31 days under water: Cousteau is back in the sea!
What kind of trials our smartphones and telephones had to meet in their life journey: they soared into the air , stopped bullets at the cost of their own lives, removed panoramas from the most beautiful roofs of Moscow, were in the very center of lightning, and even rose into the stratosphere . Well, you understand that we could not but bring the matter to the end without trying to drown them in the ocean.
This summer, the project "Mission 31" (Mission 31) took place , in which Nokia and our smartphones took direct part. The grandson of the famous depth explorer Fabien Cousteau, who also devoted his life to studying the world's oceans, spent 31 days in the Aquarius underwater laboratory. About how it was and why this expedition is interesting from a technological point of view, we want to tell you in our today's post.
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According to the idea of ​​the project, Fabien Cousteau and his two colleagues had to reside in Aquarius for a month and one day. Also, four other researchers and two underwater cameramen took part in the project, who worked on a rotational basis, replacing each other.
The laboratory itself, in which the project was carried out, is located at a depth of 20 meters in a national marine reserve off the Florida Keys in the Gulf of Mexico. It was built in 1986 and is currently working under the auspices of the International University of Florida.
Underwater station "Aquarius"
Every day, aquanauts spent up to nine hours studying the ocean depths and experiments outside the base walls. And all this happened interactively - the whole course of the expedition was broadcast live, including through a specially created application for Windows Phone . Internet users could also see on Facebook and Instagram: photos taken by members of the expedition or, for example, ask a question on Twitter.
Humor at the bottom (in a good way). Photos from the official account "Mission 31" on Instagram
Within the project, aquanauts not only conducted scientific experiments, but also studied the physiological and psychological effects of long-term diving. It is important that such information can be useful not only to marine biologists, but also to future space travelers.
In addition to the research component, the Mission 31, which started on June 1, also had historical prerequisites. The start of the expedition was dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the experiment of the Continental Ice Shelf Station Two: then Jacques-Yves Cousteau organized a 30-day underwater mission, during which six oceanographers lived in an underwater base under the surface of the Red Sea. It was one of the first attempts to build an underwater laboratory and provide scientists with round-the-clock access to the subject of their research.
At the end of the expedition, it can be stated that Fabien succeeded in breaking the grandfather's record, since Mission 31 became (albeit with a one-day advantage) the longest underwater research expedition in history.
Our colleagues were able to meet with Fabien Cousteau immediately after the end of the expedition and ask him a few questions:
- Fabien, a little time has already passed since the expedition ended, you managed to recover. Tell us about your impressions.
- To spend 31 days under water and to be, as they say, in touch with the outside world at the same time, was a completely new experience for me.
To be under the water and at the same time to receive text messages or questions on Twitter in the middle of the day and night with questions from Internet users about what I do, what I do there in the laboratory or even why I eat this particular food - for me it was unusual and interesting.
Since childhood, I participate in expeditions, but this is the first time we allowed ourselves and, in principle, were just able to keep in touch with the rest of the world in real time.
Nevertheless, it was rather strange that people could be watching you around the clock, and it was rather strange for them to see what we were doing there all this time (of course, except for certain moments).
- It turns out that this project was distinguished by the fact that it was interactive: did you keep in touch with the outside world, and did the outside world watch you? A kind of scientific reality show.
- Of course, this was just one aspect of this project. The fact that we stayed under water for 31 days can also be called almost epochal: it was the longest deep-sea dive in history, privately sponsored. If you believe the data of employees of "Aquarius" - it was the longest mission that ever took place outside the natural habitat.
It was symbolic for me and my family that we stayed under water for a day longer than my grandfather. We can say that in the history of the Cousteau family, a new milestone in the development of underwater depths has appeared.
- How did the fact that you always had smartphones and tablets at your fingertips influenced the course of your mission?
- It was a tool for regular communication with our surface team. In addition, I was inspired by the possibility of broadcasting video from these devices to school classes around the world in real time. We were under water, but we could communicate and communicate with all seven continents, including Antarctica.
The next session of Skype-conference on "Aquarius"
On-board Wi-Fi was installed at our station, so we could, for example, communicate on Skype using our Lumia 1020 and 1520. But this, of course, is not the main thing.
The main thing is that we could do underwater photography and immediately send content to the network. We had special Watershot covers for the Lumia 1020 designed for underwater use. Every day during the research we took amazing photos and videos, which later could be uploaded to the pages of our project and social networks. It was a kind of documentary story in real time.
