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Keith Makinson

@keithmakinson.bsky.social
456 followers 272 following 11 posts

Polar Oceanographer and Subglacial Access Drilling Engineer at British Antarctic Survey @bas.ac.uk Ice Shelves | Ocean | Tides | Ice Streams | Subglacial Lakes | Hot Water Drilling | Ice Drilling | Running |

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Reposted by Keith Makinson
William Colgan @glacierbytes.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Here’s some fantastic thermal drone imagery of a thermal spring in East Greenland. Captured by Eva Nielsen earlier this month. The spring water is 53C, flowing down a rock wall behind the field team. Our HotBlink project is funded by the Independent Research Fund of Denmark.
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British Antarctic Survey 🐧 @bas.ac.uk · 28/05/2026
That's a wrap on the 2025/26 Antarctic science season! Our teams worked on 50+ projects across five research stations, in the deep field, and at sea – from climate science to wildlife monitoring. Here's a look back at (some of) what we got up to... 🧵1/9
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Rob Larter @polarrobs.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Recently I was delighted to be invited to give a talk in the @cprecountryside.bsky.social Spring Webinar Series on 'The Changing West Antarctic Ice Sheet - Global and Local Implications'. A recording is now available online youtu.be/UkG24vHj0ps?... #CPRE #Antarctica #sealevel
youtu.be
Climate Emergency webinar - Dr Rob Larter
YouTube video by Campaign to Protect Rural England
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Adrian Luckman @adrianluckman.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf heading for collapse. Monthly average velocities Jan 2025 to Feb 2026 derived from EU Copernicus Programme Sentinel-1 SAR data. Grounding lines in black and yellow from NASA MEaSUREs
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Lyn Heideman @heidelyn.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
In January-February, a scientific expedition traveled to Antarctica to study its fastest melting glacier, the Thwaites. You can find out more here (includes photos and videos): www.nytimes.com/live/2025/cl... (gift). 🌎
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
You can follow @zhonggg.bsky.social and Chang Lee's coverage of the trip to the Thwaites Glacier here. This has got to be the most well-covered research cruise ever. 🌊
nytimes.com
Journey to the Melting Continent
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British Antarctic Survey 🐧 @bas.ac.uk · 29/01/2026
To go under Thwaites Glacier, the only way is through ⬇️ This intrepid UK-Korean science team are tunnelling 1000m through one of the world's most unstable ice shelves. They'll get daily data showing how warm ocean water is melting Thwaites from below - crucial for predicting sea level rise.
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British Antarctic Survey 🐧 @bas.ac.uk · 20/08/2025
We've never seen anyone so enthusiastic to crush ice – but a team of scientists are studying the cracking of ice, and they’re pretty hyped! ❄️ @newscientist.com spoke to members of the RIFT-TIP project, who are investigating how ice shelf fractures grow. Watch the video here: tinyurl.com/526tn8zz
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British Antarctic Survey 🐧 @bas.ac.uk · 18/07/2025
We've had a Very Important Ice delivery! These precious ancient ice core samples from Antarctica are expected to reveal a climate record stretching back more than 1.5 million years 🤯 That's further than we've ever looked back before. 🧵 1/4
Liz stands in a walk-in scientific freezer, wearing a warm jacket. She's holding a long ice sample - a narrow stick of ice about a metre long and only a few centimetres wide. It's from a box containing many ice cores. Photo credit: Jamie Oliver, BAS.
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Environmental Audit Committee @commonseac.parliament.uk · 09/06/2025
"It is impossible to overstate how critical this region is to our shared future." - @tobyperkinsmp.bsky.social, Chair Read our report on the UK and the Antarctic environment: publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5901/cm...
Image of an Antarctic iceberg with white text on a green background reading: We've published a report on the uk and the Antarctic environment
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Rob Larter @polarrobs.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
This is almost unbelievable. It's now May and there is still virtually no new sea ice forming in the Bellingshausen Sea (lower left region in image). Image showing sea ice concentration derived from AMSR satellite data is by Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, Germany.
