NEPTUNE Canada Listed Among Top 10 "Most Epic Science Projects"

What do the International Space Station, the Large Hadron Collider and the University of Victoria’s NEPTUNE Canada ocean network all have in common?

They’re all on the top 10 list of “humankind’s most ambitious science projects,” published on PopSci.com, the digital edition of Popular Science magazine.

NEPTUNE Canada is the world’s largest and most advanced cabled ocean network. It and the VENUS coastal network make up the ONC Observatory, which is managed for UVic by Ocean Networks Canada.

“Truly big science requires decades of expensive commitment from multiple nations,” says the PopSci.com story. “But the instruments that result are nearly as awe-inspiring as the new worlds they help us discover.”

The rankings are based on construction costs, operating budget, size of staff and physical size of the project, as well as scientific utility, usefulness to the average person (WIIFY), and “wow” factor.” On a scale of one to 10, NEPTUNE Canada scored an 8 for scientific utility, 6 for WIIFY and 8 for Wow factor.

Overall, NEPTUNE Canada takes ninth place and is the only Canadian-based project on the list. Number one is EarthScope, a US-based program that is tracking North America’s geological evolution. The Large Hadron Collider—in which UVic physicists are key contributors and participants—comes in second.

To see the PopSci.com ranking visit http://on.msnbc.com/okcgxM. For more information on NEPTUNE Canada visit www.neptunecanada.ca.
 

-- 30 --