Free post -- The sciences in Titanic

            I watched Titanic yesterday with my boyfriend, and we talked a lot about scientific-related life and dead in the movie, we even discussed what we would do in the same situation, the best way to stay alive when no boats are available.

            It was back in 1912, 100 years ago, the largest ship Titanic also named unsinkable sank in Atlantic Ocean in less than 3 hours. When the captain ordered the distress call, he was told only one ship response and it would take 4 hours to get there. According to a British historian – Tim Maltin, an unusual optical phenomenon explains why the Titanic received no assistance from a nearby ship. Also, atmospheric conditions in Atlantic Ocean at that night were ripe for super refraction that explains why the lookouts in Titanic could not see the iceberg.

Floyd, C. (2012). Did the Titanic Sink Because of an Optical Illusion?[Image], Retrieved,

April 10, 2012, from URL http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Did-

the-Titanic-Sink-Because-of-an-OpticalIllusion.html?c=y&page=1&navigation=p

revious#IMAGES.

            The Titanic was sailing from Gulf Stream, where the temperature is warmer. The air column was cooling from the bottom up on the way to New York; it created a thermal inversion, layers of cold air below layers of warmer air. Because of thermal inversion refracts light abnormally, it creates superior mirage. It makes objects appear higher than they actually are. It could confuse the vision. It happened in the Titanic, the lookouts were confused by superior mirage, they saw the sea surface higher than it actually is, and the superior mirage camouflaged the iceberg. It was too late when the Titanic lookout reported it in. When the Titanic signaled for help, but the abnormally stratified air was disrupting the signals. Also the distress rockets fired by the Titanic were too lower to see.

            Under the circumstance of no help from other ships, no enough boats for over 2100 people, and the Titanic was sinking, many people were dropped into the water, because of the crowded Titanic. Most of them were wearing life jackets, it prevented them from drowning, but it did not save them from hypothermia. The water was freezing; the people in the water would die because their bodies did not make enough of heat. According to Coco Ballantyne, a person can survive no longer than 20 minutes in 5^oC (or 41-degree F). In the movie Titanic, it was in the Atlantic Ocean, people’s hair started to freeze when they were in water. The water temperature was much lower than 5^oC, which means they have less than 20 minutes until the boats came back for them. Rose was the lucky one, she was flowing on the top of the water instead of into the water.

Reference

Ballantyne, C. (January 16, 2009). Hypothermia: how long can someone survive in frigid

water? Retrieved, April 10, 2012 from URL http://www.scientificamerican.com /article.cfm?id=airplane-1549-hudson-hypothermia&page=2.

Maltin, T. (March, 2012). Did the Titanic Sink Because of an Optical Illusion? Retrieved,

April 10, 2012 from: URL http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Did-

the-Titanic-Sink-Because-of-an-Optical-Illusion.html?c=y&page=1&navigation=

previous#IMAGES. 

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