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Post by Escher on Aug 8, 2015 10:54:33 GMT
A heck of a ready-made real-world location for a 'base under siege' scenario: icecube.wisc.edu/about/overviewQuoted from the site: The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is the first detector of its kind, designed to observe the cosmos from deep within the South Pole ice. An international group of scientists responsible for the scientific research makes up the IceCube Collaboration. Encompassing a cubic kilometer of ice, IceCube searches for nearly massless subatomic particles called neutrinos. These high-energy astronomical messengers provide information to probe the most violent astrophysical sources: events like exploding stars, gamma-ray bursts, and cataclysmic phenomena involving black holes and neutron stars. The Antarctic neutrino observatory, which also includes the surface array IceTop and the dense infill array DeepCore, was designed as a multipurpose experiment. IceCube collaborators address several big questions in physics, like the nature of dark matter and the properties of the neutrino itself. IceCube also observes cosmic rays that interact with the Earth’s atmosphere, which have revealed fascinating structures that are not presently understood. Approximately 300 physicists from 45 institutions in 12 countries make up the IceCube Collaboration. The international team is responsible for the scientific program, and many of the collaborators contributed to the design and construction of the detector. Exciting new research conducted by the collaboration is opening a new window for exploring our universe.
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Catsmate
13th Incarnation
It's complicated....
Posts: 3,748
Favourite Doctors: Thirteen, Six, Five, Two, Eight, Eleven, Twelve, One, Nine...
Traits: Eccentric, Insatiable Curiousity.
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Post by Catsmate on Aug 8, 2015 11:07:18 GMT
Excellent!
Hmmmm, neutrinos are produced by fusion and (especially) matter/anti-matter reactions. The facility might detect some interesting anomalies in space (or on Earth) and lead to the detection of an alien spacecraft or other technology.
More pics and details here and some interesting Antarctic info here.
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Post by Escher on Aug 8, 2015 15:18:47 GMT
The detection equipment could also serve as a form of conduit for some disembodied alien intelligence or energy-based life form in deep space to infiltrate the base, manifesting corporeally or through insidious possession of one or many staff.
Add-in a violent sub-zero blizzard with the only nearby base hundreds of miles away (sabotaged radio and snow buggies anyone?) and you have a very claustrophobic atmosphere for a nail-biting paranoid scenario.
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Post by da professor on Aug 9, 2015 7:48:31 GMT
Then there's the old chestnut where there's something that's been frozen in the ice for centuries and someone finds it and thaws it out so (s)he can get a better look.
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Post by Escher on Aug 9, 2015 10:49:58 GMT
Then there's the old chestnut where there's something that's been frozen in the ice for centuries and someone finds it and thaws it out so (s)he can get a better look. Actually, that would work as a great plot device. The players could be set up with a red herring: that the threat would come through the station's role in detecting cosmic phenomena, while all the time it was what some of the staff had unearthed on a trek. That could be a great 'Oh No!' moment when the players realize all that effort in shutting down the base's functionality had no effect on the invasion attempt...because of that pod/meteor/artifact that Professor XYZ had discovered in the ice.
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Catsmate
13th Incarnation
It's complicated....
Posts: 3,748
Favourite Doctors: Thirteen, Six, Five, Two, Eight, Eleven, Twelve, One, Nine...
Traits: Eccentric, Insatiable Curiousity.
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Post by Catsmate on Aug 9, 2015 16:48:59 GMT
Then there's the old chestnut where there's something that's been frozen in the ice for centuries and someone finds it and thaws it out so (s)he can get a better look. It's still a classic. Plus there could be something left over from the Cybermen or even Antarctic Space Nazis...
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