RTE News/Ireland: Cork divers discover WWI U-boat
Divers have described their discovery of a WWI German U-boat that historians believe was destroyed in 1919.
All 27 crew on board the UC42 died when the submarine sank at the entrance to Cork Harbour on 10 September 1917.
It had been laying mines when an explosion was heard.
A team of five amateur divers from Cork discovered the submarine in good condition in 27m of water just off Roches Point on 6 November after a 12-month search.
Diver Ian Kelleher said they were very surprised and ecstatic to find it with little obvious explosive damage.
Positive identification was possible when they found its number stamped on a propeller.
Mr Kelleher, a chemistry student, said that two days before Christmas, the dive team laid a plaque of remembrance near the propellers as a memorial to the 27 German submariners who died.
They plan to return to the site over the coming weeks and continue their research into the submarine and its crew, including trying to contact relatives of the crew.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Divers Find Rare Bell off St. Augustine Coast
First Coast News: Divers Find Rare Bell off St. Augustine Coast
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- Their excitement rang through every word.
They had found a ship's bell, one of the most rare discoveries off the coast.
Divers from LAMP (Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program) at the St. Augustine Lighthouse were on a routine site check of a shipwreck when Dr. Sam Turner saw what he described as a "horizontal shadow."
"And it was a bell," said Dr. Turner. "There was no mistaking it. I mean, there was stuff encrusted onto it, but it was very clearly a bell."
Employees with LAMP said only two bells have ever been recovered off the First Coast.
"The bell is traditionally known as the diver's holy grail," explained Chuck Meide, Director of LAMP. "That's because a ship's bell is extremely rare and also, a ship's bell is often the best clue to the identity of a shipwreck."
Crews spent time Sunday removing some of the concretion that covered the bronze bell after years of sitting below the surface.
They had hoped to find a date or a maker's mark on the metal that would help them figure out the name of the ship. However, with about 75 percent of the surface cleared, there was no clue to help them determine the ship's identity.
Meide estimated the rest of the restoration work could take a year. During that time, the bell will have to remain wet to keep it from degrading, after an estimated 200 years under water.
Eventually, the bell will be put on display at the lighthouse museum, but in the meantime, the divers are enjoying their discovery
"I've always had that tough question: 'What is the most amazing thing you've ever found underwater?' Now I have no doubts," said Dr. Turner. "Without a doubt, it's this bell. It's an amazing find."
A chip off the old block
ABC: Breaking the Ice, Karen Barlow is aboard the Aurora Australis as it ventures to Antarctica for an up-close inspectoin of an immense glacial ice floe in the Southern Ocean.
A chip off the old block
I've heard the Southern Ocean attracts a hardy individual but a block of wood on an iceberg is ridiculous.
This lonely piece of timber was spotted on the top of a small berg at 66 degrees south, just north of Commonwealth Bay.
Wildlife watchers near Aurora Australis' bridge first thought it was a relaxing seal but it was soon apparent it was rectangular in shape.
How it got to such a prominent position, instead of just floating around, is anyone's guess.
Since it is lifeless and non-magnetic, its baffling position won't be due to the fact that we are very close to the south magnetic pole.
Yes, we are near the wandering point in the earth's surface where the geomagnetic field lines are vertical, rather than lying across the planet from pole to pole.
Normal compasses don't work in this region. The one I have brought on board is now confused by all the iron in the ship.
The south magnetic pole was positioned on the Antarctic continent 100 years ago. It has since wandered out to sea due to changes in the Earth's magnetic field.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Dubai's world has a sinking feeling
THis'd make a great site for a disaster film...in about 10 years ...
Dubai's world has a sinking feeling
THEY were intended as the ultimate luxury possession. But ''The World'', the man-made islands off the coast of Dubai shaped like the countries of the globe, are sinking, a property tribunal has heard.
Developed with hotels and villas, the islands are accessible by boat, but the sands are eroding and navigational channels between them are silting up, the British lawyer for a company bringing a case against state-run developer, Nakheel, told judges. ''The islands are gradually falling back into the sea,'' said Richard Wilmot-Smith QC, for Penguin Marine.
According to Nakheel, 70 per cent of The World's 300 islands have been sold, but most of the development plans have been brought to a crashing halt by the financial crisis. Only one of the islands - Greenland - is inhabited, and that is a showpiece owned by the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum.
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An artist's impression of "The World" issued by developer Nakheel. Photo: AP
The company was part of Dubai World, the state-owned conglomerate that had to be bailed out of debts put at $A25 billion at the end of 2009.
Nakheel is also behind Dubai's palm-shaped offshore developments. Villas in the only one near completion, Palm Jumeirah, were given to or bought by footballers, including former England stars David Beckham and Michael Owen.
Investors who bought islands proved unwilling or unable to finance further work when Dubai's property prices halved.
John O'Dolan, owner of the company that bought Ireland for $A38.5 million, killed himself, while Safi Qurashi, who bought Britain for $A69 million, is in jail in Dubai after being accused of bouncing cheques.
Penguin Marine, which bought the rights to provide boat travel to the islands, is trying to get out of a contract that involves paying an annual fee of about $A1.6 million to Nakheel.
Graham Lovett, for Nakheel, said the project was not dead but admitted it was ''in a coma''.
The tribunal found for Nakheel yesterday, saying it would give full reasoning later.
A Nakheel spokesman insisted the islands were not sinking. ''Our periodical survey over the past three years didn't observe any substantial erosion that required sand nourishment,'' he said
Dubai's world has a sinking feeling
THEY were intended as the ultimate luxury possession. But ''The World'', the man-made islands off the coast of Dubai shaped like the countries of the globe, are sinking, a property tribunal has heard.
Developed with hotels and villas, the islands are accessible by boat, but the sands are eroding and navigational channels between them are silting up, the British lawyer for a company bringing a case against state-run developer, Nakheel, told judges. ''The islands are gradually falling back into the sea,'' said Richard Wilmot-Smith QC, for Penguin Marine.
According to Nakheel, 70 per cent of The World's 300 islands have been sold, but most of the development plans have been brought to a crashing halt by the financial crisis. Only one of the islands - Greenland - is inhabited, and that is a showpiece owned by the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum.
Advertisement: Story continues below
An artist's impression of "The World" issued by developer Nakheel. Photo: AP
The company was part of Dubai World, the state-owned conglomerate that had to be bailed out of debts put at $A25 billion at the end of 2009.
Nakheel is also behind Dubai's palm-shaped offshore developments. Villas in the only one near completion, Palm Jumeirah, were given to or bought by footballers, including former England stars David Beckham and Michael Owen.
Investors who bought islands proved unwilling or unable to finance further work when Dubai's property prices halved.
John O'Dolan, owner of the company that bought Ireland for $A38.5 million, killed himself, while Safi Qurashi, who bought Britain for $A69 million, is in jail in Dubai after being accused of bouncing cheques.
Penguin Marine, which bought the rights to provide boat travel to the islands, is trying to get out of a contract that involves paying an annual fee of about $A1.6 million to Nakheel.
Graham Lovett, for Nakheel, said the project was not dead but admitted it was ''in a coma''.
The tribunal found for Nakheel yesterday, saying it would give full reasoning later.
A Nakheel spokesman insisted the islands were not sinking. ''Our periodical survey over the past three years didn't observe any substantial erosion that required sand nourishment,'' he said
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Edo Castle stones found in Sagami Bay
Dily Yomiuri Online: Edo Castle stones found in Sagami Bay
YOKOHAMA--Four large stones believed to have been quarried on Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture more than 400 years ago for the reconstruction and expansion of Edo Castle have been found in Sagami Bay.
The stones were found during an underwater survey jointly conducted by the Asian Research Institute of Underwater Archaeology and Ishichoba Iseki Kenkyu-kai, a study group comprising local government officials in charge of cultural properties, off Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Dec. 25.
The stones, believed to be among many quarried into usually square shapes, were found at a depth of two to five meters in areas about five to 30 meters off the coast. One of the stones is approximately 90 centimeters by 90 centimeters by 2 meters, about the same size as stones used in the central part of the castle grounds.
The stones are believed to have been quarried in 1606 in a project carried out by feudal lords under the order of the Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1867).
Some of the stones had holes called ya-ana that are thought to have been drilled into them to make them easier to quarry.
According to documents, about 3,000 ships carried stones quarried on Izu Peninsula to Edo for the reconstruction project.
The four recently discovered stones are highly likely to have fallen off a ship on the way to Edo (modern-day Tokyo) or washed out to sea when they were piled up on the coast.
"It [the finding of the stones] is an important initial step to learn how marine transportation--which until now has only been known through documents or drawings--was carried out," said Soichiro Kitagaki, head of Ishikawa Prefectural Research Institute of Kanazawa Castle and an expert on stone walls. "I hope traces of a port will also be discovered."
YOKOHAMA--Four large stones believed to have been quarried on Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture more than 400 years ago for the reconstruction and expansion of Edo Castle have been found in Sagami Bay.
