Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Extreme 2003: Hydrothermal Vent Grind
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is hosting students from around the world on a 23-day research expedition to the Pacific Ocean floor: Extreme 2003 - To the Depths of Discovery.
The students will use a submersible named "Alvin" to grind the edges of hydrothermal vents nearly two miles deep. Hydrothermal vents are locations on the deep seafloor where fluids heated by mid-ocean ridges mix into the overlying ocean. Vents come in gnarly shapes; chimneys called black smokers and white smokers are created that are up to one hundred feet high.
One purpose of the expedition is to study Pompeii worms, the world's most heat-tolerant animal, able to withstand water temperatures of up to 176 degrees Fahrenheit. The worms live with one end in very hot water and the other in very cool water.
Fortunately, students will not be required to undergo surgical modifications to adapt them for permanent habitation of the deep sea rifts; see the recycler, a breathing device from Peter Watts marvelous 1999 novel Starfish exploring deep sea rifts.
Also, see the expedition website at Extreme 2003: The Depths of Discovery, as well as the reference article Marine scientists lead students on research expedition to hydrothermal vents on the Pacific Ocean floor.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 12/8/2003)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 1 )
Related News Stories - (" Engineering ")
You Will Eat The Cookies Made From Plastic...
'Our planes are going to start bringing in bales of discarded plastics...' - Rick Shelley, 1989.
ICE Buys Shock Gloves Like Batman's
What else is the Caped Crusader using?
When Colds Threaten You Can't Do This - Or Can You?
'...a hemispherical force field enclosing his head.' - FL Wallace, 1955.
MAI-Voice-2 Microsoft Text-To-Speech
'I made disks of my own voice to the number of five hundred very carefully chosen words.' - Nat Schachner, 1937.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
You Will Eat The Cookies Made From Plastic...
'Our planes are going to start bringing in bales of discarded plastics...'
It's A Giant Robot! You Reporters Have Been Warned!
'... completely forgetting the ship at sight of the awesome figure and great head of the giant Gaut...'
Birds Learn To Sing Pictures ala Frank Herbert's Distrans
'We will fight in the time of fighting.'
ElectionSim: China's 'Ender's Game' Battle Sim, Or Lem's 'Kingdom In A Box'?
'So, Ender, we will now begin your education.'
Tactile Skin Supplier Map
'What strange sensitivity! What an amazing development of science was manifested in every move and act and word of this Robot!'
Flock Stymied By 'Adversarial Fashion'
'Forget the head atop it, the legs below, feet, arms, hands. It compels erasure.'
Orb Nomad Zero-Emission Electric Aircraft
'That explains how it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair or to perch on a flagpole in imitation of a giant bird, even in the windy city of Chicago.'
ICE Buys Shock Gloves Like Batman's
What else is the Caped Crusader using?
Factories In The Sky Will Surpass Those Of Earth
'The thirty-odd miles of The Factory’s circumference...'
Sleeper Drones Lie in Wait
'Wandering mines, you took them out on the edge of the desert, set them down and activated them.'
Warfare Goes Underground In Ukraine
'Once in the very first weeks of the war, before everyone had been evacuated from the surface...'
Robot Bees 3D Printed By Festo
'At first I was struck by the large size of these bees..'
3D Printed Organs From Space
'For a while your colonists will have to come up to the [orbital] Hospital...'
DIY Robot Scorpion Crushes It
'...it raised its front end off the ground and waved its antennae at them, then raised one armoured claw as if to snip them out of the sky.'
How To Settle An Argument Between Two Robots
'Henry... assumed the curious absent look of a robot talking on the TBR circuits.'
The Wind Phone Calls Those Who Have Passed On
'Only I heard that!'
