Slashdot Mirror
A Fiber-Optic Cable To Inner Space
tetraconz writes "The University of Washington has been working on a vast 3000km undersea network to research the ocean floor off the West Coast. From the executive summary: (PDF) "The goal of NEPTUNE is to establish a coherent system of high-speed, submarine communication-control links using fiber-optic cables to connect remote, interactive experimental sites with land-based research laboratories and classrooms." This is an important project to explore the last unknown region of the Earth: the ocean. Check out the project homepage."
just doesn't have the same ring to it.
EGG, the Electronic Gamers Guild
Fine. And for security we have Blowfish.
That seems like a lot of money just to find one little clown fish...
davejenkins.com |
Last I checked, you couldn't do drugs with fiber optic. It's too hard to inhale.
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
This project is absolutely fantastic. We're finally beginning to systematically explore the ocean and the ocean floor. The implications here for technology, environmental studies, education, and research in all sorts of different arenas is staggering. I can't wait to see some of the results once this is up and running. Jacques Cousteau wouldve loved this.
this means that some fish have more bandwidth that me.... damn
The ocean is one of the few places in the world we humans haven't terrorised yet. I'd hate to see it go down the tube (so to speak) for corporate interests.
If humans learnt to leave things alone, the world would be a better place.
I believe the implementation will bear a superficial resemblance to this
$ strings FTP.EXE | grep Copyright
@(#) Copyright (c) 1983 The Regents of the University of California.
This looks like an awfully expensive project.
Although I love technology, I always prefer to take a sceptical view when considering it's application. I often ask my clients, "if you didn't have a computer/network/whatever, how would you do this?" I find computer technology often blurs people's clarity of thinking, and if you say "how would you do this without a computer?" they see more clearly exactly what the issues are.
It may be that this is a very sensible project. However, it may also be that the cost of setting up this network might be better deployed focusing on the actual experiments themselves. My own view is that when it comes to the biological sciences, there's nothing quite like physically being there, so I'd prefer to see money spent on making dive trips easier/safer/less expensive.
Having said all of that, often this type of big project actually has multiple objectives. I can see lots of military uses for a big undersea network.
could happen. the big drawback, if there is any, is that access to the newclear power plan is untethered by physical gadgets, & is also free. that .confuses many, as they bulleave they must pay into some felonious execrables' hostage taking scams, to attain some level of 'comfort'.
consult with/trust in yOUR creator... get ready to see the light.
You think security is troublesome on your own systems... imagine being in control of security on this project.
You are doing 6 months of observation waiting for an undersea volcano to erupt... and the day it does, some undergrad hacker gets into the system and decides to write out I LOVE BETTY with a mini robot sub on the ocean floor.
I am kidding,,, but this is a system that most likely multiple groups of scientists will be able to access. Keeping that type of open system secure will be difficult... especially if they are using the internet to accept data and send commands.
Davak
Sponge AlGore Square Pants has been named the new project director.
Pete Carr Owner Chatmag.com
I find it interesting that we first choose to go to the moon, and then discover the oceans of or own planet.
I'm sure there is still much in store for us to learn from our own planet, and I feel we've neglected that for too long.
parasight.de
Hmmm, I think they just want better mobile phone reception inside their mini subs.
Nope. 19998, Huh ?
$ strings FTP.EXE | grep Copyright
@(#) Copyright (c) 1983 The Regents of the University of California.
The role of science, especially "pure" science, isn't to be obvious, or redily appearent. That is called a "business plan."
Science is about proof buy induction. From the small, obvious truths to the more general, nebulous, and occasionaly inscrutible laws that dispassionately, and unfailingly govern our world.
When we know the general truths, the rules of the game so to speak, we can then deduce other truths and apply them.
But without those general truths, that you so flipantly dismiss, we're essentially groping in the dark. Dispite what The Matrix might lead one to believe, intuition does not trump reason.
This sounds like a fascinating project, however, the implementation will ultimately determine how well the money was spent. Granted, network cable under the sea will probably be very durable, but what about the equipment itself? If they're spending tons of money on fiber-optic cable to install under the ocean, and then attaching an EZ-Fun Cam (Crap Edition) to the other ends of said cables, where were the priorities?
Maybe they're in cahoots with X-10, and the new pop-under-sea advertisement!
chewtoy11
C. Griffin
"Can I keep his head for a souvenir?" --Max from Sam 'N Max Freelance Police
Alright, I guess I have new ammunition for Qwest the next time I call them. They're still telling I'm too far to get DSL!
Now I can't even say that my dialup is "slower than a turtle!" argh!
3000km of fiber is gonna give those deep-sea researchers some awful CounterStrike lag. - David Stein
Computer over. Virus = very yes.
Off the wheel, we have several sunken nuclear submarines, perhaps a dozen or so thermonuclear warheads and maybe even a hundred regular nukes.
This is my sig.
Okay I understand the importance and value of deep-sea exploration, but how about fiber to my curb first?
What could possibly hurt the security of the American people more than giving our own government the ability to hide its
I wouldn't be suprised if there was radioactive waste at the bottom of the sea somewhere. And this is off the top of my head w/out even looking.
Here you go.
I also remember reading something about a US bomber crashing in the ocean which prompted other nations to ban the flying of nuclear armed planes over their land. Ahhh, found this through google too. A very interesting read.
And these are just the accidents. There's also the intentional stuff (testing) to also take into account.
This is not my sig.
Lieutenant Don Walsh (US Navy) and Swiss scientist Jacques Piccard descended to the bottom of Challenger Deep in the bathyscape Trieste back in 1960.
This is 9 years before Apollo 11.
Even at 0.5c, 3000 km / (0.5 * 300e6 m/s) = 20 ms one way. At 0.75c, you're looking at +- 27ms round trip. Not too shabby for a 6000km trip!
Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
The University of Victoria is heading the Canadian half of this project. More information can be found at the Neptune Canada site.
ha, two in a row. you jackass.
Not really. The "time of flight" latency of a fiber cable is ~0.0065s per meter.
0.0065s / meter * 6,000,000m (3000km * 2 round trip) = 39,000s.
There are 1,000,000 s in one second. There are 1000 s in a millisecond. A round trip ping time would be around 39milliseconds.
Give or take a few milliseconds for the adapters, etc. It still beats anything else.
If you had nuts on your chin, would they be chin nuts?
Make that Neptune Canada.
It's important to be able to access high-bandwith pron while in your underwater base. Unless you're Troy McClure, in which case all you have to do is look out the window.
That's gotta fit into your schema somewhere
Great, one more UW website for me to worry about that doesnt adhere to any usability or visual standards.............
Overrated? When there was no rating in the first place?
A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature replaces it with. - Tennessee Williams