The stones were found during an underwater survey jointly conducted by the Asian Research Institute of Underwater Archaeology and Ishichoba Iseki Kenkyu-kai, a study group comprising local government officials in charge of cultural properties, off Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Dec. 25.
The stones, believed to be among many quarried into usually square shapes, were found at a depth of two to five meters in areas about five to 30 meters off the coast. One of the stones is approximately 90 centimeters by 90 centimeters by 2 meters, about the same size as stones used in the central part of the castle grounds.
The stones are believed to have been quarried in 1606 in a project carried out by feudal lords under the order of the Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1867).
Some of the stones had holes called ya-ana that are thought to have been drilled into them to make them easier to quarry.
According to documents, about 3,000 ships carried stones quarried on Izu Peninsula to Edo for the reconstruction project.
The four recently discovered stones are highly likely to have fallen off a ship on the way to Edo (modern-day Tokyo) or washed out to sea when they were piled up on the coast.
"It [the finding of the stones] is an important initial step to learn how marine transportation--which until now has only been known through documents or drawings--was carried out," said Soichiro Kitagaki, head of Ishikawa Prefectural Research Institute of Kanazawa Castle and an expert on stone walls. "I hope traces of a port will also be discovered."
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Florida couple plan for life under the sea
10 News WTSP: Florida couple plan for life under the sea
Cocoa, Florida (Florida Today) -- Today, the Chamberlands live under the sunny, blue skies of west Cocoa. Soon, they hope to gaze up through aqua-gray tints of Atlantica, the world's first permanent undersea colony.
They're determined to do so by 2015, somewhere off East Central Florida, maybe even Brevard County. They've signed up 13 others to live with them in cylindrical steel modules, 200 feet down and tapping into the Gulf Stream for energy, oxygen and scientific discovery.
The Chamberlands envision quarters safe enough for children. Even their cat, Snickers, will go with them, transported in a submarine-like cylinder with a glass bubble port.
"Now we seem to be focused and preoccupied on space, but the ocean cultures are coming and they're coming fast," said Dennis Chamberland, a contract manager for NASA who's designed prototypes of advanced life support systems for the moon and Mars. "It's inevitable."
The 59-year-old is quick to point out that NASA isn't involved in his project, dubbed the Atlantica Expeditions. But for Chamberland, pioneering the first undersea colony would fulfill a lifelong crusade -- what he describes as the inborn "splinter" in his mind.
"I just never turned loose of it," he said of his childhood dream.
But the notion is far from child's play or fantasy. The Chamberlands say they're less than two years from a record-setting dry run of long-term undersea living.
Along with a fellow aquanaut, and their pet, they hope to submerge for 90 days in an undersea habitat called Leviathan on July 4, 2012. The stay would break the world record of 69 days, set in 1991 in the Jules' Undersea Lodge in Key Largo.
The Chamberlands already hold the record for the most accumulated days working as a married undersea aquanaut team, 31 days combined from eight missions.
While Snickers is a relative newcomer to the underwater world, Dennis and Claudia have been diving partners for two decades. Dennis Chamberland never goes in the water without her.
She is the CEO of their nonprofit, League of the New Worlds, founded 20 years ago to promote colonization of the ocean and space.
Far from water
A main image on "The Atlantic Expeditions" website is of a young boy gazing out over the aqua glow of a futuristic undersea city.
The seeds of Dennis Chamberland's boyhood obsession -- his "splinter" -- germinated about as far as away from the ocean as American child can grow up, on the great plains of Haskell, Okla., a town of 1,800 just south of Tulsa. The local library provided the only outlet for his yearning for ocean adventure.
He'd spend countless hours in his tree house, watching morning rays pierce the leaves, relishing the sanctuary and separation from the ground.
Chamberland said his can-do attitude came from his father, an aerospace engineering technician who built their home and had a sign on his desk that read: "If you can dream it, I can build it."
At age 12, Dennis would rush home to watch his hero, Mike Nelson, played by Lloyd Bridges, on "Sea Hunt." But at 14, he failed a swimming class at the YMCA.
Years later, as a student at Oklahoma State University, he taught himself to swim and eventually became a certified diver.
Early 'Survivor'
Chamberland also kept exploring the idea of undersea living and created the Omega Project while at college, including a weeklong mission in a mock sea lab.
"It was a really early version of 'Survivor,' " said Chamberland, who finished a dual major in physical sciences and psychology, then served as a U.S. Navy officer in the Pacific.
Six years after graduating, he returned to Oklahoma State to earn a master's in bioenvironmental engineering. That led to a job with the Navy as a civilian nuclear engineer and then for NASA in the mid-1980s.
Chamberland became a NASA aquanaut in 1994, directing several missions, including the first planting and harvesting of an agricultural crop on the ocean floor at MarineLab in Key Largo.
He also designed and built NASA's Scott Carpenter Space Analog Station, a 101/2-ton submersible lab in Key Largo named after the astronaut and aquanaut.
Launched in 1997 and 1998, about 20 aquanauts visited the station, including Hollywood director James Cameron, of "Titanic" and "Avatar" fame. Cameron is listed on Chamberland's website among 65 crew members signed up to visit during the so-called Atlantica Expeditions.
Dangers at sea
National Geographic Channel recently featured Chamberland's and other modern efforts to live undersea on its "Naked Science" series. But extended underwater stays date back more than a half century.
Robert Stenuit embarked on the world's first aquanaut mission in 1962 in the French Riviera. He lowered 200 feet in a three-foot-diameter, 11-foot-long aluminum cylinder. The planned two-day dive aborted after the first day because of technical problems.
The Navy's SEALAB project in the 1960s sunk experimental habitats off Bermuda and California, but canceled the program after a fatal accident in 1969.
The dangers and expense foiled other attempts. Jacques Cousteau's experiments in the 1960s with undersea living and research stations led him years later to repudiate ocean colonization as "unrealistic."
But Chamberland says previous efforts were doomed because they tried to adapt humans to living under high pressures, which can cause health problems.
In Chamberland's Atlantica, just like the International Space Station or a submarine, the habitat's atmosphere would be close to the same as on land.
Isolated life
Chris Combs, an adjunct oceanography professor at Florida Tech, lived three days in 1972 on one of the early versions of an undersea habitat, Hydrolab.
"It was one of the most interesting psychological experiments of my life," Combs said. "I wasn't ready to go up."
Built in 1966, the cylindrical Hydrolab could fit four people, for experiments conducted through the mid-1980s in the Bahamas and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Now it sits in the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum.
But Combs' biggest question is one the Chamberlands hear often.
"I can't imagine why anyone would want to be that isolated from the rest of the world," he said "The word 'permanent' is the most challenging word for me in the whole concept."
For Dennis Chamberland, the primary appeal is the scientific discovery.
He and the others want to settle as "intelligent stewards," allowing visiting scientists to study the Gulf Stream and marine life.
Oceans encompass the largest biological realm on Earth, 321 million cubic miles, compared with 59 million square miles of land.
"We know more as a species about what's going on the surface of Mars," Dennis Chamberland said. "We are literally poisoning the lifeblood of our planet, and we have no clue what we're doing out there."
Diving history
But his yearning to live undersea also hearkens back to that boyhood tree house in Oklahoma. In his book, Chamberland describes a similar tranquility of watching daybreak from Carpenter Station. He would peer out through schooling fish and rising bubbles, with the same wonder he once had looking through the leaves.
The Chamberlands plan to keep their vacation home in Tennessee, but eventually sell their house in West Cocoa.
Claudia Chamberland was an avid dive partner of her father, a retired NASA engineer who invented an underwater breathing apparatus in the 1930s. Together, they would explore the Bahamas and caves in springs throughout Florida.
Dennis and Claudia Chamberland met in 1990 and have passed on their passion for ocean adventure to their children, five sons and a daughter.
Their 2012 mission is "substantially funded," Dennis Chamberland said, but the permanent colony poses a greater challenge. It will cost tens of millions to build what they envision -- not just an outpost or lab, they stress, but a community.
Chamberland sees undersea living as a natural evolution.
"Humans just expand, and this is just one of those migrations -- of humans into the sea," he said.
Cocoa, Florida (Florida Today) -- Today, the Chamberlands live under the sunny, blue skies of west Cocoa. Soon, they hope to gaze up through aqua-gray tints of Atlantica, the world's first permanent undersea colony.
They're determined to do so by 2015, somewhere off East Central Florida, maybe even Brevard County. They've signed up 13 others to live with them in cylindrical steel modules, 200 feet down and tapping into the Gulf Stream for energy, oxygen and scientific discovery.
The Chamberlands envision quarters safe enough for children. Even their cat, Snickers, will go with them, transported in a submarine-like cylinder with a glass bubble port.
"Now we seem to be focused and preoccupied on space, but the ocean cultures are coming and they're coming fast," said Dennis Chamberland, a contract manager for NASA who's designed prototypes of advanced life support systems for the moon and Mars. "It's inevitable."
