• Question: if you were stranded in the middle of nowhere and had to continue your investigation and had to use what is around you name 3 things that would be useful and how will and why would you use them?

    Asked by riverprincess to Daniel, Derek, Ian, Phil, Upul on 21 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Derek Mann

      Derek Mann answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      I could not do the research i do now without a lot of resources. So if I was stuck out in the middle of nowhere i would instead research how to get back to civilisation as soon as possible or learn how to get catch and collect food to stay alive.

    • Photo: Daniel Mietchen

      Daniel Mietchen answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      (1) A computer to do my calculations;
      (2) An internet connection for exchange with other scientists (and also family and friends);
      (3) Some power generator using renewable energy available there (e.g. a solar panel) to keep these two running.

      The situation is actually quite frequent for anyone doing fieldwork in remote areas (e.g. ethnologists, palaeontologists or permafrost researchers): An example from a friend of mine (who had to do without number two).

    • Photo: Ian Sillett

      Ian Sillett answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      I wouldn’t be able to do my work without a computer and a cctv camera unfortunately. I just couldn’t improvise. I’d probably conduct different investigations. If I wanted to look at imaging technology I could put a pin in a piece of card and project an image onto something else. (Pinhole camera) I could investigate the way a camera’s aperture works by looking at a bright object (not directly at the sun) and then look into a dark place to see how long it takes for my eye to adjust. Or I could investigate something totally different like the wildlife around me, or the burning properties of different woods so I could keep warm and cook food more efficiently.

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