Clipmarks | pokkets's 'ocean' clips

Huge impact caused Mar's split personality

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:23:12 GMT

clipped by: pokkets

After more than 30 years, space scientists may have resolved one of the greatest enigmas in the solar system: why does Mars have two faces?

A paper appearing in the latest edition of Nature suggests the planet's Janus-like nature was caused by an impact with a Pluto-sized rock.

The topography of the southern hemisphere is more 'chaotic' compared to the smoother north

Pictures sent back by the US Viking spacecraft in the late 1970s unveiled Mars's northern hemisphere as an enormous lowland basin, where - or so it was suspected - a mighty ocean may have raged

But Mars's southern hemisphere is abruptly, bizarrely different

One explanation was that

volcanic forces within the planet's bowels caused a massive upwelling on the Martian surface

The contrasting theory

that the northern basin was the result of a

giant space rock which whacked into the infant Mars

Researchers at NASA and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) believe they have convincing evidence that the impact theory is solid.

Rising seas threaten west Antarctica.

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 02:42:11 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: the ice shelves have prevented the land locked ice from flowing into the ocean. Now with the shelves melting and liquid water beneath the ice, it can have the same effect in geological terms as popping a cork. Wet ice is slippery

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Cat O'Donovan

There's a 'big gorilla hiding the closet' whose collapse could have a dramatic effect on sea levels, according to Australian researchers.

A sea level rise of 50 to 100 centimetres above the 1920 level may be enough to 'unpin' the west Antarctic ice sheets

Dr Bradley Opdyke, a paleoceanographer from the Australia National University (ANU) believes the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) could partially collapse within 20 years, resulting in a dramatic jump in sea levels.

His talk on glacial cycles and the WAIS was presented earlier this month at the Imagining the real: life on a greenhouse earth conference held in Canberra.

"The 900-pound gorilla hiding in the closet is Antarctica. We have evidence that it is not a stable beast," Opdyke says.

He says the WAIS is inherently unstable, and the current rate of sea level rise is placing it at risk.

"It is pinned on the spines of a few mountains, with ice sheets draped off them

"When ice melts, it tends to melt in a hurry,

Deep Sea Angler Fish

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:21:45 GMT

clipped by: gozino
clipper's remarks: The ugliest animal on the planet.

Clip Source: peoplecorporation.org

Deep Sea Angler Fish

Tags: weird, fish, ugly, bizarre, ocean

Ocean review finds warming on the rise.

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:49:11 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: It isn't just that ice is melting that is making the sea level rise, it is also the fact that water expands as it heats. With the volume of water in the ocean - 2/3 of the Earth's surface is covered with water, even a small temperature increase can have a dramatic effect. The way the expansion, and melting are factored into the research reports can make them a lot clearer, and more accurate.
While there are the best of intentions, regarding some kind of remedy, I don't remember anyone being able to literally turn back the tide, which seems like the bottom line.
King Canute had a go, but he was trying to prove that point to some knucklehead courtiers, who'd flattered him. He knew they were full of hot air, but figured it was worth getting wet to see the look on their faces.
Don't you hate it when a King calls your bluff.
Still you can look at the bright side. The world is getting more like Venice every day.
All you have to do is buy shares in a Gondola Company.

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Thursday, 19 June 2008 Darren Osborne
ABC

A long-standing difference between climate models and observations has been resolved with researchers finding that the world's oceans have been warming faster than previously thought.

The paper, published today in Nature, shows ocean warming and thermal expansion trends for the past five decades are 50% larger than earlier previously estimated.

"For the first time, we can provide a reasonable account of the processes causing the rate of global sea-level rise over the past four decades - a puzzle that has led to a lot of scientific discussion since the 2001 IPCC report but with no significant advances until now," says CSIRO scientist, Dr Catia Domingues, from the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research.

Understanding how ocean warming and the resulting thermal expansion contributes to rising sea levels is critically important to understanding climate change, and forecasting future temperature rises, scientists say.

