
A Mysterious Death at the South Pole (2009) - curtis
http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/print-view/a-mysterious-death-at-the-south-pole-20131125
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Mithaldu
To spare others the rather extreme fluff and constant self-derailing of the
article:

A scientist who worked with various kind of non-drinkable alcohols died by
methanol overdose and this was only found out and investigated much later,
with no real conclusion made beyond the assumption that he probably didn't
poison himself; but a bottle of liquor he had and emptied maybe, possibly
might've been spiked with methanol and he could've died from that. No actual
facts are known though, and nobody who might have access to any facts cares to
talk to the person doing the investigating.

~~~
codingdave
I rather enjoyed the entire article, which is atypical for me. Most of time, I
would have agreed with your tone. But this one held together well, and I read
every word.

~~~
marincounty
Yea, the author did a great job in writing this story. The death does sound
like an accident? I couldn't imagine being in the new facility. The article
was about a tragic death, but it was also about a generation(maybe the last?)
of people who didn't live, nor play by the rules. I wonder if we are stifling
people's lives, work, and intellectual achievements with all--these--rules--
that--are--enacted--to--protect?

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s_q_b
My question is this: How does a group that large not consider methanol
poisoning? Almost every bootlegger from the mountains of Kentucky to half the
prisoners in the United States knows that when you're making your own alcohol,
accidental methanol poisoning is what can kill you.

They were operating a still, and had everyone from PhDs to carpenters there,
and nobody thought of methanol poisoning? The ultimate irony is, of course,
that the antidote to methanol poisoning is ethanol, aka regular potable
alcohol, of which they had a great deal.

Final point, these guys are going to the bottom of the world. We can't give
them specialized alcohols (to say nothing of a spare Li-ion battery)? There
are some alcohols that are similar in effect to ethanol, but a lot less toxic,
more easily transportable, etc. Sure, they're not common, but neither is a
base deep in Antarctica.

~~~
Zigurd
Methanol poisoning in the prohibition era was the result of trying, and
failing, to purify methylated ethanol. That was not in the picture in this
case. Even if they had a really crappy distillation operation, it would not
have produced a fatal dose of methanol, even if someone intentionally dosed
the victim with the "heads" of a distillation. You would die from the ethanol
first.

~~~
s_q_b
Sure, but there was methanol on base, it is known to be mixed with ethanol in
some locations to improve the potency. I assume they also had denatured
ethanol for lab purposes. It just seems like an obvious hypothesis if that
much alcohol is being consumed.

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PopePompous
I had an office next to this guy. His Tourette's syndrome did not seem mild to
me; it drove me nuts trying to concentrate with the bizarre noises he was
making all day. When I heard about this, I figured someone murdered him
because of that.

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acqq
More about the topic of drinking in Antarctica, this guy wrote the book about
it

[http://www.amazon.com/Big-Dead-Place-Menacing-
Antarctica/dp/...](http://www.amazon.com/Big-Dead-Place-Menacing-
Antarctica/dp/0922915997)

and years later killed himself after being rejected for another term there:

[http://www.alternet.org/media/world-forgets-antarcticas-
firs...](http://www.alternet.org/media/world-forgets-antarcticas-first-great-
author-fascinating-life-and-death-nick-johnson)

More recent experience, written by another past worker:

[http://www.thefix.com/content/antarctica-alcohol-
problem0043...](http://www.thefix.com/content/antarctica-alcohol-
problem00437?page=all)

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ZanyProgrammer
The fact that so many of these people seem like they are alcoholics is a bit
disconcerting. I like booze and am a loner myself, but all things in
moderation. Maybe a propensity towards substance abuse is something they
should be screening for-unless someone can convince me that booze is essential
to surviving the Antarctic.

