NOC News Round Up - 21 October 2016

NOC's Autosub Long Range is the official Boaty McBoatface! Monday saw the keel laying ceremony for the new polar research ship RRS Sir David Attenborough, and the first official acknowledgement that one of our Autosub Long Range vehicles is to carry the name Boaty McBoatface. Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, Jo Johnson, made the announcement during his speech, gesturing to the 'real Boaty', which was hung close to the stage, in reference to the advanced scientific capability of the new ship. NOC's Professor Russell Wynn spent some time at the event talking to the BBC's Science Correspondent Jonathan Amos about what's in store for Boaty, which you can listen to here. The adventures of NOC's three Autosub Long Range vehicles will inspire plenty of Boaty tales over the next few years, including adventures under ice. Boaty's adventures will be packaged up for outreach activities to our younger audiences, but judging by the number of adults taking selfies with our new Boaty exhibition stand this week, the appeal is universal! Read about the science Boaty will be involved with here. This includes the first-ever under-ice crossing of the Arctic Ocean as well as 'flying' through submarine rapids.. The exhibition stand and inflatable Boaty will be at the NERC Into the blue science showcase at Manchester Airport Visitor Centre over half term. Register for free tickets here.  Beavers and Cubs on James Cook This week saw the West Wellow Beavers and Cubs welcomed on board the RRS James Cook whilst she was docked in Southampton. This very special tour included a trip to meet the Master on the bridge and the chance to speak to scientists as they explored the on board laboratories. One of the many excellent questions asked was "how many children can the crane lift?". Do you know the answer? Tweet us @NOCnews Little hills have big effect on biodiversity New research, published in Progress in Oceanography by scientists at the NOC and the University of Southampton, show that deep-sea hills increase the biodiversity of forams. These  shell-bearing organisms are extremely diverse and abundant in the deep-sea, playing a key role in a suite of ecological processes on the seafloor. Deep-sea hills cover around 40% of the ocean floor, making them the dominant landform on our planet. Therefore the findings of the study have important implications for diversity between 3.5 and 6.5 km depth, and deep-sea ecosystem functioning. Read more here Wear it pink! Today, staff at the NOC have been supporting the wear it pink campaign to help raise money for the Breast Cancer Now charity. Bake sales and raffles are underway and we'd like to thank all our staff who've been involved in helping, donating and baking.   This email was sent to mantiskhiralla@gmail.com using GovDelivery, on behalf of: National Oceanography Centre · Waterfront Campus · European Way · Southampton · SO14 3ZH · United Kingdom Manage Preferences  |  Unsubscribe  |  Help  |  Contact Us