The 59-year-old is quick to point out that NASA isn't involved in his project, dubbed the Atlantica Expeditions. But for Chamberland, pioneering the first undersea colony would fulfill a lifelong crusade -- what he describes as the inborn "splinter" in his mind.
"I just never turned loose of it," he said of his childhood dream.
But the notion is far from child's play or fantasy. The Chamberlands say they're less than two years from a record-setting dry run of long-term undersea living.
Along with a fellow aquanaut, and their pet, they hope to submerge for 90 days in an undersea habitat called Leviathan on July 4, 2012. The stay would break the world record of 69 days, set in 1991 in the Jules' Undersea Lodge in Key Largo.
The Chamberlands already hold the record for the most accumulated days working as a married undersea aquanaut team, 31 days combined from eight missions.
While Snickers is a relative newcomer to the underwater world, Dennis and Claudia have been diving partners for two decades. Dennis Chamberland never goes in the water without her.
She is the CEO of their nonprofit, League of the New Worlds, founded 20 years ago to promote colonization of the ocean and space.
Far from water
A main image on "The Atlantic Expeditions" website is of a young boy gazing out over the aqua glow of a futuristic undersea city.
The seeds of Dennis Chamberland's boyhood obsession -- his "splinter" -- germinated about as far as away from the ocean as American child can grow up, on the great plains of Haskell, Okla., a town of 1,800 just south of Tulsa. The local library provided the only outlet for his yearning for ocean adventure.
He'd spend countless hours in his tree house, watching morning rays pierce the leaves, relishing the sanctuary and separation from the ground.
Chamberland said his can-do attitude came from his father, an aerospace engineering technician who built their home and had a sign on his desk that read: "If you can dream it, I can build it."
At age 12, Dennis would rush home to watch his hero, Mike Nelson, played by Lloyd Bridges, on "Sea Hunt." But at 14, he failed a swimming class at the YMCA.
Years later, as a student at Oklahoma State University, he taught himself to swim and eventually became a certified diver.
Early 'Survivor'
Chamberland also kept exploring the idea of undersea living and created the Omega Project while at college, including a weeklong mission in a mock sea lab.
"It was a really early version of 'Survivor,' " said Chamberland, who finished a dual major in physical sciences and psychology, then served as a U.S. Navy officer in the Pacific.
Six years after graduating, he returned to Oklahoma State to earn a master's in bioenvironmental engineering. That led to a job with the Navy as a civilian nuclear engineer and then for NASA in the mid-1980s.
Chamberland became a NASA aquanaut in 1994, directing several missions, including the first planting and harvesting of an agricultural crop on the ocean floor at MarineLab in Key Largo.
He also designed and built NASA's Scott Carpenter Space Analog Station, a 101/2-ton submersible lab in Key Largo named after the astronaut and aquanaut.
Launched in 1997 and 1998, about 20 aquanauts visited the station, including Hollywood director James Cameron, of "Titanic" and "Avatar" fame. Cameron is listed on Chamberland's website among 65 crew members signed up to visit during the so-called Atlantica Expeditions.
Dangers at sea
National Geographic Channel recently featured Chamberland's and other modern efforts to live undersea on its "Naked Science" series. But extended underwater stays date back more than a half century.
Robert Stenuit embarked on the world's first aquanaut mission in 1962 in the French Riviera. He lowered 200 feet in a three-foot-diameter, 11-foot-long aluminum cylinder. The planned two-day dive aborted after the first day because of technical problems.
The Navy's SEALAB project in the 1960s sunk experimental habitats off Bermuda and California, but canceled the program after a fatal accident in 1969.
The dangers and expense foiled other attempts. Jacques Cousteau's experiments in the 1960s with undersea living and research stations led him years later to repudiate ocean colonization as "unrealistic."
But Chamberland says previous efforts were doomed because they tried to adapt humans to living under high pressures, which can cause health problems.
In Chamberland's Atlantica, just like the International Space Station or a submarine, the habitat's atmosphere would be close to the same as on land.
Isolated life
Chris Combs, an adjunct oceanography professor at Florida Tech, lived three days in 1972 on one of the early versions of an undersea habitat, Hydrolab.
"It was one of the most interesting psychological experiments of my life," Combs said. "I wasn't ready to go up."
Built in 1966, the cylindrical Hydrolab could fit four people, for experiments conducted through the mid-1980s in the Bahamas and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Now it sits in the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum.
But Combs' biggest question is one the Chamberlands hear often.
"I can't imagine why anyone would want to be that isolated from the rest of the world," he said "The word 'permanent' is the most challenging word for me in the whole concept."
For Dennis Chamberland, the primary appeal is the scientific discovery.
He and the others want to settle as "intelligent stewards," allowing visiting scientists to study the Gulf Stream and marine life.
Oceans encompass the largest biological realm on Earth, 321 million cubic miles, compared with 59 million square miles of land.
"We know more as a species about what's going on the surface of Mars," Dennis Chamberland said. "We are literally poisoning the lifeblood of our planet, and we have no clue what we're doing out there."
Diving history
But his yearning to live undersea also hearkens back to that boyhood tree house in Oklahoma. In his book, Chamberland describes a similar tranquility of watching daybreak from Carpenter Station. He would peer out through schooling fish and rising bubbles, with the same wonder he once had looking through the leaves.
The Chamberlands plan to keep their vacation home in Tennessee, but eventually sell their house in West Cocoa.
Claudia Chamberland was an avid dive partner of her father, a retired NASA engineer who invented an underwater breathing apparatus in the 1930s. Together, they would explore the Bahamas and caves in springs throughout Florida.
Dennis and Claudia Chamberland met in 1990 and have passed on their passion for ocean adventure to their children, five sons and a daughter.
Their 2012 mission is "substantially funded," Dennis Chamberland said, but the permanent colony poses a greater challenge. It will cost tens of millions to build what they envision -- not just an outpost or lab, they stress, but a community.
Chamberland sees undersea living as a natural evolution.
"Humans just expand, and this is just one of those migrations -- of humans into the sea," he said.
Monday, January 17, 2011
84-year-old adventurer set to launch Atlantic raft
The TElegraph: 84-year-old adventurer set to launch Atlantic raft
It is a journey that would test the mettle of any seafarer – a 2,800-mile Atlantic crossing powered only by sail.
But when four Englishmen set off on the trip, two things will make their expedition remarkable. Their vessel will be a raft made from plastic gas pipes. And the crew will be led by an octogenarian who relies on a stick to walk.
With a combined age of 259, the sailors on board the "An-tiki" will not be lacking in experience.
Anthony Smith, 84, will be joined by Don Russell, 61, David Hildred, 57, and Andrew Bainbridge, 57, for a ten-week voyage from the Canary Islands to the Bahamas. The raft is expected to begin the epic journey this week.
All the materials have been either donated or purchased by Mr Smith, who is spending compensation he received after he was run over by a van two years ago – an accident that has left the adventurer, writer and grandfather with metal pins in his leg.
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What would normally be regarded as a devastating setback has been turned into a positive. "I had some luck two years ago – I was run over," Mr Smith said. "That's what inspired the whole thing and that's provided the basis for the money.
"The whole point it to prove that elderly people can do something interesting. Well, I am 84 and disabled, so I'm well qualified on that score."
A former science correspondent of The Daily Telegraph, Mr Smith has written over 30 books and worked on several film and documentary projects. He presented Tomorrow's World when the BBC television show, launched in 1965, was in its infancy.
The inspiration for the unusual trip comes from a desire to show that rafts, although a primitive form of transport, are no more dangerous than hollow-hulled vessels.
The crew are also raising money for WaterAid, a charity that provides clean water for the world's poorest people.
"People ask me 'Am I frightened?' But I say I don't know enough to be frightened," Mr Smith explains.
"I don't know how we will get on, as we don't know each other very well. I don't know how tiring it will be, living on something that goes up and down all the time. I don't know what it will be like living on a bunk. Nobody knows what a storm will do to us, or how well we will be able to steer."
But Mr Smith, of west London, insists the adventure is no foolhardy indulgence. Two of the crew – Mr Hildred and Mr Bainbridge – are experienced sailors, and the raft has been kitted out with all the necessary communications in case they get into trouble.
The raft crossing is not the first 'Boy's Own'-style adventure that Mr Smith has embarked on.
In 1962 he led a pioneering expedition, The Sunday Telegraph Balloon Safari, over east Africa. The following year he became the first Briton to go over the Alps by hot air balloon.
But for someone who normally relies on a free bus pass, spending eight to ten weeks on the Atlantic aboard a 36ft x 20ft (11m x 6m) raft will surely surpass his earlier challenges.
Mr Smith has spent the last five years plotting his dream trip. After placing a Telegraph advert appealing for fellow crew, he has spent the past few months gathering materials to assemble the raft.
All the pieces – including gas pipes, electronics, wood, and two telegraph poles that would became the mast – were assembled and shipped in a container from Felixstowe, Suffolk, to La Gomera in the Canary Islands.