It should be noted also the fact that for the first time we used devices available to the general public.
- Is the case for underwater photography also available to the general public, or was it made to order?
- No, anyone can purchase it via the Internet: Watershot sells a limited collection on its website . Of course, this is a highly specialized product, if we talk about mass character, but it allows you to take Lumia 1020 with you to a depth of 100 meters.
- One of the objectives of Mission 31 was to study the effects of climate change and water pollution on coral reefs. Have you been able to achieve this goal?
- I think yes. Global change is a difficult topic for research, at least from a chronological point of view, for example. Any changes of this scale are visible in the context of a very long period of time (we are talking about decades), so certain results are a matter of the future.
However, after spending a long time under the water, we were able to gather visual evidence of climate change using the example of changing coral reefs. And in general for such a short time we managed to do a very large scientific work.
One of our researchers described this best of all when he said that in 31 days we were able to do in science more than 3 years in a scientific laboratory. Scientists have collected 30 times more data than they could do, being on land.
- In addition to scientific research, was there anything amazing during the expedition?
Of course. Every day we found something interesting: for example, some new characteristics of the species or features of their behavior. Gradually, we learned to interact with the reef, and the local inhabitants got used to our presence.
One amazing example of behavior in a predator-prey relationship happened right before our eyes. And we did not miss the opportunity to share this with the whole Internet.
A rather large barracuda swam in front of a giant goliath perch of the goliath family, which ate its usual fish. Perch, which usually eats a small fish, decided to attack and bite the barracuda. We do not think that someone has seen this before us.
- So, what awaits you and your project in the future?
Of course, I am open to new projects with immersion to great depths, but now we are still working on an official documentary film. Secondly, we will organize a traveling exhibition “Mission31”, which will visit museums of the whole world and show people our work.
Jacques-Yves Cousteau and little Fabien Cousteau
Third, we are opening the Florida Oceanographic Center to expand the wave of interest in Mission31 simply because it turned out to be incredibly successful and met with particular interest by the community and schoolchildren. We still have so much to do!
Ascent
PS A little bit of what you (probably) wanted to know about underwater life, but were afraid to ask:
Is it possible to whistle under water?
Will a fountain of sprays and foam made of carbonated water make a fountain?
What will happen to the egg, if it is broken at the depth of the sea?
This summer, the project "Mission 31" (Mission 31) took place , in which Nokia and our smartphones took direct part. The grandson of the famous depth explorer Fabien Cousteau, who also devoted his life to studying the world's oceans, spent 31 days in the Aquarius underwater laboratory. About how it was and why this expedition is interesting from a technological point of view, we want to tell you in our today's post.
')
According to the idea of ​​the project, Fabien Cousteau and his two colleagues had to reside in Aquarius for a month and one day. Also, four other researchers and two underwater cameramen took part in the project, who worked on a rotational basis, replacing each other.
The laboratory itself, in which the project was carried out, is located at a depth of 20 meters in a national marine reserve off the Florida Keys in the Gulf of Mexico. It was built in 1986 and is currently working under the auspices of the International University of Florida.
Underwater station "Aquarius"
Every day, aquanauts spent up to nine hours studying the ocean depths and experiments outside the base walls. And all this happened interactively - the whole course of the expedition was broadcast live, including through a specially created application for Windows Phone . Internet users could also see on Facebook and Instagram: photos taken by members of the expedition or, for example, ask a question on Twitter.
Humor at the bottom (in a good way). Photos from the official account "Mission 31" on Instagram
Within the project, aquanauts not only conducted scientific experiments, but also studied the physiological and psychological effects of long-term diving. It is important that such information can be useful not only to marine biologists, but also to future space travelers.
In addition to the research component, the Mission 31, which started on June 1, also had historical prerequisites. The start of the expedition was dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the experiment of the Continental Ice Shelf Station Two: then Jacques-Yves Cousteau organized a 30-day underwater mission, during which six oceanographers lived in an underwater base under the surface of the Red Sea. It was one of the first attempts to build an underwater laboratory and provide scientists with round-the-clock access to the subject of their research.
At the end of the expedition, it can be stated that Fabien succeeded in breaking the grandfather's record, since Mission 31 became (albeit with a one-day advantage) the longest underwater research expedition in history.
