A Storm, a Riddle, and a SOCCOM float

We deployed another SOCCOM float! This last float deployment was of float 12754, which was named the Griffin Eagle. We had a delay in the deployment since it was scheduled for after station 68. However, right after station 66, we got hit by a storm, which forced us to pause our science activities for a couple of days.  Luckily for us, the Palmer is a stable ship, so I hardly even noticed the inclement weather, but outside the sea state was rough and the winds strong. This made it impossible for us to send out the CTD for a cast, so we had to wait it out.

Taimoor, Lauren, and I with the Griffin Eagle right before its deployment.

Finally, the weather died down yesterday, and we were treated to an ocean of glass. With the calm sea state, we were able to resume science and get back to our float deployment. After station 68, Tony, Taimoor, Lauren, and myself went out on the back deck totting the “Griffin Eagle”. We had to spend a moment looking around in wonder because it was so beautiful outside. The railing of the deck was covered in thick icicles, and birds were flying all around us. We waited until the ship had steamed approximately 1 nautical mile from the station, at which time Tony radioed the bridge to ask them to slow to 1-2 knots. Once slowed, the float was deployed smoothly and we watched it get whisked away in the current with a flock of birds overhead. 5 SOCCOM floats deployed, 1 to go.

Meanwhile, everyone has lost their marbles. When we got stuck in the storm for 3 days, naturally we had to find something to fill the void in the sudden free time we were afforded. Max Rintoul found a way to fill that void, and the monster he created persists on long after the winds of the storm have dissipated. What he gave us was a riddle. The worst kind of riddle; the seemingly easy riddle that slips through your fingers the second you think you have made an important revelation. 

Here’s how it goes. You have 12 marbles; 11 of which are exactly the same, but one of them is either heavier or lighter than the rest. You can weigh these marbles only 3 times on a balance, and you have to figure out which of the marbles is different and whether it is heavier or lighter than the rest. Seems harmless, right? Here we are stuck in a storm, and now we have this nice little riddle to tease our brains and occupy some time. No one could have guessed the aftermath that would ensue.

The white boards in the lab have been monopolized to depict every possible weighing strategy of the marbles. There are also some complex differential equations written down with the joking title of “solution”.  I have been watching this whole spectacle with amusement, the height of which was achieved earlier today when I walked into the mess. There I found Tony and Lauren with 12 jam packets. 11 of them were raspberry and 1 was apricot, and they were arranging them in different groups on the table to convey different ways to group them when weighing.

Tony and Lauren arrange their jam packets in an attempt to crack the marble riddle.

Where do I fit in all this?  Well friends, I thought I was immune to this whole marble brain tease. In my free time, I have been balancing between finishing my senior research thesis and applying for jobs (hire me, I say only half jokingly). I told myself that I have no time to waste on these shenanigans, so I contented myself with watching everyone else struggle. And then I went to sleep. As I was trying to lull myself into slumber, I started thinking about the marbles. I squeezed my eyelids tighter in an effort to push out these thoughts, but in my head, I am arranging the marbles in different groups. I have heard of people on ships putting marbles in the walls in an effort to torment future inhabitants who must hear the constant rolling noise without being able to locate its whereabouts. I thought if a marble would ever keep me awake on a ship, it would be a physical marble. Alas, I finally did fall asleep cursing the marble riddle as I did so.