Imagine walking into a university building in the middle of Iowa and finding a giant iceberg sitting inside a refrigerator. That is exactly what happened in the autumn of 1977, when Iowa State University became the stage for one of the most unusual scientific experiments of the decade.
The massive chunk of glacier ice had travelled thousands of kilometres from Alaska by helicopter, aircraft and refrigerated truck. But it was not there as a frozen attraction. It was brought in to convince scientists, engineers and world leaders that gigantic Antarctic icebergs could one day be towed across oceans to provide fresh drinking water to some of the world's driest countries.
