NASA Uses Rubber Ducks In Climate Study 33
NASA researchers have dropped 90 rubber ducks into holes of Greenland's fastest moving glacier: the Jakobshavn Glacier in Baffin Bay. Scientists are unsure as to why glaciers speed up in the summer months. One theory is that the summer sun melts ice on the surface of the glacier, which creates pools of water, which then flow into moulins -- narrow tubular shafts in the glacier. These then transport the water from the top to the underside of the glacier. The rubber ducks, labeled with the words "science experiment" and "reward" in three languages, along with an email address, may provide some answers. It is hoped that in addition to bath time, the ducks can make a livable climate lots of fun.
Sounds like a Pixar Film... (Score:5, Interesting)
Here's the original rubber duck pioneers: a crate full of rubber ducks washed over the side of a container ship. The brave little ducks (and their turtle friends) sailed the world's oceans, even surviving a four year trip frozen through the arctic.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0731/p01s04-woeu.html [csmonitor.com]
We should continue this tradition by landing a rubber duck on the next spacecraft to Mars. A fitting tribute.
Reward? (Score:3, Interesting)
How much do they pay? Is it scaled to the economy of the finder's location? How long till it expires? Is it inflationally adjusted?
We must have Science types here who've been involved in tagging programs. What are the going rates? Is there any consensus or guidelines? How do you structure the budget for returns well after the program has ended, and most of the people moved on? Do University secretaries have a list of all past return programmes and updated contacts?
We could make up a RFC - Bottle Note Protocol.