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Solandri writes: We've only been able to measure the Earth's magnetic field strength for about two centuries. During this time, there has been a gradual decline in the field strength. In recent years, the rate of decline seems to be accelerating, leading to some speculation that the Earth may be losing its magnetic field -- a catastrophic possibility since the magnetic field is what protects life on Earth from dangerous solar radiation. Ferromagnetic particles in rocks provide a long-term history which tells us the poles have flipped numerous times. But uncertainties in dating the rocks prevents their use in understanding decade-scale magnetic field fluctuations.

Now a group of archeologists and geophysicists have come up with a novel way to produce decade-scale temporal measurements of the Earth's magnetic field strength from before the invention of the magnetometer. When iron-age potters fired their pottery in a kiln to harden it, it loosened tiny ferromagnetic particles in the clay. As the pottery cooled and these particles hardened, it captured a snapshot of the Earth's magnetic field. Crucially, the governments of that time required pottery used to collect taxed goods (e.g. a portion of olive oil sold) to be stamped with a royal seal. These seals changed over time as new kings ascended, or governments were completely replaced after invasion. Thus by cross-referencing the magnetic particles in the pottery with the seals, researchers were able to piece together a history of the Earth's magnetic field strength spanning from the 8th century BCE to the 2nd century BCE. Their findings show that large fluctuations in the strength of the magnetic field over a span of decades are normal. The study has been published in the journal PNAS.

A while ago you had a chance to ask former Navy officer, professor, and famed ocean explorer Robert Ballard about shipwrecks, his work with the Ocean Exploration Trust, his learning programs, and what he's found on his expeditions. Below you'll find his answers to your questions. Autonomous robotic vehicles
by kalpol

I've always imagined fleets of tiny, relatively inexpensive autonomous vehicles exploring the oceans, sending their data back to be aggregated and mapped. Are there any projects of this sort happening?

Dr. Ballard: Yes there are. Go here to learn more.



Most interesting problem
by overThruster

First, thank you for taking time to answer our questions and for the amazing work you have done both as an explorer and an author! My favorite book of yours to date is The Discovery of the Bismarck.

I have two questions:
What is the most interesting underwater engineering problem you've had to solve in your career?

Dr. Ballard: When we lost the HUGO/JASON system on its first lowering in the Mediterranean in 1989 and had to recover them from 3,000 feet of water and be back in the water for our live JASON Project shows to 250,000 students waiting for the broadcasts in less than a week.

What are the unsolved underwater engineering problems that you think are most important?

Dr. Ballard: Solving engineering problems are much easier than convincing “the community” to accept a new way (technology) of doing something.



SOSUS
by dciman

Loved the show you hosted a number of years about about the development and implementation of the SOSUS system. Can you speculate or comment on the types of next generation technologies that could potentially fill in some of the gaps we now have with the reduction in traditional SOSUS effectiveness against quiet(er) ships from other nations? Presumably we still have to keep track of other countries missile and attack subs, is that much harder now than in the past?

Dr. Ballard: Ocean bottom observations are spreading across the ocean floor and will eventually be commonplace making it difficult for submarines and unmanned vehicle to sneak up on us.



Pollution
by Anonymous Coward

Dr. Ballard --thank you for your exploration work, and for making science and oceanography exciting to all of us!

A question: during your exploration of the deep sea, how prevalent or visible are the effects of human activity, i.e pollution, noise from ships, increased acidity due to more CO2 on the atmosphere, and the like? Do we even know enough to see if we are affecting as a species these ecosystems as critically as those on the surface of the planet?

Thank you and best for you and your crew in future expeditions!

Dr. Ballard: It is not so much what we can see (plastic, coke cans, etc.) which is not that much in the deep remote areas we explore, it is what we cannot see like acidification of the ocean water, its increased temperature, and the presences of other chemicals we continue to dump into the sea that concerns me.



Iron Bottom Sound; Kirishima
by Shakrai

Dr. Ballard: You're probably better known for the discoveries of Titanic and Bismarck, but I've always been more fascinated by your expeditions in the Pacific, specifically Iron Bottom Sound. Would a follow up expedition with more modern technology be a worthwhile endeavor? I would most interested in seeing another exploration of Kirishima, since the circumstances of her battle damage and loss have recently come into dispute.

Dr. Ballard: We plan to return to Iron Bottom Sound in the 2018 timeframe so stay tuned.



Electronic still camera
by fnj

Are any of the Marine Imaging Systems deep submergence electronic still cameras (circa mid 1980s) still in operation? With or without the original Heurikon based topsides?

Please accept my appreciation for your enabling an important part of my career. My work with MIS and Marquest Group was a happy time of fond memory.

Dr. Ballard: To my knowledge those Marquest camera systems have been replaced but once you are “signed out” of a world you lose contact with what follows.



