Expedição submarina revela mundo desconhecido junto da Antárctida

Uma outra curiosidade sobre a antárctida:

Artigo: Scott, Amundsen… and Nobu Shirase
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228440.900-scott-amundsen-and-nobu-shirase.html

Japan also had a heroic explorer dashing to the South Pole 100 years ago – and he did it on a shoestring

In the story of the race to the South Pole, Shirase is the invisible man.

A Japanese explorer, his part in one of the greatest adventure stories of the 20th century is hardly known outside his own country.

Yet as Scott was nearing the pole and with the world still unaware of Amundsen’s triumph, Shirase and the Japanese Antarctic expedition sailed into Antarctica’s Bay of Whales in the smallest ship ever to try its luck in these perilous waters.

So, like the British, Shirase presented his expedition as a quest for knowledge rather than a bid for personal glory. He would bring back rocks and fossils, make meteorological measurements and explore unknown parts of the continent.

The response was cool. Neither the government nor the public had much appetite for such a venture and the press poked fun at the whole idea.

Shirase struggled both to raise funds and to find scientists to accompany him.

He and his men were the first non-Europeans to explore Antarctica. They travelled beyond 80° south, one of only four teams to have gone so far south at the time. What’s more, they did it all on a shoestring and with no previous experience – and no one died.

Para quem gosta de “alternate history”, ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternate_history ) é inevitável pensar que poderia haver agora uma enorme base Japonesa no Pólo-sul neste lugar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amundsen-Scott_South_Pole_Station

Isaac Asimov’s short story “What If” — is about a couple who can explore alternate realities by means of a television-like device. This idea can also be found in Asimov’s 1955 novel The End of Eternity. In that novel, the “Eternals” can change the realities of the world, without people being aware of it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_Eternity

No caso do eixo (que incluia o Japão) ter ganho a segunda guerra mundial ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_in_the_High_Castle ), até se poderia chegar ao ponto de negar a existência das expedições de Scott e Amundsen; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_amundsen

Isto constituiria um exemplar fenómeno de Revisionismo Histórico ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_revisionism_(negationism) ) que pode muito bem estar ligado á genese de alguns fenómenos pseudo-científicos actuais.

Por exemplo, uma vitória da “negação da veracidade” das missões lunares apollo, poderá vir a ter lugar num futuro distante, talvez como consequência dum hipotético cenário de bancarrota dos Estados Unidos da América, com a extinção da NASA e venda da indústria espacial norte-americana a investidores estrangeiros. As duas explosões dos Shuttles poderão vir a ser apresentadas como prova da incapacidade desse país ter alcançado a Lua em 1969.

Quanto mais ignorância e miséria existirem, mais fácil será o “reescrever” da história.

Voltando a este “mundo desconhecido” dos fundos marinhos em zonas remotas…

A mim, o que me interessa cada vez mais, é a vida microscópica nas planícies abissais geladas. A vida bacteriana, em particular…

How NASA May Use Microbes to Power Space Robots

Today’s robotic space missions take careful steps to avoid carrying tiny bacterial life from Earth that could contaminate the surface of Mars or other planets. That may all change if a NASA-funded effort can harness microbes as an almost endless power source for the next generation of robotic explorers.

Such microbial fuel cells could power space robots almost indefinitely, as long as their bacteria have the tiny amounts of food needed to stay alive and create electricity through their chemical reactions.

Fonte: http://www.space.com/14162-space-rover-microbial-fuel-cell.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+spaceheadlines+%28SPACE.com+Headline+Feed%29&utm_content=Google+International

Plain Ol’ Soil Could be Source of Energy
http://www.technewsdaily.com/597-plain-ol-soil-could-be-source-of-energy.html

Humans have harnessed wind power, hydropower, biofuel, and solar energy for creating electricity, but an overlooked renewable energy source could be right under our feet.

Using the small currents created by bacteria living in soil, a group of Harvard students was able to harness and collect that energy in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) for a class project.

The most recent microbial-fueled battery can power a small LED lamp and can last for up to a year. Easy to make and simple to use, the battery costs $10 to $15 U.S. dollars.

Ver também: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioreactor

E para “começar” a aprofundar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbial_fuel_cell