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Paul Allen Lends Personal ROV To Study Coelacanths
crudmonkey writes "It took a custom-made submarine, billionaire Paul Allen, and a tenacious desire lasting well beyond two decades to unveil enigmatic details about the life of the coelacanth—the primitive fish that invariably hooks researchers. A study published earlier this year in the journal Marine Biology summarizes 21 years of coelacanth population research."
And why is Paul Allen so interested in the Coelacanth? Because its existance might teach us something about how an ancient, unchanging, unadapting entity can yet survive deep below the surface while all its peers have evolved or perished. This research can then be used to help Microsoft.
Where's the mod "disturbing -1" when I need it.
As anyone who knows me could tell you, I really don't care about having a lot of money.
But sometime before I die, I would like to be able to use the phrase, "my personal submersible" if only for the way it makes my mouth feel to say those words.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Well, you can still say those words ... "alas, I will never have my own personal submersible". It just might not be as satisfying.
But, for the record, I would also like to be able to use the phrase "my personal submersible" ... "hey baby, want to come down to the marina and see my personal submersible?". It's just so Austin Powers.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Can I use it whenever I see Courier New? It's like Slashdot's Comic Sans.
I keed. I keed.
Mostly.
Ok, not really.
Yet another example of the 1% Overlords only using their money to build 1-acre hot tubs, drink 100-year-old Scotch from disposable diamand shot glasses, and keep other people poor because that's what makes them happy.
Yeah--because the 1% sends someone out to bitch slap any recruiter that tries to give you a job?
Or are you whining because you don't have the intelligence and skills to get into a position like Paul Allen?
I'll be the first to admit that I don't have those skills. And I'm not butt-hurt about it either. The entire world can't be billion-dollar-CEOs. Who would take out the trash, sweep the floors, build the products, run their servers, or design the next iPhone?
There's no place like
I'm extremely excited and I'll tell you why (lucky you).
When I was attending grade school in the1960's I came across a book in the school library that described, with pictures, this creature found alive sometime in the '30s which had been previously thought by man to be long extinct. I don't think there was another kid who found this even remotely interesting, but I was spellbound. I never lost this fascination and over the years occasionally thought about this strange and reclusive creature, and if it had in fact survived.
Fast forward to 1998. I was working in a bicycle shop in a small out of the way resort town and the owners had managed to hire a talented bike guy from another state they met on the phone through business.
Soon after he showed up, I noticed a small tattoo he had just above one of his ankles. It was quite unusual but somehow familiar. I knelt on the floor and took a closer look. Are you kidding me?? It was a Coelacanth!! We exchanged stories about our experiences of youthful discovery and quickly bonded.
Fast forward to yesterday. I saw the Paul Allen/Coelacanth story somewhere and followed the links. Paul Allen should not get as much credit as the media apparently thinks he deserves.
Go here for the full story:
http://news.mongabay.com/2011/1114-ucsc-west_coelacanth.html
And here for history and up to date info on the Coelacanth, including video!:
http://www.arkive.org/coelacanth/latimeria-chalumnae/video-00.html#text=All
My friend in coelacanth still works at the bike shop, but I have moved on. I emailed him and know he'll be as excited as I am. I may have to get a tattoo and keep the love alive. Brotherhood of the Coelacanth, anyone?
No doubt looking for something important to patent.
Perhaps movement of fish through water by fin propulaion?
"hey baby, want to come down to the marina and see my personal submersible?"
Ptttf! Loser.
Heeeay baaaybee. Wanna come back to my secret government facility? I'll let you drive a car on Mars.
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- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
Actually, I was being sarcastic. Too subtly, apparently.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
Actually, I was being sarcastic. Too subtly, apparently.
My subtlometer is either broken or off-scale low. ;)
There's no place like
Even if everyone had a PhD, somebody still has to mop the restroom floors and take out the garbage. There are not enough high-end jobs to go around.
Plus, excessive wealth undermines democracy because the rich buy more influence in order to get richer in order to buy more influence in order to get richer in order to...
Table-ized A.I.
"Primitive" often means "closer to an earlier form" rather than "non-sophisticated". Sometimes you just find a nice niche and/or a nice combo of features that allow you to hang out for hundreds of millions.
Table-ized A.I.
There are machines that fit the definition of a "personal submersible" which only cost around a thousand IBT (note at foot of message)
These are rather like underwater mopeds with a head/ shoulders shroud which is supplied with air by a SCUBA system (there's also a "bail-out bottle" in the ones I've seen advertised) ; this provides buoyancy at the top ; a waterproof housing with a car battery hangs at the bottom ; the two are joined by solid body incorporating a moped-like seat, with several thrusters in the body and steering controls for the user. Allegedly, no training is necessary. 10m depth limit though.
If you're not into SCUBA, they're not unbelievably expensive - I saw them advertised for tourist trips at moderately interesting prices on a Tenerife beach promenade, but I was getting my SCUBA ticket. (If you are into SCUBA ... you don't need this.)
I suppose I'd better RTFA now. Bad form, I know.
As a population base, that's probably viable. But seeing no juveniles for what is obviously a long-lived period species ... that's a cause for concern. Ah ... but later there are reports of juveniles seen deeper using an un-manned ROV. Which makes perfect sense - it's not uncommon for juveniles and adults to have substantially different habitats and life styles.
Fricke's sub ; not Allen's.
[...]
An ROV system in this sort of depth capability range could only cost a few 10s of thousand IBTs. Substantial, but far less than the "JAGO" submarine. It'd need less deck space too, which is really important.
In commenting on the original article, I mentioned this book, which is the current standard reference on fossil coelacanths. (Dr Forey, the author, is "Prof Coelacanth" at the NHM as much as Richard Fortey is "Prof. Trilobite" ; by all accounts I've heard of Prof.Trilobite in "lecture mode", the easiest way to distinguish the two is that one has a beard and is talking about something recognisably fishy, while the other is clean-shaven and talking about something with no good modern comparison. Mad as hatters, both of them. In a good sense.) I'm sure that Dr Forey has noted Fricke's work for inclusion in the next edition of his monograph.
[Note : IBT = International Beer Token ; while the absolute cost of a beer varies around the world, relative to other commodities it's less variable. A "beer" is equivalent to about 3-4 loaves of bread ; 1.25 "beers" plus the son of your deity of choice will feed around 1/5th milli-crowd ; a "beer" is approximately equivalent to 6-8 ready-rolled cigarettes.
Well, I find it useful. I also use the IBT concept for comparing pay rates in different continents to decide which jobs to accept.]
Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
Thank you, sincerely, for the information and your willingness to share it.
You've given me half a dozen starting points for various miscellaneous quests.
You are welcome on my lawn.
I'll consider that a positive result then.
Thanks for the feedback ; it's appreciated.
Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"