Danger
by Major Blud

I know that quite a bit of the exploration that you've done has been with ROV's, but you've also been down in the deep yourself in the Alvin submersible. Was there ever a time during one of your expeditions where you feared for your life?

Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions, and for helping to inspire my interest in science. I was a young when the Titanic and Bismarck were found, and I can still remember the excitement and wonder I felt during those two events.

Dr. Ballard: There were several times when I was diving in submersibles and bathyscaphe when I feared for my life of those of others when they were diving and I was topside – when the fire broke out in the ARCHIMEDE bathyscaphe during Project Famous in 1973, when ALVIN got stuck in a fissure in 1974, when we crashed into the side of a fault scarp in the Mid-Cayman Rise in 20,000 feet of water in the bathyscaphe TRIESTE II I 1977, and when the DELTA submersible became entangled in fishing nets while diving on the LUSITANIA.



Space
by GoCrazy

You've probably heard about NASA's potential exploration of planetary bodies with water (yes! real water!) such as Europa, which is known to have solid ice water on the surface, but possible liquid water beneath. Would you consider moving your expertise on oceanography to more space based programs, with the possibility that your discoveries on Earth could be the same on these other planets?

Dr. Ballard: I have been asked to help in the design of the Europa vehicle system and plan to visit JPL in the next month of so.

mpicpp tips news that oceanographers have discovered a creature that sets the record for the most deeply dwelling fish on Earth. It was found in the Mariana Trench, some 8,145 meters below the surface. The 30-day voyage took place from the Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel, Falkor, and is the most comprehensive survey of world's deepest place ever undertaken. The Hadal Ecosystem Studies (Hades) team deployed unmanned landers more than 90 times to depths that ranged between 5,000m and 10,600m. They studied both steep walls of the undersea canyon. ... Dr. Jamieson said: "We think it is a snailfish, but it's so weird-looking; it's up in the air in terms of what it is. "It is unbelievably fragile, and when it swims, it looks like it has wet tissue paper floating behind it. And it has a weird snout — it looks like a cartoon dog snout."

A while ago you had a chance to ask oceanographer and Director of Special Projects at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, David Gallo, about the mysteries of the deep and the tech we're using to get there. Below you'll find his answers to your questions. Chilling
by syphax

What's the most chilling thing you've observed underwater? By "chilling," I mean: some really weird-looking, previously unknown creature, remains of the Titanic, a squid attacking an ROV, etc. By "observed" I mean either directly, by video, or by evidence (e.g. ROV with large sucker marks)

Gallo: Almost every time we get a peek beneath the sea there something that fits your description of “chilling”. People think science is unemotionalbut much of what we do is also pure exploration. Exploration means you have NO idea what’s just outside the lights of the robot or submarine. I’d have to say that in my experience some of the most “chilling” moments were during our exploration of TITANIC and the seafloor around the wreck. When you look at the boat deck, or bow, or through any of the portholes you can’t help but wonder what happened there so many years ago. Still gives me a chill just thinking about it.



Beneath the Beneath?
by eldavojohn

Something that has often perplexed me is fossil distribution through time and tectonic shifts. For example, one can go to the middle of North America and find sea fossils. So, perhaps with your knowledge of what happens to things in the deep, are there untold fossils lying under the seabed floor? Perhaps a localized population of what once used to be land animals situated such that we have never seen these fossils at the vast bottom of the Pacific Ocean? If you can fill me in on why this is or isn't possible (I have no idea what plate shifts do to the top layer or what effects untold pressure has on fossils), I would be extremely interested! Thanks!

Gallo: t’s definitely possible..and probable. In fact there is a recent report of a “new continent” in the Indian Ocean

There are lots of fossils buried in the sediments of the sea. Most are marine plants and animals. Right next to land there should be fossils of land animals. One of the challenges is finding where ancient shorelines used to be. Over time sea level has gone up and down hundreds of feet. Some of the ancient shorelines are now deep beneath the waves.

The fact that we are still finding big chunks of continent that are now at the bottom of the sea means that there might well be fossils of all sorts of creatures that we don’t know about. Plate tectonics shows us that the face of the earth is always changing. Continents are moving around and as they do mountains and oceans are created and then destroyed. There’s plenty of mystery and stories hidden in the deep blue sea for sure.



Charnia an other ancient extremophiles
by BeCre8iv

What are the chances of finding precambrian life or its descendants in the deep ocean?

Gallo: Well, just think about Coelacanths, the “fossil fish”. They were thought to have gone extinct since about 65 million years ago but VOILAno one told them that.

The only thing I will say about “chances” of finding ancient life is that it’s definitely possible. It wasn’t that long ago that we discovered hydrothermal vent communities. We’ve explored less than 10% of the oceans, but in that 10% we find the worlds greatest mountain range, tallest mountain peaks, deepest and widest valleys, underwater lakes, rivers, and even underwater waterfalls. Even more bizarre is that in a deep, dark, hostile environment where we thought there should be no life at all, we find communities of animals that rival the tropical rainforests in diversity and density. One thing we know for certain is that there is life in even the deepest parts of the oceans. Life on this planet wants to happen.

