Wed 10 Aug 2011
New Eruption at Axial Seamount
Posted by Diana Kenney under Bay Paul Center
[2] Comments
MBL microbial oceanographer Julie Huber will study the microbial life in the erupting fluids from this undersea volcano, helping scientists understand how life adapts to some of the harshest conditions on Earth. http://bit.ly/mWr5TT
The manipulator arm of the ROV Jason prepares to sample the new lava flow that erupted in April 2011 at Axial Seamount, located off the Oregon coast. Photo courtesy of Bill Chadwick, Oregon State University; copyright Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Wouldn’t it be great to have the opportunity to study a volcanic eruption on a nearby planet and being able to compare magma composition with that of Earth’s? Maybe it will show that life really is possible outside of our planet…or not.
That might very well be the kind of thinking that drives research into these areas. The public generally responds to fascinating, extra-planetary ruminations like the above. More money needs to go into science in general; both physics and biology.