The coolest thing I own is a Styrofoam cup that went down to the
bottom of the Palmer Deep, off the Palmer Peninsula in Antarctica. It
was in a net bag tied to an oceanographer's water column sampler. I
don't remember the name of the researcher, but she or he let everyone
on the research vessel, including hanger-on science writers, send
down a cup. The pressure of 10,400 3,100 feet of water compressed the tiny
air bubbles inside the Styrofoam and turned a grande cup into an
espresso cup. More reasons not to go scuba-diving at the bottom of
the Palmer Deep.