The team, joined by wives and girlfriends, swapped the snow and ice of Britain for the hot sunshine of the Canaries as they spent the last two months assembling the raft.
They reached a milestone on Friday when the craft finally was finally placed in the water. Thankfully, it did not sink.
"Everything has gone very well but there is so much more to do than you expect. But then something that is pioneering always throws up unexpected challenges," says Mr Smith, who has attracted a steady stream of curious onlookers from the nearby ferry dock.
The crew will be sheltered by a wooden hut, 20ft by 7ft (6m by 2m), where they will take turns to sleep on two bunk beds. Cooking, from gas stoves, chart-reading and all-important communications will be also be carried out there.
"We've also got a small library so it won't all be hard work," says Mr Smith.
"There is a porthole to look out, though it should be reasonably dry. It shouldn't get colder than 10C (50F) for the most part of the trip. There's a fence around the raft with netting, so none of us should fall over board."
The lights and electronics will be powered by four solar cells on top of the hut, a wind generator – and a pedalling machine.
Meanwhile, the crew will be sustained by 16 boxes of food, containing dry stuffs like cornflakes and perishables such as eggs, oranges and bananas. A small bread maker will add homely comfort to their ordeal.
"We also have a hook and line to catch fish, and a plankton net to eat plankton. Plankton is good enough for the blue whale, the biggest creature on earth, to eat, so it's good enough for us."
Drinking water will be carried in five pipes, each 18ft long. "We'll have so much water I think we will be able to sell it to passing yachts."
Asked what treats he's brought along to keep the crew's spirits up for the long days and nights ahead, Mr Smith's answer is short and simple.
"Alcohol," he says. "Everyone's quite keen on a drink, so it's not so much beer as rum and whisky."
The crew has had to wait for the weather to calm down before launching the raft. A support vessel will tow the raft out to sea for a few miles – "in case anyone forgets their toothbrush".
"We have to wait for the wind. I don't want to be released and then blown back to shore. But the current is there to do the job. It took Columbus across in 1492 so it should take us across too."
The crew's destination is the small island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas.
Perhaps understandably, Mr Smith's five children at first suggested that it might be better for him to "potter in the greenhouse".
"But when they realised I was serious, they just wished me good luck."
It is a journey that would test the mettle of any seafarer – a 2,800-mile Atlantic crossing powered only by sail.
But when four Englishmen set off on the trip, two things will make their expedition remarkable. Their vessel will be a raft made from plastic gas pipes. And the crew will be led by an octogenarian who relies on a stick to walk.
With a combined age of 259, the sailors on board the "An-tiki" will not be lacking in experience.
Anthony Smith, 84, will be joined by Don Russell, 61, David Hildred, 57, and Andrew Bainbridge, 57, for a ten-week voyage from the Canary Islands to the Bahamas. The raft is expected to begin the epic journey this week.
All the materials have been either donated or purchased by Mr Smith, who is spending compensation he received after he was run over by a van two years ago – an accident that has left the adventurer, writer and grandfather with metal pins in his leg.
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What would normally be regarded as a devastating setback has been turned into a positive. "I had some luck two years ago – I was run over," Mr Smith said. "That's what inspired the whole thing and that's provided the basis for the money.
"The whole point it to prove that elderly people can do something interesting. Well, I am 84 and disabled, so I'm well qualified on that score."
A former science correspondent of The Daily Telegraph, Mr Smith has written over 30 books and worked on several film and documentary projects. He presented Tomorrow's World when the BBC television show, launched in 1965, was in its infancy.
The inspiration for the unusual trip comes from a desire to show that rafts, although a primitive form of transport, are no more dangerous than hollow-hulled vessels.
The crew are also raising money for WaterAid, a charity that provides clean water for the world's poorest people.
"People ask me 'Am I frightened?' But I say I don't know enough to be frightened," Mr Smith explains.
"I don't know how we will get on, as we don't know each other very well. I don't know how tiring it will be, living on something that goes up and down all the time. I don't know what it will be like living on a bunk. Nobody knows what a storm will do to us, or how well we will be able to steer."
But Mr Smith, of west London, insists the adventure is no foolhardy indulgence. Two of the crew – Mr Hildred and Mr Bainbridge – are experienced sailors, and the raft has been kitted out with all the necessary communications in case they get into trouble.
The raft crossing is not the first 'Boy's Own'-style adventure that Mr Smith has embarked on.
In 1962 he led a pioneering expedition, The Sunday Telegraph Balloon Safari, over east Africa. The following year he became the first Briton to go over the Alps by hot air balloon.
But for someone who normally relies on a free bus pass, spending eight to ten weeks on the Atlantic aboard a 36ft x 20ft (11m x 6m) raft will surely surpass his earlier challenges.
Mr Smith has spent the last five years plotting his dream trip. After placing a Telegraph advert appealing for fellow crew, he has spent the past few months gathering materials to assemble the raft.
All the pieces – including gas pipes, electronics, wood, and two telegraph poles that would became the mast – were assembled and shipped in a container from Felixstowe, Suffolk, to La Gomera in the Canary Islands.
The team, joined by wives and girlfriends, swapped the snow and ice of Britain for the hot sunshine of the Canaries as they spent the last two months assembling the raft.
They reached a milestone on Friday when the craft finally was finally placed in the water. Thankfully, it did not sink.
"Everything has gone very well but there is so much more to do than you expect. But then something that is pioneering always throws up unexpected challenges," says Mr Smith, who has attracted a steady stream of curious onlookers from the nearby ferry dock.
The crew will be sheltered by a wooden hut, 20ft by 7ft (6m by 2m), where they will take turns to sleep on two bunk beds. Cooking, from gas stoves, chart-reading and all-important communications will be also be carried out there.
"We've also got a small library so it won't all be hard work," says Mr Smith.
"There is a porthole to look out, though it should be reasonably dry. It shouldn't get colder than 10C (50F) for the most part of the trip. There's a fence around the raft with netting, so none of us should fall over board."
The lights and electronics will be powered by four solar cells on top of the hut, a wind generator – and a pedalling machine.
Meanwhile, the crew will be sustained by 16 boxes of food, containing dry stuffs like cornflakes and perishables such as eggs, oranges and bananas. A small bread maker will add homely comfort to their ordeal.
"We also have a hook and line to catch fish, and a plankton net to eat plankton. Plankton is good enough for the blue whale, the biggest creature on earth, to eat, so it's good enough for us."
Drinking water will be carried in five pipes, each 18ft long. "We'll have so much water I think we will be able to sell it to passing yachts."
Asked what treats he's brought along to keep the crew's spirits up for the long days and nights ahead, Mr Smith's answer is short and simple.
"Alcohol," he says. "Everyone's quite keen on a drink, so it's not so much beer as rum and whisky."
The crew has had to wait for the weather to calm down before launching the raft. A support vessel will tow the raft out to sea for a few miles – "in case anyone forgets their toothbrush".
"We have to wait for the wind. I don't want to be released and then blown back to shore. But the current is there to do the job. It took Columbus across in 1492 so it should take us across too."
The crew's destination is the small island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas.
Perhaps understandably, Mr Smith's five children at first suggested that it might be better for him to "potter in the greenhouse".
"But when they realised I was serious, they just wished me good luck."
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Treasure Above Ground
This is a lesson to us all to look into every filing cabinet, every drawer, every attic, every garage, and to actually go thrhough things carefully instead of just throwing them away.
Even letters that look worthless may be worth saving, because they document a period of time that other people, somewhere, could be interested in.
340-Year-Old Bible Discovered by School Teacher
A 340-year-old bible discovery can attest to the fact that they sure don't make things like they used to. The German bible was discovered by a sixth grade teacher inside an old safe in a small Lutheran church school where she works in Bonduel, Wisconsin.
Debra Court found the bible two years ago while she was searching for old baptism records to show her students.
"I was looking for the old baptism records to show my students and then up here in the corner was where the Bible was tucked," explained Court, not realizing what a rare find she stumbled upon.
The church's pastor Timothy Shoup sent the 340-year-old bible to researchers at the Concordia Seminary Library in St. Louis, that have now identified it.
"We've spanned this gap with this Bible - two centuries. Most of our stuff is from the 1800s floating around here," explained Pastor Shoup.
Lyle Buettner works in the Concordia Seminary Library and says the church possesses one of about 40 copies located across the United States and in parts of Germany. He believes that's more than likely only a small fraction, since many copies are probably not recorded.
A 340-year-old bible is truly an amazing find for the church. However, the big question everyone wants to know is how the bible got there. An act of God, perhaps? Hopefully, they can trace the bible back to its original owner and pass it on to the descendants of that person. What do you think?
Even letters that look worthless may be worth saving, because they document a period of time that other people, somewhere, could be interested in.
340-Year-Old Bible Discovered by School Teacher
A 340-year-old bible discovery can attest to the fact that they sure don't make things like they used to. The German bible was discovered by a sixth grade teacher inside an old safe in a small Lutheran church school where she works in Bonduel, Wisconsin.
