Satellites Spot Oceans Aglow With Trillions of Organisms (nytimes.com) 23
A new generation of detectors let scientists identify a dozen large episodes of bioluminescence, one a hundred times larger than Manhattan -- and that's the smallest. From a report: The ocean has always glowed. The Greeks and Romans knew of luminous sea creatures as well as the more general phenomenon of seawater that can light up in bluish-green colors. Charles Darwin, as he sailed near South America on a dark night aboard the H.M.S. Beagle, encountered luminescent waves. He called it "a wonderful and most beautiful spectacle." As far as the eye could see, he added, "the crest of every wave was bright" -- so much so that the "livid flames" lit the sky. Now, scientists report that ocean bioluminescence can be so intense and massive in scale that satellites orbiting five hundred miles high can see glowing mats of microorganisms as they materialize in the seas. Last month in the journal Scientific Reports, eight investigators told of finding a luminous patch south of Java in 2019 that grew to be larger than the combined areas of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.
"It was an epiphany," said Steven D. Miller, lead author on the bioluminescence study and a specialist in satellite observations at Colorado State University. When a hidden wonder of nature comes to light, he added, "it captures your imagination." The scientists said the close examination of images gathered between December 2012 and March 2021 from a pair of satellites let them identify a dozen extremely large events -- approximately one every eight months. Even the smallest was a hundred times larger than Manhattan. The imagery is opening a new window on the world's oceans, scientists say, and promises to aid the tracking and study of the glowing seas, whose origins are poorly understood. Kenneth H. Nealson, a pioneer of bioluminescence research at the University of Southern California, called the discovery "a big step toward being able to understand" how an enduring mystery of the sea "actually comes to be."
"It was an epiphany," said Steven D. Miller, lead author on the bioluminescence study and a specialist in satellite observations at Colorado State University. When a hidden wonder of nature comes to light, he added, "it captures your imagination." The scientists said the close examination of images gathered between December 2012 and March 2021 from a pair of satellites let them identify a dozen extremely large events -- approximately one every eight months. Even the smallest was a hundred times larger than Manhattan. The imagery is opening a new window on the world's oceans, scientists say, and promises to aid the tracking and study of the glowing seas, whose origins are poorly understood. Kenneth H. Nealson, a pioneer of bioluminescence research at the University of Southern California, called the discovery "a big step toward being able to understand" how an enduring mystery of the sea "actually comes to be."
Paywall (Score:1, Offtopic)
NYT Paywall should die in a fire. (Score:2, Insightful)
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There that was difficult.
Well, you've submitted 14 times, so you know it doesn't cause your head to explode.
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Submit more articles that link to no-paywalled sites.
There that was difficult.
How does me submitting prevent Slashdot from posting NYT articles? Is there a magic bit of HTML I have to insert? Please I want to know how to delete other people's submissions! I haven't found that feature yet!
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The secret sauce of the HTML is (this is difficult) never submitting a link to the NYT and instead submitting as many links to free sites as you possibly can.
It's been that long since I even tried going there - does the NYT still have the geofence they erected when
Paywall complainers (Score:4, Informative)
Since the readers of "news for nerds" aren't capable of bypassing a paywall I'll be a nice guy and show them a little secret. https://archive.is/6yDqA [archive.is]
Re:Paywall complainers (Score:4, Informative)
Since the readers of "news for nerds" aren't capable of bypassing a paywall I'll be a nice guy and show them a little secret. https://archive.is/6yDqA [archive.is]
Original Paper for Real Nerds here [nature.com], or a PDF [nature.com].
Re: (Score:2)
thanks for not being a prick about it :)
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Please don't confuse the vocal protest as an incapability to do something we shouldn't fucking need to do in the first place. Instead of directing your comment at readers, why not direct it at editors.
No point publishing New York Times articles (Score:1, Offtopic)
that require subscriptions..
Hint: (Score:4, Informative)
If you block cookies then you can read it for free. Also, use the "I don't care about cookies" extension to avoid those annoying popups telling you about cookie use.
Not impressed (Score:2)
Call me when we can spot trillions of organisms in space.
new expliot (Score:1)
The abstract and scientific article (Score:2)
Impressive, yet scary (Score:2)
The fact sensors have evolved so far that we can basically see what is almost full darkness from hundreds of km away is impressive, but also makes me wonder what we can see in cityscapes and other places where human activity happens.
If youâ(TM)ve ever seen the algae at night, itâ(TM)s not much brighter than one of those glowing party sticks. You could probably detect illegal pot plantations from satellites with that kind of sensitivity.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't think it's that impressive when you think about the smallest patch they found being "a hundred times larger than Manhattan". That's over 2200 square miles, which is close to 6000 square km (thanks to the Google unit converter). How many glow-sticks of light is that?
Using (extremely) rough guesses, pretend each square meter of ocean puts out roughly 100 glow-sticks worth of light over that much surface area (that's 1 glow-stick per square decimeter, which is close to 16 square inches, which is a good
Gargantia (Score:2)
Reminds me of the bioluminescent organisms powering the Gargantia fleet.
Obligatory (Score:2)
I read it as the glow of trillions of organisms.
Because that is my duty. As a guy.
Dear Slashdot editors: (Score:1)
This is an example of news that is super interesting, and nice,
but has no reason to comment, or even click.
So it will look really unpopular, while (if people are like me), actually being very popular and welcome.
Please keep that in mind, if you still care about this site at all.
I found a luminous patch... (Score:1)
Links to Steve Miller's paper (Score:2)
The paywall is beyond annoying. Here are two links.
Blog
https://source.colostate.edu/s... [colostate.edu]
Nature
https://www.nature.com/article... [nature.com]
Who, apart from NYT writers (Score:2)
Yes, high-sensitivity sensors such as those fitted to the HST still can't be pointed at the Earth (or Sun, or Moon), because the contrast between reflected sunlight and the faintest objects the sensors are expected to be aimed at is still too high. But so what? Those sensors