Now that Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Michael Stroud have walked across the
Antarctic continent, there would seem to be few challenges left. Explorers
are rapidly running out of new worlds to conquer. But with the solution
of the mountain climbers’ problem a new possibility is opened up: synchronised
exploration. A modern-day Hillary and Ten-zing could ascend Everest from
both the Tibetan and Nepalese sides, always main-taining the same altitude.
A new Scott and Amundsen could attack both the North and South Poles simultaneously,
main-taining equal latitudes. Who knows, syn-chronised exploration could
really catch on. It could even become an Olympic sport . . .
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features

Environment
June heatwave may have killed around 20,000 people in Europe
News

Physics
Random wobbles in time could finally solve gravity’s greatest mystery
News

Life
Synthetic biology may finally be ready to solve life's biggest mystery
Leader

Environment
Geoengineering could expose plane passengers to sulphuric acid
News
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
Humans sleep the least of all apes – is it the secret to our success?
2
A type of fibre that stimulates GLP-1 release approved for use in food
3
Random wobbles in time could finally solve gravity’s greatest mystery
4
The 4 must-watch science-fiction films of the year so far
5
The world's fastest spider tops 3.5 metres per second
6
What is 'SpudCell'? Arguably the greatest bioengineering feat yet
7
The weirdness of neutrinos could completely rewrite particle physics
8
Babies are born with the neural foundations for maths
9
The best new science-fiction novels published in July 2026
10
The best new popular science books of July 2026