Answer oceans are in constant motion waves pocket the surface of the water but ways are not equally high all over at the equator they tend to be more shallow at higher latitudes theyre stronger. A wave can traverse entire oceans but its not actually the water itself that is moving with the wave confusing lets head to the shore and find out about waves and where they come from. The Atlantic Coast of portugal and spain for its waves large and small purser 1st of all novels of ability. As an enthusiastic wave rider hes also a physics teacher so he knows something about how waves form and what surfers find really epic a perfectly shaped long wave surfing requires. Practice and patience will give you the optimal its often just luck you have to be in the right place at the right time there are so many factors the height of the tide the when the wave periods that play a role and sometimes theres just a tiny window maybe half an hour a day when you get good way and the rest is rubbish you know. This looks like a good moment. The surfing Science Teacher seizes the opportunity. But what power and weight is exactly. Graduates are the transfer of energy. Transfer and energy. So far todays waves have been pretty tame lets do an experiment on the beach and i ask a guy shakes his towel we can see how the wave is being propagated through the length of the cloth his shaking is providing the energy thats being transferred. But what does a wave in a towel have in common with a wave in the ocean. More than you might think. Whether its a towel wave or a water wave bit of the waves transport energy not matter. Even though that might not be obvious as seen from the beach the water is just the transport medium. Just like the surfer is waiting on their boards the molecules in the water dont move over great distances the waves propagates much faster where all that is the energy in waves come from it. It depends on what kind of hoops were talking about. The moon this Gravitational Force keeps the ocean in motion. Its attraction produces the rising and falling sea levels known as and flow. But the waves that. Interest servers are generated by the wind what matters is how strongly and how long it loads it gets the water particles moving. Heres a simulation the hairdryer makes a wind which makes waves. Planes can travel for days and hundreds of kilometers from their place of origin in the middle of the ocean to the coast. Long and shallow waves tend to travel faster than the short haile ones which slow themselves down. Within the waves the water particles follow circular or orbital paths. But this Orbital Movement extends deep down in the water the deeper the water the smaller the radius of the circular motion but one thing is circling the water particles at the seabed theyre stopped and then. That makes Shallow Water waves. Breakers are typical Shallow Water waves. They occur when the water particles below the surface are slowed at the bottom of the particles above continue to move on their circular patterns unhindered. Become check water particles move upward making the wave tower up at the shore and then break. To the delight of the surfers. Ya block out so it makes you happy its very exhausting by night time not totally knocked out but happy and forget all the everyday stress its just great. But the best breaks dont come on demand which is why this evening until yes he got is still in the water waiting for that perfect wave. But waits can also be scary in the past sail is reported towering waves that suddenly arose out of nowhere on the open ocean but scientists dismissed these accounts until the mid 990 s. That is when a socalled rogue wave was documented on an oil rig in the north sea. This freak wave measured 25 metres in height. Now researchers are trying to understand and recreate these monsters. In the ocean waves that up a 28 and 10 meters high are commonplace but at any given time anywhere in the wild there are likely to be 10 or so rogue waves up to 30 metres in height. They appear suddenly and without warning. Scientists recreate rogue waves here in the wave basin of the concious institute in hanover here the water isnt whipped up by storms or currents the waves generated by these panels which are controlled by a computer. They enable the scientists to simulate nearly every kind of wave at a scale of 1. 00 to 75. 00 everything from small harmless ocean swells to gigantic monster waves the way for me to shows the current heights of the way. Up and is going to simulate the drought in a way the 1st rogue wave ever documented it was measured on always drop an oil rig in 1905 then did not say we can see it clearly in this north sea story it shows 8 to 10 meter high waves on average during the storm then here we see an extreme. Of that a wave thats 25 meters high a rogue wave monster. Whats unique about rogue waves is that theyre 2. 00 to 3. 00 times higher than the highest waves around them. And that also makes them 2. 00 to 3. 00 times as steep. The rogue wave has almost 10 times as much force as a normal way. For a long time it was a mystery how a wave more than 20 metres high could suddenly arise in a storm of 8 metre high waves i dont need to famished shortly thereafter. The explanation waves dont spread out equally in the water waves with shorter wavelengths in which the troughs and crests quickly follow each other only move relatively slowly. Waves with long wave lengths are faster. They can catch up with shorter ones. When that happens they can combine to create a high away. If several waves join together in this way they can become a rogue wave. Broke waves are extremely steep a ship has no chance of sailing over the crest of a rogue wave as it can with an ordinary one instead the water crashes over it. The water masses collide with the structures on deck with tremendous force in a real scenario at sea this would break the ships windows and bend heavy steel elements. Scientists can simulate monster waves in a laboratory but what they really want to know is under what conditions and how often such waves will occur in nature. What is the likelihood of a freak wave forming. Previous estimates had suggested that the probability of finding a way higher than 10 meters in a heavy storm would only be 0. 