Submitted by rhinotomus t3_y23ytd in askscience
TheSwills t1_is20yi5 wrote
Submariners enter the chat…
Fun fact, salinity is one of the factors (other being temperature and pressure) in how sound (I.e sonar) propagates in the ocean so the Navy has done much of the research in this space.
Salinity also plays a factor in depth control for submarines (because it changes the density of the water). There is a big salinity change going between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean that causes… problems if a submarine isn’t carefu
WiseRevise t1_is2f8yn wrote
There is actually a depth that submarines can hide in because the salinity/temperature trap/reflect sonar. There’s a special name for it that Destin at SmarterEveryDay covered during a deep dive on a US nuclear sub. It’s an amazing series for anyone looking for something to watch.
Another fun fact from that same video is we actually developed rescue devices that would explode at that special depth, and microphones around the world could triangulate where a downed pilot was.
Haphazard-Finesse t1_is2red4 wrote
The SOFAR channel. Another fun fact: Project Mogul was a top secret program to use high-altitude balloons equipped with microphones to listen for soviet nuclear testing, based on the assumption of similar sound channels existing in the upper atmosphere.
The Roswell UFO incident was likely spurred by one of these weird-ass-looking balloons with a bunch of specialized surveillance equipment crashing, and nobody having any idea what it was.
BluudLust t1_is3lkxd wrote
Similar effects happen in air too. There's a phenomenon where car lights can be seen magnified in the sky. Very interesting read.
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doomgiver98 t1_is3ohcw wrote
...Were you unable to finish your sentence because you weren't careful? Hello? Are you there?
neoncp t1_is287je wrote
the smarter everyday series on submarines really emphasized how much specialized knowledge is required
WiseRevise t1_is2flg3 wrote
His new series on the Coast Guard is interesting. Not nearly as interesting to me as the sub series though!
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Duke_Cedar t1_is26val wrote
Retired FT (last boat was 21) and I was going to chime in but you did a great job kinda explaining SVP.
GoddessOfRoadAndSky t1_is3rnil wrote
That is fascinating. It makes me wonder about marine animals that use echolocation. They must have some way to compensate for changes in salinity/temperature/pressure? Or does the scale they use (compared to a submarine using sonar) make it negligible?
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