Swarms of soup-can-sized robots will soon plunge into the ocean seeking data on poorly understood phenomena from currents to biology.
With $2.5 million in new funding from the National Science Foundation, researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography will create and deploy fleets of autonomous underwater explorers (AUEs) to explore the depths. Tens or hundreds of pint-sized robots would be deployed along with one the size of a soccer ball, in setups repeated wherever they are needed.
“AUEs will give us information to figure out how small organisms survive, how they move in the ocean, and the physical dynamics they experience as they get around,” said Scripps researcher Peter Franks. “AUEs should improve ocean models and allow us to do a better job of following 'the weather and climate of the ocean,' as well as help us understand things like carbon fluxes.”
Researchers have some pretty good data on the ocean as a whole, but many localized phenomena are not well understood.
By defining localized currents, temperature, salinity, pressure and biological properties, AUEs will offer new and valuable information about a range of ocean phenomena, according to an NSF statement released today. The 'bot swarms will aid in obtaining information needed for developing marine protected areas, determining critical nursery habitats for fish and other animals, tracking harmful algae blooms, and monitoring oil spills.
I recently co-founded a dairy-free ice cream company. If we sell enough ice cream at our Whole Foods (and other) accounts to stay viable I will donate $250 minus any amount that you donate on this page to charity:water. Currently we are in 25 Whole Foods stores in Northern California.
ABOARD THE ALGUITA, 1,000 miles northeast of Hawaii — In this remote patch of the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles from any national boundary, the detritus of human life is collecting in a swirling current so large that it defies precise measurement.
Light bulbs, bottle caps, toothbrushes, Popsicle sticks and tiny pieces of plastic, each the size of a grain of rice, inhabit the Pacific garbage patch, an area of widely dispersed trash that doubles in size every decade and is now believed to be roughly twice the size of Texas. But one research organization estimates that the garbage now actually pervades the Pacific, though most of it is caught in what oceanographers call a gyre like this one — an area of heavy currents and slack winds that keep the trash swirling in a giant whirlpool.
Scientists say the garbage patch is just one of five that may be caught in giant gyres scattered around the world’s oceans. Abandoned fishing gear like buoys, fishing line and nets account for some of the waste, but other items come from land after washing into storm drains and out to sea.
Plastic is the most common refuse in the patch because it is lightweight, durable and an omnipresent, disposable product in both advanced and developing societies. It can float along for hundreds of miles before being caught in a gyre and then, over time, breaking down.
But once it does split into pieces, the fragments look like confetti in the water. Millions, billions, trillions and more of these particles are floating in the world’s trash-filled gyres
More:
Ted Danson’s nonprofit group Oceana Project Kaisei, based in San Francisco, is trying to devise ways to clean up the patch by turning plastic into diesel fuel
“Water is ridiculously common, one of the most common molecules in the universe,” said Nicolas Cowan, an astronomer and astrobiologist at the University of Washington in Seattle.
What seems rare is finding water in liquid form. In space, it either vaporizes if it is too hot or freezes if it is too cold .
“The only time you ever find it stable as a liquid is when you get enough atmosphere down to provide enough pressure to keep it liquid,” Cowan explained.
Scientists looking for aliens consider liquid water “the Holy Grail, the thing that people really want to find,” Cowan said. “Water is the main requirement we can see that life on Earth seems to have.” Although life also needs a source of energy of some kind, in many ways, “you don’t have to worry too much about that,” Meyer added, since Earth shows that life can live off many different kinds of energy, from the sun or heat or chemicals.
Wetpixel Online provides the latest information on underwater photography and videography, and features up-to-date news, articles, equipment reviews, photo contests, dive expeditions, and a registered community of over 13,500 underwater photographers who span the globe.
Wetpixel is owned and run by Eric Cheng, with help from Matt Segal, Alex Mustard, Cor Bosman, and a dedicated group of volunteer moderators. In 2003, Eric and Wetpixel.com were awarded the prestigious Antibes Festival prize for Best Website.
In September of 2007, Wetpixel launched Wetpixel Quarterly, a print magazine featuring the best in underwater photography imagery.
Blue Ocean Institute and Chefs Collaborative have partnered to bring you Green Chefs, Blue Ocean: A comprehensive, interactive online sustainable seafood training program and resource center.
The program and website are intended for culinary students and chefs who are interested in learning about all aspects of sustainable seafood—including how to implement sustainable seafood on menus and in restaurants. Green Chefs, Blue Ocean equips members of the culinary community to purchase, prepare, and promote sustainable seafood in their kitchens and restaurants.
Thirsty? So is everyone else. We’re headed for a water shortage. Here’s how a few simple choices can reduce your daily water use by 1,213 gallons. A GOOD Transparency video.
We rely on our ocean for many things—it drives our climate, it provides jobs that fuel our economy, and it gives us much of the air we breathe and the food we eat. Like urban sprawl on land, the demand for space in our ocean and on our coasts is growing. But a healthy ocean depends on our using it wisely. We need to coordinate the many government agencies that manage how we use the ocean, to conserve it at a time when there is increasing competition for its space.
The Obama administration is advancing an ocean policy that will call for this kind of coordination. Through the use of marine spatial planning, it will begin zoning the ocean to evaluate and accommodate existing uses and proactively plan for new uses—much as we do on land. By planning ahead, we can find ways to protect fragile ocean ecosystems like coral reefs and also make sure that, for example, wind farms do not interfere with shipping lanes. Marine spatial planning brings together scientists with the best understanding of our ocean and people who have a stake in planning for ocean uses. This ensures a transparent process that puts conservation on an equal footing with industry, to help protect the ocean for future generations.
Spruill is the president and CEO of Ocean Conservancy, a group advocating better planning for development in our oceans.
Seafood plays an important role in a balanced diet. Its often rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which help boost immunity and reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer and other ailments. Omega-3s are especially important for pregnant and nursing women, and young children. Unfortunately, some fish carry toxins that can become harmful when eaten frequently.
Good for You, Good for the Oceans
Combining the work of conservation and public health organizations, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has identified seafood that is “Super Green,” meaning that it is good for human health and does not harm the oceans. The Super Green list highlights products that are currently on the Seafood Watch “Best Choices” green list, are low in environmental contaminants and are good sources of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids.
This effort draws from experts in human health, notably scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health HSPH and Environmental Defense Fund EDF. The Monterey Bay Aquarium will continue to work with these organizations to balance the health and environmental attributes of seafood.
The Super Green list includes seafood that meets the following three criteria:
- Low levels of contaminants below 216 parts per billion [ppb] mercury and 11 ppb PCBs
- The daily minimum of omega-3s at least 250 milligrams per day [mg/d]
- Classified as a Seafood Watch “Best Choice” green
