Ice drilling allows scientists studying glaciers and ice sheets to gain
access beneath the ice, to take measurements along its interior, and to
retrieve samples. Instruments in the bored holes can record temperature,
pressure, speed, and direction of ice movement. Many different methods
have been used since 1840, when the first scientific ice drilling
expedition attempted to bore through the Unteraargletscher in the Alps.
Two early methods were percussion, in which the ice is fractured and
pulverized, and rotary drilling, a method often used in mineral
exploration for rock drilling. In the 1940s, thermal drills that melt
ice were developed, and jets of hot water or steam to bore through ice
soon followed. A growing interest in ice cores, used for
paleoclimatological research, led to the development of ice coring
drills in the 1950s and 1960s, and there are now many different coring
drills in use.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_drilling>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1149:
Second Crusade: An army led by Nur ad-Din Zangi destroyed the
forces of Antioch led by Prince Raymond.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Inab>
1659:
Russo-Polish War: The hetman of Ukraine Ivan Vyhovsky and his
allies defeated the armies of Russian Tsardom led by Aleksey Trubetskoy
at the Battle of Konotop in the present-day Sumy Oblast of Ukraine.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Konotop>
1914:
During the second day of the anti-Serb riots in Sarajevo
(aftermath pictured), numerous buildings owned by ethnic Serbs were
vandalized and looted.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Serb_riots_in_Sarajevo>
1950:
In one of the greatest upsets in tournament history, the United
States defeated England during the 1950 FIFA World Cup.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v_England_(1950_FIFA_World_Cup)>
1985:
The European Economic Community adopted the Flag of Europe, a
flag previously adopted by the Council of Europe in 1955.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Europe>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
abiogenesis:
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/abiogenesis>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
To be a man is, precisely, to be responsible. It is to feel shame
at the sight of what seems to be unmerited misery. It is to take pride
in a victory won by one's comrades. It is to feel, when setting one's
stone, that one is contributing to the building of the world.
--Antoine de Saint Exupéry
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Antoine_de_Saint_Exup%C3%A9ry>