So, I ask youwhat’s in that other 90%? Did we find all the exciting stuff? I can’t predict what animals we’ll find but I promise that the next decade will be an exciting one for ocean exploration. Already Jim Cameron’s dives into the deepest parts of the Pacific Ocean (and to the deepest spot on Earth) have revealed all sorts of new species of life.



Acidification
by Bayoudegradeable

Have you noticed any affects of acidification of the world's oceans?

Gallo: Ocean acidification is one of the most serious issues we are confronted with today. The oceans absorb more than 1/3 of the carbon dioxide human activity releases into the atmosphere. Some of that carbon dioxide reacts with seawater to form carbonic acid, which makes life unpleasant for lots of creatures. Think of it this way: over time human activity has changed the chemistry and temperature of seawater. Anyone with an aquarium knows that if you change the chemistry and temperature of the water you’re asking for trouble.

I haven’t personally noticed any affects of acidification but the data coming in almost all point to the need to take steps to change our habits or suffer the consequences. When you come right down to it, we humans need to understand that everything we do has an impact on the environment and there are consequences to our actions, both good and bad. Is that news? Yes, it’s news because we used to think that the oceans were “too big to fail”. Guess what, they aren’t.

On one hand we can party ourselves into oblivion by uncontrolled exploitation of the sea and on another hand we can love this planet by making decisions based on emotion rather than facts. The wise move would be to recognize the consequences, understand the trade-offs, and minimize our impact on the oceans and atmosphere.



Sharks
by thereitis

Over time, have you seen the effects of the world's dwindling shark population?

Gallo: I’m not a shark expertbut I have lots of friends that are, and what they tell me is frightening. Apparently humans have decided to wage war on sharks. It’s a big mistake. Sharks play and incredibly important role in the ocean food web. Any idea how many sharks we kill every year? 100 million. 100,000,000. On average that’s more than 250,000 sharks EVERY day.

Here’s a recent article about the very issue.

Even though I haven’t personally seen the effects of the world’s dwindling shark population, it’s very clear to biologists that we are disrupting the oceanic food web and that will spell big trouble in the future.



Sunken ships drifting underwater?
by twosat

Many years ago, when I was aged about 12, I recall reading about a ship that had sunk and was drifting around underwater. I have heard about shipping containers doing this sort of thing, but I was wondering if you had ever seen a ship or a boat drifting around underwater.

Gallo: This is one of those things I think about whenever I’m out at sea. A friend once told me that he was on the deck of a ship that was basically sitting in the same location far out to sea. He noticed a large flock of birds circling an area of water. With time the birds got closer and closer to his ship, eventually they were all around the ship he was on. He looked down into the water to see if they were feeding on fish and what he saw made the hair on his neck stand on end. There, completely beneath the waves was an old wooden sailing ship that was apparently being pushed along by currents. As this ship passed beneath him he could make out the deck, the hatches and what was left of the masts and rigging. There were all sorts of fish that were going along for the ride as well. The whole story creeped me out but its something I always keep in mind while out at sea.



Alvin replacement?
by dj245

Back in 2008, WHOI was working with Lockheed and the American Bureau of Shipping in developing a replacement/successor to the Alvin submarine. What happened to that project and how will WHOI develop its underwater exploration capability in the future?

Gallo: As I write this the newly upgraded ALVIN is aboard the Research Vessel ATLANTIS and is off the northwest coast of the U.S.. It’s been a long road but we are finally on the verge of a new era in ocean exploration. As you know, ALVIN is a part of the National Deep Submergence Facility and carries 3 people several miles deep into the ocean. Aside from the passengers, the submarine carries a science payload of sensors, sampling gear, and imaging systems. Even though the basic ALVIN design has been around for decades, there is every reason to believe that ALVIN will remain the most productive human occupied deep sea exploration vehicle on earth for a long time to come.

As you are probably aware, in addition to ALVIN the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has recently taken delivery of James Cameron’s Deep Sea Challenger submarine. Jim’s dive in this vehicle, to the deepest region of the Mariana Trench means that there is no place beneath the sea that is beyond human reach. The entire ocean is now open to human exploration. To compliment the human presence we also have the robotic vehicle NEREUS. NEREUS has also visited the Mariana Trench.

We are entering a new age of undersea exploration – one in which the deep-sea presence will consist of humans and robots working together complementing each other’s capabilities. At Woods Hole Oceanographic we have a suite of remotely operated vehicles, autonomous vehicles, drifters, gliders, and more, each capable of carrying a suite of sensors into the deep.

More recently we have just formed the Center for Marine Robotics (CMR), which is designed to facilitate the creation of the next generation of robotics and promote the use of robots to solve real world needs. You can read about CMR here.



