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]

That’s right. No nuclear fuel rods here, just good old fashioned fast feet on a wheel. This odd looking contraption called the HPS Hamstar was actually created out of an 3-liter soda bottle, with a hamster cage grafted into the middle of it. The whole thing is air-tight, so it doesn’t leak. In case you’re worried about hammie expiring from lack of oxygen – don’t. The HPS Hamstar has air hoses running into it to keep him breathing and happy. As happy as an underwater hamster in a wheel can be, that is. Here’s a video of the Hamstar’s maiden voyage, in case you don’t believe this ridiculous story:

If you’re interested in seeing how the HPS Hamstar was built, you can check out the project website here.

[via Obvious Winner via Geekologie]

That catamaran isn’t nearly as cool as the Necker Nymph. No, that isn’t some sort of porn show you can only see aboard the catamaran, it’s a submarine. The sub is sort of like an underwater airplane. It looks sort of like the Lotus Esprit that James Bond turned into a submarine to me.

You can rent the Necker Nymph for a full day along with an underwater chauffeur to drive you and a guest around under the waves for a full day if you have the loot. The sub isn’t enclosed so you will need SCUBA gear and dives can last for up to two hours at up to 30-meters deep. At $2,500 (USD) per day, the rental is surprisingly reasonable (at least if you’re Sir Richard Branson).

[via GadgetReview]

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 Yokosuka Dry Docks, this Starship Enterprise model is water-tight, and can zip around underwater without flooding the bridge or shorting out its nacelles. Check out the video below to see it in action…

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

“Photon torpedoes approaching from port side! Dive, Captain Kirk, Dive!” That’s what I imagine the tiny little crew of Sea Monkeys is saying on board at this very moment.

Be sure to head over to YDD’s YouTube page to see more of their underwater spaceship creations, including the Millenium Falcon, USS Voyager and highly appropriate Battleship Yamato.

[via Videosift]

Even though it looks like a scooter, seeing the HydroBOB in action reminds me of a bumper car. There are triggers on the handles that lets you control the thrust, but it glides around clumsily and slowly. As you can see in the picture above, the HydroBOB is also tethered to a support structure above the water, so there’s probably a limit to how far it can go. But it is a lot safer for the HydroBOB to be slow and tethered, especially if a non-diver is riding it.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

You can try out the HydroBOB at the Hyrdodome in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for $25 (USD) per hour. You’ll also see Sneath’s FISH-E 101 robot fishes while you’re scooting underwater. You can also rent the HydroBOB for private events. Check out their website for more pics and info.

[via Bornrich]

The new camcorder is called the Sanyo Xacti DMX-CA100 and it is the world’s first full 1080p Full HD waterproof camcorder. The thing isn’t simply splash resistant, it can actually be used underwater to record 1080p video at up to 60fps.

The camera can also shoot still images at 14MP resolutions and can shoot bursts at seven frames per second for up to 22 photos in 2MP mode. The camcorder will ship in June in black, yellow, and pink colors. It should hit stores late this June, but pricing hasn’t been announced yet.

This kind of reminds me of the movie Abyss for some reason. The ROV submarine uses four 500gph and two 1,250gph bilge pumps. The bigger ones are used for propulsion while the smaller ones are used to dive and surface.

It’s got lights and naturally a functioning camera, which lets Jason guide it into the depths. Jason actually designed some non-explosive torpedoes as well. Sweet. Incredibly, all of the parts needed to build this sub are available at any home improvement store.

He’s got an meticulously detailed guide on how to create your own. Here’s a link to the basic how-to pdf file he created to start off with this build.

[Hack a Day via Make:]

Thanks to a built in digital camera, Liquid Image’s new Underwater Camera Mask will let you capture photos or video of whatever you see while you swim. Just look through the view port, and press the capture button to snap your pix. A crosshair inside the mask indicates the center of the frame you’ll be capturing, and easy-to-see LEDs tell you the camera’s current mode. While you won’t be able to go deep-sea diving with the mask on, it will hold up for depths up to 15 feet of water, so it’s perfect for casual snorkeling.

The company plans on rolling out the camera at the upcoming 2008 CES show in January, and plans on releasing both 3.1 and 5.0 megapixel versions, with prices starting at $99 USD.

[via Krunker]