Creating insignificant events -Futuristic art

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:17:35 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: Vincent Callebaut 'work was lately exhibited in Paris ; ;" To believe in the world means to create events, even insignificant ones, that gets out of control, or create new space-times, even in reduced surfaces or volumes"

Clip Source: vincent.callebaut.org

LILYPAD, A FLOATING ECOPOLIS FOR CLIMATE REFUGEES

Oceans 2008
World

Clip Source: vincent.callebaut.org

THE PERFUMED JUNGLE

Hong Kong 2007
China

Clip Source: vincent.callebaut.org

ECOMIC

Mexico City 2007
Mexico

Clip Source: vincent.callebaut.org

MASTER PLAN FOR VATNSMYRI AIRFIELD SITE

Reykjavik, 2007
Iceland

Clip Source: vincent.callebaut.org

THE RED BAOBAB

Prague 2006
Czech Republic

Clip Source: vincent.callebaut.org

THE BASALT PRECIPICE

Gyeonggi-do Jeongok 2006
Republic of Korea

Clip Source: vincent.callebaut.org

FIELDS IN FIELDS

Tartu 2005
Estonia

Clip Source: vincent.callebaut.org

LANDSCRIPT, GENEVA 2020

Geneva 2005
Switzerland

Clip Source: vincent.callebaut.org

THE EYE OF THE STORM

Seoul 2005
South Korea

Clip Source: vincent.callebaut.org

SENSUAL ATTRACTION, AN INTERACTIVE DEMOCRACY

Brussels 2002
Belgium

Clip Source: vincent.callebaut.org

SAHAT EL SHOHADA, THE UNDERWATER VENICE OF BEIRUT

Beirut 2004
Lebanon

Clip Source: vincent.callebaut.org

THE FRACTURED MONOLITH

Brussels 2004
Belgium

Clip Source: vincent.callebaut.org

THE FLOATING ISLANDS

Hammerfest 2004
Norway

Clip Source: vincent.callebaut.org

THE URBAN CORSET, A HYBRID INTERMEDIARY

Brussels 2004
Belgium

Clip Source: vincent.callebaut.org

ATOLL BELOW THE OCEAN'S LEVEL, A VISUAL SILENCE

Busan 2003
South Korea

Clip Source: vincent.callebaut.org

THE NOMADIC GARDENS OF MANHATTAN

New York 2003
United States of America

Clip Source: vincent.callebaut.org

THE LINK

Tubize 2003
Belgium

Clip Source: vincent.callebaut.org

ECOCOON FOR RECYCLING

Brussels 2003
Belgium

Clip Source: vincent.callebaut.org

Extraterrestrial Life Confirmed

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:32:57 GMT

clipped by: vk2yoc
clipper's remarks: I always knew I was different.

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

If you want to see the offspring of extraterrestrial interference in Earth evolution, you don't have to break into the X-files or start watching late night crazy-person public access. You could be looking at one in the mirror.

Early in Earth's history the surface suffered a heavy hail of meteorites. This is usually bad news for any lifeforms in the vicinity (if you don't believe me, just ask a velociraptor), but since even DNA was only a gleam in the ocean's eye at the time the space-rocks weren't a setback - in fact, they may have delivered vital ingredients to the rich pre-life soup on the surface.

A collaboration between various US and European institutes has proven the presence of vital nucleobases in the Murchison meteorite, an extraterrestrial rock fragment which impacted Earth in 1969.

These bases are unquestionably alien - for one, the rock-chemicals are equally left and right "handed"

the odds of life off-planet seem better than ever.

Fast fish fly through the ocean

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:15:39 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: It's just the Air is thick down there.

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Tuesday, 17 June 2008 Darren Osborne
ABC

A team of researchers has found how some reef fish use their fins to fly underwater, allowing them to survive in the sometimes cyclonic currents surrounding coral reefs.

