Becker, Michael. "Getting to the Bottom of It All." Scientist at Work Getting to the Bottom of It All Comments. New York Times, 26 Feb. 2013. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.
<http://scientistatwork.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/getting-to-the-bottom-of-it-all/>
Michael Becker’s article, Getting to the Bottom of It All could not have a more well-suited title. Becker describes his experience on an adventurous scientific diving expedition at Lake Untersee in Antarctica this past November. Preparation and safety are all important for the dive in this remote and frigid part of the world. Chipping through 10 feet of lake ice requires the use of an industrial strength steam cleaner feeding boiling hot water through copper tubing over two days. Essentials include intense diving gear, a couple of snowmobiles and the all important tether lifeline, which ferries him into the dive hole and hoists him to the surface post experimentation. Recently, modern technology including the communication box has enabled dive messages to flow back and forth between the diver and the surface assistants who work the lifeline. The lifeline ensures the surface assistants of having an idea of how far away the diver is and also so the diver knows where to return. Becker stresses the importance of safety in this practice as the smallest error can result in death. Divers suffering from disorders, sicknesses, or injury, often must go to a recompression chamber in which a pressure vessel is used to treat their symptoms. Unfortunately, the nearest recompression chamber is nearly 2,000 miles away in Cape Town. One may ask, what’s the point of all this? Becker describes the exciting study of “microbial communities locked away from human history.” Cores, or layers of the lake’s bottom, teach scientists about the lake’s history and its resident organisms. Becker studies the evolution of these microbial communities by observing cross-sections of the cores, which grow in layers over time. These layers are known as laminations. More specifically, Becker observes cyanobacteria and how much light energy they are exposed to, enabling them to create their own energy. Looking at bacteria and other life forms that live deeper in the Lake is done by two Russian scientists, Vladimr Akimov and Valery Galchenko. They study oxygen-rich water nearer to the surface, and oxygen-poor water below, which give us a sense of two different worlds within the same lake.
<http://scientistatwork.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/getting-to-the-bottom-of-it-all/>
Michael Becker’s article, Getting to the Bottom of It All could not have a more well-suited title. Becker describes his experience on an adventurous scientific diving expedition at Lake Untersee in Antarctica this past November. Preparation and safety are all important for the dive in this remote and frigid part of the world. Chipping through 10 feet of lake ice requires the use of an industrial strength steam cleaner feeding boiling hot water through copper tubing over two days. Essentials include intense diving gear, a couple of snowmobiles and the all important tether lifeline, which ferries him into the dive hole and hoists him to the surface post experimentation. Recently, modern technology including the communication box has enabled dive messages to flow back and forth between the diver and the surface assistants who work the lifeline. The lifeline ensures the surface assistants of having an idea of how far away the diver is and also so the diver knows where to return. Becker stresses the importance of safety in this practice as the smallest error can result in death. Divers suffering from disorders, sicknesses, or injury, often must go to a recompression chamber in which a pressure vessel is used to treat their symptoms. Unfortunately, the nearest recompression chamber is nearly 2,000 miles away in Cape Town. One may ask, what’s the point of all this? Becker describes the exciting study of “microbial communities locked away from human history.” Cores, or layers of the lake’s bottom, teach scientists about the lake’s history and its resident organisms. Becker studies the evolution of these microbial communities by observing cross-sections of the cores, which grow in layers over time. These layers are known as laminations. More specifically, Becker observes cyanobacteria and how much light energy they are exposed to, enabling them to create their own energy. Looking at bacteria and other life forms that live deeper in the Lake is done by two Russian scientists, Vladimr Akimov and Valery Galchenko. They study oxygen-rich water nearer to the surface, and oxygen-poor water below, which give us a sense of two different worlds within the same lake.
Diving deep below the surface of Antarctica to take
water and other samples is a unique form of experimentation. Becker
is an adventurer searching to observe and better analyze the rarely visited
underwater ecosystem of this continent. Despite the blackness of
existence below the ice surface, light permeates and organisms thrive.
Bacteria and viruses grow in different sections of the lake - some without oxygen
and some oxygen-rich. Only after the water samples are analyzed by Becker
and his colleagues will we learn the potential impact to us as humans. We
may better understand the delicate balance of the ecosystem and how it affects
climate change. We may learn ways that oceans and underwater environments
can grow new cures for viruses or antibiotics.
Becker did a good job at providing a vivid picture of
exploring the Antarctica underworld. This article could have been more
descriptive in terms of the anatomies of the bacteria and viruses.
Becker focused too much on his diving routine, and had minimal information in
terms of the actual species found in the lake and what these discoveries mean
for the future. However, this speaks to the reality that this scientific
experimentation is fairly new and that at this point, the adventure of the
diving experience itself may be more interesting than what is actually being
discovered. Over time, with scientific advancements and rapid innovations
in technology, I am confident we will be hearing more about Lake Untersee and
its amazing underworld sometime in the near future.
My fellow classmate and companion Andrew did an excellent job describing the article he read, "Getting to the Bottom of It All." Scientist at Work Getting to the Bottom of It All Comments. He did a good job of describing of how exactly Becker went about executing his experiment. He chipped through ten feet of lake ice with an industrial strength steam cleaner feeding boiling hot water through copper tubing. Andrew also did a great job of what materials were essential for this experiment to be successful. These were intense diving gear, a couple of snowmobiles, and a tether lifeline. After describing these, Andrew did a good job of describing the function of each material and how it enables him to be successful in his experiment. One of the descriptions of, for example, the lifeline, is that it ensures the surface assistants of having an idea of how far away the diver is and also where the diver can return to the surface.
ReplyDeleteI believe this review could have been improved in a number of different ways. While it was descriptive of the techniques and what he was searching for, it was a little unclear to me where exactly in Antarctica this was taking place, the main underlying theme of the experiment, and how many people were required to successfully get good results. I also think It could have been improved by stating the anatomies of the bacteria and viruses.
One aspect of the review that was appalling to me was the fact that light permeates through the thick 10 feet of ice and allows organisms to thrive. While I knew organisms could thrive under ice, I did not think that much light could permeate through its thickest amounts.