ROVs and AUVs
by GonzoPhysicist

It's very difficult for me to see a reason for send human beings exploring when the state of remote and autonomous systems is improving so rapidly. What organizations and platforms show the most promise in this field and where is the most improvement needed?

Gallo: Great question. If it’s all about data. then robotic systems are your clear winner. There’s no way humans in a submarine can really compete (on paper anyway) with a properly used suite of robots. Robots can stay longer, carry more sensors, move faster, survey precise lines, etc etc..

HOWEVER, if it’s about inspiration and making the best use of the human brain, I think the human presence is the way to go. “Being there” may be inefficient and the benefit may be intangible, but to me there is no substitution. Think of it this way. It’s the same reason we still go to live sporting events or concerts. You can get a MUCH better view and probably sound from the comfort of your couch, but there is something about being there in person that is positively fantastic. It may be important to explore everything with robots, but it’s just as important to supercharge human curiosity and experience. Plus, I don’t know any young people that want to be robots when they grow up. So, I’m conceding that robots are fantastic and will revolutionize our view of the deep, but to me that means the human presence to interpret what it all means is all that much more important.

We are still looking for radical breakthroughs in power, propulsion, navigation, telemetry, etc etc etc.. Any advantage we can get against the physics of seawater would be welcome. Most people don’t realize that the ocean is deep (average depth 2.5 miles), dark, and hostile (the pressure at depth crushed TITANIC the same way you can crush and empty paper cup in your hand). At Woods Hole we have formed the Center for Marine Robotics (CMR, see preceding question) to accelerate the pace of innovation. There are new ideas coming from all sorts of new entities. Just to name a few the Wave Glider from Liquid Robotics Inc., the OpenROV robotic kit, and even James Cameron’s Deep Sea Challenger Submarine are all in there own way surprising, disruptive and very welcome advances in ocean exploration.



Challenger DEEP's Future Mission
by minibnz

I saw an announcement that James Cameron has donated the Challenger Deep Submarine to WHOI, As one of the lucky people to work on this vehicle during its construction, here in Australia, I was wondering if you can tell us if there is any plans to use this Awesome Machine to explore any other parts of the planets Oceans. or is it destined to sit on display in a museum? I know how much hard work went into that machine, it would be a shame to not use the MOST Capable deep sea diving vehicle on the planet, to its fullest potential.?

Gallo: We are indeed the proud custodians of James Cameron’s Deep Sea Challenger Submarine. What an incredible privilege to take ownership of Jim’s amazing dream come true. Jim’s solo dive into the deepest part of the Marianas Trench was a spectacular achievement. We need to stop thinking of JUST the submarine and that historic dive because I think what Jim and his team accomplished was even more important. In effect, by diving successfully into the deepest spot on earth they have opened up the entire ocean to human exploration. One of the reasons Jim chose Woods Hole to take custody of Deep Sea Challenger is precisely because he knows it won’t just “sit on display in a museum”. We have already had several meetings with Jim and his very talented team and in fact have already used components of the Deep Sea Challenger System on one of our expeditions. I think that as we continue to share knowledge and ideas back and forth with Jim’s team, we’ll develop an entirely new approach to extreme deep exploration. More likely than not I think that ultimately a new set of vehicles will emerge. I’ve mentioned the Center for Marine Robotics (CMR) several times but I haven’t said that Jim Cameron has joined the advisory board. and that almost guarantees that whatever we do will be revolutionary. I can tell you that Jim and his team are now hard at work on the Avatar series BUT Jim promises that before too long he’ll be back piloting Deep Sea Challenger again.



Human Ocean and Sea Habitability Possibilities
by Tha_Big_Guy23

Having watched the show SeaQuest as a teenager, and recognizing the participation from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (For the first season anyway), I wanted to ask about the feasibility of humans actually inhabiting the oceans and seas as depicted in the television series. I realize that the technology to bring the ship itself to reality is quite a bit ahead of where we are now, but do you think it's possible in the near-future that humans will begin to colonize the oceans?

Gallo: I can tell you that if we set a goal to colonize the oceans, we will get that done. The scientific and engineering talent definitely exists. The question is, why? Right now there is a good deal of land that is available for human occupation and frankly we are mismanaging the land we presently occupy. We can do a lot better. Specifically we need to understand that the atmosphere and the oceans are our lifeblood and if we change the chemistry and temperature of either or both (and we have) we are asking for trouble. I can think of reasons we might want to, or need to, move into the sea, but it would be pretty costly. I hope, before we get to that point, we decide it’s in the best interest of humans to think as a species on a tiny planet rather than as competing nations. To me our greatest threat is our own arrogant and ignorant behavior. That being said, here’s an interesting, but maybe useless bit of information. If you give everyone on earth (7 billion people) an airline seat (12 cubic feet), you can fit everyone comfortable into a box (cube) that’s one mile on a side. I knowpopulation is more nowbut the point is that we are like microbes on this planet and just like microbes we have managed to make the planet “sick”.

