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Cities on the Sea
Head out to sea! Some activists, engineers and technology enthusiasts are hoping to build homes and cities on the high seas, far away from existing governments and deep within a new frontier. The Seasteading ’08 Conference will be held on October 10, 2008.
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USGS Ramps Up Earthquake Monitoring Effort
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) National Earthquake Center has unveiled upgraded technology, 24/7 staffing, and a new website to be rolled out over the next few months in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and a wider call for better earthquake monitoring. The effort includes HYDRA, a system that will provide more detailed…
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The Great Frontiers of Exploration
The soft blue pool of light in claustrophobic darkness, the white and crème-colored towers of limestone, the shimmer of hot fluids mixing with cold sea water, the occasional life form swimming back – it is another day in the exciting exploration of the Lost City Hydrothermal Field. Half a kilometer below the surface of the…
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More Lost City Images
Researchers have been busy exploring the Lost City Hydrothermal Field today. New image stills captured from the mission’s live Internet video feed reveal tall chimneys of calcium carbonate looming in the deep and dark waters and several life forms passing by. A jelly fish appeared to inspect the IFE ROV Hercules as it inspected the…
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Lost City 2005 Mission Images
The exploration of the Lost City Hydrothermal Field continues. The IFE Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) Hercules and Argus are capturing high definition video and images from sites around the Lost City hot springs system on a mountain top over 2,000 feet below the surface waters of the Atlantic Ocean. This data is then being streamed…
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Return to Lost City, Live!
In a remarkable display of the cutting-edge in robotics, telepresence, and ocean exploration, live video is streaming over the Internet from under the Atlantic Ocean. The public, students, educators, and scientists can all follow along as the crew of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s ship Ronald H. Brown use IFE Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs)…
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Live Telepresence from the “Lost City”
The IFE ROV “Hercules” is sending stunning live video – broadcast over the Internet on the NOAA Ocean Explorer site – from near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at a depth of over 2,000 feet. The mission? To explore the white carbonate chimneys and other geological formations at the “Lost City” site and surrounding areas. read more…
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Live from the “Lost City”!
Image Courtesy NOAA, VBrick, EDS and TELEX/RTS. I am watching live video footage from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean as I write this, courtesy of the NOAA Ocean Explorer site. The Lost City 2005 Expedition is using telepresence to operate the IFE ROV Hercules to explore the white carbonate chimneys and other geological formations…
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“Florida” Wildfire Threatens Arizona Observatory
The view from Tumamoc Hill west of downtown Tucson says it all. A wildfire has spread to consume approximately 20,000 acres about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the city of Tucson in Arizona, United States, after a lightning strike on July 07, 2005. The fire has been given the name “Florida” and has been…
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Technical Diving from Florida to Cyberspace
Cristian Pittaro is a diver, but if you are picturing a guy with gear on his back diving the sunlit open waters of the ocean, then you have it all wrong. Pittaro is a technical diver, the kind of diver that should inspire awe in us mere humans. His diving destinations include shipwrecks and underwater…
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Extreme Driving Comfort
Hardy explorers of Antarctica may soon travel in stylish and warm comfort thanks to a design concept by James Moon working with the British Antarctic Survey. “Ninety Degrees South” is a concept vehicle designed to seat two people while providing protection from the elements. Outfitted with both wheels and tracks, the vehicle would theoretically be…
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Review: Google Earth
Google appears to be unstoppable. Their recent projects have involved turning static web pages into interactive presentations, each one more useful than the last. Often called “web services” these new features are taking the World Wide Web into a welcome direction. Google unveiled today their next step, a program called “Google Earth“. The Earth in…
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Soft Tissue Retrieved from Dinosaur Fossil
Scientists investigating the inner structure of a Tyrannosaurus rex fossil discovered what appeared to be preserved soft tissues, perhaps including intact blood cells, as reported in the March 25, 2005 issue of Science. If confirmed, the unexpected finding could revolutionize our understanding of ancient life forms. Biological tissues are generally not preserved in the geological…
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“Dolphin Returns to Land”
When those of us who do focus on the future, we often see through anthropomorphic glasses; that is, we think in terms of humanity only. But the emerging future promises profound changes to other species of life on this planet as well. Even if humans had not created “technological” evolution, “natural” evolution would have continued…
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An Interview with Geologist Jay Quade – Page 1
The Desert Laboratory sits on Tumamoc Hill overlooking the city of Tucson, Arizona. Rainfall amounts here have been above normal this winter and the desert is in bloom. I am sitting in the office of Dr. Jay Quade, from where the view of both Tucson and the desert is spectacular. A faculty member in the…
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An Interview with Geologist Jay Quade – Page 2
(Continued from Page 1.) Meanwhile, volcanoes in Ethiopia lay down layers of ash, pumice and other fragments through frequent eruptions. As this material begins to cement over time, it becomes tuff. Tuff sticks out from other layers because it is so light in color. The river and volcano activity are preserved in the varying layers…
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An Interview with Geologist Jay Quade – Tools of Time
Geology is like forensic work; it requires time, patience, and the right tools. To the layperson, rock sedimentary layers sometimes seem to blur together. The geologist uses common sense to determine how each layer is related to the other layers, what it is made of, and how it got there. Then, using this data, the…
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An Interview with Geologist Jay Quade – Geology, Famine and War
Embarking on a geology expedition might sound exciting or boring, depending on your interests. However, there is more going on behind the scenes than just scientific research. Sometimes scientists find themselves in the middle of suffering and violence, and they begin to question why they are there, even as their heart reaches out to those…
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“Lost City”
The structures, one of them 18 stories high, stick out from the summit of a mountain. The denizens survive on hydrogen and methane. Future city in Iceland? Alien civilization on another planet? Welcome to “Lost City“. The site is located right here on Earth but underneath the Atlantic Ocean. Unlike the black hydrothermal chimneys more…
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Age of Kibish, Ethiopia Hominid Fossils Determined
As described in a letter published in the February 17, 2005 issue of Nature, scientists from Australia and the United States have estimated the age of anatomically modern human fossils in Ethiopia to be 195,000 years old, plus or minus 5000 years. McDougall, et al, reached this estimate after correlating rock layers at different sites…
Richard Leis
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