/sci/ - Science & Math

>>1847158

I explained the picture situation. If I'm asked every time I post I'll just stop posting.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19535-census-of-marine-life-reveals-extent-of-ocean-mystery.ht
ml?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

The first global picture of life in the oceans is released today, with the completion of the decade-long Census of Marine Life.

But despite its 2700 scientists spending over 9000 days at sea, the Census has only scratched the surface of the ocean's biodiversity. In all, some 250,000 marine plant and animal species have now been formally described, out of the 1 million thought to exist. "There are three to four unknown species for every known," says Paul Snelgrove of Memorial University of Newfoundland in St John's, Canada.

The Census has so far added 1200 new species to the tally, though that is likely to rise as over 5000 more organisms that were collected have yet to be studied or named. The new species include several that were thought to have disappeared, such as the "Jurassic shrimp", which was believed to have died out 50 million years ago.

>>1846721

This: http://www.usbgeek.com/prod_detail.php?prod_id=0356

I plan to remove the heating wire from them and embed it under a floor liner. I'll power it with this:

http://www.amazon.com/Portable-Battery-Powered-Emergency-Flashlight/dp/B003M9Z5F6/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF
8&qid=1286187463&sr=8-10

Welp, I give up.

On to the concept art, now.

Some scientists carrying an experiment module across the seafloor from the Aquarius habitat.

A personal submarine, also using an acrylic bubble canopy.

Here's another such winged, highspeed sub. Being developed in the hopes of selling it to the Military. China has expressed growing interest in mining the seafloor and presumably it would be advantageous to be able to put men on site in something small enough to resemble a shark on sonar.

Here's a novelty; one of a new class of high-speed "flying" subs that use pivoting wings rather than ballast tanks to control ascent and descent.

If anyone wants to see subs like this in action, descending to 3,000 feet and studying bizarre deep ocean organisms, I recommend Aliens Of The Deep.

>>1846745

Possibly because that's what the original cartoon was based on.

....Submersibles like this one

A scientist sits in the observation bubble of MarineLab; they were testing acrylic spheres that would one day become part of a new generation of science submersibles.

Here's one of our own; the Navy's Sealab II. They built a total of three increasingly deep habitats with the goal of keeping dive teams at the appropriate pressure to retrieve warheads from sunken soviet subs at a moment's notice. According to recently declassified papers, on at least one occasion they did so, and it was a resounding success. However this project came under fire from animal rights activists for using trained dolphins and porpoises to assist divers.

The exterior of that same habitat, the Tektite II

The interior of a 1960s habitat, one of hundreds built between the 60s and 80s. Everyone's wearing bathins tuis because as I mentioned they hadn't yet figured out the need to separate the room with the moon pool from the rest of the interior to prevent the spread of humid air.

>>1846726

Ooh thanks, I will.

A view into one of the hotel rooms at the Jules Undersea Lodge in Florida.

A submerged viewing station inside of a vast aquarium. Doesn't really count, but neat nonetheless.

>>1846704

It's actually the opposite; we initially believed that certain conditions present underwater would make human habitation impractical. But one of the lessons we took away from the 1960's habitat programs was that there's a limit to nitrogen saturation. After a certain point it just stops rising, and it never reaches toxic levels.

Other issues were sunlight (corrected with new grow light tech) humidity (corrected by ceparating the moonpool, plus modern compact dehumidifiers) and temperature (which was actually intolerably hot in some cases, where habitat designs had a lot of electronic equipment on the inside running constantly. Solved via compact aircon.)

The issues that led us to abandon undersea living in the 60s have since been solved, which is precisely why there's been a renewed interest in it lately. From the Poseidon undersea resort to smaller attractions like undersea restaurants, spas and similar attractions, the lessons we've learned in past attempts to put men underwater have made it cheaper and more practical than ever, although now most of that knowledge goes towards delighting tourists rather than exploring the deep.

>>1846699

Rapture discussion is fine, although that's more for /v/. Actual undersea habitats interest me more.

Here's one of my favorites.