Reef fish such as blue parrotfish have developed wings to swim with greater force (Source: iStockphoto)

The research, led by Dr Chris Fulton, from The Australian National University, appears in the journal Coral Reef.

Fulton says he first noticed the wing-like fins during surveys of coral reefs in Australia.

The wing shape allows fish such as parrotfish, wrasse and surgeonfish to fly through the water using a figure-of-eight pattern.

He says fish with wing-shaped fins keep them spread at all times and sweep in a figure-of-eight pattern that constantly generates thrust.

"They do this by inclining their fins at just the right angle to create lift from the water flowing over the fin, similar to the way air moves over the wing of a bird to propel them through their air," Fulton says.

Amazing Antarctica

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 07:59:53 GMT

clipped by: einbar

Clip Source: www.aad.gov.au

Australia has collected data on ice flow, ice thickness and other ice sheet characteristics in East Antarctica for over 50 years. These data allow researchers to calibrate and validate new satellite measurements of the ice sheet and to develop models used to project the ice sheet's response to climate change.

Clip Source: images.aad.gov.au

Clip Source: www.aad.gov.au

The intense cold of the Antarctic ice sheet affects the global climate system through changes in surface energy and moisture, clouds, precipitation, and atmospheric and ocean circulation. If the Antarctic ice sheet melted, it would raise global sea level by nearly 60 metres. However, the response of the ice sheet to global warming is the largest unknown in projecting future sea level over the next 100-1000 years.

Clip Source: images.aad.gov.au

Clip Source: www.aad.gov.au

Clip Source: images.aad.gov.au

Scientists to Launch Missle Attack on the Moon -Will Jupiter's Europa Follow?

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:11:28 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: This is obviously a good plan that will probably bring many insights at a relatively low price. And yet.... I cannot escape the feeling that it is not very elegant; this primitive human trait of blowing things up, even if it is done in the name of science.

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

Researchers are preparing to launch a missile attack on the moon in the name of science. If you're anything like us, this news has you fist-pumping and thinking "It's about time!"

As the name suggests, these missiles aren't designed to blow the moon up (sorry to disappoint any Michael Bays out there) but to embed themselves into the lunar surface.

From under the lunar soil a battery of seismic sensors and mineral analyzers can uncover a wealth of information about the moon's makeup.

The moon is only the first planned stop for Qinetiq's kinetic probes. The same approach can be applied to other rocky planets like Enceladus and Titan, though the most interesting destination has to be Europa. Long suspected of hiding a liquid ocean in a heated core, a prime life-capable site, seismic data from inside the icy shell would be extremely revealing.

The recent tests exceeded all expectations.

Tags: space exploration, moon

Storm brewing over ocean fertilization

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:48:36 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: Algae can keep growing in number until they've used the nutrient, then they die of starvation

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Anna Salleh

An Australian company says it will continue plans to fertilise the ocean with nitrogen to develop its commercial carbon-sequestration technology, despite a growing chorus of opposition to such activities.

Sydney-based company, Ocean Nourishment Corporation (ONC) plans to eventually use its technology to generate carbon credits

Dr Michele Burford of Griffith University

says fertilising the ocean with nitrogen could result in the growth of unwanted algal species, including toxic species or species that could negatively affect the food web.

We have a lot of problems with

over-abundance of nutrients causing algal blooms, in waterways all around the world

that ocean fertilisation could backfire by producing nitrous oxide

"If you're going to sequester carbon dioxide you've got to have algae there," she says. "And that will have flow-on effects."

Do you really want to risk creating more of a problem than you already have?

Changes to Antarctic ice suffocating seals

Wed, 28 May 2008 16:38:27 GMT

clipped by: pokkets

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Wednesday, 28 May 2008 Jennifer Viegas

News analysis Changes to the Antarctic ice shelf are causing seals to fight for air and penguins to give up on their young.

These are the findings of a new study, which illustrates the direct impact climate change is having on the physiology, behaviour and survival of Antarctic species.

