We are based at the French-Italian research station Concordia on the east high Antarctic plateau (75°S, 123°E, 3233m). It is one of the remotest, coldest, driest places on Earth, we are 1200 km from the coast and our nearest neighbour is 600 km away: the Russian station Vostok. The landscape is an immense white, flat surface of compacted snow extending 1000 km in all directions. The snow and ice on which we walk is more than 3 km thick. Living here is like living on another planet, ‘Planet Concordia’ or ‘White Mars’. During the nine months of winter from February to November, the station is completely isolated from the rest of the world. No plane or vehicle can reach us, even in an emergency as the harsh weather conditions make all travel impossible. We have experienced temperatures down to –80°C and three months of complete darkness. The multicultural crew is consists of 13 people: seven for logistics and six scientists. We are five Italians, one Swiss, one English and six French. This year we are three women and ten men from 24 to 56 years old. We must rely on our own skills and teamwork while being prepared to face any kind of emergency through training, fire, rescue and medical exercises. Antarctica is the largest, most extreme, multi-disciplinary, open-air scientific laboratory that helps us understand the mechanisms that regulate our planet, its climate, its history and offers a platform to observe and understand the structure of the universe, as well as charting the adaptation of humans to harsh environments. Thanks to the Antarctic Treaty, nations worldwide collaborate peacefully with respect for this environment in the name of science. We are one of very few stations at the heart of the Antarctic continent, so Concordia stands as an important node in the Earth Observatory Grid, for fields such as meteorology, seismology, geomagnetism and atmospheric chemistry. Lorenzo Moggio: 30 years old, Italian physicist, research fellow at the Bologna Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate of the Italian National Research Council. This is my second winter spent at Concordia, I was here in 2010 as well. Giampietro Casasanta: 35 years old, Italian physicist with a PhD in Remote Sensing and research fellow at the Rome Bologna Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate of the Italian National Research Council. I am in charge of the Italian glaciology and remote sensing experiments. Our tasks are to maintain and assure the scientific instruments work, retrieve the data run a first analysis and send it to Europe on a daily basis. We measure radiative balances at Earth’s surface, Meterological variables, optical and physical properties of aerosols, properties of clouds. We have at our disposal broadband and spectral radiometers in the shortwave, longwave and ultraviolet part of the electromagnetic spectrum, particle counters and sizers, lidar, sodar, sonic anemometers, automatic weather stations and sounding stations equipped with: barometers, anemometers, thermo-hygrometers, GPS and radio transmitters/receivers. Beth Healey: British medical doctor. I am running studies for the European Space Agency on the crew and myself to see how we adapt to living in this extreme environment. Our nine-month isolation living completely cut off from the world with low air pressure is similar in many ways to the stress astronauts will endure during a long spaceflight. I am running experiments on morale, eyesight, blood pressure and even searching for new life! http://www.esa.int/concordia Ask Us Anything about life here and the science we do! Moderator note: Due to a scheduling mix up they will not be able to answer questions at the normal time (turns out it’s 1:30 am their time right now!) We will work on getting them online as soon as is reasonable, sorry for the confusion! Edit: We have started, sorry for the delay. Proof: http://imgur.com/joZLQvf

