underwater
Latest
Arctic drone is tough enough to monitor icy waters
Sure, there are already drones out there that can take a bruising, but can they survive the brutally cold Arctic Ocean? Laval University's Argo drone can. The newly developed robotic submersible can reach depths of 6,560 feet as it collects data about organisms in bitterly cold waters, and its laser scanning system helps it avoid ice whenever it returns to the surface to transmit data. Not that Argo needs to poke its head above the water very often -- it can run for up to four years at a time. The machine is still in testing at the moment. If everything goes well, however, the drone will be tracking the biological effects of climate change within a matter of months. [Image credits: AP Photo/John McConnico (top), Claudie Marec/Laval University (bottom)]
Robotic vehicles find the Pacific Ocean's deepest thermal vents
Robotic underwater vehicles from the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Research Institute just helped discover one of the Earth's more elusive scientific treasures. Both an autonomous mapping craft and a remotely operated counterpart (which collected video and samples) traveled 12,500 feet to the bottom of Mexico's Pescadero Basin to find the Pacific's deepest hot hydrothermal vents. The machines achieved their feat in just two days, versus the years that it'd take for conventional undersea mapping -- and they achieved the kind of detail that would likely be difficult or impossible using those earlier techniques.
Microsoft pours money into undersea data cables
For many internet giants, undersea fiber optic cables are a lifeline. In some cases, it's the difference between delivering fast services overseas and watching people give up in frustration. Microsoft knows this all too well, it seems, as it just poured money into three subsea fiber projects (Aqua Comms, Hibernia and New Cross Pacific Cable Network) that should speed up connections to Asia-Pacific and Europe. The Redmond crew sees this as a small investment that could pay off big in the future. As it explains, online products like the Azure computing platform and Office 365 are booming -- it only makes sense to have those moneymakers running as smoothly as possible. This isn't really an altruistic gesture, then, but it could go a long way toward improving your internet access as a whole. [Image credit: US Pacific Fleet, Flickr]
MIT gave exploring robots a way to plan underwater missions
Forget those teensy deep-sea submersibles cradling crews of brave scientists -- the future of underwater exploration might be led by robots that can do their own thing. MIT engineers, led by professor Brian Williams, cooked up a system that lets autonomous underwater drones figure out and act on the nitty-gritty details of their missions without the need for meticulously laid-out plans.
US Navy's latest diving suit saves helium, space and weight
The US Navy has just unveiled a new diving suit prototype, and aside from being more efficient than older models, it also helps conserve helium. See, the agency's current suit uses Fly-Away Mixed Gas System (FMGS), which releases gases the diver exhales into the sea, including huge amounts of oxygen and helium. According to the Navy scientists that designed the new version, it "modifies the current helmet and rebreather," and tests prove that it can drastically reduce the consumption of the noble gas-- important in the midst of a global helium shortage. While we can make do without balloons or squeaky voices in parties, the gas is also used for more important purposes, such as operating MRI machines and the Large Hadron Collider.
