Tag: Underwater

Researchers from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech (my alma mater!), led by Assistant Professor Michael Bartlett, have developed the Octa-Glove, a glove with octopus-like suckers on the fingers designed for firmly grasping objects underwater without requiring grip strength.

When you think of AT-ATs, you think of these giant mechanical beasts stomping along the snowy surface of Hoth. But what would happen if the Empire’s war machines ran on fossil fuels and their CO2 emissions, resulting in a greenhouse effect?

Jellyfish are some of the most fascinating creatures on the planet. If you’ve ever looked at them up close at the aquarium, they look like they have nothing inside of them, yet somehow they’re able to swim around and eat plankton.

Chinese drone maker Geneinno is now taking pre-orders for its Titan 6-thruster underwater imaging drone. With prices starting at $1199, it’s one of the most affordable true underwater drones on the market. Its maker also claims that it has the highest available pressure rating, meaning it can dive deeper than other drones.

Harvard University researchers have been working on a miniature robot called the Harvard Ambulatory Microbot (HAMR) for a while now. The insect-inspired, waterproo microbot recently received an upgrade, and now it can swim and walk underwater – on land, too.

Octopi are very intelligent creatures, and they want to be left alone. You try to get some footage of an octopus, and they will steal your camera because they don’t care about your silly YouTube channel. 

This is a sight that you don’t see everyday. Bananenbuurman built a LEGO train set, then mounted a camera on the locomotive, and recorded its journey through the back yard and into a long underwater tunnel with plenty of fish.

Not too long ago I talked up Jaws to my daughter and told her how scary it was. We watched it and she called me a wuss because the movie wasn’t scary at all. I got my revenge the next weekend after we watched The Strangers. 

Thanks (or no thanks) to Microsoft, someday we could have clouds under the sea. The software giant recently shared details on what it calls Project Natick, an experiment about constructing and operating an underwater datacenter. The datacenter in these images is Project Natick’s prototype Leona Philpot, named after a character in the Halo universe.

We’ve seen quadcopters and robots that can fly and walk (or roll), and one that can swim and walk. The Naviator drone on the other hand is equally adept at flying and swimming underwater. Prof. Javier Diez and several of his students at Rutgers University’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering have been working on the Naviator for years, but it took off earlier this year when they received $618,000 (USD) from the United States’ Office of Naval Research (ONR), who were apparently extremely impressed by the prototype.

It’s one thing to say that a smartphone can survive water splashes; it’s another altogether to say that the phone can actually work underwater. That is exactly what Sony promised with the Xperia Z3 smartphone that runs Android.

I guess that if you’re not afraid of water, then underwater hotels can make for some fabulous sights. This new one will provide you with an amazing stay, thanks to being submerged more than 13 feet below the surface of the ocean.

I’ve seen wingsuits used in basejumping and skydiving, but I guess it makes sense to use something akin to those suits underwater, since some animals like ray fish use their “wings” to fly underwater.

OK, so maybe ‘underwater gliding’ is the technical term, but to me, it looks like this robot fish is swimming. As Grace (short for Gliding Robot ACE), the robot fish glides through the water, it strives to conserve energy.

The U.S. Navy’s Marine Mammal Program began in the ’60s. The idea was that dolphins and sea lions would help defend harbors, retrieve sunken equipment and, even identify mines for deactivation. Now they have changed their mind and they want robots to do the dirty work.

Okay, so mermaids don’t really exist, but they will soon enough, if you’ve had one drink too many down at the Subsix bar. It’s a posh and exclusive bar that’s quite unusual, since it’s one of the world’s only underwater bars.