A while ago you had a chance to ask oceanographer and Director of Special Projects at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, David Gallo, about the mysteries of the deep and the tech we're using to get there. Below you'll find his answers to your questions. Chilling
by syphax

What's the most chilling thing you've observed underwater? By "chilling," I mean: some really weird-looking, previously unknown creature, remains of the Titanic, a squid attacking an ROV, etc. By "observed" I mean either directly, by video, or by evidence (e.g. ROV with large sucker marks)

Gallo: Almost every time we get a peek beneath the sea there something that fits your description of “chilling”. People think science is unemotionalbut much of what we do is also pure exploration. Exploration means you have NO idea what’s just outside the lights of the robot or submarine. I’d have to say that in my experience some of the most “chilling” moments were during our exploration of TITANIC and the seafloor around the wreck. When you look at the boat deck, or bow, or through any of the portholes you can’t help but wonder what happened there so many years ago. Still gives me a chill just thinking about it.



Beneath the Beneath?
by eldavojohn

Something that has often perplexed me is fossil distribution through time and tectonic shifts. For example, one can go to the middle of North America and find sea fossils. So, perhaps with your knowledge of what happens to things in the deep, are there untold fossils lying under the seabed floor? Perhaps a localized population of what once used to be land animals situated such that we have never seen these fossils at the vast bottom of the Pacific Ocean? If you can fill me in on why this is or isn't possible (I have no idea what plate shifts do to the top layer or what effects untold pressure has on fossils), I would be extremely interested! Thanks!

Gallo: t’s definitely possible..and probable. In fact there is a recent report of a “new continent” in the Indian Ocean

There are lots of fossils buried in the sediments of the sea. Most are marine plants and animals. Right next to land there should be fossils of land animals. One of the challenges is finding where ancient shorelines used to be. Over time sea level has gone up and down hundreds of feet. Some of the ancient shorelines are now deep beneath the waves.

The fact that we are still finding big chunks of continent that are now at the bottom of the sea means that there might well be fossils of all sorts of creatures that we don’t know about. Plate tectonics shows us that the face of the earth is always changing. Continents are moving around and as they do mountains and oceans are created and then destroyed. There’s plenty of mystery and stories hidden in the deep blue sea for sure.



Charnia an other ancient extremophiles
by BeCre8iv

What are the chances of finding precambrian life or its descendants in the deep ocean?

Gallo: Well, just think about Coelacanths, the “fossil fish”. They were thought to have gone extinct since about 65 million years ago but VOILAno one told them that.

The only thing I will say about “chances” of finding ancient life is that it’s definitely possible. It wasn’t that long ago that we discovered hydrothermal vent communities. We’ve explored less than 10% of the oceans, but in that 10% we find the worlds greatest mountain range, tallest mountain peaks, deepest and widest valleys, underwater lakes, rivers, and even underwater waterfalls. Even more bizarre is that in a deep, dark, hostile environment where we thought there should be no life at all, we find communities of animals that rival the tropical rainforests in diversity and density. One thing we know for certain is that there is life in even the deepest parts of the oceans. Life on this planet wants to happen.

So, I ask youwhat’s in that other 90%? Did we find all the exciting stuff? I can’t predict what animals we’ll find but I promise that the next decade will be an exciting one for ocean exploration. Already Jim Cameron’s dives into the deepest parts of the Pacific Ocean (and to the deepest spot on Earth) have revealed all sorts of new species of life.



Acidification
by Bayoudegradeable

Have you noticed any affects of acidification of the world's oceans?

Gallo: Ocean acidification is one of the most serious issues we are confronted with today. The oceans absorb more than 1/3 of the carbon dioxide human activity releases into the atmosphere. Some of that carbon dioxide reacts with seawater to form carbonic acid, which makes life unpleasant for lots of creatures. Think of it this way: over time human activity has changed the chemistry and temperature of seawater. Anyone with an aquarium knows that if you change the chemistry and temperature of the water you’re asking for trouble.

I haven’t personally noticed any affects of acidification but the data coming in almost all point to the need to take steps to change our habits or suffer the consequences. When you come right down to it, we humans need to understand that everything we do has an impact on the environment and there are consequences to our actions, both good and bad. Is that news? Yes, it’s news because we used to think that the oceans were “too big to fail”. Guess what, they aren’t.

On one hand we can party ourselves into oblivion by uncontrolled exploitation of the sea and on another hand we can love this planet by making decisions based on emotion rather than facts. The wise move would be to recognize the consequences, understand the trade-offs, and minimize our impact on the oceans and atmosphere.



Sharks
by thereitis

Over time, have you seen the effects of the world's dwindling shark population?

