What's bright yellow, goes on adventures, and loves science?

by Kim Gottschalk

As we contemplated names for the second SOCCOM (http://soccom.princeton.edu) deployment, one name rose above the rest. The day crew of the RVIB Palmer had waited until the end of shift to finish the task at hand. It was late, thus names being thrown into the mix got crazier by the minute. After taking a break, Manuel had it - the perfect name: The Magic School Bus!!!

 The Magic School Bus!! (drawn by Maxime Duchet, photo by Isa Rosso)

For many a child during the early-90's, Ms. Frizzle will ring a bell. A book series and children's cartoon on PBS, the cheerful teacher and her pet iguana led a class on scientific field trips in a magical bus that could turn into any vehicle necessary for the adventure. Shrink down to travel the bloodstream - no problem -, turn into a plane - sure thing! but the most fitting for this post - turn into a submarine to glimpse the ocean floor. Ms. Frizzle used hands-on experience to show her class that science could be fun and taught readers and viewers to look a little deeper at the world around them.

A SOCCOM float may not be able to fit anyone inside, but what it does carry and the job that it does is no less magical. SOCCOM floats allow researchers around the globe to track changes within the world's oceans. How? Magic....Or science and satellites.  Either way, pretty darn cool. Follow this link to learn more: http://soccom.princeton.edu/content/float-data! 

Thanks to CTD Watchstander extraordinaire, Maxime (right), for making the Magic School Bus come to life!