Marine

“The deep sea is the Earth’s largest continuous ecosystem and largest habitat for life. It is also the least studied,” says Dr. Chris German, who along with hundreds of other Marine Life scientists from around the globe is shedding light on these mysterious depths through an unprecedented census of deep-sea marine inhabitants. Their recordings have yielded astonishing findings of more than 17,500 species of often bizarre marine creatures - from oil-eating tubeworms to elephant-eared octopods - inhabiting the blackest depths between 200 meters and up to 5, 000 meters (~3 miles) below ocean surface. Even more remarkable is the ability of these deep-sea creatures to live and thrive in topographically challenging environments where food availability is marginal, at best.  Read More

Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich rose from obscurity and successfully navigated the shady world of early Russian privatization to become one of the world's wealthiest self-made billionaires. His 40-man private army of security personnel make him one of the best-protected businessmen in the world, and when his private gigayacht the Eclipse is handed over in time for Christmas this year, it will be the largest (at a staggering 560ft) and most expensive (at US$1.2 billion) private yacht the world has ever seen. Security will be as tight as you'd expect, with missile defence and intruder detection systems - but the Eclipse's most notable feature is a privacy system that can detect the digital cameras of snooping paparazzi and blind them with laser bursts, ruining spy photos.  Read More

It's often said that we know more about the depths of the Universe than the ocean floors of our own planet, but this might soon change with OceanoCam, a newly-developed cheap underwater camera for capturing high-definition video at great depths, aimed at both research community and the entertainment industry.  Read More

Fully-featured mobile multimedia is finally moving beyond the automobile with Clarion's addition of a watertight multimedia head-unit to its range of custom marine products. The Clarion CMV1 features a 3.5-inch TFT color display, offers DVD-video, DivX, iPod Video playback and, with rear panel AV inputs and outputs, it is capable of driving additional display screens. It cleverly has a one-year back-up memory so radio presets are not lost if your boat is in seasonal storage. The unit delivers a comprehensive on-board entertainment experience that was previously reserved for in-car and can now be fully appreciated in the unique and relaxing environment offered by watercraft.  Read More

We recently looked at problems with a last resort solution to counteract global warming by artificially shading the Earth from sunlight by injecting sulphur or small, reflective particles into the upper atmosphere. Now a new study from the Carnegie Institution has thrown further doubt on the effectiveness of such a proposal. Although it may lower the planet’s temperature by a couple of degrees, it would do little to stop the acidification of the world’s oceans that threatens coral reefs and other marine life.  Read More

Garmin's latest handheld GPS offering for explorers who like to hit the open road - as well as veer completely off it on foot - crams a 3-axis compass, 850MB of on-board memory and a 3.2 megapixel, 4X optical zoom digital camera into a 6.8 oz., water and weatherproof package with a 3-inch touchscreen interface.  Read More

Military-funded projects often pave the way for a much better consumer product, and although the original DARPA funding of the development of the Tactical Electric No Signature (TENS) Mountain bike for Marines and paratroopers is now over a decade old, hold onto your hats folks, because the design has been upgraded and will be sold in limited quantities with a 1000 watt propulsion system. The TidalForce M-750 x2.0 is based around the commercially available (and ingenious) Montague Paratrooper folding bike but has a top speed of over 30 mph and range on a single charge is 25 - 28 miles, using the electric power only. The E+ advanced propulsion system features nine forward power modes, nine resistance (exercise) modes, cruise control and anti-theft. It folds to 3 x 3 ft, so it fits in the boot, and the componentry is first class with RockShox Tora 302 Forks, Shimano XTR brakes, FSA Gossamer 30/38/52 tooth crank set, Crane Creek Thudbuster ST seat suspension and a WTB Speed-V Seat. Like we said - highly-desirable.  Read More

The Guardian has reported on new research showing that in one year, a single large container ship can emit cancer and asthma-causing pollutants equivalent to that of 50 million cars. The low grade bunker fuel used by the worlds 90,000 cargo ships contains up to 2,000 times the amount of sulfur compared to diesel fuel used in automobiles. The recent boom in the global trade of manufactured goods has also resulted in a new breed of super sized container ship which consume fuel not by the gallons, but by tons per hour, and shipping now accounts for 90% of global trade by volume.  Read More

For most of us, the world deep below the ocean’s surface remains a place we have only had the pleasure to experience vicariously, primarily through watching nature documentaries. It's not as if we can just hop in a submarine and go take a look. Well, perhaps we can, if a Russian company's plan to market a two-seater submarine driven by pedal power to the tourist industry is successful. The new underwater vehicle (UV) from Marine Innovation Technologies (MIT) will not only be cheaper to buy and run than existing submersibles, it will be simpler to operate, requiring no special training or expertise.  Read More