Amazon’s billionaire CEO and founder Jeff Bezos has announced that he’s been privately funding a project to seek out the sunken Apollo 11 engines and has recently located them. According to Bezos, the engines have been located on the bottom of the ocean at about 14,000 feet down. The team plans to lift those engines to the surface for the first time in more than 40 years. Bezos says the engines are NASA property and hopes that they will be displayed in a museum.

So far, there’s no indication of where the engines were discovered or when they would be raised from the ocean depths. “We don’t know yet what condition these engines might be in,” Bezos wrote. “They hit the ocean at high velocity and have been in salt water for more than 40 years. On the other hand, they’re made of tough stuff, so we’ll see.”

[via AFP]

According to National Geographic, Cameron shot all the way to the bottom of the trench in 2 hours and 36 minutes, arriving 35,756 feet below the ocean’s surface. He spent several hours on the ocean floor, capturing 3D video footage and samples, but during the mission his communication was limited to a few short text messages and audio communication in order to conserve on battery power. At the lowest point, his tiny one-man capsule was subjected to over 8 tons of pressure per square inch while is sat solo on the bottom of the ocean.

We still haven’t heard how Cameron is doing after his rapid ascent to the surface – which took just 70 minutes – but from the sounds of things, the mission was a success. I for one can’t wait to hear what Cameron has to say – and especially can’t wait to see the footage he managed to capture at the bottom of the sea. But first, he has to head to the premiere of Titanic 3D this Wednesday.

James, you are a true bad-ass.

[via National Geographic]

While vacationing Vader never actually got on his board, this Sith Lord sure went the extra mile, ripping up the surf. Unlike the Silver Surfer, it might take Darth Vader a while to reach the shore – unless he uses his powers again.

Like many Star Wars fans, I’m always wondering how these characters would look in their daily lives when they’re not in the heat of battle or some other space drama. There’s nothing funnier than a Dark Lord of the Sith trying to have fun in the sun.

[Think Big Chief via Dressed like Machines]

If the mission is successful, and Cameron isn’t smashed to pixie dust by the water pressure, he will become the first person in more than 50 years to make it to the deepest point in the ocean. Cameron has had a successful test mission that took him deeper than any other human has been on a solo mission. The only other two people ever make it to the bottom of Challenger Deep spent only 20 minutes on the seafloor with the view obscured by silt. The bottom of the Challenger Deep is a whopping 36,070 feet down. This infographic helps put things in perspective:

Cameron’s craft, on the other hand, is designed to stay on the bottom around six hours, at a record-breaking depth of about 6.8 miles below the surface of the ocean. Being James Cameron, of course, he will bring with him multiple 3-D high-definition cameras and a gigantic eight-foot tall array of LED lights to illuminate the murky gloom at that depth. I wonder if he’s stocking up on footage for The Abyss 2.

[Infographic: National Geographic/Shawn Greene]

The deep-sea salvage ship discovered the site while towing a side looking sonar beneath the ship. The sonar discovered first a 400m long cylinder shaped object that was about 60m in diameter. A subsequent pass also discovered a disc-shaped object 200m away from the original discovery. The ship’s captain and crew are saying that they aren’t sure exactly what this is. Some are calling the discovery a UFO, and others are saying it’s nothing but natural occurring formations on the ocean floor.

The captain of the ship says he’s been in deep-sea salvage for many years, and has never come across anything like this. He notes that both of the objects are too large to be shipwrecks and are too large to the objects the might have fallen off ships on the surface of the Baltic. What we do know is that a casual exploration of the site is out of the question because of the costs involved. No one is willing to fund a full investigation until more details are discovered. What do you think is sitting on the bottom of the Baltic Sea? Maybe they’ve discovered Atlantis. Oh, and where’s James Cameron when you need him?

[via JDJournal]

The Wave Gliders also are able to convert the up and down motion of the waves into energy for propulsion. Solar panels collect energy for on-board measurement equipment. All of the Wave Gliders are heading to Hawaii, where they’ll split up. Two will be heading for Japan and two will be going for Australia. In total, the four gliders will travel a combined 34,000 nautical miles during their 300 day journey.

The ‘bots are currently streaming data thanks to their on-board instruments in real-time, via the Iridium satellite network. Check out the data they’ve collected here.

Liquid Robots sells these ‘bots for about $200,000 (USD) to off-shore drilling companies to collect oceanographic data. Will these sort of autonomous oceanic drones be used for exploration and security in the future? Most likely. Hopefully they won’t rebel and try and take over the world.

[IEEE Spectrum via Make:]

The Iguana 29 has retractable tank treads that will deploy when needed. The treads are powered by electricity, so they don’t make much noise, either. This means that to beach or dock the boat, you won’t need any help at all. It’s also designed to help you get out of a jam at low tide or if you get too close to a sandbar in shallow waters.

It was created by Antoine Fritsch. The idea was to create a design for the treads that wouldn’t compromise the look of the hull.

While there are already other amphibious boats, none of them look as stylish or modern as this one. The Iguana 29 is available starting at around €215,000 (~$280,000 USD).

[via TrendsNow (FR)]

I imagine that is exactly what would happen if you were to say, spring a leak at the bottom of the deepest oceanic trench on earth. A really cool looking submarine has been unveiled called the Triton 36,000. The sub is designed to dive as deep as the ocean goes with two lunatics sitting inside the clear glass dome.

That dome is most of the high-tech science here. The thing is made from some sort of fancy glass concocted at Rayotek Scientific. The design of the dome allows it to actually get stronger the more pressure is on it. The sub is strong enough to dive at 500 feet per minute to the bottom of the 35,797 foot Challenger Deep, which is the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. A leak at that depth and the last thing you would hear would be your co-pilot screaming “OW! My Balls!” Would you ride this thing to the bottom of the ocean?

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[via Thescuttlefish]

Created by Japan’s I Love New Yoku, the Projector Pot (Relaxing Ocean) transports you to the open seas any time you dim the lights. Just set the Projector Pot on any surface, power it on, and turn down your lights. The 4-inch cube has a bright battery-powered LED light source that casts moving patterns that are reminiscent of water reflections off the top of a body of water.

Now the bad part is that unless you live in Japan, you’ll have to wait to relax. At this point, the Projector Pot is only available in its native land (priced at ¥3990 – appx $40 USD). I’m hopeful that the guys over at Audiocubes will bring these into the States, as they’re already importing other goodies from the same company. For the time being, you’ll just have to go to the real ocean.

It’s got a backlit grey-on-black LCD screen that uses a pixel graph to show the current height of the surf. Also along for the ride are alarm, day/date and dual time zone functionality. It’s also got a countdown timer and chronograph for timing your athletic feats. Plus, the Lodown is water resistant to 100 meters, so it’s perfect for play at sea.

It’s available in black, silver and off-white/blue poycarbonate finishes, and will set you back about $90 from Nixon’s online shop.

Maybe it’s watching all those episodes of HBO’s John from Cincinnati that had me thinking about surfers… or maybe it’s just got me confused.