*promote

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Tuesday, March 27th, 2012 9:54am PDT - promote requested by critical_d.

Odd how the scientific community seems to have more enthusiasm for exploring the oceans of Titan than our own. I read somewhere that the technological aspects of a dive like Cameron performed are as complex as a moon landing. I guess the thinking was that if something went wrong seven miles below then you are just as screwed as if you were in the Frau Mora Highlands. If the ultimate goal is to setup a colony on Mars or our own Moon, then we should practice in our own backyard first.

>> ^critical_d:

Odd how the scientific community seems to have more enthusiasm for exploring the oceans of Titan than our own. I read somewhere that the technological aspects of a dive like Cameron performed are as complex as a moon landing. I guess the thinking was that if something went wrong seven miles below then you are just as screwed as if you were in the Frau Mora Highlands. If the ultimate goal is to setup a colony on Mars or our own Moon, then we should practice in our own backyard first.


Firstly you make the mistake of assuming that all scientists COULD be working on deep sea exploration. There wasn't a scientist working on it but then a bloke pulled him away and asked him to do space instead. Not all of them enjoy marine biology, not all of them work in the correct or an analogous field.

Secondly, there is always the argument AGAINST directed research. That is, most of our most amazing discoveries happened through studying something else and often enough by accident, so why would directed research be any better? The cosmic background radiation was discovered at bell laboratories and they thought it was due to pigeon shit at first. You may as well go back in time and tell einstein to stop pissing about with light and help solve real world problems like in-car navigation. Then suddenly 50 years down the line we have no state of the art GPS system because he didn't go into relativity.

Thirdly, exploring deep sea trenches is, i believe, an engineering problem rather than a theoretical problem. Why would a scientist need to stop working on discovering things to help to either build or generate money for something?

Fouthly, if you think there's interesting stuff in the tiny amount of water that exists on our planet, you should read up on space.

Finally, at least some of the software tools developed by computational astrophysicists have been used to solve earth-bound problems such as climate change and weather systems, so if you study something else you may end up killing two birds with one stone.

Why the hell would anyone rather look at the ocean which is right next to us over the deepest reaches of space anyway? But if we find the key to faster than light travel down there, i'll be looking sheepish

Perhaps some scientists feel if they can find life on another planet the final nail in religion's coffin will be hammered?>> ^critical_d:

Odd how the scientific community seems to have more enthusiasm for exploring the oceans of Titan than our own. I read somewhere that the technological aspects of a dive like Cameron performed are as complex as a moon landing. I guess the thinking was that if something went wrong seven miles below then you are just as screwed as if you were in the Frau Mora Highlands. If the ultimate goal is to setup a colony on Mars or our own Moon, then we should practice in our own backyard first.

>> ^surfingyt:

Perhaps some scientists feel if they can find life on another planet the final nail in religion's coffin will be hammered?>> ^critical_d:
Odd how the scientific community seems to have more enthusiasm for exploring the oceans of Titan than our own. I read somewhere that the technological aspects of a dive like Cameron performed are as complex as a moon landing. I guess the thinking was that if something went wrong seven miles below then you are just as screwed as if you were in the Frau Mora Highlands. If the ultimate goal is to setup a colony on Mars or our own Moon, then we should practice in our own backyard first.



What? Are you kidding? Even if scientists did confirm the existence of alien life the religious will just move the goalposts in the same way they did when the world was discovered to be round, and that the earth was not the centre of the solar system, or indeed the universe.

The Vatican's "Pontifical Academy of Sciences" has even held a conference on alien life:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/6536400/The-Vatican-joins-the-search-for-alien-life.html

For the deeply religious no scientific proof that contradicts their religious beliefs will ever be proof enough.

360p?
I expected at least 1080 with an option for 3d.

Yay, JC survived.

Geeze @dannym3141, I think you went a bit harsh there on @critical_d... I don't think he was AT ALL saying NOT to do space exploration, but rather it's a bit baffling that there has been so little deep sea exploration. It's entirely conceivable that things will be found down there that can change our life in large ways... some animal that produces some chemical that is a huge boon to science, some animal that changes how we think of biology... a relic of an alien civilisation.

OK, maybe not the last one.

There's more than enough reason to be doing both.

@spoco2 - i hope @critical_d would feel comfortable to speak to me if she/he felt like i was being rude. I do not consider how i spoke to be harsh, i was using natural language, bit of local slang perhaps, i was trying to make some decent scientific points without sounding like a beligerant dork.

I don't think i was harsh or rude? I see critical upvoted my comment, so i think it's probably ok, maybe some knowledge was shared in a positive way, spoken colloquially between two people of different ilks.....ON TEH INTERNET. And that's great.

@dannym3141, I upvoted your reply as I appreciated the time you took to share your thoughts. I can see how your post might be interpreted as rude or aggressive but I don't think that was your intention. If you were really trying to be a jerk then you can say your sorry my visiting my p-queue and upvoting everything.

@spoco2 did a superb job in explaining what I was trying to convey...many thanks!


>> ^dannym3141:

@spoco2 - i hope @critical_d would feel comfortable to speak to me if she/he felt like i was being rude. I do not consider how i spoke to be harsh, i was using natural language, bit of local slang perhaps, i was trying to make some decent scientific points without sounding like a beligerant dork.
I don't think i was harsh or rude? I see critical upvoted my comment, so i think it's probably ok, maybe some knowledge was shared in a positive way, spoken colloquially between two people of different ilks.....ON TEH INTERNET. And that's great.

Despite his preachy, formulaic films (many good to great) I give props to a guy who ventures to the deepest deep in one of those steel testicles.

Need to watch Abyss again

About the title, this isn't the first footage from of the Challenger Deep in the Marianas Trench. The ROVs Kaikō in 1996 and Nereus in 2009 both took footage and samples. But I'm sure Cameron has the most awesome footage to date.

Fixed.

I'm such a James Cameron fan. He can do no wrong.

Blue Planet: The Deep -- watch it!!!

This has better developed characters than Titanic or Avatar.

Avatar, the first big 3 dimensional film: the characters are one dimensional, the dialogue is one dimensional and the plot is one dimensional.

Wow! That was so Zzzzzzz.

>> ^surfingyt:

Perhaps some scientists feel if they can find life on another planet the final nail in religion's coffin will be hammered?>> ^critical_d:
Odd how the scientific community seems to have more enthusiasm for exploring the oceans of Titan than our own. I read somewhere that the technological aspects of a dive like Cameron performed are as complex as a moon landing. I guess the thinking was that if something went wrong seven miles below then you are just as screwed as if you were in the Frau Mora Highlands. If the ultimate goal is to setup a colony on Mars or our own Moon, then we should practice in our own backyard first.

The God of the Gaps can exist in any reality. @TheSluiceGate was right. The goalposts just get moved.

>> ^critical_d:

Odd how the scientific community seems to have more enthusiasm for exploring the oceans of Titan than our own. I read somewhere that the technological aspects of a dive like Cameron performed are as complex as a moon landing. I guess the thinking was that if something went wrong seven miles below then you are just as screwed as if you were in the Frau Mora Highlands. If the ultimate goal is to setup a colony on Mars or our own Moon, then we should practice in our own backyard first.


Not to mention his submersible has to hold back 1100 atmospheres of force, and out in orbit, the space station only has to hold in 1 atmosphere of force.

>> ^serosmeg:

Wow! That was so Zzzzzzz.


Glad I could help.

They should study the ocean, because I want to live underwater and have a pet shark that I can feed with people I don't like. Oh and maybe super powers are down there, that's a reason for anything....although Aquaman has lame powers in the scope of superpowers, they'd still be pretty awesome.

>> ^Porksandwich:

They should study the ocean, because I want to live underwater and have a pet shark that I can feed with people I don't like. Oh and maybe super powers are down there, that's a reason for anything....although Aquaman has lame powers in the scope of superpowers, they'd still be pretty awesome.


Sharks. Laser beams. Frickin' heads.