Become an Arctic Explorer, Grow Your Own Glacier Online; Join JASON Project Virtual Alaskan Expedition

1/28/2002

From: Carissa Cardone of the JASON project, 907-224-6393; e-mail: pr@jason.org

News Advisory:

Become an Arctic Explorer, Grow Your Own Glacier Online

-- Join JASON Project Virtual Alaskan Expedition -- Live Cybercasts, Online Chats, Virtual Reality, 3D Digital Labs -- Available Beginning Jan. 28 at www.jasonproject.org

Stand at the base of a colossal glacier, follow the footsteps of the first Arctic explorers, study animal fossils that linger frozen in time or become one of the first to study the mythical ice worm. At http://www.jasonproject.org, web users can join a science expedition to one of the coldest and remote regions on Earth beginning Jan. 28.

The JASON Project expedition site features live daily expedition webcasts, streaming video, iPix photos of Alaska's unique wildlife and dramatic landscapes and live chats. On the JASON Project Web site you can:

-- Grow or shrink your own glacier and examine global climate change through an interactive SimGlacier program that enables you to control precipitation and temperature to learn how these variables affect glacial movement and retreat.

-- Take a 3D Permafrost Tunnel Tour to see 3600 views of a tunnel excavated in ice-rich permafrost exposing a variety of ice formations, including: wedges; ponds; lenses and pore fillings in the tunnel walls. Created by EDS, a leading global business solutions company, this Virtual Reality illustration includes five high-resolution panoramas, which drop you deep into the tunnel where you can look around, maneuvering 3D photographs to explore animal and plant remains from thousands of years ago and the ice forms that preserved them through time.

-- Examine the fascinating cultures of various native Alaskan tribes and study the amazing life forms that survive in these frigid environments, from stately sea lions to microscopic ice crystals.

-- Learn how unprecedented research on ice worms could give scientists clues for solving other frozen mysteries in space and why glaciers are melting since the "Little Ice Age" ended.

-- Read online journals written by students and researchers in Alaska about their daily research findings.

-- Chat live with a team of leading scientists Jan. 30 at 6 p.m. ET, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. ET, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. ET and Feb. 7 at 8:30 p.m. ET.

-- Take a course titled Tools for Modern Explorers, developed by EDS, this virtual course teaches basic map design using GPS and GIS. From analyzing the movement of glaciers to determining the best location to build a mall in your hometown, anyone can become a modern explorer and scientist with this innovative technology.