Underwater robots monitor weather
http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,3272973%255E1702,00.html
UNDERWATER robots drifting with the currents off the Western Australian
coastline are providing scientists with a revolutionary snapshot of ocean
weather.
The robots provide data for ocean forecasts, rainfall predictions and
environmental management, CSIRO oceanographer Susan Wijffels said in a
statement.
"The new float technology is delivering a dramatic new capability for the
world to look deep into the ocean and see the changes occurring which will
affect our weather in the short and long term," Dr Wijffels said.
The network also provides scientists with data on how and where oceans soak up
greenhouse-generated heat, and helps identify indicators of coming droughts,
floods, and changes in marine ecosystems.
CSIRO Marine Research has already deployed 10 robotic floats, valued at
$30,000 each, and a further 15 will be released between now and the end of
2002.
The floats act like oceanic weather balloons, drifting with the currents about
2km below the surface.
They surface every 10 days and report information via a satellite link. The
robotic floats form the so-called Argo component of a larger, international
ocean weather project known as the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment.
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Useless hypotheses, etc.:
consciousness, phlogiston, philosophy, vitalism, mind, free will, qualia,
analog computing, cultural relativism, GAC, Cyc, Eliza, cryonics, individual
uniqueness, ego, human values, scientific relinquishment, malevolent AI,
non-sensory experience
We move into a better future in proportion as science displaces superstition.
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