Here’s the coolest thing I’ve heard all week: Twice a day nearly 900 weather balloons are simultaneously launched across the planet. The data they collect becomes one of the main ingredients for forecast models around the world.

While these balloons play a crucial role in forecasting, they mostly deploy from the mid-latitudes and most of our winter storms originate in the Arctic.  Here’s a quick video about a year-long arctic science expedition that is not only uncovering mysteries about the changing sea ice, but it’s also gathering information, to help us back here: