While many people gaze into space in awe, they forget that incredible vistas of unexplored wonders may lie much closer - in Earth's oceans. As technology improves, the ocean continues to reveal more and more secrets.
1. Large amorphous creature
Droplet pulsar
Recently, a video was posted on the Internet showing a giant, amorphous, droplet-like creature floating near a deep-sea drilling rig. The creature pulsed alongside the underwater cameras long enough to attract attention. A creature of incredibly huge size, glowing from within, constantly fluctuated and changed its shape.
Some have suggested that it was a completely unknown creature from the depths of the ocean. Others thought that this could be evidence of some kind of alien presence at depths where humans cannot reach. Most of the researchers said it was a giant jellyfish that was disturbed by the drilling rig.
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2. Crystal pyramid deep in the ocean
Pyramid of the Bermuda Triangle
There are many stories of strange crystal pyramids found deep in the ocean, presumably near the Bermuda Triangle. Those who insist on the existence of such artifacts claim that most scientists know about them, but they deny everything for conspiratorial reasons.
However, the vast majority of researchers insist that these tales of crystal pyramids under the ocean are misleading. Similar stories allegedly began to appear after the swindlers announced who found a broken piece of crystal near the top of one of these pyramids, which allegedly had magical properties.
3. The secret of immortality
Medusa Button
Benjamin Button's Medusa has an incredibly unique twist. If they encounter serious injury or simply reach a considerable age, then these jellyfish can reverse the aging process and turn into a polyp again, starting the life cycle again. This allows them to heal from their injuries and live essentially forever, which currently poses a great threat to the world's oceans.
Button jellyfish are beginning to populate parts of the oceans, breaking the entire balance of marine life. While many scientists doubt that humans can today find the reason for the true immortality of jellyfish, others argue that in the future it will be possible for humans as well. At the very least, this could be a cure for cancer.
4. Atlantis - reality or fiction
Life on a volcano
Many theories about the lost city of Atlantis are wild and fantastic. Some say that Atlantis is located in the Bermuda Triangle, although legends never mention its presence in that area. Others believe that the domed cities of Antlantis are still preserved deep under water.
A historian named Bettany Hughes studied the ancient myth of Atlantis and realized that Plato, probably under the guise of Antlantis, allegorically described the island of Santorini, located near ancient Greece. The people who lived in Fera, a city on this island, were highly experienced merchants and traders who benefited from a strategic position between the three continents. This allowed them to become very wealthy and lead Feret to prosperity.
Unfortunately, the inhabitants of the island had no idea that they actually live right at the top of the volcano. In 1620 BC. the volcano literally exploded with an eruption, and the explosion was so huge that it affected almost the entire world. Plato almost certainly heard of him. The remains of Fere are perfectly preserved, like the famous city of Pompeii, which also died from a volcanic eruption.
5. Intelligent life can be much closer
Amazing nearby, but it's deep …
The scientific explanation for the legend of the mermaids implies that sailors were often at sea for long periods without women and often drank, so it should come as no surprise that they encountered visual hallucinations mistaking manatees for mermaids. However, the ocean is a very large place and mostly unexplored. Nobody knows what is going on at depth. People are always looking for intelligent life that is human-like, but it can look and behave very differently.
6. The main enemy is pressure
Bathyscaphe of the Russian Geographical Community
Many people are surprised at how incredible amounts of money are spent on space exploration when the ocean is right there and still largely unexplored. For comparison, they cite the colossal costs of spacecraft and space stations, believing that the cost of studying the ocean could be ten times less.
In fact, in many ways the problem of studying the ocean is much larger. Indeed, at a depth of only a couple of kilometers, the pressure becomes simply unimaginable, which is why a completely scanty amount of the deep-sea part of the ocean has been explored so far. If new technologies do not appear at the root, then people will not soon know what is hidden in the oceans of the Earth.
7. The largest earthly creature
Everything is relative
Many people have pondered what kind of sea monsters might be hiding at depths where humans cannot reach. Giant squids, previously considered a myth, have already been found, which can indeed reach incredible sizes. In fact, even many normal fish can grow to nightmarish enormous sizes under certain conditions in the deepest parts of the ocean.
It is not surprising that people have been thinking for a long time, but what is the greatest and most terrible can live in the depths. Even if you remember the days of the dinosaurs, the largest creature did not exceed the size of a modern blue whale. However, most of the ocean remains unexplored, especially in deeper areas, so no one knows what monstrously huge creatures are hiding practically next to people.
8. The ocean is 95 percent unexplored
Most of the ocean is unexplored
Some may have heard that the ocean is "95 percent unexplored." Marine biologists think this is a very crude oversimplification. Scientists today, using satellites, radars and mathematical calculations, have created a map of the ocean floor with a maximum resolution of 5 kilometers. While this is still a very rough outline, marine biologists have a pretty good idea of where troughs and ridges are in the ocean.
However, marine biologist John Copley, while pointing out the fallacy of the meme, also admitted to Scientific American that humans actually studied far less than 5 percent of the ocean.
9. Methane hydrate - a new source of energy
Methane hydrates
Methane hydrate is a strange crystalline structure made of water and methane frozen together. Ever since the discovery of gas hydrate deposits several decades ago, governments have begun to seriously study hydrates as a form of alternative energy.
Methane hydrates will certainly be very useful in case of shortage of other natural gases, but there are certain problems. First, as with any subsea exploration, commercial production will be very expensive. And secondly, environmentalists fear that underwater drilling can lead to real disasters.
10. Clue to the sound "Bloop"
Cthulhu is a myth or …
Back in 1997, people were confused by sound recorded underwater near South America. It was loud enough to be clearly picked up by two different stations several kilometers apart, and many people thought it was the sound of a colossal deep sea creature.
Some people even suggested that this is the notorious Cthulhu, the mythical place of imprisonment of which (the underwater city of R'Lieh) is presumably located a couple of thousand kilometers from the stations that caught the sound. In the end, scientists came to the conclusion that the sounds are simply the crackle of ice shelves splitting under water.