Question:
When I attended one of the lectures at Hatfield last week, I noticed the term Julian day. I am aware of the Julian year, but what is a Julian day?
Thank you. Dr. Helen Zenisek

Answer:
The Julian Calendar is the calendar system that we rely on. January first being the first day of the year and December 31 being the last day of the year. We have a total of 365 days in a year, 366 in a leap year. A Julian day is the number of days past January 1st. So, January 1st would be the first Julian day of the year January 31 would be the 31st Julian day of the year. February 1st would be the 32nd Julian day of the year and so on until December 31st which would be the 365th Julian day.
Julia Getsiv, NeMO navigator/research assistant

Question:
Have you found any new organisms?
Raul, South Eugene High School

Answer:
Possibly. Biologist Verena Tunnicliffe found a snail and a limpet a couple of days ago that she thought might be new. They certainly have not been seen at Axial before. Until she brings them to a taxonomy expert back on shore, she can't be sure. The expert will consult the literature on the morphology of the two organisms to see if there is a description that matches them. If not, they are probably new.