Antarctica (novel)
Most of the story is centred on McMurdo Station, the largest settlement in Antarctica, which is run as a scientific research station by the United States. Robinson's characteristic multiple-protagonist style is employed here to show many aspects of polar life; among the viewpoints presented are those of X, an idealistic young man working as a General Field Assistant at McMurdo; Val, an increasingly embittered trek guide; and Wade Norton, who works for the Californian Senator Phil Chase (Wade and Phil also appear in the "Science in the Capital" trilogy). As well as McMurdo, the story involves the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, the Shackleton Glacier, the McMurdo Dry Valleys and a South American drilling platform near Roberts Massif.
Texas A&amp;M University
TAMU researchers have named the largest volcano on Earth, Tamu Massif, after the university.
In December 2016, the university became the focus of a PETA campaign hoping to close down certain veterinary laboratories, which it alleges perform abusive experiments on dogs with muscular dystrophy, including breeding dogs to worsen their illnesses and housing them in inhumane cages. The campaign urged supporters to write letters to the school in protest of experimenting on the dogs. Texas A&M responded that a video had been posted by PETA with insufficient context, and it said that the animals in question receive high-quality care with oversight from the National Institutes of Health and Muscular Dystrophy Association.