Journals 2003/2004

John Langella
East Providence High School, East Providence, Rhode Island

My connection with this expedition is not over. During this time I periodically help out the team monitoring the video link to the Knorr. The pictures look great and I miss being there with them. I get to talk to team members when they are in the image van on their watch and they update me as to what's happening.

Some of the things we built, like the elevators, have worked out as designed. Others have had to be modified. This is science at its roots: hypothesize, test, observe, conclude and re-hypothesize.

The expedition has greatly enriched the knowledge of the mixing of the water layers and the forces that drive the mixing. The archeologists have much work ahead of them, materials to be dated site maps to be created, etc. Also, I think that we have proven that 'virtual presence', that is, bring thousands of people along on expeditions through video technology, is a viable tool for future science.