It is not for lack of trying. But to this day scientists know of no reliable way to tell if a polar bear is pregnant.
According to Reuters, Russia practised using a secret weapon against undersea cables. Norway and NATO reportedly hampered these exercises.
www.reuters.comThe Governor of Svalbard confirms that the Professor Molchanov, the Russian passenger vessel operating a second season of voyages between Murmansk and the Russian settlement on the Norwegian Arctic archipelago, has been seized at port in Barentsburg.
www.aftenposten.noA U.S. Air Force C-17 supply flight to McMurdo Station returned to Christchurch, New Zealand, on 18 August following a Russian notification concerning planned aerospace activity over the Southern Ocean. The notification identified an area where the activity could pose a potential hazard to aircraft. The flight was operating under Operation Deep Freeze, which provides airlift support for the U.S. Antarctic Program, and had been bound for Phoenix Airfield on the McMurdo Ice Shelf.
www.space.comA naturally mummified polar bear has been discovered in Ymerbukta, Svalbard. The exceptionally well-preserved carcass was found by a kayaking group. Thanks to the Arctic climate and permafrost, much of the skin remain intact, making it a rare example of natural preservation. One day after the discovery, the Sysselmesteren of Svalbard collected samples from the carcass for further examination.
www.svalbardposten.noAccording to provisional observations from the Concordia Research Station on the East Antarctic Plateau, temperatures dropped below −83 °C, making it the coldest air temperature recorded anywhere on Earth since 2012. The measurements have not yet been formally assessed by the World Meteorological Organization.
weather.comThe Norwegian Polar institute has recently updated its satellite imagery of certain areas of Svalbard with photos taken in 2024. The updated areas include Longyearbyen, Barentsburg, Vindodden and Sveagruva. The previous orbital photographs (2008–2012) were added as a new map layer. This allows the user to easily compare changes in the landscape between the time of the first aerial photographs (1936-1938) and today and is especially interesting for the region around Sveagruva, which was closed in 2016 and subsequently returned to its natural state until 2023.
npolar.no
Northern Lights over a cabin in Hiorthhamn in Svalbard
Soft ribbons of northern lights drift across the star-filled sky above a remote wooden cabin in Hiorthhamn. Surrounded by snow and the deep blue tones of the polar night, the warm glow from the windows creates a striking contrast with the cold Arctic landscape. The scene captures one of those quiet moments when light, darkness and solitude come together, revealing both the harshness of the region and the sense of warmth found within it.
Marcel Schütz