Debra Court found the bible two years ago while she was searching for old baptism records to show her students.
"I was looking for the old baptism records to show my students and then up here in the corner was where the Bible was tucked," explained Court, not realizing what a rare find she stumbled upon.
The church's pastor Timothy Shoup sent the 340-year-old bible to researchers at the Concordia Seminary Library in St. Louis, that have now identified it.
"We've spanned this gap with this Bible - two centuries. Most of our stuff is from the 1800s floating around here," explained Pastor Shoup.
Lyle Buettner works in the Concordia Seminary Library and says the church possesses one of about 40 copies located across the United States and in parts of Germany. He believes that's more than likely only a small fraction, since many copies are probably not recorded.
A 340-year-old bible is truly an amazing find for the church. However, the big question everyone wants to know is how the bible got there. An act of God, perhaps? Hopefully, they can trace the bible back to its original owner and pass it on to the descendants of that person. What do you think?
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Mystery of $10 Billion Buried Incan Treasure on Chile’s Robinson Crusoe Island
Mystery of $10 Billion Buried Incan Treasure on Chile’s Robinson Crusoe Island
According to the Santiago Times, American millionaire Bernard Keiser plans to search Chile’s Robinson Crusoe Island for the fifth time. Keiser’s 12-year quest, the location of stolen Incan gold and jewels estimated to be worth $10 billion buried, or reburied, by British pirates. (We loved legendary buried treasure stories.) This story, kind of bizarre as, in 2005, the report from the U.K.’s Guardian the treasure had been found. Robinson Crusoe Island, the location of the true story of Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk and his man Friday who were marooned on the island in 1704 for four years and four months.
Selkirk’s story immortalized in Daniel Dafoe’s classic book ‘Robinson Crusoe’.
Santiago Times, December 20, 2010:
Keiser, whose treasure-seeking effort on the island the past 12 years has cost him an estimated US$2 million, is reportedly in the process of shelling out another US$100,000 dollars for this latest effort, which includes highly sophisticated mining video technology. Keiser, a history and political science graduate from the University of Jacksonville, made his fortune supplying NASA with material for their space suits.
But Keiser’s expenses will be well covered should he find the treasure: Chilean law will provide him 25 percent of any booty he discovers, and Keiser estimates the treasure’s value at US$10 billion.
According to legend, the treasure originated in the Incan Empire and was stolen during the Spanish conquest of Peru in the 16th and 17th centuries. When the treasure was en route to Spain around 1715, the navigator in charge of the ship landed on Robinson Crusoe Island and buried his cargo. Before he could return to unearth the booty, an English pirate named Cornelius Webb uncovered the Incan treasure and reburied it elsewhere on the island. The legendary stash is reported to contain 800 barrels of gold, including precious pieces of gold and jewelry.
Here’s where the story gets bizarre:
In 2005, the report from the U.K.’s Guardian the treasure had been found.
The Guardian:
The archipelago is named after Robinson Crusoe, but perhaps it should have been called Treasure Island.
A long quest for booty from the Spanish colonial era appears to be culminating in Chile with the announcement by a group of adventurers that they have found an estimated 600 barrels of gold coins and Incan jewels on the remote Pacific island.
“The biggest treasure in history has been located,” said Fernando Uribe-Etxeverria, a lawyer for Wagner, the Chilean company leading the search. Mr Uribe-Etxeverria estimated the value of the buried treasure at US$10bn (£5.6bn).
The announcement set off ownership claims. The treasure hunters claimed half the loot was theirs and said they would donate it to non-profit-making organisations. The government said that they had no share to donate.
Was the treasure found in 2005? On October 5, 2005, the report Wagner had ‘renounced its claim’ to Chile’s buried treasure.
According to Fernando Uribe-Etxeverría, lawyer for Wagner Technologies, the company does not believe it is capable of excavating the treasure; all the company wanted was the free press.
This abrupt turn of events surprised government officials who were prepared to discuss excavation permits and decide how to partition the treasure with the company. Wagner instead agreed to turn over the coordinates to the government on the condition that if the treasure is excavated, a portion would be given to a number of Chilean charities, as well as the island’s residents.
Uribe-Etxeverría’s announcement also surprised journalists because of the commotion the company generated with threats to withhold the location of the treasure unless the government agreed to give them a cut of the loot (ST, Oct. 3).
Wagner still maintains that “Arturito,” a mobile robot designed by one of their engineers, detected the presence of 800 metric tons of gold and jewels on the west side of Robinson Crusoe Island in southern Chile. Wagner claims that the treasure is located in a very difficult-to-reach spot that requires divers to enter through sub-marine caves on the island’s coast.
Wagner representatives said the company is withdrawing from the controversy that surrounded their claims because of the difficulty involved in removing the treasure.
“There is no company in the country capable of excavating this treasure,” said Uribe-Etxeverría. “For this, you will need something bigger: the State.” He also added that for Wagner, the treasure did not represent a business opportunity. Instead, the company’s exploration was meant to publicize the extraordinary capabilities of their robot.
Family claims 100-year ownership of disputed 'buried treasure' land
The Tribune: Family claims 100-year ownership of disputed 'buried treasure' land
San Salvador - By CELESTE NIXON
Tribune Staff Reporter
cnixon@tribunemedia.net
A FAMILY is claiming it has owned the disputed "buried treasure" land at Fortune Hill, San Salvador for more than 100 years.
During a press conference yesterday morning, Dennis Bethel announced that the land being excavated on Fortune Hill belonged to his great-grandfather Nimrod Newton, by way of a Crown grant dated August 8, 1876.
The Newton tract encompasses "47 acres on Fortune Hill and includes an area of the 23 acres owned by Dorothy Black-Beal", Mr Bethel said, adding that the existing boundary makers were erroneously set.
Minister of State for Finance Zhivargo Laing revealed in a town meeting in San Salvador last Thursday that "Dorothy Black-Beal has been the only person found to have clear title" of the land.
Rumors of treasure buried on the land have been circulated in San Salvador for years.
Some believe the island may have been used in the past as a staging ground for pirates and that their treasures may still be hidden in caves in the area.
Mr Bethel claims to possess certified survey plan and a record of all supporting documents from the Department of Lands and Surveys, which he has already submitted to Minister Laing to dispute the boundary markers.
Mr Bethel said he has made numerous attempts to contact the government to have matter investigated but has had no response.
"This is a land matter that they are failing to settle, the government have sided with a foreigner", remarked Mr Bethel.
He again called on Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and Mr Laing to intervene and stop the excavation in order to review the survey plans and properly ascertain the correct location of the Newton land.
Legal action will be taken if nothing changes, Mr Bethel warned.
According to Mr Laing, Mr Bethel will indeed probably have to take this route.
He said: "When people have title to their property, the state has no duty outside of the public's interest from preventing them from doing what they want on their property.
"You can dispute ownership all you want; that is your business. If you want to dispute it, go to court."
San Salvador - By CELESTE NIXON
Tribune Staff Reporter
cnixon@tribunemedia.net
A FAMILY is claiming it has owned the disputed "buried treasure" land at Fortune Hill, San Salvador for more than 100 years.
During a press conference yesterday morning, Dennis Bethel announced that the land being excavated on Fortune Hill belonged to his great-grandfather Nimrod Newton, by way of a Crown grant dated August 8, 1876.
The Newton tract encompasses "47 acres on Fortune Hill and includes an area of the 23 acres owned by Dorothy Black-Beal", Mr Bethel said, adding that the existing boundary makers were erroneously set.
Minister of State for Finance Zhivargo Laing revealed in a town meeting in San Salvador last Thursday that "Dorothy Black-Beal has been the only person found to have clear title" of the land.
Rumors of treasure buried on the land have been circulated in San Salvador for years.
Some believe the island may have been used in the past as a staging ground for pirates and that their treasures may still be hidden in caves in the area.
Mr Bethel claims to possess certified survey plan and a record of all supporting documents from the Department of Lands and Surveys, which he has already submitted to Minister Laing to dispute the boundary markers.
Mr Bethel said he has made numerous attempts to contact the government to have matter investigated but has had no response.
"This is a land matter that they are failing to settle, the government have sided with a foreigner", remarked Mr Bethel.
He again called on Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and Mr Laing to intervene and stop the excavation in order to review the survey plans and properly ascertain the correct location of the Newton land.
Legal action will be taken if nothing changes, Mr Bethel warned.
According to Mr Laing, Mr Bethel will indeed probably have to take this route.
He said: "When people have title to their property, the state has no duty outside of the public's interest from preventing them from doing what they want on their property.
"You can dispute ownership all you want; that is your business. If you want to dispute it, go to court."
Monday, January 10, 2011
Emerald, Sapphire Found In Fish Tank
Another one of those "here's a plot for a story" articles.