In 1998, ecologist and evolutionary biologist Associate Professor Terrie Williams of the University of California at Santa Cruz and her team began a study on Weddell seals in Antarctica.

"Our first clue that there was a problem was that the seals were not returning to their usual pupping areas, and that there were fewer seals even later in the season," says Williams.

Williams says that after B-15 dislodged, there were 130 kilometres of ice between McMurdo and the open ocean.

"Weddell seals can only swim 4 miles (6.4 kilometres) under ice before they have to come up to breathe, so you can see the problem," she says.

A new option for global citizenship?

Mon, 19 May 2008 09:33:28 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.wired.com

Tired of the United States and the other 190-odd nations on Earth?

If a small team of Silicon Valley millionaires get their way, in a few years, you could have a new option for global citizenship: A permanent, quasi-sovereign nation floating in international waters.

With a $500,000 donation from PayPal founder Peter Thiel, a Google engineer and a former Sun Microsystems programmer have launched The Seasteading Institute, an organization dedicated to creating experimental ocean communities "with diverse social, political, and legal systems."

"Decades from now, those looking back at the start of the century will understand that Seasteading was an obvious step towards encouraging the development of more efficient, practical public-sector models around the world," Thiel said in a statement.

the institute isn't playing around: It plans to splash a prototype into the San Francisco Bay within the next two years,

Tags: future, seastead, ocean

Scientists find marine metropolis

Mon, 19 May 2008 05:32:45 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: We know more about the Dark side of the Moon, than we know about the ocean floor

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Alister Doyle

Millions of starfish-like creatures have been found in a novel colony on a sub-sea mountaintop south of New Zealand, aiding knowledge of mysterious seamounts that dot the oceans

A dense aggregation of brittlestars on a seamount rock with arms feeding in the water current taken during the recent month-long survey of the Macquarie Ridge

Fewer than 200 seamounts, which are mountains that rise from the ocean floor without piercing the surface, have been surveyed out of an estimated 100,000 around the world.

Tens of millions of tiny brittlestars living arm tip to arm tip were found on a peak 90 metres below the sea surface on the sub-sea Macquarie Ridge, which stretches 1400 kilometres south of New Zealand towards Antarctica

"As far as we know, such aggregations (of brittlestars) have not been observed before on the top of a seamount," says Ashley Rowden of New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research

Usually, corals and sponges are found on the peaks

he says.

Earth in 250 Million Years?

Wed, 14 May 2008 06:41:15 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: Don't miss the links!!!

Clip Source: antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov

Earth in 250 Million Years?

Is this what will become of the Earth's surface? The surface of the Earth is broken up into several large plates that are slowly shifting. About 250 million years ago, the plates on which the present-day continents rest were positioned quite differently, so that all the landmasses were clustered together in one supercontinent now dubbed Pangea. About 250 million years from now, the plates are again projected to reposition themselves so that a single landmass dominates. The above simulation from the PALEAOMAP Project shows this giant landmass: Pangea Ultima. At that time, the Atlantic Ocean will be just a distant memory, and whatever beings inhabit Earth will be able to walk from North America to Africa.

Next decade may be cooler, not warmer.

Thu, 01 May 2008 10:26:03 GMT

clipped by: pokkets

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Global warming could take a break in the next decade thanks to a natural shift in ocean circulation, scientists say.

But earth's temperature will rise as previously expected over the longer term, according to a study published today in the journal Nature.

Climate scientists in Germany base the prediction on what they believe is an impending change in the Gulf Stream, the conveyor belt that transports warm surface water from the tropical Atlantic to the northern Atlantic and returns cold water southwards at depth.

The Gulf Stream will temporarily weaken over the next decade, in line with what has happened regularly in the past

This will lead to slightly cooler temperatures in the North Atlantic and in North America and Europe, and also help the temperatures in the tropical Pacific to remain stable

warming is unlikely to be a gradual trend, but a movement in stops and starts.

The main reason for this is that the oceans, the biggest store of heat, go through natural cycles of circulation.