03 percent. But measurements show that giant waves of ca much more frequently the actual chance of waves forming that are at least 10 meters high is closer to one percent. And thats the classical approach of heres to the theory that every wave has a Certain Energy that the energy of one wave can sometimes overlay that of another to form a particularly high wave and that the component waves each with their own energy can thereafter continue on their way for. Newer approaches theorize that energy can also be transferred from one wave to another and that this 2nd wave moves on with somewhat more energy and the 1st one was somewhat less that was when you can. Separate the waves would take on energy from their neighbors and grow at their expense into rogue waves that can endanger even big ships at sea. This is not a rogue wave but its a nami tsunamis are not generated by wind at the surface but on the sea bed usually by earthquakes when tectonic plates colline releasing massive amounts of energy and displacing huge volumes of water. Far at it seat synonymy says still relatively small waves traveling fast. But when they reach the shore they slow and the water piles up into towering waves dozens of meters high which can destroy everything in their path. Waves arent only powerful theyre also pretty loud. They think up to 100 decibels thats as noisy as a jackhammer at 10 meters away. The sound is generated when the waves break but despite the volume the sound of waves is generally perceived as relaxing. Waves break on the shore it day and night and have been doing so for millions of years. Nobody seems to mind the noise in fact most really enjoy the sound why is that. If anyone knows the answer then scientists at the frown Hofer Institute for building physics based in stuttgart germany. This is our echo Chamber Music to test absorbers. Peter punched ed and his colleagues research how people experience the sounds that surround them the field is called psychoacoustics they also develop products. Here theyre working on a booth with sound absorbing properties where one can conduct private conversations without being overheard. This chamber is anechoic that is totally soundproof its used to test things but its not actually pleasant to spend time man. This is to lecture its perhaps rather too quiet were not built to hear nothing at all its we cant close our ears in contrast to our eyes how is our original vigilant system warning us of dangers seen our hearing is always switched on designed to receive signals and issue warnings to protect us from harm seeking. For good falzon to violently supervise. This kind of sound is better than silence if we want to relax. I just like. That last to do with the structure of waves. Its not a uniform constant noise with the same volume but rather it rises and recedes regularly its. Like the surging is a very relaxing kind of sound for us very familiar and with positive associations. For being. A prostitution are such that your own and white pink and brown noise are characterized by equal intensity at different frequencies the sound of waves exemplifies that when you give voice. Sounds of produced as water slaps on the water and displaces. Went out without movement there would be no noise machine or new vehicle kind toward. People like certain kinds of sound with or without ocean waves technically generated white noise is sometimes even deployed in workplaces it can disguise other sounds. And it can be soothing. And see this kind of noise doesnt carry information so after a while our brains infer that they dont need to do anything until in the noise out all register its. When feud even gets hooters thats why it feels relaxing. By listening its not real silence there is something bad but its not threatening his take its not telling us anything so we can just relax your attitude is who in synch by 2. Waves might still primal anxiety and let us sleep easy but one of the ocean is far away. Is highway noise and affected substitute. Its one for when traffic noise isnt all that different when the vehicles are just passing by at a constant speed and not starting and stopping just of the sound is continuous over time and have a constant volume because the cars are driving at around the same speed but i live in the fog so i get on with life form the think is when the cards the hopper vehicle. So in a sense listening to a highway should be a good lullaby except our brains link the sounds to the cause of them and the associations are anything but mellow traffic speed concentration stress i believe the sound of waves by contrast feels friendly reminds us of the cation or allows our minds to simply go blank. We are just on facebook what you think of when you hear the sound of waves. Mirer from venezuela loves the sound of waves and says nothing is more relaxing than the sea and its waves. Any writes from indonesia that the sea is amazing almost alive its always rippling sometimes slowly sometimes strongly and sometimes its terrifying. For pius the sound of way its very familiar. He wrote to us and hes so heavey that hes a skilled swimmer and thats what he knows. As well though from indonesia is more interested in the ocean waves as a source of energy and says we might be able to use them to replace fossil fuel and thats true. There have been many attempts to use the forces and ocean waves to generate electricity weve been successful with other forces of nature solar power for example is most advanced in china india and japan according to the International Renewable energy agency. Other countries are focusing on wind energy here to china is in 1st place but its proven very difficult to harness the energy of waves. Immensely powerful forces. Huge wind generated waves. Of the tides controlled by the moons gravity. With an area of 360000000 square kilometers about 70 percent of the earths surface is covered by water. Most of its in the ocean which could be a Massive Force of Climate Friendly energy but how can we harness that power tidal amplitudes very dramatically around the globe in parts of western europe there particularly pronounced. The 1st tide mills were built in the middle ages or even earlier they were driven by the daily changes in water levels. In the 1960 s. This idea was picked