making music with volcanoes quake
detector
on parade cool tool for coral
conservation
and diving into the earth it's four
awesome discoveries you probably didn't
hear about
all with funding from the national
science foundation here's proof that
earth scientists are tuned in
the most dangerous volcano in the u.s
has a music video
it's called hotel kilauea check it out
the music video may only be three
minutes long but it's based on 10 years
worth of data
collected at the kilauea volcano in
hawaii the lead researcher is a
violinist
as well as an earth scientist he and his
team developed computer programs that
translate volcanic and geyser data
like ground movement gas emissions and
yes
eruptions into sound revealing musical
structure behind the data
here's their video of the lone star
geyser in yellowstone national park
translating data from diverse
measurements into sites and sounds
provides a novel tool for identifying
patterns and hidden processes
at volcanoes and geysers the volcano
listening project
aims to further discovery for scientists
and the public
by presenting complex data in new and
perhaps surprising ways
let's go diving shall we into the earth
geoscientists use supercomputers to
generate 3d images of the earth's
mantle specifically a subduction zone
under central america and the caribbean
a subduction zone is where an
oceanic plate runs into a continental
plate and slides beneath it
the team used high fidelity data from
180 earthquakes over a decade
and a computationally intense technique
called full
waveform inversion the study reveals
oceanic plates that are not solid
but smaller and fragmented leaving gaps
and the slabs separate the hot mantle
like a diver separates water
knowing about the gaps is important
because that's where friction
is less likely thus fewer earthquakes
this is the first comprehensive seismic
study of its kind
and you could say it's shaking things up
this discovery got some help from an
unlikely source
the annual rose parade in pasadena
researchers used the tournament of roses
to test a new
fiber optic earthquake detector the
pasadena array
the array takes advantage of two unused
strands of fiber optic cable
that stretch around the city it has 5000
virtual sensors
mapping tremors at meter scale
resolution
the study confirms that the array can
even distinguish between a shaking
caused by floats
and marching bands the pasadena array is
expected to produce a tremendous amount
of data
equal to 30 000 seismometers a big step
forward
in seismic monitoring some great news
for coral reef conservation
a new chip that allows researchers to
genetically identify
corals and the symbiotic algae that live
inside them
the genotyping chip and its online
analysis tool are a potential game
changer
they make genetic id possible even for
scientists who don't have access to a
lab
are data crunching resources the
breakthrough allows more scientists to
efficiently track and monitor disease
resistant corals
boosting efforts to establish and
maintain coral diversity
for reef restoration the chip was
designed using caribbean corals but can
also be used to analyze pacific species
and there you go see you next time with
four awesome discoveries
with funding from nsf nsf advancing
research
into the future
you