DepthX robotic submarine maps world's deepest sinkhole

After the recent streak of robotic failures that we've seen, it's refreshing to see yet another success story come our way. Just as it did in February, the two-meter wide DepthX (Deep Phreatic Thermal Explorer) robotic submarine successfully mapped out a massive sinkhole in Mexico, but this time was quite a bit more rewarding. The cavern that it ventured into was the El Zacatón Cenote, which is better known as the world's deepest water-filled sinkhole, and the machine was able to delve some 270-meters down to "create the first map of the giant cavity." The hole itself is large enough to "swallow New York's Chrysler Building," and while the endeavor was indeed a success, researchers are hoping to get it back down there in the near future to better analyze a mysterious slope that it wasn't quite able to probe. Godspeed, DepthX.

[Via Slashdot]

[(Unverified) Posted May 23rd 2007 5:24PM]

I, for one, welcome our sinkhole exploring, soon to be sentient robotic overlords

[(Unverified) Posted May 23rd 2007 6:56PM]

EDomain,

1994 called. It wants its overused cliche back.

[(Unverified) Posted May 23rd 2007 7:44PM]

I, for one, welcome all n00bs to Engadget that don't realize when discussing our future overlords, it is obligatory to welcome them.

Or suffer their righteous, binary rage in the silicon mines.

[(Unverified) Posted May 23rd 2007 7:34PM]

John Doe,

I, for one, welcome our blase cliche, soon to be trite talking overlords.

[(Unverified) Posted May 23rd 2007 7:46PM]

ROFLMAO as I contemplate eternal servitude.

Domo Arigato.

[Abraham P Posted May 23rd 2007 10:32PM]

would those mines be on Chiron Beta Prime?

[(Unverified) Posted May 23rd 2007 9:30PM]

No need to explore this sinkhole.

All they needed to do was ask Rosie O'Donnell what she saw when she fell and created it.

[(Unverified) Posted May 23rd 2007 11:54PM]

Merry Christmas!

[(Unverified) Posted May 24th 2007 12:30AM]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
LOL, i can't believe something that happened in my little natal town here in mexico would happen to reach engadget, who would've tought, eh?

The place is called 'el zacaton' and its a very deep cenote in Villa Aldama, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

[(Unverified) Posted May 24th 2007 9:31AM]

The Chrysler Building is 318.9m in height. The article says that the hole is "large enough to swallow" it, but doesn't give diameter, and says that the hole has a sloping bottom that is "over 300 meters" at its deepest point. Another article says that it's "about 100 meters" wide, which is certainly smaller than the base of the Chrysler building (that same article repeats the Chrysler building thing, and refers to the cenote as an "upside down Mount Everest"; Everest is 8,848m in height)... maybe if it was dropped upside down from a height?

You know, not to be pedantic or anything... but let's see them hit bottom in the Marianas Trench, which is significantly deeper (10,911m) than Everest is tall...

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 6th 2007 8:31AM]

This robot is being tested to one day map fluid filled caverns on other planets. This sinkhole is just to test it.