If you’re stranded on a desert island, sending a bottled message may reach people far away, just not very quickly.
Asked by: David Smith, London
The longest known single journey was that of a Doctor Who postcard in a bottle, thrown into the sea at Tyne and Wear in 2011. This turned up 17 months later in Perth, Western Australia – over 14,500km away. But in 1929, German marine scientists dropped a bottle into the Indian Ocean with instructions for the finder to report where it washed up and then throw it back. This floated for six years and covered 25,600km!
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Luis trained as a zoologist, but now works as a science and technology educator. In his spare time he builds 3D-printed robots, in the hope that he will be spared when the revolution inevitably comes.
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