Hi Reddit! Okay, let’s start with the ants. Shakespeare once wrote, “Though she be but little, she is fierce.” What they lack in size, ants more than make up for in numbers, and they offer countless behaviors to explore. Ants are Earth’s first farmers and shepherds, they engineer floating pontoons and enslave other ants, and their combined weight actually equals humanity’s. Yet despite all these intriguing facts, we mostly ignore this global community of ants beneath our feet … except when they enter our kitchens uninvited. When I’m not describing new at species at the California Academy of Science’s laboratory of ant evolution I’m often found hip-deep in Madagascar mud and searching remote river valleys and precious virgin forests for new ants. I love documenting the species diversity and distribution of this “invisible majority,” and I use that data to establish conservation priorities. I also champion the vital importance of specimen collection and taxonomy every chance I get — critical work that supports new research, but that many consider unglamorous in this age of sexy scientific sound bites. Understanding ant diversity and distribution helps determine areas that must be preserved to protect the highest number of all living things. Map an ant, save a plant! (And everything else.) I’ve discovered more than 1,000 new species (including the vampire, trap jaw, and “cliff-jumping” ant) and created Ant Course — a sort of professional “ant camp” for collection and taxonomy. You may find me on BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/18368213, National Geographic http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060821-ants.html, and Discovery News http://news.discovery.com/animals/6-new-dracula-ant-species-discovered-in-madagascar-140331.htm as cameras follow me into the field or ask me to discuss films like “Ant Man” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nUpY4M1dWA, and you can always find me on Twitter at @ant_explorer. Ask me anything! Thanks for all the questions. I’ll sign in tomorrow to answer a few more. May the ants be with you! More links: Telling Story Collider about living with (and almost dying with) pygmies: http://storycollider.org/podcast/2014-11-16 Fisher lab: http://www.fisherlab.org/

We’re members of ACEAP, which is a collaboration between The National Radio Astronomy Observatory, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, and the National Science Foundation. It brings together amateur astronomers, planetarium personnel, and astronomy educators. As part of the program we traveled to Chile to get a behind the scenes look at large optical and radio telescopes in Chile. We survived injuries, spent a day without power on Cerro Tololo, and journeyed to an elevation of 16,500 feet to see the highest radio telescope in the world. Ask us about astronomy in Chile, viewing the dark southern skies, and how to make pisco sours! ACEAP Team: Shannon Schmoll - Director of Abrams Planetarium Brian Koberlein - Astrophysicist, Rochester Institute of Technology Tim Spuck - AUI STEM Education Development Officer at NRAO Sarah Komperud - Planetarium Educator, Bell Museum of Natural History Peter Detterline - Planetarium Director at Boyertown Planetarium Renae Kerrigan - Planetarium Curator at Peoria Riverfront Museum Michael Prokosch - Huntsville Amateur Astronomy Society, SHSU Planetarium Edit: Thanks for all the great questions! It’s been fun. If you’d like to continue following the project, you can find us at: https://www.facebook.com/AstronomyAmbassadorsProgram

My name is Dr. Camilo Mora and I am an assistant professor at the University of Hawaii Manoa. My research focuses on understanding the feedback loops between people and biodiversity. My earlier career was on basic ecology, but then I realized that the effects of people on various species were massive and already evident. Quantifying such impacts and their feedbacks on people represent the main topic of my latest research. And my name is Dr. Iain Caldwell and I am a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Hawaii Manoa. I am an ecologist with broad interests in how organisms can respond to changes in their environment, including the potential consequences of projected climate changes for such organisms. Along with several colleagues from the University of Hawaii and the University of Montana, we recently published a study in PLOS Biology titled Suitable Days for Plant Growth Disappear under Projected Climate Change: Potential Human and Biotic Vulnerability. In this paper, we explored the potential consequences of projected climate changes on future plant growth worldwide, and what that could mean for various ecosystems and the people that depend on those ecosystems. Our findings indicate that, if climate change continues as it has in the past, there could be significant global declines in the number of suitable plant growing days by 2100; with the most drastic changes affecting people in the poorest countries of the world. There is hope though; as our results also indicate that if we can curb our global carbon emissions, these changes in plant-growing conditions should be far less severe. We will be answering your questions at 1pm ET. Ask Us Anything! Don’t forget to follow Iain on Twitter [@ircaldwell[(http://www.twitter.com/ircaldwell).

