This section contains information provided by scientists and engineers associated with Project Niu, including the team at Archinoetics building the Niu floating sensor device.
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Miscellaneous
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Written by Evan Rapoport
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Thursday, 22 May 2008 |
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On Tuesday 5/20/08, Niu officially left the tropics, crossing over the Tropic of Cancer at about 23.5 degrees north latitude. In the "tropics" (between 23.5 degrees south and 23.5 degrees north latitude), the sun reaches its "zenith" in the sky (the highest point, or "straight up"). This occurs twice during the year in the tropics, except for at the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, at which it only occurs on the summer solstice.
The beautiful year-long warmth we get here in Hawaii is the result of the sun being higher in the sky for most of the year. Even in the "winter" (if 78 degrees counts as winter), the sun is still pretty high up. This gives us longer days and more direct sunlight, which keeps the temperatures perfect for that New Year's Day surf session.
For all you curious future scientists, I'll leave you with a question: Why are the tropics between 23.5 degrees north and south? If you can answer this, then you should also be able to figure out the significance of the Arctic and Antarctic circles.
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Miscellaneous
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Written by Evan Rapoport
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Saturday, 17 May 2008 |
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On May 8, 2008, Project Niu launched an ocean-going sensor from Waimea Bay to teach students about the impact that each one of them can have on the environment. "Read more" for the full story of this big day. Track Niu here.
Perhaps the best way to understand Project Niu is through the eyes of a coconut…
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Remote Sensing
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Written by Evan Rapoport
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Friday, 16 May 2008 |
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People often ask us about the accuracy of Niu's plotted coordinates. This is a great question with a very lengthy answer. I'll give you the short version and some places to go if you're curious about the longer version. Believe it or not, as long as this is, this is the short version! Read more if you're interested...
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Oceanography
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Written by Josiah Sewell
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Tuesday, 15 April 2008 |
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You all are putting out some great - and very valid - hypotheses (what a funny word . . . ). Ask anyone from a casual beach goer to a professional oceanographer and they will tell you that ocean currents are hard to
predict. Obviously the ocean is a big place and there is a lot
going on out there, and everything - from sunlight to water temperature to wind - plays a factor on ocean circulation, or the movement of ocean currents.
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Wildlife & Plants
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Written by Josiah Sewell
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Tuesday, 26 February 2008 |
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There are seven different species of sea turtle living today, and they can be found in every ocean. While certain turtles only live in limited regions, others can be found across the globe. So what are the 7 sea turtles? How do they differ from terrestrial (land-based) turtles? And just what is a scute? Read on for everything you wanted to know about sea turtles!
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