up again and engineers built the 1st big tidal power station in personally and from. Turbines inside the tarred liberaces are driven by the ebb and flow of the ocean. But the engineers and country to prop. Im only few days are suitable for this type of power plant and the garage has also disrupt the coastal ecosystem. But that didnt stop them they saw other ways of using Marine Energy this time focusing on the strength of waves. Wind generation surface waves tend to be large and strong as high latitudes of the northern and southern hemispheres. In scotland in the 1970 s. Scientists developed a series of new mechanisms intended to convert the energy of surface waves into electricity many believe that Wave Energy Converters were on the verge of a breakthrough. And one such device was called the salters duck named after its inventor Stephen Salter from edinburgh. Was tested wave tanks but never on the open sea. Eventually these ideas fell by the wayside. In the early 2000 came a new attempt with this snake like offshore device its linked cylindrical sections flex and bend in the waves and convert the motion into electricity but it never got past the prototype stage. German engineers are currently testing another system the ne most project involves flotation modules connected to pulleys on the seabed by flexible cables as theyre pulled by the motion of the waves a generator transforms the mechanical energy into electricity its being tested as an addition to offshore wind farms. So far most of the approaches to topping marine power have got nowhere one reason the formidable technical hurdles. Wave heights change continually does the force of the waves to stand up to the biggest waves the machinery has to be very robust but this equipment produces too little energy. When waves are gentler there are many different ways of harnessing wave power but theyre all still too expensive to be viable. And want to make Tidal Energy Developers shifted to anchoring the turbines on the sea floor of other than in barrages but underwater repairs are expensive. Plus i plot forms have turbines mounted underneath that are more accessible and thus easier to fix when the corrosive salt water damages the machines. Although the energy of the wild and salty seas has repeatedly proved difficult to harness many engineers remain optimistic that a breakthrough is just around the corner. Because what is right why are they even. Now its time for our viewer question this week it comes from morocco i know you took a look at the ways in the ocean and asked where the water is really transparent. The water in this class looks transparent. The ocean looks blue but that both water so why the difference. To understand that we need to delve into physics color is an effect of light and without light everything turns black. The light from the sun may look white but its actually a mixture of a range of wavelengths some of them are invisible to the human eye like ultraviolet rays to other parts of the spectrum are visible to us and we see them as red orange yellow green blue violet. And when theyre mixed together we can see the light as white. So why do. Different things have different colors. Because they absorb different parts of the light spectrum the rest is reflected and picked up by the receptors in the eye. The material the jacket is made of absorbs blue green and yellow light red like to be reflected so the jacket looks red. So whats going on with water. Close to the shore where the water is shallow the light mostly passes through without being absorbed or reflected. But when light rays form on a larger body of water the red orange and yellow components of the light are absorbed more strongly and the new light is preferentially reflected. So thats why the ocean looks blue its not because it reflects the sky. Divers can observe the effect of absorption as they descend into the depths 1st the red light disappears then the green and then the yellow what remains is blue light that hasnt been absorbed by the water further down that too is absorbed and you get to a point where no visible light at all has penetrated. So the color of the water seems to have depends on the quantity of it large volumes of water look blue. But a small amount of water appears transparent. To the science question then just ask youll find us at d. W. Dot com slash science and on twitter and facebook. Heres a fun fact waves have a strong effect on animals and plants take the barnacle. You know those little alfred pods that appear to stones are shells in the water they rely on the waves to bring them they nutrients and the waves determine how long their penises are where the waves are strong monocles have a shorter penis when the flow is gentler it grows longer and in any case mailbombing holes have the longest penis in proportion to their body length from any animal. Next week will be heading for bangkok a city that is critically affected by Climate Change how can residents adapt to the constant flooding more of that on the next edition of tomorrow today see you soon but i. Mean. Its where the real power resides. I come from there are lots of people in fact not going. If you thought was the largest democracy maybe thats one reason why im passionate about people and aspirations and they can send. The troops in the mission the pork is Fried Chicken but after the for the fun and want to natter members thinking at a time if the battle in broken hill would happen if people come together and unite. When i do the news i often confronted difficult situations for conflicts between design still i see despite my job to confront good speeches on policies and development to put the spotlight on issues that matter most congo to security oppression martian isolation. A notch has been achieved so much more needs to be john and i think people have to be at the heart of solutions my name is a massage. This is the line from. Protesters in iran the police fired tear gas on people as demonstrations sent a day associate radians accuse the government of trying to cover up its role in the accidental over ukrainian passenger jets. Also on the program the philippines on high alert as a. Manila. Version of a major eruption of the tala volcano is spewing forcing thousands to move to safety