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Rubber Duckies For Global Warming Research

The Wall Street Journal has a look at global warming research using rubber duckies. The toys have been employed in tracking ocean currents since 1992; but recently NASA robotics expert Alberto Behar released 90 yellow rubber ducks into the melt water flowing down a chasm in a Greenland glacier. "Each duck was imprinted with an email address and, in three languages, the offer of a reward. If all goes well, Dr. Behar hopes that one day they will emerge 30 miles or so away at the glacier's edge in the open water of Disko Bay near Ilulissat, bobbing brightly amid the icebergs north of the Arctic Circle, each one a significant clue to just how warming temperatures may speed the glacier's slide to the sea."

12 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. Dupe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is a dupe.

  2. Irony. by girlintraining · · Score: 5, Funny

    Raise your hand if the prospect of an environmentalist dumping plastic into the ocean for research purposes is deeply amusing.

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    #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
  3. Rubber duckie, you're the one. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Rubber duckie, you're so fun.

    1. Re:Rubber duckie, you're the one. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      You make bathtime lots of fun. Rubber ducky I'm awfully fond of you. Too bad I must now go litter our oceans with your cute little yellow non-biodegradable petroleum product carcasses.

  4. Great idea, it's happened before by accident by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm sure this is where he got the idea.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-464768/Thousands-rubber-ducks-land-British-shores-15-year-journey.html

  5. Spam begets research begets spam by Valacosa · · Score: 5, Funny

    Each duck was imprinted with an email address and, in three languages, the offer of a reward.

    "This duck was lost by a Nigerian prince. Email this address to claim your reward."

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    "Live as if you'll die tomorrow." Ridiculous. You could die later today.
  6. Re:What do they expect to prove with this? by ductonius · · Score: 4, Interesting

    They're not only wondering where the water goes, but how long it takes to get there and where it goes after that.

    If they all come out at once then we know the routes they all took about the same route, or the routes they took were all more or less direct. If they emerge over years or even decades then we know some are becoming trapped, only to be released later. What if a duck washes up in India, twelve years after it was released in Greenland?

    They're interested in knowing *everything* that could happen to these ducks after they're released. Furthermore, data from this experiment could confirm or falsify other oceanographic theories, all for $200 worth of rubber ducks.

  7. Reward by renegadesx · · Score: 4, Funny

    Missing: One large yellow rubber duck, answers to the name 'Rubber Duckie'
    Has made apperances on childrens television shows
    Please report any information on the whereabouts on Rubber Duckie to Ernie, Sesame St NY. +123 (456) 789-10-11-12
    Cash reward

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    Make SELinux enforcing again!
  8. Next month's story by Jade+E.+2 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Scientists are extremely alarmed over a new phenomenon recently observed in the arctic glaciers. Melt water, which normally flows through micro rivers deep in the glacier until it reaches the sea, has started to flow over the surface instead, accelerating the rate at which the ice melts. "It's like something went and plugged up the flow, and now it's backing up like a giant toilet with a rubber duck stuck in it." remarked one researcher.

    The researchers are currently seeking a $10 million grant to investigate the cause of this disturbing event.

  9. Re:NASA's shoddy (fraudulent?) work by Ambitwistor · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Let's publish the rubber duckies for Global Warming Research and ignore Goddard Institute for Space Studies of NASA headed by James Hansen which published falsified data.

    I hate to break it to you, but making a clerical mistake is not the same as "falsifying data".

    This is simply another proof that the mainstream media is no longer interested in facts or reporting unbiased news

    Uh, no, it's a sign that quickly-fixed data reporting errors which have no impact on any major climate studies are not front page news.

    I also hate to break it to you, but minor errors are found and fixed in scientific data sets all the time. It's only news when the data error is the basis for some important scientific conclusion. (That has been the case, for instance, with the XBT ocean thermometers and the UAH satellite data.)

    Your post is a prime example of how ridiculously polarized the global warming debate has become. You're grasping at straws, man. A mistake in two month's data reporting, which has nothing to do with James Hansen personally, is not a global scientific conspiracy nor a disproof of global warming.

    just like during the election of the Anointed One

    Anointed One? Yeah, you really sound like an impartial arbiter of scientific accuracy. You might want to tone down the hypocrisy while whinging about "bias".

  10. Re:NASA's shoddy (fraudulent?) work by izomiac · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Clerical mistakes can happen, but in this case it's essentially falsifying data just without the intent. If something unexpected happens then one should look for errors first. Instead, it seems like this researcher just assumed that it was more support for a theory he liked. Little things like this can add up across various studies, leading to a theory being unduly strong (self perpetuating). In any case, it's pretty shoddy work to let an obvious outlier make it into a study.

    how ridiculously polarized the global warming debate has become

    Quite true. Personally I've become nearly apathetic upon the realization that both sides exaggerate to the point of dishonesty. Well, really it's the extremists on either side that do the lying, but since the issue is so polarized there's the illusion (perhaps becoming reality) that they speak for their respective groups.

  11. Re:NASA's shoddy (fraudulent?) work by Hellsbells · · Score: 5, Informative

    About the author of this opinion article:

    He has claimed that Asbestos is "chemically identical to talcum powder", and the BBC has accused him of basing his reputation on "lies about his credentials, unaccredited tests, and self aggrandisement".

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Booker#Criticism

    He is not a credible person.