Gallo: I’m not a shark expertbut I have lots of friends that are, and what they tell me is frightening. Apparently humans have decided to wage war on sharks. It’s a big mistake. Sharks play and incredibly important role in the ocean food web. Any idea how many sharks we kill every year? 100 million. 100,000,000. On average that’s more than 250,000 sharks EVERY day.

Here’s a recent article about the very issue.

Even though I haven’t personally seen the effects of the world’s dwindling shark population, it’s very clear to biologists that we are disrupting the oceanic food web and that will spell big trouble in the future.



Sunken ships drifting underwater?
by twosat

Many years ago, when I was aged about 12, I recall reading about a ship that had sunk and was drifting around underwater. I have heard about shipping containers doing this sort of thing, but I was wondering if you had ever seen a ship or a boat drifting around underwater.

Gallo: This is one of those things I think about whenever I’m out at sea. A friend once told me that he was on the deck of a ship that was basically sitting in the same location far out to sea. He noticed a large flock of birds circling an area of water. With time the birds got closer and closer to his ship, eventually they were all around the ship he was on. He looked down into the water to see if they were feeding on fish and what he saw made the hair on his neck stand on end. There, completely beneath the waves was an old wooden sailing ship that was apparently being pushed along by currents. As this ship passed beneath him he could make out the deck, the hatches and what was left of the masts and rigging. There were all sorts of fish that were going along for the ride as well. The whole story creeped me out but its something I always keep in mind while out at sea.



Alvin replacement?
by dj245

Back in 2008, WHOI was working with Lockheed and the American Bureau of Shipping in developing a replacement/successor to the Alvin submarine. What happened to that project and how will WHOI develop its underwater exploration capability in the future?

Gallo: As I write this the newly upgraded ALVIN is aboard the Research Vessel ATLANTIS and is off the northwest coast of the U.S.. It’s been a long road but we are finally on the verge of a new era in ocean exploration. As you know, ALVIN is a part of the National Deep Submergence Facility and carries 3 people several miles deep into the ocean. Aside from the passengers, the submarine carries a science payload of sensors, sampling gear, and imaging systems. Even though the basic ALVIN design has been around for decades, there is every reason to believe that ALVIN will remain the most productive human occupied deep sea exploration vehicle on earth for a long time to come.

As you are probably aware, in addition to ALVIN the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has recently taken delivery of James Cameron’s Deep Sea Challenger submarine. Jim’s dive in this vehicle, to the deepest region of the Mariana Trench means that there is no place beneath the sea that is beyond human reach. The entire ocean is now open to human exploration. To compliment the human presence we also have the robotic vehicle NEREUS. NEREUS has also visited the Mariana Trench.

We are entering a new age of undersea exploration – one in which the deep-sea presence will consist of humans and robots working together complementing each other’s capabilities. At Woods Hole Oceanographic we have a suite of remotely operated vehicles, autonomous vehicles, drifters, gliders, and more, each capable of carrying a suite of sensors into the deep.

More recently we have just formed the Center for Marine Robotics (CMR), which is designed to facilitate the creation of the next generation of robotics and promote the use of robots to solve real world needs. You can read about CMR here.



ROVs and AUVs
by GonzoPhysicist

It's very difficult for me to see a reason for send human beings exploring when the state of remote and autonomous systems is improving so rapidly. What organizations and platforms show the most promise in this field and where is the most improvement needed?

Gallo: Great question. If it’s all about data. then robotic systems are your clear winner. There’s no way humans in a submarine can really compete (on paper anyway) with a properly used suite of robots. Robots can stay longer, carry more sensors, move faster, survey precise lines, etc etc..

HOWEVER, if it’s about inspiration and making the best use of the human brain, I think the human presence is the way to go. “Being there” may be inefficient and the benefit may be intangible, but to me there is no substitution. Think of it this way. It’s the same reason we still go to live sporting events or concerts. You can get a MUCH better view and probably sound from the comfort of your couch, but there is something about being there in person that is positively fantastic. It may be important to explore everything with robots, but it’s just as important to supercharge human curiosity and experience. Plus, I don’t know any young people that want to be robots when they grow up. So, I’m conceding that robots are fantastic and will revolutionize our view of the deep, but to me that means the human presence to interpret what it all means is all that much more important.

We are still looking for radical breakthroughs in power, propulsion, navigation, telemetry, etc etc etc.. Any advantage we can get against the physics of seawater would be welcome. Most people don’t realize that the ocean is deep (average depth 2.5 miles), dark, and hostile (the pressure at depth crushed TITANIC the same way you can crush and empty paper cup in your hand). At Woods Hole we have formed the Center for Marine Robotics (CMR, see preceding question) to accelerate the pace of innovation. There are new ideas coming from all sorts of new entities. Just to name a few the Wave Glider from Liquid Robotics Inc., the OpenROV robotic kit, and even James Cameron’s Deep Sea Challenger Submarine are all in there own way surprising, disruptive and very welcome advances in ocean exploration.



