



I. The Race to the Mantle






drill bit
[Image Source: CNN]


II. No Guarantees


Chikyu at sea
The Chikyu, at sea [Image Source: CNN]



Chikyu pipes





Source: CNN

Comments     Threshold


RE: Optimistic
By Ringold on 10/3/2012 4:39:05 PM , Rating: 2
That's what I thought too when I read it; what do they expect to find that they didn't already suspect?

At least money spent just about anywhere else has a decent likelihood of creating some truly unexpected result. Searching for gravity waves has turned in to an unexpected debate about a holographic universe, for example. Telescopes find unexpected things all the time, or look at things we know are there but don't at all know what details we'll find -- unlike the mantle. Bleeding edge medical research continually seems surprised by what it learns about how DNA, RNA, proteins, etc work.

Ah well. I just won't have this in the back of my mind as something I'm looking forward to, unlike, say, the James Webb Space Telescope, fusion, VASMIR, etc.

RE: Optimistic
By SPOOFE on 10/3/2012 4:43:18 PM , Rating: 3
what do they expect to find that they didn't already suspect?

Greater accuracy of current models, if nothing else. Maybe something new and unexpected? Maybe.

RE: Optimistic
By TSS on 10/4/2012 8:29:39 AM , Rating: 2
I'd rather they'd spend that $1 billion on exploring the ocean floor itself rather then what's beneath it. That way you'll be guarranteed to find new and unexpected things.

RE: Optimistic
By maugrimtr on 10/8/2012 5:25:53 AM , Rating: 2
I think it's sad that people think this is a waste of time. Drilling down to the mantle, taking samples, and observing it directly for the first time in history rather than indirect sources like volcanoes (not really representative since that's rapidly cooled), radar, and models (we're familiar with climate modelling and the controversy over its accuracy, right?).

Science often seems like a waste of time when examining the obvious but that's the beauty of science: assume nothing and question everything. Until there's a direct observation, we must make do with a best-fit explanation, i.e. a theory. The drilling is the experiment to see if what we find is what we expect...or whether we find something completely new.

Also, tiny pinpricks in the Earth do not create volcanoes...

