The real reason penguins learned to toboggan*

[gridlore]

Antarctic base gets condom haul before winter

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - One of the last shipments to a U.S. research base in Antarctica before the onset of winter darkness was a year's supply of condoms, a New Zealand newspaper reported Monday.

Bill Henriksen, the manager of the McMurdo base station, said nearly 16,500 condoms were delivered last month and would be made available, free of charge, to staff throughout the year to avoid the potential embarrassment of having to buy them.

The base only has a skeleton staff through the long winter.

16,500 condoms for roughly 125 scientists and support staff, and they have to last roughly 100 days. That's about 130 condoms per person. 1.3 condoms per person, per day.

What precisely are they researching down there?

*"Tobogganing" is how a penguin moves quickly on land. The flop on their bellies and use their flippers to glide along.

Comments

[argonel.livejournal.com]

The numbers get a little more ridiculous when you consider that for the most part you would only need 1 condom per 2 people per event. So if we figure that occasionally there will be more than 2 people per event we can use the round number of 2.5 condoms per day. That is eaither a lot of research, a lot of waste, or the condows are being used for things other than as indicated on the directions. Possibly for protecting vital equipment that isn't biological in nature.

This is probably something that shouldn't be thought of too much.

[kshandra]

You're not allowing for the possibility of multiple positions per event - specifically switching between PIV and PIA, which for hygiene's sake requires a fresh condom. Or switching from a non-lubricated condom for oral to a lubed one for PIV/PIA. Or...

...clearly I didn't read your last sentence in time.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

Damnit! Now I want the gender distribution numbers for McMurdo!

[biomekanic.livejournal.com]

Shoggoths.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

How. the. HELL. do you envisage needing condoms when dealing with a freaking SHOGGOTH?

[kshandra]

Don't ask questions when you're not prepared to hear the answer.

(Captain Jack probably would try to boink it, too....)

[biomekanic.livejournal.com]

It's a d20 San Loss...

[notthebuddha.livejournal.com]

There's always the possibility that poor weather will extend the the winter solitude, bad weather and some sort of international incident could extend it indefinitely.

This is the same sort of planning that has provided the multi-year supply of cigarettes for the BSG fleet; truly they are our lost brothers.