Russia Launches ‘North Pole’ Floating Arctic Research Vessel Dec. 22, 2020 The unique vessel will send teams of researchers to the Arctic as Russia looks to expand its presence in the region. aoosk.ru
Hardly ever before has a ship with such a peculiar shape been rolled out of St. Petersburg’s Admiralty Shipyard. On Dec. 18, the stout, 83-meter-long vessel Severny Polyus, or North Pole, made it onto the waters of the Neva River.
The launch is met with great expectation by Russia’s Arctic research community. Once completed, the vessel will conduct geological, sonar, geophysical and oceanographic surveys in a region of high strategic importance to Moscow.
50 Amazing Snow and Ice Sculptures From Around the World
By Hannah Lang, Stacker News
On 12/19/20 at 9:00 AM EST
Ice sculptures have a rich history, and evidence suggests people may have been carving ice as early as 600 B.C. However, as tools and technology advanced, ice sculptures did as well. In the 1600s, fishermen in the China province of Heilongjiang would freeze water inside buckets, and then remove the buckets and put a candle inside to create ice lanterns a tradition still celebrated today at the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival.
Later, in 1739, Russian empress Anna Ivanovna had an ice palace built out of ice from the Neva River to host special events. Artist Valery Ivanovich Jacobi memorialized this ice palace in an oil painting in 1878.