Pinky and the Brain: Alvin

Pinky and the Brain: Alvin

Click here to see part of the episode

“Pinky and the Brain” episode pertaining to the HOV Alvin was very entertaining however many of the images depicted were false, but some held true. For instance, in the episode a rope attaches Alvin to a dock. Pinky and the Brain simply untie the rope and steal the submersible without detection. In real life, Alvin is under far more security. The episode also depicted Alvin as a submersible that rides on the surface of the water, goes 12 knots, and makes journeys that last seven months. In reality, Alvin can go at a cruise speed of 0.5 knots, and a full speed of 2 knots, which is not very fast. Alvin also does not operate on the ocean’s surface. Alvin can actually dive to 4,500 meters and does most research on the seafloor. In addition, Alvin cannot last seven months at sea running just on battery power. In reality, a normal dive time last six to ten hours. The episode depicts Alvin as being very spacious with big windows, when in actuality Alvin has sealed pressurized compartments, and three very small windows. This episode also portrayed Alvin as having an attachable ROV named Jason Jr. In actuality, Alvin does not have an ROV attached to it. However, in the episode, Brain uses the ROV to searching for a deepwater white crab to add to his hypnotizing pancake mixture. He looks at the Titanic site because white crabs are affluent there. In reality, titanic site does not host white crabs, and the crabs do not have a hypnotizing power.

However, there is some truth to the “Pinky and the Brain” episode, The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute actually owns an ROV named Jason. They also mention that the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute owns Alvin, which is also true. The white crab Brain was searching for is not found at the Titanic site, however it is found at hydrothermal vents because chemosynthesis can be performed.

The “Pinky and the Brain” episode may have offended Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, but I found it to be extremely funny!

http://www3.telus.net/greenfish/animaniacs/brain/index.html

The link above will lead you to Pinky and the Brain Episode Facts. Here are some listed on this site:

+ Woods Hole is also home to the Alvin submersible and Jason Jr. robotic probe seen in this episode, which are actual vehicles used by Bob Ballard in a 1986 exploration of the Titanic. (KP) + Alvin is really one of half dozen or so subs that are capable of diving to the Titanic's depth. NIT: Alvin must be brought into place by a support ship, as it only has about 12 hours of battery power. (BEC) + Jason Jr. was designed to be a tethered remote for Alvin, and was used during the second Woods Hole Titanic expedition in 1986, but has since been retired. Minor nit, the real JJ is blue. (BEC) - NIT: The radar transponder about the Alvin has two knobs to set the code in the scene where Pinky scrambles it, and three when they come back from the first commercial break. (JM) + Pinky's asking if he can be Queequeg is a reference to the Polynesian harpooner in Herman Melville's 1851 novel "Moby Dick". (JS, GJB) + Sub Club == The Club, a popular anti-theft device found on many automobile steering wheels. (BN) - The reference to the sub being able to make only right turns could be a nod to J. Edgar Hoover's alleged superstition about all things sinistral. He was purported to have believed that left turns were bad luck, and his chauffeurs would often travel incredibly circuitous routes to reach places that could have been traveled in minutes using left turns. (ALS) + Pinky quotes a line from Baywatch. Baywatch is a popular syndicated program whose plot centers around showing as many beautiful female and male lifeguards running around the beach in skimpy swimsuits as possible in one hour. (BN)

Work Cited

"Alvin Specifications : Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution." Home : Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Web. 11 Nov. 2010. .

Tubeworms

I am reading "Deep-Ocean Journeys" by Cindy Lee Van Dover. Cindy Lee Van Dover was the first female pilot of the human operated vehicle, Alvin. In her book, Cindy not only discusses her triumphs as a pilot, but the beauty of deep sea. She describes many of the organisms seen near hydrothermal vents. One organism that caught my attention the most was the hydrothermal vent tubeworm.

Tubeworms

Scientists hypothesized about continental drift, and found that plate tectonics move, causing the seafloor to spread and hydrothermal vents to form. New land is formed when magma pushes through the lithosphere, while old land is sucked into the subduction zone, where it turns into magma again. Harry Hess called this “geopoetry.” 

In order for a hydrothermal vent to exist there must be a source of energy. Since, hydrothermal vents are in the absence of the sun, organisms rely on heat, which is expelled from underwater volcanoes, for energy. Seawater and earthquakes are also present. Earthquakes cause the plates to shift, allowing magma to reach the surface, while the cold seawater cools the magma, forming sediments.

At the Rose Garden vent, tubeworms can be found that are six feet long. Tubeworms have crimson plumes and long white tubes. They usually colonize together in parallel lines. At the Venture hydrothermal field, tubeworms can get as tall as eight meters. There are so many tubeworms that the land beneath them goes unseen.

Tubeworms have good reflexes and disappear into their tubes when being attacked by hungry crabs. This makes it easier for Alvin to pick up the organism and bring the tubeworm back to the lab.

Once on deck, the tubeworm is pale and gray. The worm has a collar like ring muscle that helps it move, while the tube itself acts as armor. In adult tubeworms there is no mouth, digestive system, guts, or anus. Colleen Cavanaugh found that bacteria produce the nutrients needed for the tubeworm to survive. The bacteria use sulfide produced from the vents to perform chemosynthesis.

When scientists went back to the Rose Garden vent they found that the tubeworms had been replaces by Golden Brown Mussels. They believe that the tubeworm succumbed to the difference in nutrient conditions, allowing the mussels to flourish.

Mussels have a foot that allows them to climb. They go through the cycles of anchoring, bootstrapping, detaching, and reattaching, allowing mussels to move to different spots.

Clambake is a graveyard site where clams used to flourish. Shells are now left behind, and the meat has been eaten by crabs. Scientists think that this vent site could have shut off for one of two reasons. They believe that a vent site can die slowly as conduits choke with minerals or faster as earthquakes modify flow or catastrophes occur.