To take your mind off Ebola (is everyone terrified yet?), here is a lovely photo from the Arctic tundra in Barrow, Alaska. Peaceful, right? There are some incredible research efforts taking place at Barrow Arctic Science Consortium (BASC). Scientists there get to study - everything from snowy owls to sea ice algae to pollutants in the snowpack - beneath the Northern Lights and beside the polar bears. Which is cool (that's an Arctic pun).