ExploreWorldOcean

ohhellno: Spent the day at Crystal Cove Beach today. Beautiful...

Sun, 19 May 2013 16:32:36 -0700

Spent the day at Crystal Cove Beach today. Beautiful day out.

scinerds: The Center of the Earth Is as Hot as the Sun Crushed...

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:14:37 -0700

The Center of the Earth Is as Hot as the Sun

Crushed by the weight of the thousands of kilometers of liquid iron and sulfur, superheated metal and minerals and cool crustal rock above, the Earth’s core is under immense pressure. Heated from within by friction and by the decay of radioactive material and still shedding heat from the initial formation of the planet 4.5 billion years ago, the planet’s core is blisteringly hot. In new research, scientists studying what the conditions at the core should be like found that the center of the Earth is way hotter than we thought—around 1,800 degrees hotter, putting the temperature at a staggering 10,800 degrees Fahrenheit.

This superheated core, says the BBC, is about as hot as the surface of the Sun.

Scientists know the Earth’s core, a multi-layered structure with a solid iron core spinning in a sea of liquid iron and sulfur, is hot. But, cut off from direct study by all the stuff in between the core and the surface, getting an accurate idea of the core’s properties is a daunting feat.

Led by Simone Anzellini, the French research team did their best bet to reproduce the core’s properties in the lab: they took a bunch of iron and crushed it between two pieces of diamond. Then they shot it with a laser. The apparatus produces massive pressures and superheated temperatures. This let them study how the iron behaved under such intense conditions and gave them a window into the conditions found at the planet’s center.

Knowing how hot the Earth’s core is can add to our understanding all sorts of wonders, from the existence of the planetary magnetic field, to the propagation of seismic waves after an earthquake, to the birth of the Earth itself.

Full Article

The only lady of the academic seas

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:29:24 -0700

deepseanews:

Mariners have a long-standing tradition of naming their vessels after the ladies. However, when it comes to research vessels this has not been the case…until now. For the first time, a research ship will be named after a woman. The Navy’s next ocean-class auxiliary general oceanographic research (AGOR) will be named after Sally Ride, the … → Read More: The only lady of the academic seas http://dlvr.it/3HQfZJ

gaksdesigns: The Glasswinged butterfly

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:29:02 -0700

gaksdesigns:

The Glasswinged butterfly

climateadaptation: More doom reality: Bottled Water Sales: The...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:27:35 -0700

climateadaptation:

More doom reality:

Bottled Water Sales: The Shocking Reality

The Beverage Marketing Corporation, which tracks sales and consumption of beverages, is reporting that sales of bottled water grew nearly 7 percent between 2011 and 2012, with consumption reaching a staggering 30.8 gallons per person.

Despite having one of the best municipal tap water systems in the world, American consumers are flocking to commercial bottled water, which costs thousands of times more per gallon. Why? Four reasons:

First, we have been bombarded with advertisements that claim that our tap water is unsafe, or that bottled water is safer, healthier, and more hip, often with celebrity endorsements. (Thanks a lot, Jennifer.)

Second, public drinking water fountains have become increasingly hard to find. And the ones that exist are not being adequately maintained by our communities.

Third, people are increasingly fearful of our tap water, hearing stories about contamination, new chemicals that our treatment systems aren’t designed to remove, or occasional failures of infrastructure that isn’t being adequately maintained or improved.

Fourth, some people don’t like the taste of their tap water, or think they don’t.

Some people, including the bottled water industry, argue that drinking bottled water is better than drinking soft drinks. I agree. But that’s not what’s happening. The vast increase in bottled water sales have largely come at the expense of tap water, not soft drinks. And even if we pushed (as we should) to replace carbonated soft drinks with water, it should be tap water, not expensive bottled water.

This industry has very successfully turned a public resource into a private commodity.

Via Peter Gleick (a scientist whom I swear never sleeps)

tumblegags: OMG, HE’S HELPING HIM BACK INTO THE OCEAN

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:26:13 -0700

tumblegags:

OMG, HE’S HELPING HIM BACK INTO THE OCEAN

In the beginning…segment of new mural in the science...

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 15:18:28 -0700

In the beginning…segment of new mural in the science building at FC. (at Fullerton College)

Photo

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 08:02:10 -0700

Photo

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 08:01:41 -0700

reuters: Drink up: Happy World Water Day! Did you know that...

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 07:59:00 -0700

reuters:

Drink up: Happy World Water Day!

Did you know that 2013 is the United Nation’s International Year of Water Cooperation? Check out our pictures of water from around the world.

In this picture, an earthquake survivor drinks water from a well in a provisional camp at downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 2010. REUTERS/ Eduardo Munoz

Logo courtesy of United Nations

eastcoastaussie: this is amazing!

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 06:54:40 -0800

eastcoastaussie:

this is amazing!

Photo

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 06:54:20 -0800

fantasia: omg how cute

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 06:51:43 -0800

fantasia:

omg how cute

Breakfast in bed.

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 06:49:44 -0800

Breakfast in bed.

Photo

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 06:47:24 -0800

Vacation in Florida!

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 06:47:11 -0800

Vacation in Florida!

When’s dinner?

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 21:11:07 -0800

When’s dinner?

Adorable

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 06:04:07 -0800

Adorable

Cool.

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 14:43:30 -0800

Cool.

smudgemark: Dame Shirley Bassey servin’ it up “Goldfinger”...

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 14:42:38 -0800

smudgemark:

Dame Shirley Bassey servin’ it up “Goldfinger” style at the 2013 Academy Awards.

Love her!