AudioFlood's waterproof iPod is a swimmer's music dream come true
Swimming in an incredible form of exercises, especially as you age, but there's one problem for people like myself who use exercise time to work through podcasts and records you'd like to check out. Namely, it's really difficult to listen to music underwater. Thankfully for the sound obsessed swimming fans of the world, AudioFlood's waterproof iPod shuffle is a nearly perfect way to experience your tunes underwater. Utilizing the latest generation of iPod shuffle, the AudioFlood iPod has 15 hours of battery life, 2GB of storage (enough space for over 500 songs), and is depth rated to 200 ft. We tried it at a depth of 6 ft at an indoor pool because it's winter, but the device worked with no problems. Even when you're underwater, iPod shuffle features like the VoiceOver button that tells you song title, playlist name or battery status work like a charm. Included with the MP3 player are wonderful short cord headphones, six earpiece options to guarantee the perfect fit, an extension cable, a USB charger/sync cable, and a swim cap. I found attaching the device to the swimcap with the iPod's clip provided a secure swimming experience without ever coming loose. The short cord headphones allow you to swim without getting tangled in a mess of cords, and we commend AudioFlood for removing this possible drowning hazard. Getting used to the earbuds takes a little getting used to but if you think of them as normal swimmers earplugs you'll be enjoying your tunes in no time. Make sure you're using the proper size of earbud, as sound quality will suffer if you don't put them in just right. Sound quality for music will largely depend on the quality of your files, but listening to 320KB MP3s brought me my favorite tunes loud and clear. In my testing spoken word audio sounded better than recorded music, but the differences were mostly negligible. The only real downside of the AudioFlood iPod is the iPod Shuffle itself. Apple's VoiceOver feature makes navigating possible, but if you're looking for a specific song or podcast episode it's going to take awhile for you to find it. That's a minor complaint though. In the grand scheme of things, it's not much of a sacrifice to give up a little bit of speed when looking for content if means you can listen to music underwater. Should you somehow lose the device while you're swimming it will keep working, even after being sunk underwater by itself. Our test unit was stored in a sink of water for hours on end, only to still work when pulled out. Here's a photo of our testing rig: You can get the main AudioFlood bundle for around $140, which gives you a case, swimming cap, headphones, different sizes of earbuds, and the device itself. It's handy for keeping track of everything and only marginally more expensive than the $125 it costs for the device itself. Ultimately, it's a small price to pay for the ability to swim while "Under the Sea" or "Beyond the Sea" blasts through your ears... whether you choose the tune to be Disney or Bobby Darin is up to you. This is the perfect gift for the swimmers in your life, whether they're practicing for the Olympics, exercising, or just blowing off some steam in the pool. Couple its wonderful functionality with AudioFlood's two-year warranty and they'll be swimming in tunes for a long time to come.
Natural Selection 2 dev's 'Subnautica' dives into Steam Early Access
Natural Selection 2 developer Unknown Worlds launched its latest game on Steam Early Access this week, Subnautica. In it, players submerse themselves in an "alien underwater world" with brightly-colored creatures and environments, such as coral reefs and volcanoes. Fighting to survive, the swimmers also hunt for resources to build new gear and submarines, allowing them to further explore the aquatic areas. Subnautica is currently 10 percent off ($18) until December 23 and supports virtual reality headsets such as Oculus Rift. Unknown Worlds handed development duties for Natural Selection 2 to a group of dedicated fans in June, after announcing Subnautica one year ago. Head past the break to see a trailer for Subnautica, showing some of the pretty (and some of the ferocious) creatures in the Early Access game. [Image: Unknown Worlds]
Navy drone swims like a shark to spy on foes
It's hard to covertly gather intelligence on the open seas; conventional drones and submarines make it rather obvious that something's up. The US Navy might just have a stealthier option with its experimental GhostSwimmer drone, which recently finished tests. The five-foot-long robot looks and swims much like a shark, letting it spy on enemies (or inspect friendly ships) without being conspicuous -- as long as curious foes don't get too close, anyway. It goes as deep as 300 feet, and it can operate autonomously for long enough that the Navy doesn't have to stay nearby to keep watch.
Virgin Oceanic pauses its deep sea exploration plans
If you were hoping to see Virgin Oceanic visit the deepest parts of Earth's oceans, you'll have to put those dreams on hold. The company has confirmed that it's at least temporarily dropping plans to make five dives using its DeepFlight Challenger craft. Virgin isn't saying just what prompted the decision, but founder Sir Richard Branson alluded to a cancellation in August. He stressed the importance of "knowing when to change tack" and that Virgin Oceanic was "widening its focus" to work on more accessible ocean exploration. In short, DeepFlight wasn't panning out.
