Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 03/01/2012 - 04:40
Forums
Seafloor Organisms and Changing Ocean Conditions in Antarctic

HI Nell,

Thanks for sending the picture of you Skyping with us yesterday. I was wondering where you were exactly; now I know. Your computer stand is much more useful than our shifting pile of lap boards!

I was also wondering about the RASA machine (see Anna's post 2/29 "algae") - how exact is it in pin pointing where nuclear bombs have been detonated? How long does it take the information to travel to Antarctica? Are there other RASA machines elsewhere in the world?

Are the snow showers keeping you inside today?

Tami

Thu, 03/01/2012 - 06:55

Nell Herrmann

Hi Tami,It was great to see you and the students yesterday! Thanks for working with Jane to make that happen! I was happy that Jeff, the IT person here, had the stand for me to borrow. Like everyone else here he's been really helpful.
Neal was sitting at my table at lunch, so I asked him the question from you & Anna. He said the machine can pinpoint where the bombs have been detonated with 100% accuracy. Yes, there are other machines: there are 80 RASA machines worldwide.
Here's a little more information I found online:
"The technologies are being deployed worldwide to verify international compliance with the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The Treaty, adopted in 1996 by the United Nation's General Assembly and signed by 150 nations, is intended to reduce the threat of nuclear war and monitor weapons testing."
I can't find anything about where they are located and Neal wasn't sure about that either. Interesting stuff, for sure...
As far as the weather, it's not the snow showers that are keeping people off the water- it's the wind. The winds are the highest I've seen them since I arrived (36 mph). I did get out very briefly with the group who uses the AUV's to do some water sampling. I'll write about it this afternoon! :)
Thanks,
Nell