Emerald, Sapphire Found In Fish Tank
Gemologist Estimates Stones To Be Decades Old
DETROIT -- Hundreds of thousands of dollars in precious stones may have been found in a fish tank that was being stored in a Detroit auction warehouse.
Gemologist Derek Wilson said Detroit police called him to the warehouse to help identify the stones that were uncovered.
Watch: 'Priceless' Emerald, Sapphire Found In Fish Tank
"We started looking through it and it was just full of faceted and unfaceted gems," he said.
Catching Wilson's eye were two emeralds and a sapphire, which he said could be more than 100 years old and worth more than $100,000 collectively. He said he has no idea why the precious stones would have been in the fish tank.
"We have no idea. We've been trying to figure that out all day," Wilson said. "We don't know if it was somebody trying to hide money, or maybe somebody bought it that way, or maybe somebody had precious stones that they thought they would try to hide somewhere."
One of the emeralds is 840 karats.
"I have nothing to compare this to, as far as doing an appraisal as a gemologist," Wilson said of the huge emerald. "I can't say, 'Well, one in the past has sold for this price.' So, we actually can't put a value on this stone. It's priceless.
Wilson said he wants to find the owner to trace the history of the stones.
With the exception of the large emerald, the other stones were set to be auctioned off Saturday.
Emerald, Sapphire Found In Fish Tank
Gemologist Estimates Stones To Be Decades Old
DETROIT -- Hundreds of thousands of dollars in precious stones may have been found in a fish tank that was being stored in a Detroit auction warehouse.
Gemologist Derek Wilson said Detroit police called him to the warehouse to help identify the stones that were uncovered.
Watch: 'Priceless' Emerald, Sapphire Found In Fish Tank
"We started looking through it and it was just full of faceted and unfaceted gems," he said.
Catching Wilson's eye were two emeralds and a sapphire, which he said could be more than 100 years old and worth more than $100,000 collectively. He said he has no idea why the precious stones would have been in the fish tank.
"We have no idea. We've been trying to figure that out all day," Wilson said. "We don't know if it was somebody trying to hide money, or maybe somebody bought it that way, or maybe somebody had precious stones that they thought they would try to hide somewhere."
One of the emeralds is 840 karats.
"I have nothing to compare this to, as far as doing an appraisal as a gemologist," Wilson said of the huge emerald. "I can't say, 'Well, one in the past has sold for this price.' So, we actually can't put a value on this stone. It's priceless.
Wilson said he wants to find the owner to trace the history of the stones.
With the exception of the large emerald, the other stones were set to be auctioned off Saturday.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Newly Developed Cloak Hides Underwater Objects From Sonar; 'We Are Not Talking About Science Fiction'
I posted this in my Ocean Sciences blog (Weareseaborn.blogspot.com) but the possibilities for techno-fiction writers is there as well, so thought I'd share it here, too.
Underwater Times: Newly Developed Cloak Hides Underwater Objects From Sonar; 'We Are Not Talking About Science Fiction'
CHAMPAIGN, Illinois -- In one University of Illinois lab, invisibility is a matter of now you hear it, now you don't.
Led by mechanical science and engineering professor Nicholas Fang, Illinois researchers have demonstrated an acoustic cloak, a technology that renders underwater objects invisible to sonar and other ultrasound waves.
"We are not talking about science fiction. We are talking about controlling sound waves by bending and twisting them in a designer space," said Fang, who also is affiliated with the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. "This is certainly not some trick Harry Potter is playing with."
While materials that can wrap sound around an object rather than reflecting or absorbing it have been theoretically possible for a few years, realization of the concept has been a challenge. In a paper accepted for publication in the journal Physical Review Letters, Fang's team describe their working prototype, capable of hiding an object from a broad range of sound waves.
The cloak is made of metamaterial, a class of artificial materials that have enhanced properties as a result of their carefully engineered structure. Fang's team designed a two-dimensional cylindrical cloak made of 16 concentric rings of acoustic circuits structured to guide sound waves. Each ring has a different index of refraction, meaning that sound waves vary their speed from the outer rings to the inner ones.
"Basically what you are looking at is an array of cavities that are connected by channels. The sound is going to propagate inside those channels, and the cavities are designed to slow the waves down," Fang said. "As you go further inside the rings, sound waves gain faster and faster speed."
Since speeding up requires energy, the sound waves instead propagate around the cloak's outer rings, guided by the channels in the circuits. The specially structured acoustic circuits actually bend the sound waves to wrap them around the outer layers of the cloak.
The researchers tested their cloak's ability to hide a steel cylinder. They submerged the cylinder in a tank with an ultrasound source on one side and a sensor array on the other, then placed the cylinder inside the cloak and watched it disappear from their sonar.
Curious to see if the hidden object's structure played a role in the cloaking phenomenon, the researchers conducted trials with other objects of various shapes and densities.
"The structure of what you're trying to hide doesn't matter," Fang said. "The effect is similar. After we placed the cloaked structure around the object we wanted to hide, the scattering or shadow effect was greatly reduced."
An advantage of the acoustic cloak is its ability to cover a broad range of sound wavelengths. The cloak offers acoustic invisibility to ultrasound waves from 40 to 80 KHz, although with modification could theoretically be tuned to cover tens of megahertz.
"This is not just a single wavelength effect. You don't have an invisible cloak that's showing up just by switching the frequencies slightly," Fang said. "The geometry is not theoretically scaled with wavelengths. The nice thing about the circuit element approach is that you can scale the channels down while maintaining the same wave propagation technology."
Next, the researchers plan to explore how the cloaking technology could influence applications from military stealth to soundproofing to health care. For example, ultrasound and other acoustic imaging techniques are common in medical practice, but many things in the body can cause interference and mar the image. A metamaterial bandage or shield could effectively hide a troublesome area so the scanner could focus on the region of interest.
The cloaking technology also may affect nonlinear acoustic phenomena. One problem plaguing fast-moving underwater objects is cavitation, or the formation and implosion of bubbles. Fang and his group believe that they could harness their cloak's abilities to balance energy in cavitation-causing areas, such as the vortex around a propeller.
Underwater Times: Newly Developed Cloak Hides Underwater Objects From Sonar; 'We Are Not Talking About Science Fiction'
CHAMPAIGN, Illinois -- In one University of Illinois lab, invisibility is a matter of now you hear it, now you don't.
Led by mechanical science and engineering professor Nicholas Fang, Illinois researchers have demonstrated an acoustic cloak, a technology that renders underwater objects invisible to sonar and other ultrasound waves.
"We are not talking about science fiction. We are talking about controlling sound waves by bending and twisting them in a designer space," said Fang, who also is affiliated with the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. "This is certainly not some trick Harry Potter is playing with."
While materials that can wrap sound around an object rather than reflecting or absorbing it have been theoretically possible for a few years, realization of the concept has been a challenge. In a paper accepted for publication in the journal Physical Review Letters, Fang's team describe their working prototype, capable of hiding an object from a broad range of sound waves.
The cloak is made of metamaterial, a class of artificial materials that have enhanced properties as a result of their carefully engineered structure. Fang's team designed a two-dimensional cylindrical cloak made of 16 concentric rings of acoustic circuits structured to guide sound waves. Each ring has a different index of refraction, meaning that sound waves vary their speed from the outer rings to the inner ones.
"Basically what you are looking at is an array of cavities that are connected by channels. The sound is going to propagate inside those channels, and the cavities are designed to slow the waves down," Fang said. "As you go further inside the rings, sound waves gain faster and faster speed."
Since speeding up requires energy, the sound waves instead propagate around the cloak's outer rings, guided by the channels in the circuits. The specially structured acoustic circuits actually bend the sound waves to wrap them around the outer layers of the cloak.
The researchers tested their cloak's ability to hide a steel cylinder. They submerged the cylinder in a tank with an ultrasound source on one side and a sensor array on the other, then placed the cylinder inside the cloak and watched it disappear from their sonar.
Curious to see if the hidden object's structure played a role in the cloaking phenomenon, the researchers conducted trials with other objects of various shapes and densities.
"The structure of what you're trying to hide doesn't matter," Fang said. "The effect is similar. After we placed the cloaked structure around the object we wanted to hide, the scattering or shadow effect was greatly reduced."
An advantage of the acoustic cloak is its ability to cover a broad range of sound wavelengths. The cloak offers acoustic invisibility to ultrasound waves from 40 to 80 KHz, although with modification could theoretically be tuned to cover tens of megahertz.
"This is not just a single wavelength effect. You don't have an invisible cloak that's showing up just by switching the frequencies slightly," Fang said. "The geometry is not theoretically scaled with wavelengths. The nice thing about the circuit element approach is that you can scale the channels down while maintaining the same wave propagation technology."
Next, the researchers plan to explore how the cloaking technology could influence applications from military stealth to soundproofing to health care. For example, ultrasound and other acoustic imaging techniques are common in medical practice, but many things in the body can cause interference and mar the image. A metamaterial bandage or shield could effectively hide a troublesome area so the scanner could focus on the region of interest.