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Leconte @manchotempereur.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
The Penguin Book of penguins - An Expert's Guide to the World's Most Beloved Bird by Peter Fretwell and Lisa Fretwell www.penguin.co.uk/books/464310... @ptfretwell.bsky.social @bas.ac.uk #PenguinBooks #VikingBooksUK
penguin.co.uk
The Penguin Book of Penguins
A charming and beautifully illustrated book about the world’s most beloved bird, written by a leading Scientist at The British Antarctic Survey, illustrated by his wife. There’s something about pengu...
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Adrian Luckman @adrianluckman.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
Update on Thwaites Glacier Eastern Ice Shelf from Copernicus Sentinel-1 SAR. Downloadable version here: aluckman4.wixsite.com/ade-s-world-...
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British Antarctic Survey 🐧 @bas.ac.uk · 25/03/2025
Year-end scramble getting you down? ⏳ Applications for lots of our Antarctic #jobs are closing in the next week. They include vehicles manager at Halley, and Radio Operator and IT Engineer at Rothera Research Station. These are jobs unlike any other, in one of the most beautiful places on Earth ⬇️
Seriously remote work, in Antarctica. The photo is of Halley Research Station, stretching into the distance on a flat white polar landscape, with the label 'Today's Office'
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Jonathan Amos @jcdamos.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Iceberg A23a pictured from the ISS. The space station is almost as far south as it can reach here (51.5° S, 49.0° W - altitude of 422km). Picture taken on 14 March, so the berg had been grounded at South Georgia for a fortnight by this time.
NASA/JSC/ISS
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Antarctic News @antarcticanews.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
Scientists made a stunning discovery beneath an Antarctic ice shelf—thriving life in a world once thought uninhabitable.The breakthrough offers new insights into deep-sea ecosystems and the resilience of life in extreme environments. indianexpress.com/ar...
indianexpress.com
Why scientists were surprised to find life under Antarctic ice shelf
The mission was part of Challenger 150, a UNESCO-endorsed global initiative for deep-sea research. The discoveries were announced on Thursday. The findings provide new insights into how ecosystems function beneath floating sections of the Antarctic ice.
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British Antarctic Survey 🐧 @bas.ac.uk · 19/03/2025
1.2 million years - have you heard of ice this old?! 🧊 These ice cores were retrieved as part of the Beyond EPICA - Oldest Ice project, which aims to unlock crucial insights into Earth's past climate and atmospheric conditions #ice #climate Read the full story 👇 www.bas.ac.uk/media-post/a...
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Adrian Luckman @adrianluckman.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
As polar night ends and sunlight begins to return to Longyearbyen, lets see how the Svalbard seasons progressed last year - from ice-locked fjords in March, through to the first snows of October. Thanks to NASA MODIS via GIBS. Download at full resolution here: aluckman4.wixsite.com/ade-s-world-...
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Peter T Fretwell @ptfretwell.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
Bedmap3 is now out rdcu.be/ecTmO
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Mapping and Geographic Information Centre @magic.bas.ac.uk · 07/03/2025
The last Twin Otter aircraft has just left Rothera which marks the end of the field season, and gives us a chance to look back at the support we have provided over the year. We started with fieldwork and air unit maps! 🧵 1/5
A fieldwork map of the Union Glacier region. Ice thickness is shown in a yellowy-green colour ramp, contours are shown with thin blue lines, and mountain spot heights are given in metres and feet. A map of the Antarctic Peninsula and West Antarctica, with blue sea and white land. Ice shelves are grey. Various depots are shown on the map as pink crosses, and lines are drawn between these points giving distances.
