96
votes
Accepted
Is it theoretically possible to sail from north east Russia to Pakistan in a straight line?
An issue of Projection of a 3D globe on a 2D surface. It becomes immediately obvious once you look at an actual 3D globe that the line is, indeed, straight.
The other side is just lots of Pacific ...
- 19.1k
85
votes
Has 90% of ice around Antarctica disappeared in less than a decade?
Each southern summer, the sea ice around Antarctica melts. The peak of sea ice is usually in September and the trough in February. Currently, the sea ice is at a record low, as seen in red below. (...
- 108k
55
votes
Is it theoretically possible to sail from north east Russia to Pakistan in a straight line?
What they are saying is that, if you leave Kamchatka in the correct direction, you can sail to Pakistan without changing the rudder setting. It does not mean you will always follow the same compass ...
- 5,846
32
votes
Is there a 2.5 mile diameter object crawling along the Pacific floor?
The article does not identify the precise location, but there are plenty of apparent subsea tracks resembling those left by tank treads easily identifiable on Google maps. To take an arbitrary ...
- 13.5k
20
votes
Accepted
Are drinking straws a minor source of ocean plastic pollution?
Yes. Drinking straws are a relatively minor source of oceanic plastic pollution.
That is in perspective: Plastic drinking straws are a big problem in itself. But in comparison that problem is still a ...
- 44.1k
19
votes
Accepted
Is the Great Barrier Reef dead after 25,000,000 years of being alive?
No, the Great Barrier Reef is not dead.
According to Exploring the hidden shallows: extensive reef development and resilience within the turbid nearshore Great Barrier Reef (2016):
Mean coral ...
- 108k
9
votes
Accepted
Can certain sunscreen products damage coral reefs?
Can the oxybenzone and similar UV filters in sunscreen damage corals? The answer is clearly yes, they can.
Is the current level of exposure from swimmers coated with sunscreens using the chemicals in ...
- 5,423
9
votes
Accepted
Are 40% of the oceans' bacteria killed by viruses every day?
According to Bacteriophage Distributions and Temporal Variability in the Ocean’s Interior mBio Nov/Dec 2017 Volume 8, e01903-17:
Phages have been
shown to kill hosts at rates of up to 20 to 40% of ...
- 108k
8
votes
Are drinking straws a minor source of ocean plastic pollution?
According to Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash :
In 2002, International Coastal Cleanup volunteers in 117 countries collected 1.8 million cigarette butts and cigar tips, representing 31 ...
- 108k
6
votes
Have more people been to the deep ocean on submersibles than to space on space craft?
From the question, I guess the deep sea is defined as 200 meters or deeper.
From Wikipedia, a definition:
The deep sea is broadly defined as the ocean depth where light begins to fade, at > an ...
- 489
5
votes
Were any billionaires onboard the Titan submersible when it imploded?
The term “billionaire” is sufficiently vague that this claim can be made true almost trivially. In particular the term isn’t linked to any particular currency. So if we take the 350 million USD for ...
- 3,858
4
votes
Have more people been to the deep ocean on submersibles than to space on space craft?
There is little reason to doubt the claim.
There are several possible definitions of space travel. A relatively broad one considers any human who has reached Earth orbit. According to the list of ...
- 9,528
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible