![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
willowrootIn just 4 years, the Census of Marine Life has discovered 13,000+ previously unknown marine lifeforms. That's in addition to greatly expanding the knowledge base on extant species such as tuna and shark.
13,000 species.
And the pelagic ocean is usually considered a fairly sterile environment. Just what are we missing out on within really dense biotas, such as rainforests (temperate and tropical), river deltas, marshes, and other such terrestrial environments? Heck, what are we missing out on, in the not-so-dense areas, such as the great plains, the tundra, and deserts?
Take just a second and think about it. In this era of hyper-fast information overload, where mankind has mapped every foot of our planet's surface, knows amazing things about the patterns of air and water flow that determine our climate, and has developed technology to traverse this planet in hours... we still have The Unknown, The Unseen, and The Undiscovered.
What else does Mother Nature have in store for us, just hiding around the corner? Dunno about you, but I'm excited.
13,000 species.
And the pelagic ocean is usually considered a fairly sterile environment. Just what are we missing out on within really dense biotas, such as rainforests (temperate and tropical), river deltas, marshes, and other such terrestrial environments? Heck, what are we missing out on, in the not-so-dense areas, such as the great plains, the tundra, and deserts?
Take just a second and think about it. In this era of hyper-fast information overload, where mankind has mapped every foot of our planet's surface, knows amazing things about the patterns of air and water flow that determine our climate, and has developed technology to traverse this planet in hours... we still have The Unknown, The Unseen, and The Undiscovered.
What else does Mother Nature have in store for us, just hiding around the corner? Dunno about you, but I'm excited.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-11-23 08:21 am (UTC)I remember watching a Nova special with Vekson112 about the discovery of a deep water fish, found in the Mediterranean Sea (of all places), which hasn't evolved since prehistoric times. That's right, the fish, as far as they can tell (when comparing it to fossils of the fish they have found), is exactly the same as it has been for centuries--millenia, even. I'm just fascinated by this.
Oh, and that fish can't live for more than a minute in surface waters--it dies before it hits the air. They've only found it again recently because it's migrated. As far as they can tell where it chooses to live there are no preditors. The scientists involved in this research were amazed by the discovery that the fish still exists. I don't remember the name of the fish, but I do know that we watched the special about it.
Yeah, and I'm also still interested in finding out more about the new species of small humans they found remains of in Indonesia (article in Science Magazine: "New Species of Small Human Found in Indonesia" by Ann Gibbons, Science 29 October 2004; 306: 789 ).
Mmmm...curiosity....:-)