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Mapping and Geographic Information Centre @magic.bas.ac.uk · 04/03/2025
The world's largest iceberg, A23a, appears to have grounded close to South Georgia. We've been monitoring and mapping this berg for many years now and we're watching closely to see what it might do next! These maps show its route since 1986 and the latest position to the SW of South Georgia ❄️🐧 1/3
A map of the recent positions of iceberg A23a from 17th Jan - 3rd March 2025. Bathymetry is shown on the map, with shallow shelf areas indicating where the iceberg is stuck on the seafloor.A map showing the track of iceberg A23a from calving (breaking off) the Filchner Ice Shelf in 1986, to its most recent position SW of South Georgia. The track is shown with purple dots. Bathymetry is shown with a blue colour ramp.
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British Antarctic Survey 🐧 @bas.ac.uk · 28/02/2025
Hot off the press - the latest edition of the BAS Long Read! 🔥📰 Get ready to hear from three Antarctic scientists - Dr Emma Pearce, Dr Liz Thomas, and Dr Dieter Tetzner - about their work drilling for ice cores in Antarctica Grab a coffee, and settle down for a read 👇 www.bas.ac.uk/blogpost/the...
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British Antarctic Survey 🐧 @bas.ac.uk · 17/02/2025
Here's the @aria-research.bsky.social page about the Forecasting Tipping Points programme. It's well worth a proper read! 🌍 www.aria.org.uk/opportunity-... Here’s the BAS news story about GRAIL - and three other projects involving BAS researchers: ❄️ tinyurl.com/kzhhha6w 3/3
tinyurl.com
Scientists secure funding to study Greenland and North Atlantic climate tipping points - British Antarctic Survey
British Antarctic Survey (BAS) researchers have been selected for funding from The Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) to help improve our understanding of climate tipping points. These tippin...
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Earth and Space Research @earthspaceresearch.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
A new paper about the Antarctic Ice Sheet in a special issue of @science.org reviews critical knowledge gaps in our understanding of how Antarctica responds to variations in global climate. Antarctica in 2025: Drivers of deep uncertainty in projected ice loss www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Picture of Antarctic Ice Sheet as seen from plane.  Photo by Susan Howard, ESR
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Australian Antarctic Program Partnership @antarctic.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Find out why this is the perfect place for an automatic monitoring station to measure ocean temperature, salinity and currents. It's crucial research about potential sea-level rise: are warming waters melting the ice shelf that holds back the glaciers? ▶️ aapp.shorthandstories.com/fishing-for-...
aapp.shorthandstories.com
Fishing for a glacier's secrets
A story of audacious science on an Antarctic ice shelf
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Mapping and Geographic Information Centre @magic.bas.ac.uk · 04/02/2025
A new iceberg, ~30x14 km in size, recently calved from the southern end of the George VI Ice Shelf. It's called A84 and is already making quite an impact, bumping into the Stange Ice Shelf over the weekend! These Copernicus Sentinel-1 images from Polar View show the new berg over the last few days.
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Keith Makinson @keithmakinson.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
www.bas.ac.uk/media-post/a...
bas.ac.uk
Ancient Antarctic ice loss offers insights into future climate scenarios - British Antarctic Survey
Scientists from the University of Cambridge and British Antarctic Survey have used ice core records to draw new conclusions about how Antarctica was affected by increased global temperatures over 100,...
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Laura Gerrish @lauragerrish.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
Beautiful Sentinel-2 imagery of George VI Ice Shelf with lots of meltwater from yesterday. The patterns that this water produces is like artwork! Fossil Bluff is shown in the second image, and Hodgson Lake shown in the last - a former subglacial lake sealed under ice thick perennial ice ❄️
A satellite image showing lots of meltwater pool on an ice shelf in the centre, and rocky outcrops on the left (west) on Alexander Island, and Palmer Land on the right (east).Fossil Bluff region on Alexander IslandHodgson Lake, Citadel Bastion and Corner Cliffs on Alexander Island.
