Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 07/08/2013 - 09:02

Hi Mr. Taterka!

Hope your trip in Alaska is going well! I saw that you and your team recently discovered that the previously exposed frozen carbon is exposed to sunlight, it is more susceptible to converting to CO2 by microbes than carbon that is in the dark. Was it difficult to collect the data for this experiment and to draw this conclusion? Also, did you find out why the different sodas go clear in the light?

Katie Stagman

Anonymous

Hi Katie- great to hear from you! It was a huge amount of work to collect samples and analyze the data to discover the effect of sunlight. Just look at the pictures - we're working on remote tundra, flying around in helicopters, dealing with bugs and weather. Then they process and analyze hundreds and even thousands of samples on some projects. I can't believe how much effort goes into this work.I have some ideas why sodas go clear but tea and juice don't. What do you think?