Google backs an undersea cable that will give the internet a big speed boost
The internet is quickest when you have a direct connection to the sites you're trying to reach, but that's a daunting challenge in the Pacific -- undersea network cables can cost hundreds of millions of dollars. It's therefore good to hear that Google and a host of telecom giants (China Mobile, China Telecom, Global Transit, KDDI and SingTel) are backing FASTER, a $300 million fiber optic cable that runs between Japan and the US. As the name implies, it's all about speeding up data transfers between Asia and the Americas; the cable should offer a whopping 60 terabits per second of bandwidth between the two regions, which makes even Google's gigabit home internet service look puny by comparison. You won't see the difference until FASTER is finished in the second quarter of 2016, but it promises to improve the internet as a whole when it's ready. Don't be surprised if foreign multiplayer games and video streams get noticeably smoother within a couple of years. [Image credit: US Pacific Fleet, Flickr]
Drones help find World War II's missing soldiers
The BentProp Project has spent years finding American soldiers who went missing in the Pacific during World War II, but available technology has limited its success. Team members have frequently had to scan wide areas themselves, slowing down their efforts to find downed aircraft and unexploded bombs that might hide human remains. However, the outfit's searches have just taken a big step forward after it got cutting-edge drones from both the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University of Delaware. BentProp can now automate much of its scanning, and CNET notes that the organization's latest expedition found two Navy airplanes. That's a breakthrough for a group that only occasionally makes a big discovery.
Head 82 feet below the surface with Canon's waterproof PowerShot D30
It's a very busy CP+ for Canon. The camera maker has a handful of new models for the show, including one of the waterproof variety. The PowerShot D30, which replaces 2012's D20, boosts the waterproof rating from 33 feet to 82 feet, making it a suitable choice for all but the deepest scuba dives. There's a 12.1-megapixel CMOS sensor, a DIGIC 5 processor and support for 1080/30p video. The 5x 28-140mm lens isn't as fast as we'd like for dim underwater shoots, with an f/3.9-4.8 maximum aperture, but with the ISO bumped up a bit, it should perform decently. You can frame shots on the 3-inch 461k-dot LCD, which sports a sunlight mode for use in brighter conditions. The camera is shockproof and cold-resistant as well, and while there's no WiFi on board, it does include GPS. The PowerShot D30 is expected in stores by mid-April with a $330 MSRP.
See this ArcheAge vid for all your MMO dolphin-riding needs
Say what you will about the glacial pace of ArcheAge's western localization, but one thing you can't say is that XLGAMES' sandpark title is lacking in the interesting features department. Dolphins have their own skills and abilities, and players are able to ride them both on the surface of the ocean and under it. XLGAMES has previously shown off ArcheAge's extensive underwater environments and gameplay.
Robot sea turtle will map shipwrecks that humans can't reach (video)
Some shipwrecks are too costly or dangerous for humans to explore, but many underwater robots are too disruptive and unwieldy to serve as substitutes. The Tallinn Institute of Technology's new U-CAT mapping robot solves that dilemma by imitating one of the ocean's more graceful creatures: the sea turtle. The small machine uses flippers to get around instead of propellers, preventing it from kicking up silt (which would obscure its camera) and letting it turn on a dime. It's also autonomous, which helps it venture deep into a wreck without worrying about cables. It's sure to have a big impact on underwater archaeology, and you can see it in person if you swing by the London Science Museum between November 28th and December 1st. However, It will eventually map shipwrecks in the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas as part of the EU's ARROWS Project, providing more detail than any diver could manage. [Image credit: Tallin University of Technology, Flickr]
Inhabitat's Week in Green: futuristic automation, underwater kites and a floating nuclear power plant
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. Twitter's stock market debut was the big story this week, but it wasn't the only news out of Silicon Valley. Facebook just announced that starchitect Frank Gehry will design the company's London and Dublin offices. Gehry is already working on designing Facebook's Menlo Park headquarters. In other tech news, Apple is opening a new manufacturing plant in Mesa, Ariz., that will be entirely powered by the sun, and the company filed a patent for a futuristic automation system that could remote control your house. Meanwhile, electric carmaker Tesla is contemplating building the largest battery factory in the world to keep pace with booming EV sales. And on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, Kyocera Corporation just launched Japan's largest offshore solar power plant. The new plant will provide enough energy to power 22,000 households.
The Daily Grind: Does underwater combat add that much?
