New Sub Dives To Crushing Depths 245
University of Washington Scientists are reporting that they have a new autonomous underwater vehicle that increases both the attainable depth and duration of deployment over current submersibles. Weighing in at just under 140 pounds, the "Deepglider" is able to stay out to sea for up to a year and hit depths of almost 9,000 feet. "Deepglider opens up new research possibilities for oceanographers studying global climate change. The glider's first trip revealed unexpected warming of water near the ocean floor, and scientists are interested in studying whether the temperatures are related to global warming."
Re:Translation: (Score:2, Informative)
It's still got a few K's to go.
Re:Not that deep... (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Huh, global warming (Score:5, Informative)
You'll note that the scientists quoted don't mention global warming; they are excited to see stuff that they didn't expect. That's good enough to satisfy their intellectual curiosity & need to come up with new and interesting grant proposals.
You'll also notice that scientists in general don't sell newspapers or magazines. It's the journalists whose job it is to butcher the science to sell newspapers and magazines.
Finally, the oceans are very much tied up in our little carbon experiment. A good bit of any extra heat that is trapped in the atmosphere will go into the oceans. Also, a lot of the CO2 that we've emitted is already going into the oceans, which leads to ocean acidification [wikipedia.org]. This is the rate of carbonic acid input (that's CO2 + H2O H2CO3 H+ + HCO3-) is much higher than the ocean can buffer it with CaCO3 (which buffers effectively, but only on very long time scales). In the meantime, hope you don't like coral.
Error in article? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Not that deep... (Score:4, Informative)
2. Its range and endurance are nothing short of phenomenal. They've made a quantum leap in efficiency.
3. It may be the cheapest way to get to a depth of 9000 ft.
Re:Serious question (Score:5, Informative)
Ocean water is not stagnant and there are currents that mix surface water with warmer water in places where the surface water is colder (and denser) than the deeper water.
Re:Huh, global warming (Score:3, Informative)
Might as well go all the way: HCO3- <=> H+ + CO3- (carbonate)
Here's the carbonic acid [wikipedia.org] scoop.
not a submarine (Score:5, Informative)
The Religion of Global Warming Strikes Again (Score:2, Informative)
Re:huh? (Score:3, Informative)
The "Crush Depth" of a submarine is the depth at which it is crushed by the pressure.
Thus the headline translates to: New Sub Dives Deeper than other subs without being crushed
Re:Progress? (Score:4, Informative)
No, actually it does contribute! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Translation: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Translation: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Translation: (Score:3, Informative)
Nope. Kelvins are treated as regular units, rather than degrees. So it's correct to read 10 K as "ten Kelvins", as opposed to the common equivalent, which would be -263 degrees Celsius (or -442 degrees Fahrenheit). Must have something to do with the fact that Kelvins are absolute, and therefore cannot be negative, although interestingly enough, it's correct to say 18 degrees Rankine, not 18 Rankines.
Kelvin himself was rather absolute in some of his pronouncements, like his assertion that radio would never be more than a curiosity, and that heavier-than-air flight was impossible.
Re:Here's to you and here's to your soccer team (Score:4, Informative)