is sponsoring a live chat with researchers on a DC-8 flying science laboratory. It starts at 1:00 pm Eastern. The chat window will open a half hour before. One cool thing to tide you over until then. That little rainbow smudge in the middle of the this photo isn't something I made by EasyCropping the photo all wrong. And it's not a trick of the camera, either. Instead, NASA says:

The distant shadow of the plane is surrounded by a glory, the scattering of light by water droplets and ice crystals in the air. Glories are one of many interesting optical phenomena that are more common in colder climates.