Underwater

An ice-diver investigating a sunken whale carcass, a flying fish under the water's surface, and crab hitch-hiking on a jellyfish are just a few of the stunning highlights from this year’s Through Your Lens photo contest.

While seabed-located cameras are great for tasks such as monitoring wildlife, powering them can be challenging. That's where a new MIT-designed camera comes in, as it requires no battery, plus it wirelessly transmits its photos through the water.

This remarkable anti-ship weapon would run an innovative boron-powered ramjet engine that works in both air and water. Supersonic in the air and supercavitating under the water, it could strike farther and faster than any conventional torpedo.

The last time we looked at the U-Boat Worx Nemo submersible, production start was listed as a vague "when market demand has been met." The vessel launched last year, and U-Boat Worx is now commencing volume production and drastically cutting price.

When it comes to communicating with one another while underwater, scuba divers typically use either hand signals or writing boards … both of which have limitations. Soon, however, they could be utilizing an app on their existing smartphone.

While AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles) are often used for scientific studies, they're sometimes also utilized in more secretive applications, such as surveillance. A new system helps hide their location, by having them deploy a micro-AUV.

As any viewer of the Discovery Channel will know, the search for sunken treasure typically involves sifting through the sand, just hoping to find gold or silver. The SeaSearcher underwater drone, however, may soon point clients right to the booty.

Although aerial drones can travel much faster than their underwater counterparts, they certainly aren't as good at gathering water-related data. The MEDUSA multi-rotor drone addresses this conundrum, by landing on the water and deploying an underwater pod.

While we have heard of a few aerial drones that are also able to operate underwater, a new one takes that concept considerably further. Using a fish-inspired suction disc, it can hitch rides underwater – possibly even on submarines – to save power.

Last year, we heard how anole lizards are able to breathe underwater from an air bubble on their nose. One of the scientists involved in that study has now documented a spider doing something similar – although the bubble covers its whole body.

While AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles) are invaluable for gathering oceanographic data, they also tend to be fairly large and very expensive. The Hydrus offers a much smaller, less costly alternative, which still packs a lot of punch.

Radio waves don't travel well through water, which is why devices such as ROVS have to be linked to their operator via a communications cable. According to a new study, however, solar panels may soon allow for practical light-based communications.