Scripps Research Institute

Marine

Flipping FLIP ship saved from scrapyard at last minute

The US Navy and Scripps Institution of Oceanography's unique FLoating Instrument Platform (FLIP) has been saved at the last minute from the breaker's yard. Scheduled to be scrapped in Mexico, it was purchased by undersea design company DEEP.

Military

Remembering FLIP, the US Navy’s self-sinking research ship

There are few things in this world that are literally unique. One of these, in the true sense of the word, is the FLoating Instrument Platform (FLIP), which was a floating barge built for the US Navy that regularly sank itself on end for science.

The bots were deployed in a 16-strong swarm spanning 300 m (984 ft) in diameter

Robotics

Swarms of robotic plankton ride underwater waves of survival

We know that plankton are too small to swim on their own, so how do these little drifters get to where they need to go? Seeking answers to this question along with other insights about our oceans, scientists have built underwater robots that mimic plankton behavior.