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Dr Joanne Johnson @geologicaljo.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
🔥New paper alert! 🔥🧪❄️🥼 Ever wondered what to consider when drilling through an ice sheet into rock? We take you through how we chose a drill site in West #Antarctica using field observations, samples, radar survey, modelling & satellite imagery. tc.copernicus.org/articles/19/... @bas.ac.uk 🧵1/n
tc.copernicus.org
Assessing the suitability of sites near Pine Island Glacier for subglacial bedrock drilling aimed at detecting Holocene retreat–readvance
Abstract. Unambiguous identification of past episodes of ice sheet thinning below the modern surface and grounding line retreat inboard of present requires recovery and exposure dating of subglacial b...
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Eric Steig @ericsteig.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
Important paper in Nature today about collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. There is a positive isotope anomaly at Skytrain Ice Rise during the last interglacial, consistent with what we found in our high-resolution water-isotope simulations when WAIS collapses. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
The Ronne Ice Shelf survived the last interglacial - Nature
Sea salt data from an ice core record show that Antarctica’s Ronne Ice Shelf survived the last interglacial, the last period of enhanced and sustained global warmth about 125,000 years ago.
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Prof Michael Meredith 🌊🧪🥼❄️ @oceanandice.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
The Southern Ocean is a critical part of our planet, exerting profound influences over global climate and ecosystems. Great to see some of the leading-order priorities for its research elucidated by Earle, @carlosmoffat.com et al.! 🌊🧪🥼❄️
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Andy Shepherd @andyshepherd.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
Satellites have transformed our understanding of Earths polar regions, and it's wonderful to see the work of The IMBIE Team recognised by @esa.int as a groundbreaking discovery ! tinyurl.com/mtut9dc6
Cover of the report which shows an image of Earth from spaceA page from the report which contains images of the polar ice sheet thickness change and a graph of their sea level contribution
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Million Year Ice Core Project @millionyearice.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Yesterday, 22/1, another step on the way was reached with the second reaming pass completed to target depth of 125 m, widening the hole to 209 mm. This leaves the third pass to go, which will widen to final diameter of 260 mm down to 120 m. Derryn, Daniel and Chelsea pictured (📷D.Harvie).
Three people pictured inside the drill shelter with the reaming drill. Derryn Harvie (📷)
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Million Year Ice Core Project @millionyearice.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
You can now follow along with the more detailed drilling field diary for MYIC available below, and we will continue posting summary snippets here at bluesky. www.antarctica.gov.au/science/clim...
antarctica.gov.au
Ice core drilling team diary – Australian Antarctic Program
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British Antarctic Survey 🐧 @bas.ac.uk · 20/01/2025
Could your next job be in Antarctica? We're looking for carpenters, chefs, electricians, plumbers, plant operators and more to work at our research stations. These are jobs like no other, in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. ✅ Vacancies bas.ac.uk/vacancies 💡 Job alerts ow.ly/fWsu50UJHBP
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Keith Makinson @keithmakinson.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
How is Antarctica melting, exactly? Crucial details are beginning to come into focus theconversation.com/how-is-antar...
theconversation.com
How is Antarctica melting, exactly? Crucial details are beginning to come into focus
The Antarctic ice sheet is nearly twice the area of Australia and holds enough freshwater to raise global sea levels by 58 metres.
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Kate Hendry @krhendry.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
We had the first sunset at Rothera in weeks a few days back, meaning the evening/night light is perfect for stunning Antarctic photos! @bas.ac.uk
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aretsch.bsky.social @aretsch.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
And the view from your bridge looks also very well 👍 Footage: The webcam on RRS Sir David Attenborough 🇺🇳 #Antartica
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Stef Lhermitte @steflhermitte.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
🥳🎉 for the 👌 Sentinel1-C 🛰️ launch. This animation highlights again the key insights #sentinel1 provides for ❄️+🧊+🌎 ; here nicely illustrating the decay of Pine Island Glaciers' shear zones.