The cloaking technology also may affect nonlinear acoustic phenomena. One problem plaguing fast-moving underwater objects is cavitation, or the formation and implosion of bubbles. Fang and his group believe that they could harness their cloak's abilities to balance energy in cavitation-causing areas, such as the vortex around a propeller.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
US and Spain siding against treasure hunters
Odyssey Files Motion to Strike the United States Amicus Brief Filed in the "Black Swan" Case
January 5, 2011- Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (NasdaqCM: OMEX), a pioneer in the field of deep-ocean exploration, filed a Motion to Strike the amicus brief filed by the United States which is in support of Spain in the “Black Swan” case. In the alternative, Odyssey asks the Court to direct the United States to amend its statement of interest to accurately reflect its interest in the case. The “Black Swan” case is currently pending in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
Odyssey was named in several U.S. State Department cables obtained and recently released by the website WikiLeaks. The released cables suggest that the U.S. State Department offered special assistance to Spanish officials in the “Black Swan” case in exchange for assistance in acquiring a French painting confiscated by the Nazis during World War II and now on display in a museum in Madrid.
“We have brought to the Court's attention the evidence suggesting that the involvement of the U.S. Executive Branch in the ‘Black Swan’ case goes beyond its interest in interpreting applicable laws. The U.S. Government's interest appears to have been related to a promise of support for Spain in exchange for assistance in obtaining this painting for a U.S. citizen. This calls into question whether there may have been any other offers of support in exchange for favors completely unrelated to this case. Any interest in the case of the U.S. beyond those stated in their filing should warrant striking the amicus brief or at the very least, require a full explanation of the motives behind their support of Spain,” said Melinda MacConnel, Odyssey Vice President and General Counsel.
After reviewing the cables that were released, Odyssey CEO Greg Stemm sent a letter on behalf of the company and its thousands of shareholders to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton requesting additional information and a review of the position taken by the U.S. in the “Black Swan” legal case. Neither Odyssey nor Stemm has received a response to this request.
About the “Black Swan”
In May 2007, Odyssey announced the discovery of the "Black Swan," a Colonial-period site located in the Atlantic Ocean which yielded over 500,000 silver coins weighing more than 17 tons, hundreds of gold coins, worked gold and other artifacts. Odyssey completed an extensive pre-disturbance survey of the "Black Swan" site, which included recording over 14,000 digital still images used to create a photomosaic of the site.
The coins and artifacts were brought into the United States with a valid export license and imported legally pursuant to U.S. law. Odyssey brought the artifacts under the jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court by filing an Admiralty arrest action. This procedure allows any legitimate claimant with an interest in the property to make a claim.
The Kingdom of Spain filed a claim to the treasure alleging that the coins originated from the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, a Spanish vessel which sunk in 1804. Spain claimed that it owned all of the coins and that the treasure was immune from the jurisdiction of the U.S. Court under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). Although it has not been conclusively proven the recovered cargo came from the Mercedes, Odyssey presented clear evidence to the trial court (including the ship’s manifest) that shows the primary purpose of the Mercedes’ last voyage was commercial in nature and the vast majority of coins on board were owned by private merchants, not by Spain. The United States filed an amicus brief in the case changing its previous position and supporting Spain in the “Black Swan” case by setting forth a re-interpretation of the language in the Sunken Military Craft Act (SMCA) to allow government-owned vessels on commercial missions to enjoy sovereign immunity. A number of individual private descendants (whose ancestors were transporting goods on the Mercedes) as well as the country of Peru have filed claims in the case. Without conducting a hearing, the district court sided with Spain and ruled that the treasure should all be turned over to Spain. The case is currently on appeal at the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. For more information on the "Black Swan," visit www.shipwreck.net/blackswan.php.
Odyssey’s significant legal filings in the “Black Swan” case can be viewed at http://www.shipwreck.net/blackswanlegal.php.
About Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc.
Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (NasdaqCM: OMEX) is engaged in deep-ocean exploration using innovative methods and state-of-the-art technology. The Company is a world leader in shipwreck exploration, conducting extensive search and archaeological recovery operations on deep-ocean shipwrecks around the world. Odyssey also owns approximately 41% of Dorado Ocean Resources; a company formed in 2010 to discover and commercialize high-value mineral deposits from the ocean floor, and provides proprietary deep-ocean expertise and equipment to Dorado under contract. Odyssey also provides deep-ocean contracting services to governments and companies around the world.
Odyssey discovered the Civil War-era shipwreck of the SS Republic® in 2003 and recovered over 50,000 coins and 14,000 artifacts from the site nearly 1,700 feet deep. In May 2007, Odyssey announced the historic deep-ocean treasure recovery of over 500,000 silver and gold coins, weighing 17 tons, from a Colonial era site code-named "Black Swan." In February 2009, Odyssey announced the discovery of Balchin's HMS Victory. Odyssey also has other shipwreck projects in various stages of development around the world.
Odyssey offers various ways to share in the excitement of deep-ocean exploration by making shipwreck treasures and artifacts available to collectors, the general public and students through its webstore, exhibits, books, television, merchandise, educational programs and virtual museum located at www.odysseysvirtualmuseum.com.
January 5, 2011- Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (NasdaqCM: OMEX), a pioneer in the field of deep-ocean exploration, filed a Motion to Strike the amicus brief filed by the United States which is in support of Spain in the “Black Swan” case. In the alternative, Odyssey asks the Court to direct the United States to amend its statement of interest to accurately reflect its interest in the case. The “Black Swan” case is currently pending in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
Odyssey was named in several U.S. State Department cables obtained and recently released by the website WikiLeaks. The released cables suggest that the U.S. State Department offered special assistance to Spanish officials in the “Black Swan” case in exchange for assistance in acquiring a French painting confiscated by the Nazis during World War II and now on display in a museum in Madrid.
“We have brought to the Court's attention the evidence suggesting that the involvement of the U.S. Executive Branch in the ‘Black Swan’ case goes beyond its interest in interpreting applicable laws. The U.S. Government's interest appears to have been related to a promise of support for Spain in exchange for assistance in obtaining this painting for a U.S. citizen. This calls into question whether there may have been any other offers of support in exchange for favors completely unrelated to this case. Any interest in the case of the U.S. beyond those stated in their filing should warrant striking the amicus brief or at the very least, require a full explanation of the motives behind their support of Spain,” said Melinda MacConnel, Odyssey Vice President and General Counsel.
After reviewing the cables that were released, Odyssey CEO Greg Stemm sent a letter on behalf of the company and its thousands of shareholders to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton requesting additional information and a review of the position taken by the U.S. in the “Black Swan” legal case. Neither Odyssey nor Stemm has received a response to this request.
About the “Black Swan”
In May 2007, Odyssey announced the discovery of the "Black Swan," a Colonial-period site located in the Atlantic Ocean which yielded over 500,000 silver coins weighing more than 17 tons, hundreds of gold coins, worked gold and other artifacts. Odyssey completed an extensive pre-disturbance survey of the "Black Swan" site, which included recording over 14,000 digital still images used to create a photomosaic of the site.
The coins and artifacts were brought into the United States with a valid export license and imported legally pursuant to U.S. law. Odyssey brought the artifacts under the jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court by filing an Admiralty arrest action. This procedure allows any legitimate claimant with an interest in the property to make a claim.
The Kingdom of Spain filed a claim to the treasure alleging that the coins originated from the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, a Spanish vessel which sunk in 1804. Spain claimed that it owned all of the coins and that the treasure was immune from the jurisdiction of the U.S. Court under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). Although it has not been conclusively proven the recovered cargo came from the Mercedes, Odyssey presented clear evidence to the trial court (including the ship’s manifest) that shows the primary purpose of the Mercedes’ last voyage was commercial in nature and the vast majority of coins on board were owned by private merchants, not by Spain. The United States filed an amicus brief in the case changing its previous position and supporting Spain in the “Black Swan” case by setting forth a re-interpretation of the language in the Sunken Military Craft Act (SMCA) to allow government-owned vessels on commercial missions to enjoy sovereign immunity. A number of individual private descendants (whose ancestors were transporting goods on the Mercedes) as well as the country of Peru have filed claims in the case. Without conducting a hearing, the district court sided with Spain and ruled that the treasure should all be turned over to Spain. The case is currently on appeal at the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. For more information on the "Black Swan," visit www.shipwreck.net/blackswan.php.
Odyssey’s significant legal filings in the “Black Swan” case can be viewed at http://www.shipwreck.net/blackswanlegal.php.
About Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc.
Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (NasdaqCM: OMEX) is engaged in deep-ocean exploration using innovative methods and state-of-the-art technology. The Company is a world leader in shipwreck exploration, conducting extensive search and archaeological recovery operations on deep-ocean shipwrecks around the world. Odyssey also owns approximately 41% of Dorado Ocean Resources; a company formed in 2010 to discover and commercialize high-value mineral deposits from the ocean floor, and provides proprietary deep-ocean expertise and equipment to Dorado under contract. Odyssey also provides deep-ocean contracting services to governments and companies around the world.
