British freediver attempts record-breaking dive in Egypt
June 10, 2008
Dolphin Girl, Sara Butler will become the first woman ever to freedive one of the world’s most awe-inspiring and challenging plunges – The Arch in Dahab, Egypt.
It is a huge archway, or tunnel, connecting the Blue Hole – a massive abyss – with the open ocean. To complete the dive Sara, 35, must first swim down 55 metres to the tunnel entrance.
After 10 metres the human body is no longer buoyant so she will use a “divebomb” technique to plummet further into the deep. She will then aim to take the shortest 35 metre route through the tunnel and then up to the surface threeand- a-half minutes later, swimming a total of 145m (475ft) – almost the height of Blackpool Tower.
“Imagine holding your breath for three-and-a-half minutes,” she said. “Now imagine doing it while physically working your body at its limits, at depth.
Remaining calm is the only thing that will ensure I survive.”
From the Sunday Mirror: Read more
Red Scarlet: 2x higher quality video than HiDef for under $3,000?
June 9, 2008
There is a digital video revolution underway and RED are leading the way.
We’ve been keeping our eye on these guys from RED for some time since they launched a 4,000 pixel wide format digital video camera (that’s 9 mega-pixel video!!) for under $20,000. Although by the time you add lenses, tripods, digital storage and other accessories you can expect to get closer to $100,000 all-in.
Now RED have announced a smaller 3,000 pixel wide version (a mere 5 mega-pixel!!), called RED Scarlet which should retail at about $3,000. Taking into account lense costs, light accessories, storage and Gates housing (when they get round to producing it), this should price a complete underwater filming rig at around $20,000.
Oh, did I mention it can film at 180 frames per second?
Yeah – bring it on!!
Visit RED’s site
Beauty of Komodo Island hides a deadly current
June 7, 2008
Five divers, including three Britons, have gone missing while exploring the Nusa Tenggara archipelago off the coast of Indonesia.
The seas around Indonesia’s Nusa Tenggara archipelago are among the most unpredictable and dangerous in the tropics.
This is the area where the Indian and Pacific Oceans meet, where cold water wells up from the abyss, creating a mosaic of tidal races and whirlpools. There is little boat traffic, save for local subsistence fishermen and the occasional ferry. For a lost diver drifting at the surface, it is a vast and hostile environment.
Divers visit these islands because all that roiling water brings nutrients that power one of the world’s richest eco-systems. Komodo Island (famous for the endemic giant lizards known as Komodo dragons) sits at the heart of the archipelago, and has some of the best dives in South East Asia.
From the timesonline: Read more
Marine bacteria dyes keep knickers free of E coli
June 5, 2008
A strain of marine bacteria produces large amounts of bright red pigments that can be used as a natural dye for wool, nylon, silk and other fabrics, scientists in California are reporting. The dyes from Mother Nature’s palate also have an anti-bacterial effect that could discourage harmful bacteria from growing on socks, undergarments, and other clothing, they report in a new study.
In the new research, graduate student Farzaneh Alihosseini, her adviser Gang Sun and colleagues point out that conventional dyes and pigments used in clothing have several drawbacks. Many are made from non-renewable resources such as petroleum, and are potentially harmful to the environment and human health. In addition, concerns exist about the potential toxicity of existing antibacterial-fabric coatings.
The researchers found that a certain strain of bacteria isolated from marine sediments produces large quantities of bright red pigments called prodiginines that can be used to dye clothing. In laboratory tests, the pigments worked on wool, silk, nylon, and acrylic fabrics as efficiently and effectively as some conventional dyes. The pigments showed strong antibacterial activity against harmful bacteria, including E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus, when applied to most of the fabrics tested.
From Science Daily: Read more
Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef
June 4, 2008
The Great Barrier Reef lovingly recreated in a giant piece of crochet? Science attempting to explain complex geometry – to a group of women wielding crochet hooks.
The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef came about by accident after its creator Margaret Wertheim read about a discovery by a mathematician called Daina Taimina: that you could model hyperbolic space using crochet, simply by increasing the number of stitches in each row until the fabric warps. Mathematicians had previously struggled to demonstrate hyperbolic surfaces, despite the fact that they appear throughout the natural world – in lettuce leaves, for example.
The reef has developed along evolutionary and art-historical lines. The sisters are now in their “postmodern phase”, working on a “toxic reef”, crocheted using plastic carrier bags sliced into ribbons and reels of videotape – a comment on the environmental damage being wreaked on the real Barrier Reef by pollution and waste. “People ask: is it art or science?” says Wertheim. “But I don’t believe in those classifications. This project is feminine handicrafts, it’s mathematics, it’s ecology – it crosses those boundaries.”
From the Guaradian.co.uk: Read more
