Slashdot Mirror
Robots Fly Over Antarctica
Roland Piquepaille writes "Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have successfully run a series of flights by autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over Antarctica. These robotic planes have a 2-meter wingspan and weigh 6 kilograms. They are powered by Lithium Ion Polymer (LIPo) battery packs — similar to the ones in your cellphones or laptops. So far, these autonomous UAVs have completed about 20 flights lasting 40 minutes each. These robots can fly over 45 kilometers while taking about 100 measurements per second about the exchange of heat between the lower atmosphere and sea ice. According to one of the scientists, 'the future of atmospheric research will be robotic.'"
But we don't know really the root cause. Sure we are quick to point the blame at cars and factories but also farting cows are to blame perhaps even more then us. So really, we can prove that the ice is melting, what we can't prove is what is to blame. There is no point in going 5 steps backwards only to find out that it really wasn't anything we did.
There is no "disagree" moderation, and troll, flamebait and overrated are not valid substitutes
Please specify in future headlines that these are HUMAN MADE robots. I was halfway done loading my shotgun before I realized this mistake.
Well, methane from cows (it actually comes from both ends) is still our fault, since we're the ones raising the cows. It's probably due to a combination of factors, though, not any one thing. But even if it's due to entirely natural processes (say increased solar output), that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to do something about it -- having most of our cities underwater won't be much fun whether we caused it or not, and if we can reduce the quantity of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that's likely to help. And most of the things we can do to reduce the possible human causes of global warming will have other long term benefits, like cheaper energy and improved air quality.
But the main thing is that if we don't do something quickly, it may be too late. It's like Pascal's Wager -- there are really very few penalties for doing something and being wrong, but there are very harsh penalties for doing nothing and being wrong.
Problem is, if you don't understand the root cause and the system well enough, you could make things much worse. Ever solve a bug that seemed pretty straightforward only to cause major data corruption later down the line?
This isn't just an analogy. It has only been until recently that we've recognized global dimming as a real phenomenon that we've pretty much undoubtedly caused ourselves from all the particulates we spew into the atmosphere. So let's say that to solve global warming we drastically cut down on air pollution from cars, factories, and power plants. Seems straightforward, right? Well, that cuts down on atmospheric particulates, which increases the amount of solar energy reaching the earth and causes a net INCREASE in temperature.
So it's not entirely Pascal's wager -- we do have something we could lose by being wrong.
Hell, even my PT 109 R/C boat had "programmable" movement patterns if you didn't outfit it with R/C gear.
You know, this is one of those rare occasions on /. where I choose not to read the article, and instead, let my imagination run wild.
Run free imagination, but watch out for flying robots.