Underwater swimming and combat is one of those tetchy subjects that people seem to have strong opinions regarding, even though I personally don't think it makes much of a difference whether you can do these things or not. Games that haven't had underwater combat didn't make me miss it, and games that had it made me feel like I was flying very, very slowly. So let's tack this today: Does underwater combat really add that much to an MMO? Is it a waste of developer resources or an important part of creating an immersive world? As a bonus question, when's the last time you went underwater to fight jellyfish with a spear gun in the real world? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Researchers looking to submerge WiFi, drive demand for Google SnorkBooks
How to begin a new pitch about your underwater networking technology? You could start by comparing existing offerings to a "frightened toddler," seeing as how both parties share an inherent desire to stay above the waves. A research team at the University at Buffalo, however, is far less afraid to gets its collective feet wet (due in part, we assume, to the fact that timid toddlers are generally shunned by research universities), showing off an acoustic wave-based technology that could be used to send signals to laptops, smartphones and the like, from bodies of water. That information, in turn, could be used to monitor tsunamis and pollution, help with oil exploration and check out the status of marine life. The team has already tested the technology at Lake Erie and is set to show things off in more detail next month in Taiwan.
Nikon's AW1 is the world's first waterproof interchangeable-lens digital camera (hands-on)
Have any interest in bringing an interchangeable-lens camera along on your next snorkeling adventure? You could pick up a pricey DSLR housing, sure, but you might want to consider Nikon's new 1-Series AW1, the first digital device of its kind to score an integrated waterproof enclosure. An O-ring combines with a regular bayonet lens fitting to create a reassuringly tough seal that will survive down to a depth of 49 feet, at the expense of requiring just a little bit more time and physical effort to swap lenses. You'll need to re-surface before attempting that, of course, and you'll also have to make sure you're using one of just two waterproof pieces of glass: either a 11-27.5mm f/3.5-5.6, which comes as part of the kit, or a wide 10mm f/2.8 lens that is sold separately. Regular 1-series lenses will still fit on the AW1, courtesy of a little accessory, but they won't offer any of the ruggedness of the dedicated pair -- which means you'll miss out on the water-proofing, dust-proofing, freeze-proofing (to 14-degrees Fahrenheit) and shock-proofing (from a maximum drop of 6.6 feet). Internally, the AW1 is similar to the CES-era J3. There's the same 14.2-megapixel CX-format sensor and 6400 top ISO, along with 1080p video capture, but the new model adds thrill-seeker essentials like an altimeter, depth gauge, GPS, compass and an accelerometer-powered option for switching modes with one hand. Finally, at risks of startling the little fishes, there's also pop-up flash that works underwater. All this will set you back $800 with the 11-27.5mm lens, when the AW1 ships next month, while the 10mm f/2.8 will be $200 more. Oh, and check out the hands-on video after the break to see how the AW1 fares in our own, hastily compiled durability test. Update: As some particularly knowledgeable readers have spotted, the AW1 is the first digital waterproof ILC, but not the first if you count the celluloid Nikonos series. Thanks guys -- the post has been tweaked. Sharif Sakr contributed to this report.
DARPA unveils plans for undersea payloads that surface on command
DARPA already intends to set a drone ship out to sea, and now it's revealed plans for undersea payloads that lie dormant for years and launch themselves to the surface when remotely commanded. Dubbed Upward Falling Payloads, the containers will carry non-lethal cargo such as small UAVs or networking hardware, and take advantage of the "cheap stealth" their position underwater grants them. Since the vision is to have a fleet of UFPs spread throughout ocean floors, it'll help the Navy "get close to the areas we need to affect, or become widely distributed without delay," according to DARPA Program Manager Andy Coon. DARPA is aiming to tap engineering talent from telecom companies to the oil exploration industry in order to solve challenges such as communications used to wake up payload nodes and launching them to the surface. There's no word on when UFPs will begin lurking sea floors, but DARPA is already looking for proposals to help build them. [Image credit: Alwbutler, Flickr]
Google Street View gets its first underwater panoramic images, ready for desk-based scuba expeditions (video)
After working on its sea legs for some time, Google Street View is ready to take users on virtual scuba expeditions through six living coral reefs with the first underwater panoramic images to hit the service. In partnership with The Catlin Seaview Survey, Mountain View created the on-rails snorkeling experiences using undersea pictures from Heron, Lady Elliot and Wilson Islands at the Great Barrier Reef, Molokini Crater and Hanauma Bay in Hawaii and the Apo Islands in the Philippines. Combined with views from Chichen Itza and Teotihuacan, the new underwater tours might make for a respectable, desk-based vacation. Interested in paddling through the briny depths? Head past the break for a short preview or hit the source links below to dive right in.
