Pronunciation ChallengeCNN10: Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench

I think, before we leave home and start exploring the heavens, we should at least explore our own backyard more thoroughly.

[Transcript]

Hey folks, we’ve taken you guys up, up beyond the skies in the NASA spacecraft in our previous episode. Today, we’re bringing you under the sea to the deepest part of the ocean - Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench.

Now folks, if you’re someone who loves the ocean, then you can call yourself a Thalassophile. The word derives from the Greek term thalassa, which means the sea; and phile from the term philos, meaning a person having a fondness for a specific thing, just like the word pedophile, which means a person who’s obsessed with uh… Oh well, Thalassophile, a new word for you to post on Instagram today.

Anyways, back to our show. Situated in the eastern part of the Philippines sea, the Mariana Trench extends for more than 1500 miles and it's 43 miles wide on average. If you look for it on Google Maps, you’ll find a pretty big gouge on the ocean floor which National Geographic describes as a scar in the earth's crust. And for our main course of the day, the Challenger Deep, is the area located 7 miles beneath the ocean’s surface within the trench, which is also the current deepest point of the ocean.

For a place that’s 7 miles deep, even higher than the 5.5 mile altitude of Mt. Everest, you can’t just get there in a normal submarine because the pressure will send you to God in a snap. When a NASA spacecraft goes up into space, they're only experiencing a pressure change of one atmosphere between the inside of the spacecraft and the outside. On the other hand, however, divers deal with a pressure difference of around 1100 atmospheres, that’s why they had to dive in a titanium sphere which is able to withstand 100,000 tons of pressure to accomplish the mission safe and sound.

It takes around 4.5 hours to get to the deepest point of the world's ocean. Divers get to see new creatures at different water levels, also discovering entire landscapes which were previously unknown. According to Rob McCallum, one of the divers who went down the Challenger Deep, they are the very first humans that have ever been there and it’s a very peaceful, relaxing cruise into the unknown. McCallum thinks that currently, we know so little about the ocean that we barely understand what questions to ask, let alone have the ability to understand the answers.

Since the beginning of time, humans have always wanted to soar beyond the skies, to infinity and beyond, which is understandable because when we gaze up at the heavens, we naturally wonder what’s out there. But when we look into the water, we don’t really see that much.

McCallum believes that many of the answers to our collective future are going to be found in the ocean and some of those in the deep ocean. And just maybe before we leave home and start exploring the heavens, we should at least explore our own backyard more thoroughly.

Check out today’s CNN10 video for the complete coverage.

[Sentence of the day]

I think, before we leave home and start exploring the heavens, we should at least explore our own backyard more thoroughly.

[Vocabulary words]

1. explore
To search and discover the unknown.

Ex: The children have gone exploring in the woods.


2. backyard
a space at the back of a house, usually surrounded by a fence, and covered with grass

Ex: The kids are having a barbecue party in the backyard.


3. thoroughly
Completely; or in a detailed and careful way.

Ex: We went through the report thoroughly but couldn't find the information anywhere.


And there you have it, a special CNN10 episode on diving into the Mariana Trench.
Folks, if you could only decide either to go to space or dive into the bottom of the ocean,
which would you rather choose and why?
I gotta say that’s a tough decision to make.
Buzz Lightyear or Aquaman? Hmm…