(May 25, 2010 at 1:35 am)Watson Wrote: I heard somewhere that we know more about space than we do our own oceans? Something like we're only aware of 3% of what the whole ocean has to offer, I believe. Correct me if I'm wrong on this, someone.
Well, 3% sounds awfully low to me- we do know a lot about the oceans, albeit mainly about the continental shelves (the shallower parts). Anyway, I can't really see how you can put a number on it, since we don't know what it is that we don't know.
What is true is that amazing discoveries continue to be made in the deep oceans. For example, the first black smokers (a variety of hydrothermal vent), with their amazingly weird ecosystems, were only discovered in 1977. New areas of hydrothermal vents are still being found, and their chemistry and therefore biology vary significantly from each other.
Black smokers are weirdly beautiful:
And the life that they harbour is even weirder. This is the Pompeii Worm, discovered in the 1980s. It can live in water thats 80 degees C (176 degrees F) hock:
He who desires to worship God must harbor no childish illusions about the matter but bravely renounce his liberty and humanity.
Mikhail Bakunin
A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything
Friedrich Nietzsche
Mikhail Bakunin
A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything
Friedrich Nietzsche