Hi Reddit! I am a Professor of Chemistry at Virginia Tech. I was hired as an Energy chemist and my research focuses of solar energy harvesting and storage. At Virginia Tech, I am affiliated with the Center for Energy Harvesting Materials (link), the Sustainable Energy Thrust of the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (link), and the Macromolecules and Interfaces Institute (link). With the American Chemical Society, I serve as an ACS Expert in the field of sustainable energy. In one and a half hours enough solar energy hits the earth surface to power human civilization for an entire year. Remaining challenges that limit the wide-spread use of solar energy are the development of economical solar harvesting materials and advances in energy storage. Along those lines, my research group focuses on two next generation solar cell architectures – quantum dot sensitized solar cells and hybrid bulk heterojunction solar cells. Both of these architectures use inexpensive, nanocrystalline titanium dioxide as the bulk of the solar cell. Therefore, these cells can theoretically be made for a fraction of the cost of a silicon solar cell. Even if the cost of the solar module is reduced, there is still the issue of the intermittent nature of the sun. So in addition to research on photovoltaics, my research group explores methods to store solar energy in chemical bonds. Nature’s photosynthetic system — a complex assembly of light harvesting arrays, electron transfer relays, and catalytic centers — achieves just that using energy from the sun to convert water and carbon dioxide into sugars (our stored fuel!). In our lab, we try to mimic the photosynthetic system with metal organic framework arrays. Metal organic frameworks are porous networks of inorganic clusters and organic ligands. The function of the framework (light harvesting, catalytic, etc) can be tuned by the type of clusters and organic molecules incorporated. We are interested in the guiding principles behind efficient light harvesting, energy transfer, electron transport, and catalysis in these arrays. Check out our recent publications in the areas discussed above: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja410684q http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jacs.5b03071 http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/am500101u So feel free to ask me anything about next generation solar cells including dye-sensitized solar cells, quantum dot sensitized solar cells, bulk heterojunction solar cells, and hybrid bulk heterojunctions solar cells, artificial photosynthesis, water oxidation, carbon dioxide reduction, metal organic frameworks, and chemistry. I would welcome discuss around the economic outlook for solar energy. Additionally, I would be happy to answer steps we all can take to reduce our carbon footprint and the role solar energy can play in our own households. Lastly, I am open to discussions around academic career paths and diversity in science. I will return at 11 am ET to answer your questions. [EDIT] I am here with members of my team (Dr. William Maza, Spencer Ahrenholtz (PhD Candidate), Andrew Haring (PhD Candidate). We are ready to answer your questions! AMA! [EDIT] Signing off now (12:15 PM ET). I will try to return to continue the discussions that have started. Thank you for participating! [EDIT] Back on (3:30 PM ET) to try to answer some more questions! Glad to see the discussions kept going! [EDIT] Signing off again (5:18 PM ET). I hope to come back again to answer the remaining questions! [EDIT] I will keep returning to answer any more questions that pop up! Thank you for a stimulating discussion! Signing off (11:30 PM ET)

Hello! I’m Dr. Yiying Wu, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at THE Ohio State University, and with me are doctoral students Mingzhe Yu and Billy McCulloch. We want to make solar energy a reality for the power grid. We work at the intersection of synthetic inorganic chemistry, materials chemistry, and photoelectrochemistry to create devices that are hybrids of solar panels and batteries: “solar batteries.” So far, we’ve invented a solar air battery (a “breathing” battery that releases oxygen when it’s charged by sunlight) and an aqueous solar flow battery (which has an eco-friendly water-based electrolyte circulating in it). We’ve seen you discuss our work on r/science, and we will be back at 1pm ET to answer your questions, ask us anything! Solar air battery (study) Aqueous solar flow battery (study) Dye-sensitized solar cells (study) The Wu Group homepage Added: Proof Thanks, everyone! This was pretty intense! But these questions can inspire us to think beyond the scientific questions to the larger issues.

Hi Reddit, I have been a forensic scientist for 30 years and times have really changed, but the purpose of forensic science has remained constant: to apply science to matters of the law. Our company, www.nfstc.org, trains the professionals in all kinds of disciplines from crime scene investigation techniques to DNA analysis to field chemistry. Sometimes new technology is best for the case, but sometimes the tried and true methods are the best. We have developed lots of resources for non-scientists like www.forensicsciencesimplified.org and even online training programs anyone can take (https://www.nfstc.org/service/forensics-training/). I get lots of questions about forensic science from the pros and from people who have seen shows on TV, and would love to hear your questions, too. I will be back at 2 pm ET to answer your questions, ask me anything! Edit: fixed URL Edit: Okay, we’re ready to roll!! I’m going to get started on all your great questions. Edit: That’s it for me now. Sorry we ran out of time but thanks for all your great questions.

