Mapping the Ocean with the Power of Technology | National Geographic

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EXERCISE 2

Everywhere we see water, we see life. In the ocean, we have no idea what is going on. When we lost a probe the size of a golf cart on Mars, we could find the crash site within ten days. On Earth, ten years ago, we lost a jumbo jet with hundreds of souls on board, and we still have yet to find this on the seafloor. We do not have any data on how to quantify how the system is changing through time, because we are so data poor. Technology is giving us a lens to see life in its entirety in that environment.

The main challenge with what I’m doing, which is to map the seafloor to understand what’s in the ocean, is to see through water. I’m trying to map and place objects on the seafloor through a surface that’s constantly changing and undulating, because air and water bends light differently. And you can see this if you stick a pencil in a glass of water, the pencil will look like it’s broken, but it’s not—it’s just light changing its velocity. That’s where the technology comes in. Microprocessors power the inventions I create. They control the logic so all the parts come together, to create an instrument—to make something that can extend human perception of the natural world.

Fluid Lensing is a technology that exploits the same waves that caused the problem. Every time a wave passes over an object that has a positive curvature, it acts sort of like a free magnifying glass. And these bright bands of light light up the seafloor like a torch. With these two things exploited, Fluid Lensing is able to see at really high resolution and at high depth. Every year, it’s close to a thousand terabytes of data generated. Too much data for humans to process and analyze. So we rely on AI. It’s a huge force multiplier in how we can interpret data. And a lot of the times, we’re just asking the question, is the ocean healthy here? That’s one big advance with this technology. We can see how these systems are changing and ultimately how they sustain the natural world.

Question 1 - 11

Write the letter of each definition with the word it defines. If you don't know the definition, use the context of the reading passage to help you. Look for the word in bold as you read the passage

Words	Definitions
1 C A Probe	A. (n) The ability to understand or interpret the world and its surroundings in a specific way.
2 E A Jumbo Jet	B. (n) The rate of speed at which something moves or changes.
3 G Quantify	C. (n) A device used for exploring or collecting data, especially in outer space or the ocean.
4 D Seafloor	D. (n) The bottom of the ocean or a body of water.
5 K Undulate	E. (n) A large passenger aircraft used for long-distance travel.
6 B Velocity	F. (n) The clarity or sharpness of an image or data.
7 A Perception	G. (v) To measure or calculate the amount, size, or extent of something.
8 H Curvature	H. (n) the state of being curved or bent
9 F Resolution	I. (v) To explain or make sense of something.
10 I Interpret	J. (v) To maintain or keep something going over time.
11 J Sustain	K. (v) To move in a smooth, wave-like motion.

Videoscripts

The main challenge with what I’m doing, which is to map the seafloor to understand what’s in the ocean, is to see through water. I’m trying to map and place objects on the seafloor through a surface that’s constantly changing and undulating, because air and water bends light differently. And you can see this if you stick a pencil in a glass of water, the pencil will look like it’s broken, but it’s not—it’s just light changing its velocity. That’s where the technology comes in. Microprocessors power the inventions I create. They control the logic so all the parts come together, to create an instrument—to make something that can extend human perception of the natural world.

Fluid Lensing is a technology that exploits the same waves that caused the problem. Every time a wave passes over an object that has a positive curvature, it acts sort of like a free magnifying glass. And these bright bands of light light up the seafloor like a torch. With these two things exploited, Fluid Lensing is able to see at really high resolution and at high depth. Every year, it’s close to a thousand terabytes of data generated. Too much data for humans to process and analyze. So we rely on AI. It’s a huge force multiplier in how we can interpret data. And a lot of the times, we’re just asking the question, is the ocean healthy here? That’s one big advance with this technology. We can see how these systems are changing and ultimately how they sustain the natural world.

Vocabulary:
A Probe /ə proʊb/ Noun
A Jumbo Jet /ə ˈdʒʌmboʊ dʒɛt/ Noun
Quantify /ˈkwɒntɪfaɪ/ Verb
Seafloor /ˈsiːflɔːr/ Noun
Undulating /ˈʌndjʊleɪtɪŋ/ Verb
Velocity /vəˈlɒsɪti/ Noun
Logic /ˈlɒdʒɪk/ Noun
Perception /pərˈsɛpʃən/ Noun
Pass over /pæs oʊvər/ Verb
Curvature /ˈkɜːrvətʃər/ Noun
Resolution /ˌrɛzəˈluːʃən/ Noun
Interpret /ɪnˈtɜːprɪt/ Verb
Sustain /səsˈteɪn/ Verb

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