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How a Semi-Submarine Works – A cheaper way to build a sub
by Marshall Brain | February 22, 2011
Submarines tend to be expensive, even if they are small. That’s because any sealed container full of humans presents problems with oxygen supply, CO2 removal and humidity. Then when you stick that sealed container underwater in the form of a submarine, the problems multiply because of water pressure. The container (including its windows) has to [...]
There are dozens of new things that we have learned from the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. We have learned about blowout preventers, methane hydrates, oil booms, etc.
Two facts have been especially intriguing if you are interested in green technologies. First, the deep water in the Gulf is very cold. This page provides a nice graph that shows how temperature decreases with increasing depth in the ocean. The second thing we have learned is that it is pretty easy to put pipelines in the Gulf – there are already hundreds of them.
What could we do with all of this cold water? There are two technologies that could take advantage of it. The first is air conditioning, as described in this video…
You Asked:
Where does water go when the tide goes out? — Dave, Bellingham, Wash.
Marshall Brain Answers…
Today, the famed diver Jacques-Yves Cousteau would have been 100 years old. His centennial works as a powerful opener to discussions about the worsening oil spill — his own son, Jean-Michel, wrote for National Geographic that Cousteau “would be heartbroken at what is taking place in our seas today, especially the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.”
With millions of gallons of oil still spilling into the Gulf of Mexico, and oil now coming on shore, containment of the oil in the water becomes a priority. The containment technology most used is the floating oil boom. There are schools all across the country that teach oil industry employees how to deploy boom correctly, but it does not appear that these techniques are being used in the Gulf. Click here to learn about the right and wrong way to deploy oil booms…
There are several fascinating quotes in the following video, including: “Amazingly, the Census of Marine Life estimates that all microbes in the global ocean collectively weigh the equivalent of 240 billion African elephants.” An African elephant weights approximately 10,000 pounds, so let’s say they weigh as much as 70 average people. So the microbes weigh [...]
You asked: How do cell phones work from the ocean? — Cathy, Washington, Ill. Marshall Brain Answered: The thing about a cell phone is that it has to be inside a cell in order for it to work. In the middle of a cell is a cell phone tower, and it might provide coverage for [...]
Good Question – How many people get flooded out as sea levels rise?
by Marshall Brain | January 7, 2010
This falls into the category of a good “what if?” tool. You can ask it questions like, “What if sea levels rise 100 inches?” and it will do two things: 1) It will show you all the cities that get flooded and therefore disappear 2) It tells you how many people lose their homes in [...]
How do we know when the Atlantic ocean ends and the Pacific begins?
by Marshall Brain | December 31, 2009
You Asked: How do we know when the Atlantic ocean ends and the Pacific begins? — Ashish, Bangalore, India Marshall Brain Answers: If you look at a map of the world like this… …You can see that there are three big oceans: The Pacific, the Atlantic and the Indian oceans. Down near Antarctica there could [...]
Why do we breathe more rapidly when we get in very cold water?
by Marshall Brain | December 18, 2009
You Asked: Why do we breathe more rapidly when we get in very cold water? — Beristogenes, Denver, Colo. Marshall Brain Answers: Scientists aren’t sure why this happens because it makes no sense – it’s a leading killer of people who get immersed in cold water. But they do have a name for it. It [...]
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