Mohammed Modan

WC & G °7
 We have so much tech, like pinpointing exact locations, even estimating the contours of
the ocean floor. What’s left to explore?
 Lots, b/c a lot of ocean to explore, we have better maps of mars. ½ of US is under water.
 Huge mountain ranges underwater, a lot of stuff, like hydrothermal vents & new life
forms. We’ve only recently discovered these so how much else is there that we don’t
know?
 We can just use technology and cameras to go down there and view the bottom of the
ocean, b/c it looks better than being down there and being down there is a hassle, and
we can take this video and stream anywhere
 Tons of fuel still undiscovered, we have just scratched the surface
 On continental shelves, that were up during ice age, probably have a lot of remains
 A lot of stuff in Black Sea (b/c of flooding) that is preserved b/c no oxygen.
 Chimpanzees are best example of well known & studied animal (most studied mammal),
yet we still find so much new stuff about them. Like they will take a branch, sharpen it,
and then hunt with it.
 This is good news for young scientists b/c still much to find.
 We don’t even know how many chimps are in Senegal.
 Mining in national park for chimps
 With this tech today we can explore without causing damage to environment, like
hovering. Un-intrusive exploring, and we can do this from wherever.
 Anything where you don’t know where you’re going is exploration
 Lions hunt by dark night. Tech has become advanced enough to see this
 What we are photographing are also disappearing, so we can preserve them
 There are forests and places that have never been seen by humans, so there could be
animals we haven’t seen. Some of these places are also being logged
 If we do contact uncontacted civilizations (in Brazil), we could just pass on our diseases
and they’d die.
 We can stream data live, all sensors, everything, so other people can see it, so more
minds. It’s silly to just sit on your data and keep it to yourself. Citizen scientists can get
involved.
 Pilots of submersibles get most bottom time, not the scientists, so they’ve seen more
and often time’s they’ll say “I haven’t seen that before” showing the vast amount of
exploration to do.
 Earth is warming, so ice is melting, allowing for more places to explore and such, like the
forming Northwest Passage.
 Largest canyon usually covered by ice exposed in summer.
 Still tremendous coral colonies
 We also have preprogrammed vehicles that simply go about, explore, and report back,
as remote vehicles usually use cables, allowing places like under the ice accessible.
 Mohammed Modan
WC & G °7
In the Digital Age, What's Left for Modern Explorers?
After hearing this podcast, I simply realized that there was a lot more to explore than I

thought. I expected that after satellite imagery and mapping the ocean floor, that there would

not be much else to explore on Earth, I thought the oceans were just vastly empty. But they’re

not. There is still so much. Recently we have discovered the hydrothermal vents, in which new

life forms were found. Furthermore, pilots of submersibles often exclaim that they have never

seen something before. These are the people who get the most bottom time in the ocean. I

would think that this technology has done the exploring for us, and in some ways it has, but

there is still a lot to be explored, and our technology helps us.

For example, we can simply remote control submersible, where the screen not only

looks better than in real life, but removes the human element which would be a hassle getting

under. This also allows us to see in non-visible wavelengths and also have preprogrammed bots

that do the exploring for us. Not only all this, but this exploration without humans can be done

without intrusion and damage to habitations, simply by hovering. On top of this all, we can

stream live data from all the sensors over the internet to the public, allowing more minds, more

eyes, and citizen scientists to get involved! Technology also allows us to see in other places and

at different times at which we have not been able to before. For example, we found that lions

hunt by dark night, and this could only be viewed well with infrared.

Under the sea there are massive mountain ranges that are spectacular, and we have

never seen them. Also, as the earth warms, new passages like a forming Northwest Passage are

coming to be, allowing for more exploration. There is also the largest canyon in the world,

normally covered by ice, that was visible in the summer.

 Mohammed Modan
WC & G °7
To further stress how much we still have to discover, think about this: the Chimpanzee,

the world’s most studied and well known mammal (besides, or perhaps including humans) is

still in mystery as we are still discovering things about them, such as the fact that they break

branches, then sharpen them and use the branches to hunt! This also leads to the fact that

there are so many untapped environments which have so many undiscovered creatures, and

there are still groups of people that have never been in contact with the outside world. The

planet is massive, and technology helps us discover more, as we have only chipped the surface,

because we have more detailed maps of Mars! This is great news for younger scientists because

there is still much to explore.