Underwater

When it comes to developing robots that can move efficiently through water, scientists regularly turn to creature’s like jellyfish for inspiration, and a UK research team has just produced one that can swim with the best of them.

While ocean-based fish farms do help take pressure off of wild stocks, they have eco-unfriendly drawbacks of their own. A new underwater robot is being designed to address that situation, by autonomously inspecting the fish and their pens.

Although AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles) excel at gathering marine data without human intervention, they're still limited by battery life. Texas startup Terradepth has set out to address that problem, with a novel tag-team system.

GPS doesn't work underwater, which means that keeping track of a submersible's whereabouts can be difficult. A new ROV (remotely operated vehicle) still manages to show up on Google Maps, however – plus it has a cool rotating head.

Triton has turned its attention back to the luxury sector with a new six-person sub designed to launch from the garage of your mega-yacht. Its giant 2.5-m diameter spherical acrylic pressure hull is the biggest ever, giving panoramic views for six.

While consumer-oriented underwater drones are becoming increasingly popular, better-equipped ROVs (remotely operated vehicles) are still the weapon of choice for industrial applications. One of the latest – and coolest-looking – is the SRV-8.

When it comes to shooting 360-degree interactive video, the Insta360 Pro 2 is quite a capable camera … but it can't go underwater. That's about to change, however, with the release of the Mantis Sub housing.

MIT scientists have developed an acoustic system that acts like an underwater GPS, yet doesn't need batteries to operate. The system is instead powered by modulated audio signals reflected from the environment to provide net-zero energy positioning info.

Scientists exploring the Great Barrier Reef have discovered a huge, never-before-seen coral reef, taller than the Empire State Building. Standing detached, the massive structure is the first new reef to be discovered in the area in over 120 years.

From a record number of submissions, the 16th Through Your Lens photo contest delivers a world-class selection of the best underwater photography, from an incredible look inside a whale shark’s mouth to an amusing portrait of a smiling porcupine fish.

Data centers require heavy-duty cooling and maintenance. Microsoft has now finished a two-year test of an unconventional solution – dropping a data center to the bottom of the sea – and found that it was more reliable than land-based facilities.

More than 10 years ago, François-Alexandre Bertrand came up with a concept for a novel above/below watercraft named the Platypus. The first Blue Ocean edition was sold last year and now his company has launched a new version, the Platypus Swordfish.