So, apparently this blog has a slightly larger readership than I was initially aware of. It's exciting and ever so slightly daunting. For everyone out there who doesn't know me. I'm the Australian on the AB334 UNIS course. If you see someone slipping on ice, tripping over snow in the dark or staring in wonder at icicles it's probably me. I was raised in southern Australia during one of the longest periods of drought so I'm still amazed by all this frozen water just sitting around not doing anything, on the other hand I am mentally well equipped to deal with the water shortage we're currently experiencing! (4 minute showers every 2 days, just like being at home!)
Anyhow, the official Mare Incognitum blog is back up and running here, but as many of you have notice I quite enjoy writing so continuing doing so is the plan!
I'm hoping to be able to give an update on what's happening in some of the other groups sooner rather than later, but we in group 4 have been pretty busy of late, so there hasn't been too much time to catch up on the science gossip.
On the other hand, we've been busy because we've been getting stuff done! It's exciting, it's radical, it's awesome! Yesterday was predominantly a AUV day, our job for the day was to run a mission which would map the sea floor of the bay just outside the marine lab. We're doing this for group 3 so that they can correlate some of their findings to specific locations (obviously correlation still isn't causation, but it looks pretty to have maps! - Plus, I love all things spatial so it was quite an exciting mission).
We had group 3 ghosting us for the day so they could see the process we went through to get the mission up and running. The majority of the process being waiting for the wind to calm down, so they got to really experience the whole thing. Waiting, waiting, short periods of action followed by waiting. As our leader (aka lord and master) keeps saying, "Now boring is good".
Though it wasn't actually too cold we still wrapped our young lady in a sleeping bag so she could keep warm and snug whilst waiting.
Anyhow, the official Mare Incognitum blog is back up and running here, but as many of you have notice I quite enjoy writing so continuing doing so is the plan!
I'm hoping to be able to give an update on what's happening in some of the other groups sooner rather than later, but we in group 4 have been pretty busy of late, so there hasn't been too much time to catch up on the science gossip.
On the other hand, we've been busy because we've been getting stuff done! It's exciting, it's radical, it's awesome! Yesterday was predominantly a AUV day, our job for the day was to run a mission which would map the sea floor of the bay just outside the marine lab. We're doing this for group 3 so that they can correlate some of their findings to specific locations (obviously correlation still isn't causation, but it looks pretty to have maps! - Plus, I love all things spatial so it was quite an exciting mission).
We had group 3 ghosting us for the day so they could see the process we went through to get the mission up and running. The majority of the process being waiting for the wind to calm down, so they got to really experience the whole thing. Waiting, waiting, short periods of action followed by waiting. As our leader (aka lord and master) keeps saying, "Now boring is good".
Though it wasn't actually too cold we still wrapped our young lady in a sleeping bag so she could keep warm and snug whilst waiting.
Because we had a lot of activity down at the pier today we were based out of the most high tech of offices, the back of a van. I can't help but feel after this we're going to be very well trained to work as spooks spying on people, or when we put on balaclavas against the cold possibly we're training as bank robbers. It's hard to know, but either way they're transferable skills, as my mum would say!
I finally got a good photo of the AUV in water and the boat. So here it is, I'm guessing everyone has a pretty good idea of what this looks like in water now.
And a reasonable photo of us shepherding the AUV out into the big bad wilds of Kongsfjord. You can see the slight green glow of the AUV out the front of the boat.
And this is what a bunch of group 3 peeps watching the AUV going out looks like. It was exciting stuff, though moods were somewhat dampened by the whole rain thing, I thought this was supposed to be the arctic! Frostbite is supposed to be the risk not getting soggy and sulking!
But all up, despite the rain, it looks like the whole mission went really well and we got some data that hopefully group 3 will be able to use!
But, it was not just robots that happened today. Group 3 also have been building a scaffolding of awesomeness which they have attached a time-lapse camera to. This is now sitting out in the sea and taking regular photos of whats happening out there. I believe the plan is for it to be out there for a full 24 hour period. Group 1 is also doing a similar 24 hour measurement off the pier to measure bio luminescence, they have also been doing water column profiles through the day and night.
But, it was not just robots that happened today. Group 3 also have been building a scaffolding of awesomeness which they have attached a time-lapse camera to. This is now sitting out in the sea and taking regular photos of whats happening out there. I believe the plan is for it to be out there for a full 24 hour period. Group 1 is also doing a similar 24 hour measurement off the pier to measure bio luminescence, they have also been doing water column profiles through the day and night.
And even with all that there was still a more important lesson that we learnt today. And this was about the process of science. There is a common myth amongst society that science is done by the lone guy in a lab coat at night, he's probably cackling to himself and sticking electrodes in things. That or he's doing something with a syringe. This is a myth that is perpetuated by TV (where everyone wears a lab coat all the time) and even by those personality profiles where introverts and people who work better by themselves are encouraged to become scientists.
But that isn't what's happening here, and from my experience isn't what happens in the most of the scientific world. Science isn't the Big Bang Theory with super smart people coming up with brilliant ideas all by themselves. It's a collaboration between people with different skills, ideas and backgrounds. It's discussion and debate and above all it's team work and it takes time and patience.
The things that we're doing we couldn't do by ourselves. We need technicians, boat drivers, divers, administrators and cooks. We need biologists and technologists to work together to solve problems that are going to mean that we can actually do what we came here to do. And that we can hopefully answer some of the questions that we have.
Yesterday we spent much of the afternoon discussing and planning what we are going to do with the AUV tomorrow. This meant extensive discussion of the question that we are asking to ensure that everyone understands it. That's particularly important because we've got people with such different expertises working together. And then we spent just as long going back and forth with different options and ideas, as a group of about 9 or so people. As most people are aware, this isn't a natural environment for an introvert, and it can be challenging and frustrating environment. But at the same time it can also be invigorating, fascinating and is an excellent chance to do some hands on learning.
So the moral of the day was that it's all about team work and working hard so that people with different skills and backgrounds can contribute to something greater than what anyone sitting alone in a lab could do.
In the end we came up with a great plan for the next few days, and if the weather gods play nice we should have some awesome science on our hands!
But that isn't what's happening here, and from my experience isn't what happens in the most of the scientific world. Science isn't the Big Bang Theory with super smart people coming up with brilliant ideas all by themselves. It's a collaboration between people with different skills, ideas and backgrounds. It's discussion and debate and above all it's team work and it takes time and patience.
The things that we're doing we couldn't do by ourselves. We need technicians, boat drivers, divers, administrators and cooks. We need biologists and technologists to work together to solve problems that are going to mean that we can actually do what we came here to do. And that we can hopefully answer some of the questions that we have.
Yesterday we spent much of the afternoon discussing and planning what we are going to do with the AUV tomorrow. This meant extensive discussion of the question that we are asking to ensure that everyone understands it. That's particularly important because we've got people with such different expertises working together. And then we spent just as long going back and forth with different options and ideas, as a group of about 9 or so people. As most people are aware, this isn't a natural environment for an introvert, and it can be challenging and frustrating environment. But at the same time it can also be invigorating, fascinating and is an excellent chance to do some hands on learning.
So the moral of the day was that it's all about team work and working hard so that people with different skills and backgrounds can contribute to something greater than what anyone sitting alone in a lab could do.
In the end we came up with a great plan for the next few days, and if the weather gods play nice we should have some awesome science on our hands!
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