Dan Asimov wrote:
IMAGING The Plato Observatory, on Dome Argus, 13,000 feet high and about 700 miles east of the South Pole.
Is this as nonsensical as I think, or is there a reasonable meaning to the phrase "east of the South Pole" ?
I'm afraid it might mean something. In 2004, for example, the Geophysical Journal International published the paper "Structure and thermal regime beneath the South Pole region, East Antarctica, from magnetotelluric measurements." http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-246X.2004.02156.x It's entirely (or at least mostly) reasonable to talk about East and West Antarctica -- surely these are the halves of the continent lying in the perfectly well-defined Eastern and Western hemispheres. Once you've done that, though, it's got to be tempting to stand at the south pole with East Antarctica on your right and West Antarctica on your left, and proclaim that North Antarctica is in front of you. And in back is... er, well, let's not talk about it. --Michael Kleber -- It is very dark and after 2000. If you continue you are likely to be eaten by a bleen.