Hi, Reddit, I am Gerardo Chowell, PhD, a professor of mathematical epidemiology at the School of Public Health at Georgia State University. I am currently researching the transmission dynamics of Middle East respiratory syndrome, also known as MERS, and the factors that can make an infectious disease outbreak more likely to spread. As many of you know, South Korea recently suffered an outbreak of MERS that was the largest to occur outside Saudi Arabia. The disease spread through hospitals and killed 36 people, infected more than 180 and led to the government imposing quarantines on nearly 17,000 people to get the outbreak under control. I conducted similar research during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. *Thank you so much for your questions. I enjoyed chatting with everybody! *

Hello Reddit! We are Chris Kelley (deep-sea biologist, University of University of Hawai‘i at Manoa), Daniel Wagner (research specialist, NOAA Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument), Kelley Elliott (NOAA ocean explorer) and Meme Lobecker (NOAA seafloor mapping expert). We are joined by the Mission Team onboard the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to answer your questions about our expedition to explore the deep waters off Hawaii. We are on the second of four expedition legs and are exploring in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. We will also later explore Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. These large marine protected areas are national symbols of ocean conservation; however, given their remote location, the vast majority of deeper waters in these areas remains unseen by human eyes. Learn more about the expedition here: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/ex1504/welcome.html Throughout the expedition, we are using remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to explore the seafloor, and our ROVs’ video streams are being transmitted via satellite from ship to shore. This means anyone with an Internet connection can tune in LIVE with scientists from around the world sharing an unprecedented glimpse of never-seen-before deep marine habitats. Access the live video here: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/media/exstream/exstream.html. We expect to encounter large, diverse coral and sponge communities; explore ancient seamounts; map the seafloor; and learn more about the geologic history of the area. Information collected during the expedition will support management decisions to protect what we know as well as what we have yet to discover. We have all participated in numerous deep-ocean exploration missions. (joining us is /u/melanostomias ) We’re here from 2:00 pm ET to 4:00 pm ET to answer your questions about the Hawaiian expedition or ocean exploration in general…AUA! Thanks everyone for participating today! Great questions! We got a lot of questions regarding advice for folks looking to get into careers in deep-ocean exploration. A couple of good resources on this topic include: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/ex1404/logs/sept21/sept21.html and http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/edu/oceanage/welcome.html. The NOAA Corps Program is another opportunity worth looking into (http://www.noaacorps.noaa.gov/). Also, for those interested in the weird and wonderful discoveries we are making on this expedition, be sure to visit our website (http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/ex1504/welcome.html) often, as we are adding new logs, images, and videos all of the time. And of course, you can tune in to the live video feeds and join us for our dives:http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/media/exstream/exstream.html. Weather and all other things permitting, we’ll be diving through the end of September. Thanks again! Onward and downward!