Challenger DEEP's Future Mission
by minibnz

I saw an announcement that James Cameron has donated the Challenger Deep Submarine to WHOI, As one of the lucky people to work on this vehicle during its construction, here in Australia, I was wondering if you can tell us if there is any plans to use this Awesome Machine to explore any other parts of the planets Oceans. or is it destined to sit on display in a museum? I know how much hard work went into that machine, it would be a shame to not use the MOST Capable deep sea diving vehicle on the planet, to its fullest potential.?

Gallo: We are indeed the proud custodians of James Cameron’s Deep Sea Challenger Submarine. What an incredible privilege to take ownership of Jim’s amazing dream come true. Jim’s solo dive into the deepest part of the Marianas Trench was a spectacular achievement. We need to stop thinking of JUST the submarine and that historic dive because I think what Jim and his team accomplished was even more important. In effect, by diving successfully into the deepest spot on earth they have opened up the entire ocean to human exploration. One of the reasons Jim chose Woods Hole to take custody of Deep Sea Challenger is precisely because he knows it won’t just “sit on display in a museum”. We have already had several meetings with Jim and his very talented team and in fact have already used components of the Deep Sea Challenger System on one of our expeditions. I think that as we continue to share knowledge and ideas back and forth with Jim’s team, we’ll develop an entirely new approach to extreme deep exploration. More likely than not I think that ultimately a new set of vehicles will emerge. I’ve mentioned the Center for Marine Robotics (CMR) several times but I haven’t said that Jim Cameron has joined the advisory board. and that almost guarantees that whatever we do will be revolutionary. I can tell you that Jim and his team are now hard at work on the Avatar series BUT Jim promises that before too long he’ll be back piloting Deep Sea Challenger again.



Human Ocean and Sea Habitability Possibilities
by Tha_Big_Guy23

Having watched the show SeaQuest as a teenager, and recognizing the participation from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (For the first season anyway), I wanted to ask about the feasibility of humans actually inhabiting the oceans and seas as depicted in the television series. I realize that the technology to bring the ship itself to reality is quite a bit ahead of where we are now, but do you think it's possible in the near-future that humans will begin to colonize the oceans?

Gallo: I can tell you that if we set a goal to colonize the oceans, we will get that done. The scientific and engineering talent definitely exists. The question is, why? Right now there is a good deal of land that is available for human occupation and frankly we are mismanaging the land we presently occupy. We can do a lot better. Specifically we need to understand that the atmosphere and the oceans are our lifeblood and if we change the chemistry and temperature of either or both (and we have) we are asking for trouble. I can think of reasons we might want to, or need to, move into the sea, but it would be pretty costly. I hope, before we get to that point, we decide it’s in the best interest of humans to think as a species on a tiny planet rather than as competing nations. To me our greatest threat is our own arrogant and ignorant behavior. That being said, here’s an interesting, but maybe useless bit of information. If you give everyone on earth (7 billion people) an airline seat (12 cubic feet), you can fit everyone comfortable into a box (cube) that’s one mile on a side. I knowpopulation is more nowbut the point is that we are like microbes on this planet and just like microbes we have managed to make the planet “sick”.

David Gallo is an oceanographer and Director of Special Projects at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He has participated in expeditions to all of the world’s oceans and was one of the first scientists to use a combination of robots and submarines to explore the deep seafloor. As a member of James Cameron’s Deep Ocean Task Force and the XPrize Ocean Advisory Board, David actively encourages the development of new technologies for ocean exploration. With more than 8 million views, his TED presentation entitled Underwater Astonishments is the 4th most viewed TED Talk to date. David has agreed to come up for air and answer any questions you may have. As usual, ask as many as you'd like, but please, one question per post.

A year ago James Cameron made history by traveling solo almost seven miles deep in an area of the Pacific Ocean known the Mariana Trench’s Challenger Deep. He made the trip in a submersible he helped design, the Deepsea Challenger submersible system and science platform. To celebrate the anniversary, Cameron is forming a partnership with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and donating the Deep Sea Challenger. From the press release: "Cameron will transfer the Deepsea Challenger to Woods Hole, where WHOI scientists and engineers will work with Cameron and his team to incorporate the sub’s numerous engineering advancements into future research platforms and deep-sea expeditions. This partnership harnesses the power of public and private investment in supporting deep-ocean science. “The seven years we spent designing and building the Deepsea Challenger were dedicated to expanding the options available to deep-ocean researchers. Our sub is a scientific proof-of-concept, and our partnership with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a way to provide the technology we developed to the oceanographic community,” says Cameron. James even sent us a few early drawings of the Deepsea Challenger that he made during a conversation with oceanographer Don Walsh in November 2003. The sketches are proof that many great ideas start out on napkins or lined paper.

