ACADEMIA

For the first time, live high-definition images of active thermal vents on the ocean floor were available as an IP-based feed yesterday. Weather permitting, live images will be available again Sept. 28 and 29 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. PT. This feed came directly from the ocean floor by way of the research vessel Thomas G. Thompson. The ship is on site at a research expedition of the Juan de Fuca Ridge in the Northeast Pacific Ocean, 200 miles off the Washington-British Columbia coast. This unprecedented live, HD video broadcast from what has been described as the "Yellowstone of the deep sea" epitomizes the next generation of research in which data and images collected by scientific instruments are immediately available across Internet networks. Direct observation of giant earthquakes, cavorting marine mammals, erupting volcanoes, massive landslides, brilliant blooms of microscopic life-forms and a host of equally fascinating processes, creatures and phenomena can be brought into laboratories, classrooms and living rooms by way of the Internet. These images were available over the Internet in HD multicast to selected research groups and sites in six countries capable of handling the high-bandwidth Internet data. "This 20Mbps MPEG2 HD video stream is definitely the most-capable imaging medium in existence for viewing and sharing the unparalleled deep seascapes festooned with luxuriant and exotic life-forms that thrive on volcanic activity while living in the shadow of death from scorching 700°F vent fluids billowing out of the seafloor centimeters away," stated University of Washington professor of Oceanography John Delaney and co-leader of the expedition with UW professor Deborah Kelley. A live HD stream was also transmitted to the iGrid 2005 conference using ResearchChannel's iHDTV software. The expedition uses three HD cameras located on the seafloor, on the ship and on land in a classroom setting. Internet multicast viewers felt as if they were present on the VISIONS '05 Research Expedition: They experienced live underwater images and narration by scientists at sea, on the ship and on land in real time. This IP-based feed is an important step in transforming the way research is conducted. As Delaney said, "It is the result of an exciting collaboration with resources from ResearchChannel, the National Science Foundation and the W.M. Keck Foundation. We could not have done this type of program with HD via satellite even two years ago." He continued, "This program is emblematic of the rapid and nonlinear changes in both scientific insights and technology-based capabilities that are literally transforming our perceptions and interactions with ocean space." These transmissions were also broadcast in standard definition on ResearchChannel Sept. 27, giving the public access to incredible, first-ever video images of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Weather permitting, additional live standard-definition transmissions are scheduled to air on ResearchChannel Sept. 28 and 29 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. PT and can be seen as live webcasts at www.researchchannel.org/visions05. Partners in this effort are the National Science Foundation, the UW College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences and School of Oceanography, UWTV, ResearchChannel, NOAA, NEPTUNE Canada, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Pacific Northwest Gigapop, PacificWave and CANARIE, Canada's advanced Internet development organization.