Hi Reddit! I am a Professor at Case Western Reserve University with the Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering, a Polymer Professor for short! I also have joint appointments with Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering. For the last 18 years my focus has been in the discovery and engineering of materials, specifically nanomaterials, and find useful applications related to things like paints, composites, sensors, and packaging. This means that we need to first understand the synthesis and properties of these billionth of a meter particles or thin films. We have published numerous articles in scientific journals reporting their interesting properties and reporting methods of preparation. However, my group and I find interesting ways to apply them for practical and industrial purposes. For example, we have worked on high barrier coatings that enable better packaging materials to make food last longer, sensors that can be used to detect pollutants, dangerous substances, and drugs, and we have made materials that are useful for light emitting devices and solar cells. Most importantly, the group has turned out numerous students who have become independent researchers, professors, innovators, and in general good careers in looking a technology from the perspective of chemistry. For more information about me and my research, you can visit www.rcapoly.net. I serve as a journal editor in a number of high impact factor journal like Reactive and Functional Polymers, Polymer Reviews, and also as board members in Macromolecules, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, and Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics. I am the Chair of the Polymer Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society and have been interested in advancing the science, the profession, and the community. I give regular webinars on Nanotechnology as sponsored by Park AFM Instruments. Recently, we established a consortium for bringing new materials technologies to the oil and gas industry. There is much promise for new developments and Nanotechnology has been at the forefront of many advances now in materials, although not as many “would like to admit it” as it seems to be still clouded mysteriously as a process. There is also a lot of misconception about it. Other than my other professional activities, I am interested in working with 3-D printing, entrepreneurship, mentoring young students, and helping the Philippines. I will be available at 1:00pm ET. Ask me anything about nanotechnology on everyday things and I will be happy to answer the state-of-the-art and the prospect for future applications. ET 1:00 PM, I am available online to answer any questions. RIgoberto Advincula I will answer the questions online on the order it was recieved. Rigoberto Advincula ET 2:30 PM, I will take a break for now and will try to answer more questions later. Rigoberto Advincula ET 9:30 PM I answered more questions. Rigoberto Advincula ET: 10:20 PM Sign off for now. Rigoberto Advincula

Hi reddit, I’m Scott Doney, a Senior Scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. My research focuses on how the global carbon cycle and ocean ecology respond to natural and human-driven climate change. I’m Waleed Abdalati, Director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at CU-Boulder’s Geography Department. My research focuses on the use of satellites and aircraft to understand how Earth’s ice cover, particularly glaciers and ice sheets, is changing and what those changes mean for life on Earth. We’re talking about risks and possibilities of climate intervention, or as it is often referred to, geoengineering. Ask us anything! You can read more about the work the National Academies are doing here. We will be back at 1 pm ET to answer your questions, ask us anything! We’re signing out now. Thanks for these great questions and discussion. If you are interested in learning more, please visit the webpage for the study: http://nas-sites.org/americasclimatechoices/

Prof. Zachary Neal: I am an Assistant Professor of Psychology and Global Urban Studies at Michigan State University and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. My research uses networks to understand urban and community phenomena at multiple scales ranging from the micro (e.g. neighborhood social networks) to the macro (e.g. global transportation infrastructure), and involves the development of new network analysis methods with a particular focus on bipartite projections (e.g. viewing subreddits as linked by users co-posting behaviors). I also serve as editor of the Journal of Urban Affairs and Routledge’s Metropolis and Modern Life book series. Randy Olson: I run the popular data blog at RandalOlson.com/blog/, most recently known for creating the “Ultimate American Road Trip” and solving Where’s Waldo?. I tweet daily about data visualization and machine learning at @randal_olson, and moderate the largest online community dedicated to data analysis and visualization on reddit, /r/DataIsBeautiful. Aside from my hobbies, I am an AI and visualization researcher at the University of Pennsylvania (previously Michigan State University) working to usher in the next era of Artificial Intelligence. I do my best to ensure that AI will end up friendly and useful rather than a malevolent Skynet. We’re here to answer all of your questions about our recent work on creating visual, interactive maps of online communities such as reddit to make it easier for you to discover new communities. You can find the reddit map we published here (from mid-2013), along with a writeup on the history and motivation of the project here. Feel free to hit us with any non-research related questions too. We’re here for you to Ask Us Anything! Update: Thank you all for your questions and comments over the past several hours. We had a blast! We will check back in on this thread over the next few days, but it’s time to head back to work. We hope you like our Reddit mapping method, and if you’d like to join the effort to keep the Reddit map updated, we posted a list of our open-source mapping tools and encourage you to get in touch with us. If you have more you’d like to ask, you can follow up with us on Twitter or email: Prof. Zachary Neal: @zpneal / zpneal AT msu DOT edu Dr. Randy Olson: @randal_olson / email