Odyssey discovered the Civil War-era shipwreck of the SS Republic® in 2003 and recovered over 50,000 coins and 14,000 artifacts from the site nearly 1,700 feet deep. In May 2007, Odyssey announced the historic deep-ocean treasure recovery of over 500,000 silver and gold coins, weighing 17 tons, from a Colonial era site code-named "Black Swan." In February 2009, Odyssey announced the discovery of Balchin's HMS Victory. Odyssey also has other shipwreck projects in various stages of development around the world.
Odyssey offers various ways to share in the excitement of deep-ocean exploration by making shipwreck treasures and artifacts available to collectors, the general public and students through its webstore, exhibits, books, television, merchandise, educational programs and virtual museum located at www.odysseysvirtualmuseum.com.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
How About That Cave Found in Vietnam?
Sure Start News: Vietnam Cave Largest In The World
A newly discovered cave deep in the jungles of Vietnam is the largest cave yet discovered in the world. It is 262×262 feet in many places, and is large enough to contain a half-mile New York City block, skyscrapers and all.
The cave, Hang Son Doong, is just one in a network of approximately 150 caves in the Annamite Mountains of central Vietnam. The first explorers to enter the cave traversed 2.8 miles through the underground cavern before rising floodwaters forced them out again. They believe that the passage goes even deeper.
Andy Eavis, of the International Union of Speleology, was the discoverer of the previous record holder, the Deer Cave in Borneo.
“This one in Vietnam is bigger,” admitted Eavis.
Apparently, locals have known about the cave for some time, but have never entered into it’s depths because the noise from the cascading river inside was “intimidating.”
Son Doong actually houses it’s own underground river and a jungle, even cloud formations at times.
Adam Spillane, a member of the expedition, said that an explorer has to be “very close to the cave to find it.” Spillane added, “”Certainly, on previous expeditions, people have passed within a few hundred meters of the entrance without finding it.”
See the pictures of the world record cave at National Geographic
A newly discovered cave deep in the jungles of Vietnam is the largest cave yet discovered in the world. It is 262×262 feet in many places, and is large enough to contain a half-mile New York City block, skyscrapers and all.
The cave, Hang Son Doong, is just one in a network of approximately 150 caves in the Annamite Mountains of central Vietnam. The first explorers to enter the cave traversed 2.8 miles through the underground cavern before rising floodwaters forced them out again. They believe that the passage goes even deeper.
Andy Eavis, of the International Union of Speleology, was the discoverer of the previous record holder, the Deer Cave in Borneo.
“This one in Vietnam is bigger,” admitted Eavis.
Apparently, locals have known about the cave for some time, but have never entered into it’s depths because the noise from the cascading river inside was “intimidating.”
Son Doong actually houses it’s own underground river and a jungle, even cloud formations at times.
Adam Spillane, a member of the expedition, said that an explorer has to be “very close to the cave to find it.” Spillane added, “”Certainly, on previous expeditions, people have passed within a few hundred meters of the entrance without finding it.”
See the pictures of the world record cave at National Geographic
Monday, January 3, 2011
Local diver eyes old boat remains in in Fort Loudoun Lake
Knoxville News: Local diver eyes old boat remains in in Fort Loudoun Lake
The Star of Knoxville, a modern paddlewheel cruise boat, and the Volunteer Princess, a sleek multimillion-dollar cruise yacht, lie anchored in Fort Loudoun Lake.
But submerged in the waters and along the shoreline between them lie the scattered skeletal remains of other boats from a long ago time, when moneymaking vessels on those waters were not a rarity but commonplace.
"They were the trucking industry of their time," said Jim McNutt, a Knoxville lumberman and scuba diver with a passion for history and marine archeology.
He wants to see the wreckage salvaged for historical and educational purposes.
There may be many as four wrecked boats in the same general area. Most likely, they are all simple flatboats or keelboats. But there is a chance that the wreckage lying closest to shore is that of a classic steamboat, McNutt said.
"It could be a lot wider than it appears (on the surface), and that increases the possibility" of it being a steamboat, McNutt said. "Once we get to the underside of it, we will know for sure."
He said he has heard stories from several people, including a woman whose grandfather was a steamboat captain, that a steamboat was wrecked or abandoned at that site. And the type of wood is more likely to have been used in a steamboat, he said.
But whatever type of boat it turns out to be, he said, "it is likely that some artifacts have settled down into the wreckage over the years. I'm certain that we will find some artifacts."
In a maritime salvage claim filed in U.S. District Court, McNutt - owner of Marine Geographic - is asking that he and his firm be named "substitute custodians" of any artifacts recovered from the site by professional marine archeologists.
"This wreck belongs to the people of Tennessee," McNutt said. "Marine Geographic will act as the curator of the site and will donate the artifacts to the public education cause."
While the claim is pending in court, McNutt is working to drum up interest and support from a variety of organizations, including the University of Tennessee, TVA and the East Tennessee Historical Society.
McNutt hopes that eventually there will be educational public displays and exhibits pertaining to the history of river traffic placed along Riverfront Landing.
"If we can't get the help we need over the next two or three years, we'll just have to abandon it," he said. "We're moving now because (the wrecks) will eventually erode completely over time. And once a site is gone, you can't reconstruct it."
For historical and archival research, McNutt turned to Bob Davis, retired engineer and local amateur historian who was instrumental in setting up a steamboat history display at the Historic Crescent Bend House.
Davis said that Knoxville depended upon river commerce until the 1850s, when a railroad bridge was built over the Tennessee River at Loudon. Steamboats went into decline but continued to operate until the early 20th century.
Davis said he feels there is a "slim" chance of the wreckage being that of a steamboat. His historical research has identified some steamboats known to have ended their days in the same general vicinity.
McNutt said he believes the site has historical value no matter the type of boats, but that a wrecked steamboat would make it even better.
"The difference would be like waking up Christmas morning and finding out that your present is a trip to Tahiti instead of to Pigeon Forge," he said.
McNutt is looking for volunteers to help with the project. He can be contacted at jim@marinegeographic.com.
The Star of Knoxville, a modern paddlewheel cruise boat, and the Volunteer Princess, a sleek multimillion-dollar cruise yacht, lie anchored in Fort Loudoun Lake.
But submerged in the waters and along the shoreline between them lie the scattered skeletal remains of other boats from a long ago time, when moneymaking vessels on those waters were not a rarity but commonplace.
"They were the trucking industry of their time," said Jim McNutt, a Knoxville lumberman and scuba diver with a passion for history and marine archeology.
He wants to see the wreckage salvaged for historical and educational purposes.
There may be many as four wrecked boats in the same general area. Most likely, they are all simple flatboats or keelboats. But there is a chance that the wreckage lying closest to shore is that of a classic steamboat, McNutt said.
"It could be a lot wider than it appears (on the surface), and that increases the possibility" of it being a steamboat, McNutt said. "Once we get to the underside of it, we will know for sure."
He said he has heard stories from several people, including a woman whose grandfather was a steamboat captain, that a steamboat was wrecked or abandoned at that site. And the type of wood is more likely to have been used in a steamboat, he said.
But whatever type of boat it turns out to be, he said, "it is likely that some artifacts have settled down into the wreckage over the years. I'm certain that we will find some artifacts."
In a maritime salvage claim filed in U.S. District Court, McNutt - owner of Marine Geographic - is asking that he and his firm be named "substitute custodians" of any artifacts recovered from the site by professional marine archeologists.
"This wreck belongs to the people of Tennessee," McNutt said. "Marine Geographic will act as the curator of the site and will donate the artifacts to the public education cause."
While the claim is pending in court, McNutt is working to drum up interest and support from a variety of organizations, including the University of Tennessee, TVA and the East Tennessee Historical Society.
McNutt hopes that eventually there will be educational public displays and exhibits pertaining to the history of river traffic placed along Riverfront Landing.
"If we can't get the help we need over the next two or three years, we'll just have to abandon it," he said. "We're moving now because (the wrecks) will eventually erode completely over time. And once a site is gone, you can't reconstruct it."
For historical and archival research, McNutt turned to Bob Davis, retired engineer and local amateur historian who was instrumental in setting up a steamboat history display at the Historic Crescent Bend House.
Davis said that Knoxville depended upon river commerce until the 1850s, when a railroad bridge was built over the Tennessee River at Loudon. Steamboats went into decline but continued to operate until the early 20th century.
Davis said he feels there is a "slim" chance of the wreckage being that of a steamboat. His historical research has identified some steamboats known to have ended their days in the same general vicinity.
McNutt said he believes the site has historical value no matter the type of boats, but that a wrecked steamboat would make it even better.
"The difference would be like waking up Christmas morning and finding out that your present is a trip to Tahiti instead of to Pigeon Forge," he said.
McNutt is looking for volunteers to help with the project. He can be contacted at jim@marinegeographic.com.
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