Our colleagues were able to meet with Fabien Cousteau immediately after the end of the expedition and ask him a few questions:
- Fabien, a little time has already passed since the expedition ended, you managed to recover. Tell us about your impressions.
- To spend 31 days under water and to be, as they say, in touch with the outside world at the same time, was a completely new experience for me.
To be under the water and at the same time to receive text messages or questions on Twitter in the middle of the day and night with questions from Internet users about what I do, what I do there in the laboratory or even why I eat this particular food - for me it was unusual and interesting.
Since childhood, I participate in expeditions, but this is the first time we allowed ourselves and, in principle, were just able to keep in touch with the rest of the world in real time.
Nevertheless, it was rather strange that people could be watching you around the clock, and it was rather strange for them to see what we were doing there all this time (of course, except for certain moments).
- It turns out that this project was distinguished by the fact that it was interactive: did you keep in touch with the outside world, and did the outside world watch you? A kind of scientific reality show.
- Of course, this was just one aspect of this project. The fact that we stayed under water for 31 days can also be called almost epochal: it was the longest deep-sea dive in history, privately sponsored. If you believe the data of employees of "Aquarius" - it was the longest mission that ever took place outside the natural habitat.
It was symbolic for me and my family that we stayed under water for a day longer than my grandfather. We can say that in the history of the Cousteau family, a new milestone in the development of underwater depths has appeared.
- How did the fact that you always had smartphones and tablets at your fingertips influenced the course of your mission?
- It was a tool for regular communication with our surface team. In addition, I was inspired by the possibility of broadcasting video from these devices to school classes around the world in real time. We were under water, but we could communicate and communicate with all seven continents, including Antarctica.
The next session of Skype-conference on "Aquarius"
On-board Wi-Fi was installed at our station, so we could, for example, communicate on Skype using our Lumia 1020 and 1520. But this, of course, is not the main thing.
The main thing is that we could do underwater photography and immediately send content to the network. We had special Watershot covers for the Lumia 1020 designed for underwater use. Every day during the research we took amazing photos and videos, which later could be uploaded to the pages of our project and social networks. It was a kind of documentary story in real time.
It should be noted also the fact that for the first time we used devices available to the general public.
- Is the case for underwater photography also available to the general public, or was it made to order?
- No, anyone can purchase it via the Internet: Watershot sells a limited collection on its website . Of course, this is a highly specialized product, if we talk about mass character, but it allows you to take Lumia 1020 with you to a depth of 100 meters.
- One of the objectives of Mission 31 was to study the effects of climate change and water pollution on coral reefs. Have you been able to achieve this goal?
- I think yes. Global change is a difficult topic for research, at least from a chronological point of view, for example. Any changes of this scale are visible in the context of a very long period of time (we are talking about decades), so certain results are a matter of the future.
However, after spending a long time under the water, we were able to gather visual evidence of climate change using the example of changing coral reefs. And in general for such a short time we managed to do a very large scientific work.
One of our researchers described this best of all when he said that in 31 days we were able to do in science more than 3 years in a scientific laboratory. Scientists have collected 30 times more data than they could do, being on land.
- In addition to scientific research, was there anything amazing during the expedition?
Of course. Every day we found something interesting: for example, some new characteristics of the species or features of their behavior. Gradually, we learned to interact with the reef, and the local inhabitants got used to our presence.
One amazing example of behavior in a predator-prey relationship happened right before our eyes. And we did not miss the opportunity to share this with the whole Internet.
A rather large barracuda swam in front of a giant goliath perch of the goliath family, which ate its usual fish. Perch, which usually eats a small fish, decided to attack and bite the barracuda. We do not think that someone has seen this before us.
- So, what awaits you and your project in the future?
Of course, I am open to new projects with immersion to great depths, but now we are still working on an official documentary film. Secondly, we will organize a traveling exhibition “Mission31”, which will visit museums of the whole world and show people our work.
Jacques-Yves Cousteau and little Fabien Cousteau
Third, we are opening the Florida Oceanographic Center to expand the wave of interest in Mission31 simply because it turned out to be incredibly successful and met with particular interest by the community and schoolchildren. We still have so much to do!
Ascent
PS A little bit of what you (probably) wanted to know about underwater life, but were afraid to ask:
Is it possible to whistle under water?
Will a fountain of sprays and foam made of carbonated water make a fountain?
What will happen to the egg, if it is broken at the depth of the sea?
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/231171/
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