Swimming

While most people wear a PFD (personal floatation device) when boating, such is typically not the case when they're swimming in open water. A new prototype wristband is designed for such scenarios, as it features floatation airbags that can be manually deployed if needed.

Scientists regularly draw ideas from the natural world in a bid to improve robotic performance, and the latest creation in this space is a soft robot that mimics butterfly stroke in humans to move through the water with unparalleled speed.

While lifeguards serve a vital purpose, it can sometimes be difficult for them to keep an eye on all the swimmers, all the time. An experimental new device has been designed to help, by sending an alert if its wearer is drowning.

While there already are automated lifeguarding systems for home swimming pools, Mylo is claimed to be different. Among other things, it utilizes dual cameras and artificial intelligence to spot swimmers who may be in trouble.

Subsurface oceans on moons are some of the most promising places to look for life beyond Earth. NASA is now funding a project to develop a swarm of small swimming robots that would explore these alien oceans for signs of extraterrestrial life.

Ghost Robotics' Vision 60 quadruped robot is already quite a versatile beast, capable of walking, running and even carrying a gun. Now, thanks to a third-party attachment, it can also "swim" through the water.

If you've ever tried packing snorkelling gear into a suitcase, you'll know that traditional fins take up an awful lot of space. That's why Folding Fins were created, as they fold down to less than half their regular width when not in use.

Swimming is one of those sports in which stopping to check a smartwatch can be quite disruptive. Because of this, we've recently seen a number of performance-tracking goggles. One of the newest, known as Holoswim, is now on Kickstarter.

It was just this year that we heard about the Sonr radio system, which lets coaches talk to swimmers via a waterproof speaker worn by the latter. It's a neat idea, but what happens when the coach isn't around? Well, that's where Athlos Live comes in.

While we have seen eel-like swimming robots before, they've tended to simply copy the movements of their biological counterparts. AgnathaX is different, in that it utilizes simulated central and peripheral nervous systems for more robust performance.

Given that they're such good swimmers, the structure of fish is increasingly being copied in the design of underwater robots. Scientists have now discovered that by adjusting the stiffness of their tails, those bots can swim much more efficiently.

Not content with boasting the world's tallest building, the world's largest mall and a host of other forward-thinking ventures that include flying taxis and firefighters with jetpacks, Dubai has now opened the deepest swimming pool in the world.