Science / Medicine : Outside World Moved Nearer

Scientists at the isolated research station at McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, are a little closer to civilization with the assistance of modern computers.

The lonely outpost has been hooked via satellite with NASA’s Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif. The new service allows scientists at McMurdo to communicate via Internet, a computer network that joins many research centers around the world.

That will make it possible for the scientists at Antarctica to transmit their data more quickly to various institutions, and it will also allow them to keep up on the latest gossip through electronic bulletin boards.

McMurdo Sound is 78 degrees south latitude, which makes it closer to one of the poles than any other computer site in the world. McMurdo is staffed by 1,500 people who do research ranging from global weather changes to preparations for an expedition to Mars.