Oooh, nice. I just had to interrupt my calculus class today to go outside and have a look while the eclipse was near its local maximum (94% or so). And afterwards, I put a direct feed from Svalbard on the big screen, where the eclipse was total some 15 minutes later. It was a nice counterpoint to my going on about using Gauss’s theorem to figure out the gravitational field resulting from a spherically symmetric distribution of mass.
Yes, if you count Svalbard (a.k.a. Spitsbergen) as northern Norway.
There were some 2500 tourists there today, which pretty much doubled the population. Which puts a strain on a community that far north, with quite chilly temperatures around now. And it’s not only temperatures, but polar bears to contend with. Just yesterday, a tourist was injured by one which had come into his tent and dragged him out still in his sleeping bag. The bear was shot before it could do serious damage, though. But the tourists may face criminal charges for not posting a guard at the camp. Svalbard is one part of Norway where carrying a gun is mandatory, once you leave the settled areas. But still, you’re supposed to keep a watch for polar bears, both for your own safety and the bears’.
Oooh, nice. I just had to interrupt my calculus class today to go outside and have a look while the eclipse was near its local maximum (94% or so). And afterwards, I put a direct feed from Svalbard on the big screen, where the eclipse was total some 15 minutes later. It was a nice counterpoint to my going on about using Gauss’s theorem to figure out the gravitational field resulting from a spherically symmetric distribution of mass.
Perfect. I heard on the BBC last night that it would be the most full over the Faroes and northern Norway.
Yes, if you count Svalbard (a.k.a. Spitsbergen) as northern Norway.
There were some 2500 tourists there today, which pretty much doubled the population. Which puts a strain on a community that far north, with quite chilly temperatures around now. And it’s not only temperatures, but polar bears to contend with. Just yesterday, a tourist was injured by one which had come into his tent and dragged him out still in his sleeping bag. The bear was shot before it could do serious damage, though. But the tourists may face criminal charges for not posting a guard at the camp. Svalbard is one part of Norway where carrying a gun is mandatory, once you leave the settled areas. But still, you’re supposed to keep a watch for polar bears, both for your own safety and the bears’.
Well it was BBC World, they probably count Svalbard as northern Norway for purposes of talking to people globally.
Poor polar bear. Humans shouldn’t barge into their territory and get them killed.
Indeed. It was apparently a much loved bear. Perhaps google translate won’t mangle this news story too badly.