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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 3: Science Lab Moves On Skis

Have you ever thought about what is under houses? Unless you live near the ocean, your house probably has solid ground or a basement beneath it. However, houses on the beach sit on stilts to keep them above the water.

A new British Antarctic base, Haley VI, will be built on stilts just like beach houses. The Antarctic base allows scientists from America and all over the world to study the ozone and global warming. However, the base must stay above Antarctica's five foot snow line so it remains stable and safe. Each of the previous labs were all buried beneath the snow, so architects designed this new lab to sit on stilts.

Haley VI's stilts are not the only interesting part of the building's design. The structure will also have skis! Unlike any other building in the world, Haley VI will be mobile, which means it will be able to travel across the icebergs on its skis. The stilts that keep the lab above the snow will also be designed to lower the building in preparation for its "skiing" relocation.

Antarctica's weather includes temperatures 40 degrees below zero, 80 mph winds, blinding snows, and moving ice. The current base, Haley V, is about to float into the ocean because the iceberg on which it is built is separating from the ice shelf. The new skis on Haley VI will allow the base to "relocate" if something like this happens in the future.

--Written by Katheryn Troyer

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