“There is no such thing as uncharted waters. You may not have the chart on hand to show you how to navigate these waters, but the charts exist. Google them.”
As far as literal charts of literal bodies of water on the surface of the earth, satelite photography actually has pretty much solved that problem.
As far as metaphorical waters, human civilization is larger than most people really think, and consists disproportionately of people finding and publishing answers to interesting questions. “Don’t assume the waters are uncharted until you’ve done at least a cursory search for the charts” is sound advice.
I’m fully aware that there’s more to nautical charts than the water’s surface, and I used the term ‘satellite photography’ somewhat broadly. More of the deep ocean has been mapped by sensors in polar orbits, which can stay on-station indefinitely and cover the entire globe without regard for local obstacles, than ever was (or likely would have been) by surface craft and submarines.
Yet for all of our reliance on the ocean, 95 percent of this realm remains unexplored, unseen by human eyes.
NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research is leading efforts to explore the ocean by supporting expeditions to investigate and document unknown and poorly known areas of the ocean. These expeditions represent a bold and innovative approach by infusing teams of scientist-explorers with a “Lewis and Clark” spirit of discovery and equipping them with the latest exploration tools.
From mapping and describing the physical, biological, geological, chemical, and archaeological aspects of the ocean to understanding ocean dynamics, developing new technologies, and helping us all unlock the secrets of the ocean, NOAA is working to increase our understanding of the ocean realm.
In general water is an obstacle for satellites mapping deep ocean ground.
“There is no such thing as uncharted waters. You may not have the chart on hand to show you how to navigate these waters, but the charts exist. Google them.”
Joe Queenan, WSJ 11/30/14
Too strong to be literally true but still
Think it’s false, both literally and figuratively. Moreover, the guy needs to get out of his cubicle and go to interesting places :-)
As far as literal charts of literal bodies of water on the surface of the earth, satelite photography actually has pretty much solved that problem.
As far as metaphorical waters, human civilization is larger than most people really think, and consists disproportionately of people finding and publishing answers to interesting questions. “Don’t assume the waters are uncharted until you’ve done at least a cursory search for the charts” is sound advice.
Ahem. Do you really think that a picture of water surface which looks pretty much the same anywhere is equivalent to a nautical chart?
Proper nautical charts are very information-dense (take a look) and some of the more important bits refer to things underwater.
I’m fully aware that there’s more to nautical charts than the water’s surface, and I used the term ‘satellite photography’ somewhat broadly. More of the deep ocean has been mapped by sensors in polar orbits, which can stay on-station indefinitely and cover the entire globe without regard for local obstacles, than ever was (or likely would have been) by surface craft and submarines.
To quote the National Ocean Service:
In general water is an obstacle for satellites mapping deep ocean ground.
the “95 percent unexplored” meme doesn’t really tell the full story of our exploration of the oceans.
95% of the people, 95% of the time is a less good standard when dealing with interesting people, isn’t it ;)
EDIT: Downvote for… accepting a different opinion? Duly noted; will do so more quietly in future.
There’s a law about that :-P