Re: [DIYbio] Do you have an appreciation of the ocean and are all about open-source?

On Monday, March 26, 2012 12:47:11 PM Frits Stam wrote:
> Thanks Ray for your interesting take on this,
>
> I found a kind of international-ocean-station similar to the
> international-space-station:
> https://sites.google.com/a/opensailing.net/www/ You (and other readers)
> should check out the video, it describes their plans to harvest and fish
> from the sea.
>
> My question would be; how would you think an open-source community could
> contribute to this? What are the tools,knowledge,platforms needed?

I think of this as a task in permaculture. In order to avoid a tremendous
genetic reshaping of a species, it will be necessary to put together a
community of synergistic organisms just so the mangroves can float and hold
together as an island mangal.

An example of a problem that can be tackled on its own is to increase the
range by cross breeding to include tolerance to near freezing conditions. This
could be done by moving genetic material from Acanthus to Avicennia. Since
this is between genera in the same family, it is like moving genetic material
from roses to apples.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangrove
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acanthaceae
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acanthus_(genus)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avicennia

Since this is a made up example (involving real genera), it is not likely to
be the best point of attack. It is also just one of 20 or so major problems
that would need to be solved before the mangal would float. With this problem
solved several times for different families in the mangal it would be possible
to have a diverse permaculture up the coasts into temperature climates. Since
I live in Nebraska, it won't be me. I'm having enough fun establishing true
breeding lines of apples and pears with good quality fruit without using
pesticides.
>
> Op maandag 26 maart 2012 15:29:29 UTC+2 schreef Jay Woods het volgende:
> > The problem that has seemed to stop the development of communities at sea
> > is
> > the lack of sedentary tasks that need to be done at sea. This should
> > start with the equivalent of farming and mining. Currently we seem to be
> > limited to
> > transportation and hunting. Even the tasks that involve extracting some
> > element from the ocean is usually best done on a coast where the
> > development
> > costs are smaller.
> >
> > The key thing about farming is that it is a mechanism of economically
> > converting large amounts of diffuse solar energy to the concentration of
> > needed
> > nutrients and materials whether it is rutabagas or timber. What is
> > missing in
> > the ocean is large multicelled plants. Is it because there are no stable
> > regions where the plants will not be dispersed by wind and waves? If so
> > this
> > is true over vast geologic time but not on shorter time scales. There is
> > the
> > Sargasso Sea and the North Pacific Gyre, both stable on the scale of a
> > million
> > years. There are large multicelled plants that tolerate salt water well
> > such
> > as mangrove trees and sea grass. Both require shallow seas.
> >
> > Perhaps a float technology equivalent to pumice would give them the foot
> > hold
> > that they need to form a mat for stability and tall growth for (Why do
> > trees
> > grow tall? Is it because we call them brush when they don't?)
> >
> > On Monday, March 26, 2012 04:03:06 AM Frits Stam wrote:
> > > Hi, my name is Frits, I'm a Dutch Industrial Design Master student in
> > > Eindhoven.
> > >
> > > I'm working on a project about making society more aware of the ocean.
> >
> > I'm
> >
> > > looking for people to share ideas with me, this is why I am starting
> > > this discussion.
> > >
> > > This project is my master graduation project. The envisioned project
> > > will involve the open-source community; this is why I am looking for
> > > people to talk to on this matter and to share ideas.
> > >
> > > Some info on the project:
> > > As I see it we (society) are very connected to the ocean, most of the
> > > everyday objects are in someway shipped across the ocean. Eventually
> >
> > ending
> >
> > > up as plastic bits in the ocean.
> > > Even before the Industrial Age we've been exploring the world with
> > > ships
> >
> > on
> >
> > > the ocean. We've been shipping diseases, slaves, religion and tobacco
> > > around the world in small wooden ships.
> > > The ocean also acts as the source of life, in other words, all of the
> > > creatures on land came from the ocean. The ocean provides us also with
> > > an import source of protein to feed the world; fish.
> > > Furthermore, the ocean houses plankton that are critical for the
> > > planet. Most people don't realize that a mouthful of seawater contains
> > > millions
> >
> > of
> >
> > > bacterial cells, hundreds of thousands of phytoplankton and tens of
> > > thousands of zooplankton.
> > >
> > > Although we have this strong connection with the ocean we have yet to
> > > explore 90% of it. In our ordinary lives we've been so disconnected of
> >
> > the
> >
> > > environment around us, the only thing the majority of people see are
> > > the beaches, the endless blue, until of course, some oilrig blows up
> > > and
> >
> > washes
> >
> > > oil up on the shore.
> > >
> > > The project I am working on sees opportunity in creating a connection
> >
> > with
> >
> > > society and the ocean somehow.
> > >
> > > This is not an easy challenge, I cannot do this alone, I am asking a
> > > community of people that think outside the box, are hands-on and are
> > > compassioned about what they do for help.
> > >
> > > In this period I do not have any concrete questions, but I will try
> >
> > anyway:
> > > How do you think open data about the ocean contribute to a more aware
> > > society/life-stye of the ocean(s)?
> > >
> > > How can people/societies, that have an awareness of the ocean,
> > > contribute in making our society more sustainable and more respecting
> > > towards the ocean?
> > >
> > > I am very new to the DIYBio google group, so I am not sure if these
> > > kinds of messages are appreciated, I hope we can have a nice
> > > discussion and I
> >
> > am
> >
> > > looking forward in sharing my ideas with you.
> > >
> > > Frits

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