Titanic Expedition Begins and Ends After Capturing Remarkable Images

Few names spark the imagery that "Titanic" can.  The name conjures images of romance, luxury, opulence, tragedy and death.  When the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank on her maiden voyage from England to New York City ninety-eight years ago in 1912, more than 1,500 souls perished in the icy waters of the Atlantic.  Seventy-three years later, some 370 miles (600 km) south-east of Mistaken Point, Newfoundland, Dr. Robert Ballard of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and Jean-Louis Michel of Ifremer discovered the wreckage of the Titanic 2 1/2 miles (4 km) beneath the Atlantic's surface.

The ship has always been at the center of interest for researchers.  Before Ballard and Michel discovered the ship, many wanted to do just that.  Some even wanted to raise it.  There have been several visits to the site with submersibles being dispatched to collect artifacts, video or photographs.

Ninety-eight years later, yet another expedition to the Titanic site has come and gone.  Plagued by both Hurricanes Danielle and Igor, the research expedition was conducted in two parts.  The first ended in August of 2010 when Hurricane Danielle forced the expedition to return to port in St. John's, Newfoundland.  The goal of the expedition is to document little-known areas of the wreckage before it completely disintegrates.  Their focus is the stern of the ship.  It hasn't been studied since the Titanic was discovered in 1985.  Once all danger of Danielle had passed, the expedition on the research vessel Jean Charcot returned into the cold Atlantic waters to continue their work. 

Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle Solved?

For decades the area of the North Atlantic Ocean known as the "Bermuda Triangle" or "Devil's Triangle" has both intrigued and terrified people around the world.  It's been known as a place where strange disappearances and disasters are the norm and answers have been elusive, at best.

But, all that may have changed.

Using the "mystery areas" identified by Ivan T. Sanderson in the 1960's, Professor Joseph Monaghan and honor student David May conducted their own research at the Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.  Monaghan and May believe they have come up with an answer to the mysterious disasters and disappearances of the Bermuda Triangle.

Their paper, published in the American Journal of Physics attributes the mysteries of the Triangle not to the supernatural but to gas, specifically methane gas.

The paper suggests that the methane gas, which is normally frozen at great pressure as gas hydrates embedded in subterranean rock, becomes dislodged.  It then transforms into gaseous bubbles and expands as the bubbles explode upwards.  When the bubbles reach the surface of the ocean, they rise into the air while still expanding up and out.  Any ships caught in the bubbles lose buoyancy and sink to the bottom of the ocean.  Larger bubbles that carry enough density can unexpectedly knock aircraft from the sky.

After all these years of speculation, what do you think of this possible explanation?

For more information you can read this article.

Scientists Find Surprises in Deep Atlantic Ocean

I love articles like this and I love them even more when there are loads of great pictures.  This one certainly doesn't disappoint.

Scientists from 17 nations recently embarked on a six-week expedition aboard the British research vessel the James Cook to explore a never-before-seen area of the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.  Some expected to see nothing.  All were amazed that they were able to bring back photographs of an area that is teeming with life.

The scientists focused on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.  It is a massive undersea mountain range that splits the ocean in half, dividing the east Atlantic from the west Atlantic.  The seascape is apparently similar to the American West featuring rocky outcroppings, sheer cliffs and flat open plains.  The critters that live there, however, are nothing like the rattlesnakes, jackrabbits and prairie dogs that inhabit the American West.

There were at least 10 creatures discovered during the expedition that possibly could represent new species.