News

8/2/12 - Russian scientists drill into Antarctic lake sealed off for 15 million years.

Russia’s Antarctic Research Institute has confirmed that its drilling team has penetrated to the sub-glacial Lake Vostok. Researchers have spent two decades drilling through over 3,700 metres of Antarctic ice to reach the lake, which is believed to have been sealed off from the world for 15 million years.

It is the first time such a breakthrough has been made into one of the more than 300 sub-glacial lakes known to exist on Antarctica. The lake's location in the heart of East Antarctic Ice Sheet is one of the most inhospitable places on Earth.

Researchers believe Vostok can give them some fresh insights into the frozen history of Antarctica. They also hope to find microbial lifeforms that are new to science and to extract sediments so as to better understand past climates. Read the full story here.

3/2/12 - Research suggests that although worldwide malaria is increasingly better controlled, deaths may be hugely underestimated.

Research funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation confirms that malaria control efforts have clearly been working and that most countries with a high malaria burden are seeing a strong decline.

However, the findings also show that not only is malaria declining more rapidly than previously thought, it is also a far bigger problem than estimated so far. The number of people who die annually of malaria is roughly double the current estimates by WHO. While young children still make up the majority of malaria deaths, adult deaths are much higher than formerly believed. Read the full story here.

17/1/12 - Vicky Garnett joins the Sentinel team

A big welcome to Vicky Garnett, who has joined the Sentinel team as Project Coordinator. She'll be keeping all the consultants organised, overseeing our marketing activities and looking after the website and our social networking. You can read more about Vicky here.

16/1/12 - British Antarctic Survey moves a step closer to drilling through the 2-mile thick ice sheet above Lake Ellsworth.

The project aims to search for signs of life in the waters of this vast lake, and to extract sediments so as to better understand past climates. The project, spread over two Antarctic summer seasons, involves hauling drilling equipment about 400 km from the ice runway at Union Glacier through the Ellsworth mountains to the lake.

With maximum summer temperatures a "fresh" -20 degrees celcius, and regular 30 knot winds, working in this environment has been challenging for the team. In addition, the logistical and technical challenges are immense. Read the full report here.

6/1/12 - New model shows that African wildfires are currently at their lowest level for the past 40,000 years

With the recent availability of satellite data, there has been concern that the level of wildfires in Africa has increased due to human activities. A new model, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has shown however that wildfires have actually decreased in Africa's grassland habitats.

The model is intended to assist national parks develop their fire management policies in order to maintain biodiversity. Dr Sally Archibald explains, "We really cannot make good [conservation] decisions unless we can understand how humans have manipulated fire... People have been in Africa for over a million years, so you cannot try to suppress all human fires. You have to include humans as part of your system, and fire managers still need some guidance on what is the best way to burn these systems and yet maintain biodiversity." The full story is here.

20/12/11 - Wishing all our clients a happy festive season and a fabulous 2012

The team at Sentinel wishes you all the best for your holidays, and hopes you have a happy, safe, adventurous and prosperous 2012.

12/12/11 - Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the president of Liberia, Leymah Gbowee, the Liberian peace activist, and Yemeni pro-democracy campaigner Tawakkol Karman receive their joint Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in Oslo.

The women were recognised for their non-violent struggle for women's safety, and for women's rights to participate in peace-building work. Mrs Sirleaf is Africa's first elected female head of state, and is credited with helping to end Liberia's 14-year civil war. Ms Gbowee led a peaceful campaign to end Liberia's civil war and oust its ex-president Charles Taylor. Ms Karman founded the organisation Women Journalists Without Chains, and becomes the first Arab woman to win the prize. The full story is here.

5/12/11 - British Antarctic Survey releases updated BEDMAP survey of Antarctica's rock bed

The beautiful BEDMAP image shows the shape of Antarctica under the ice, which covers over 99% of Antarctica's rock. It was generated by decades of survey data acquired by planes, satellites, ships and even people on dog-drawn sleds. Dr Hamish Pritchard of the British Antarctic Survey is presenting the new imagery to the 2011 American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, the world's largest annual gathering of Earth and planetary scientists. The work was a collaboration between many international agencies. The full report is here.

21/11/11 - British Geological Survey in rare metal survey in Sutherland

The British Geological Survey (BGS) are undertaking a new field study into the processes responsible for rare earth enrichments in Sutherland, Scotland. They are currently not expecting to mine deposits there, however their work should help to identify other deposits around the world which could be exploited for use in energy devices and mobile phones. The full report is here.

7/11/11 - Major iceberg forming from the Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica

A surface crack in the glacier runs for almost 30km, is 60m deep and is growing daily. It is expected to break away towards the end of 2011 or at the beginning of 2012, forming a massive iceberg measuring about 880 square kilometers. This kind of calving event is seen about every ten years or so on this glacier, and has potentially massive impacts on local ecosystems, providing nutrients to the water and fuelling algal blooms, but also disrupting migration routes and access to feeding grounds for animal populations. The full report is here.

1/11/11 - Successful GM mosquito trial raises hope of new avenue for Dengue control

A UK-based research team has proved that male mosquitoes which have been genetically modified, so as their offspring die before they are able to reproduce, successfully bred with the wild mosquito population when they were released in an area of the Cayman Islands. The subsequent reduction in the mosquito population could effectively reduce transmission of many mosquito-borne diseases, including Dengue fever. The full story is here.

18/10/11 - WHO reports that malaria deaths have falled by over 20% worldwide in the last decade

Robert Newman, director of the WHO's Global Malaria Programme, said "remarkable progress" had been made, attributing the clearer global picture to better diagnostic testing and surveillance. The full story is here.

14/10/11 - We always knew that mobile phones were bad for your health...

And now we know why. A team at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has found that 16% of phones harbour faecal bacteria. Diarrhoea is still one of the world's biggest killers - but simply washing your hands with soap and water is very effective at preventing disease. The full report is here.

4/10/11 - New website launched!

You'll have probably noticed out new look. Hopefully you'll find that the site represents who we are and what we do, as well as providing some extra functionality. If you have any feedback for us please give us a shout!

30/9/11 - New research on legality of use of prescription meds on expeditions published.

Matt Ladbrook has been looking into this difficult issue and has reached some startling conclusions. Details will be published here shortly, but in the mean while please contact us if you'd like details.

21/9/11: 24-hour on call support service for launched to general public.

We've been providing on-call services for companies and organisations for a while, but we're now offering this service to individuals going on expedition, or even on holiday to remote areas. Our prices are tiered to make them affordable - please contact us for details.