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Laura Gerrish @lauragerrish.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
Beautiful image showing an almost cloud free Stange Ice Shelf with the RRS Sir David Attenborough alongside 🚢 (you’ll need a good eye to spot it!)
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Helen Czerski @helenczerski.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
TIL that you do occasionally get TWELVE-sided snowflakes, when two six-sided ones collide in the right way and stick together. They seem to stick at a suspiciously perfect angle! Photos from Ken Libbrecht's brilliant website here: www.snowcrystals.com...
Two twelve-sided snowflakes
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British Antarctic Survey 🐧 @bas.ac.uk · 16/01/2025
Hello from the Brunt Ice Shelf! ⚡🧪 The RIFT-TIP team are using ice cores and seismology to model how huge fractures travel across ice shelves. With just a few weeks left, they've been putting in a real shift: 🧊 4 ice cores drilled 🔍 60km of radar transects taken ⚡ 64 surface seismometers set up
Four people in bright down jackets pose together on a bright, empty ice shelf. They are holding a long ice core cylinder, which is taller than all of them. Photo: Emma Pearce
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Tas van Ommen @tasvo.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
The Australian🇦🇺 Million Year Ice Core Project entered a new phase yesterday, with the commencement of drilling at Dome C North.
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Mapping and Geographic Information Centre @magic.bas.ac.uk · 14/01/2025
🌐 Exciting news! We’re thrilled to announce the release of the new Ice Logistics Portal, providing global sea ice charts from 13 ice & weather services. Explore: www.icelogistics.info 1/3
icelogistics.info
Ice Logistics Portal
The Global Ice Charts And Sea Ice Information Portal
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Keith Makinson @keithmakinson.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
There are also good views from the RRS Sir David Attenborough webcam and a wider area view in radar images from EC Copernicus/ESA downloaded from Polarview. The yellow arrows show the ship's location against Stange Ice Shelf and the bright lines to the south are the vehicle tracks.
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Ruth Mottram @ruthmottram.eurosky.social · 10/01/2025
Yesterday's Danish #greenland ice sheet seminar finished with a screening of this spectacular film about new findings from the Camp Century ice core. The memory of darkness light and ice is absolutely outstanding. And if you get a chance, a must watch. youtu.be/ukf54a6ZRW0
youtu.be
The Memory of Darkness, Light, and Ice OFFICIAL TRAILER
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Mapping and Geographic Information Centre @magic.bas.ac.uk · 09/01/2025
Work onboard the RRS Sir David Attenborough continues as numerous icebergs drift past to our north. Using a combination of optical and radar satellite imagery, plus regular RPAS flights, we keep watch on any icebergs that might get close enough to interrupt us. Credit Pete Bucktrout & Jamie Oliver.
A photograph taken from a RPAS platform showing the Stange Ice Shelf in the foreground and icebergs in the ocean near the horizon.
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Dr. Thomas Ronge @thomasronge.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
They did it! "An international team of scientists announced they’ve successfully drilled one of the oldest ice cores yet [...] to reach ice they say is at least 1.2 million years old." So far scientific ocean drilling was the only way to go back in time further than 800ka! apnews.com/article/anta...
apnews.com
Scientists drill nearly 2 miles down to pull 1.2 million-year-old ice core from Antarctic
An international team of scientists say they’ve successfully drilled one of the oldest ice cores yet, penetrating nearly 2 miles to Antarctic bedrock to reach ice that's at least 1.2 million years old...
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Thomas Bauska @tinyicybubbles.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
🎉🎉🎉 Woo hoo! 🎉🎉🎉 Amazing feat by the Beyond EPICA-Oldest Ice team! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... Smashing the 800,000 year record for a continuous ice core by a country mile back to 1.2 million years ago.
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Adrian Luckman @adrianluckman.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
Thwaites Glacier calves kilometre-scale icebergs every few weeks. Here's an animation of the process from Sentinel-1. For a longer and higher-resolution version, have a look here: aluckman4.wixsite.com/ade-s-world-...
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