DEEPSEA CHALLENGER submersible system and science platform, Jim Cameron, Nov. 2003.

"The one that's interesting, although it's very faint, is the one that shows how I would sit in the sphere, with the HD camera at the viewport. Surprisingly, that concept never changed."

peacefinder writes "Researchers report that one process which drives the Gulf Stream is slowing down. As that current is part of the global oceanic heat conveyor which keeps parts of Europe and North America warmer than would be expected for their latitudes, such a slowdown might lead to abrupt climate change."

LMCBoy writes "SpaceRef is reporting that the STIS Instrument on board HST has failed. The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph was HST's only spectrometer, and was responsible for several important discoveries, including the first detection of an exoplanet's atmosphere. The loss is believed to have been caused by a failure in the instrument's main electronics box, which led to a rapid increase in the input current of about 1 ampere, which caused the instrument to enter a "suspend" state. It is believed that this failure is not recoverable." No_Weak_Heart writes "Perhaps the world's most renowned submersible, Alvin of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, is slated for retirement. Alvin has helped scientists explore deep sea, find a lost Hydrogen bomb(oops!) and discover more than 300 new animal species, will be replaced by a newer version in 2008. Also available this audio clip from NPR." (Here's a glance at Alvin's replacement.) Update: 08/07 17:29 GMT by T : Note: "HST"="Hubble Space Telescope." Thanks to Chris Johansen for pointing out the overloaded acryonym.

LMCBoy writes "SpaceRef is reporting that the STIS Instrument on board HST has failed. The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph was HST's only spectrometer, and was responsible for several important discoveries, including the first detection of an exoplanet's atmosphere. The loss is believed to have been caused by a failure in the instrument's main electronics box, which led to a rapid increase in the input current of about 1 ampere, which caused the instrument to enter a "suspend" state. It is believed that this failure is not recoverable." No_Weak_Heart writes "Perhaps the world's most renowned submersible, Alvin of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, is slated for retirement. Alvin has helped scientists explore deep sea, find a lost Hydrogen bomb(oops!) and discover more than 300 new animal species, will be replaced by a newer version in 2008. Also available this audio clip from NPR." (Here's a glance at Alvin's replacement.) Update: 08/07 17:29 GMT by T : Note: "HST"="Hubble Space Telescope." Thanks to Chris Johansen for pointing out the overloaded acryonym.

barakn writes "Scientists have savaged the new movie The Day After Tomorrow, which depicts global warming causing a new ice age and freezing New York solid. The movie follows on the heels of a report to the Department of Defense in February, written by two guys who are not climatologists, about the implications of global warming triggering the growth of ice sheets in the northern hemisphere. There is a plausible theory which suggests that melting ice may release enough fresh water to halt circulation of warm water from the Gulf Stream, thus significantly cooling Europe and the east coast of North America. Note that this theory depends on melting ice, not growing ice, which may be one reason scientists find the ice age scenario so hard to swallow. New satellite evidence suggests a part of this circulation may already be slowing down. Those on the North American west coast will not have to worry about ice sheets, but changes in Arctic ice could mean the western drought will be permanent. For those of you who would rather do something before it's too late, iron seems to work, but the long-term ecological implications are still unknown."

rRaAnNiI writes "Just read an extremely interesting article about the possibility of having a 'little ice age' quite soon - within a decade. The frightening thing is that it makes a lot of sense to me. Does anyone know how to build an igloo?"

jhiv writes: "The Delaware Aqueduct, one of the world's longest water tunnels, may be developing potential serious leaks, according to this article in the New York Times (free registration). One leak has already created a pond and a stream with a flow of a million gallons per day. New York city officials plan to use a robotic mini-submarine being developed by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to inspect the interior of the 13 foot diameter tunnel. Previous repairs required four deep sea divers to spend almost a week at 700 feet pressure to fix a leaking valve. Ironically, if the tunnel is repaired, the wetlands created by leaks will be destroyed, causing a potential EPA violation. Additional coverage can be found here and here." NYC has been building a third major water tunnel to take the load off the first two - but it's a fifty-year project.

slambo writes: "Wondering how research is conducted on the ocean floor? One of the methods, as described by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is to put sensors on the sea floor that transmit the data through a cable to a buoy that then bounces the data through a satellite to the land station. They have an overview on their website. The main advantage of this setup is near real-time monitoring of activities on the sea floor."

slambo writes: "Wondering how research is conducted on the ocean floor? One of the methods, as described by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is to put sensors on the sea floor that transmit the data through a cable to a buoy that then bounces the data through a satellite to the land station. They have an overview on their website. The main advantage of this setup is near real-time monitoring of activities on the sea floor."

TheSync writes "The West Coast might not have all the fun anymore. Woods Hole scientists have discovered a potential for large-scale submarine slope failure and tsunami generation along the U.S. mid-Atlantic coast. Get your water-wings ready! "