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The First Robot To Cross the Atlantic Ocean Underwater

Posted by kdawson on from the six-days-short-of-pi dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "She was at sea for 221 days, alone, often in dangerous places, and usually out of touch. Most of the time she was out of contact underwater, moving slowly up and down to depths of 600 feet, safe from ships, nets, and storms. Her predecessor had disappeared on a similar trip, probably killed by a shark. 'She was a hero,' says Rutgers University oceanographer Scott Glenn after retrieving Scarlet Knight, the 7-foot-9-inch submersible robot from the stormy Atlantic off western Spain. An engineer working for the company that made the submersible said, 'We think this will just be a precursor, like Lindbergh's trip across the Atlantic. In a decade we think it will be commonplace to have roving fleets of these gliders making transoceanic trips.' The people responsible for building, funding, and flying Scarlet hope the end of the robot's successful voyage will mark a new beginning in ocean and climate research. From its position at each surfacing — when the glider surfaced and called home via an Iridium telephone parked in its tail — researchers could calculate the net effect of currents deep and shallow. After surface currents were measured, the scientists could then make inferences about what was happening deeper in the water column. Scarlet called home to upload data to researchers three times a day. 'When we have hundreds of them, or thousands of them, it will revolutionize how we can observe the oceans,' says Jerry L. Miller, a senior policy analyst at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, who accompanied the research team to Spain."

11 of 156 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Did anyone else by MichaelSmith · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Yes. So?

    --
    http://michaelsmith.id.au
  2. It by Colin+Smith · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    English generally applies the neuter pronoun to inanimate objects, ships are a rare exception, the occupants (almost exclusively male) spend months at sea inside them, their lives depend on them.

    A robot as a she? nah.

       

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    Deleted
    1. Re:It by MichaelSmith · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      After a couple of weeks alone at sea? That robot could be quite attractive.

      --
      http://michaelsmith.id.au
    2. Re:It by maxume · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      I'm sure you could find something that was equally phallic, but of a more convenient size.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    3. Re:It by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      You argue for using 'it', but you wouldn't have written this comment if the OP had used 'he'. If a women had written a similar comment, you would have complained about unnecessary sexism paranoia.

      I would say it's up to the creator to define the name & sex of his/her robot.

    4. Re:It by d4nowar · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      My car is a she. My computer is a she. My chair is a she. My bed is even a she.

      It's all about who built the thing and/or who's using it.

    5. Re:It by BiggerIsBetter · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      My car is a she. My computer is a she. My chair is a she. My bed is even a she.

      I think you need to get laid.

      --
      Forget thrust, drag, lift and weight. Airplanes fly because of money.
  3. Re:Did anyone else by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    http://encyclopediadramatica.com/An_hero - that is all.

  4. Re:Did anyone else by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Either:

    1. A bucket of bolts does not have a gender.
    OR
    2. It should be "a" hero.

  5. Re:Did anyone else by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Stop trying to infect the rest of the internet with "4chan" crap.

    It's retarded and puerile, and no one cares, and there are lice eating your brain.

  6. Re:Did anyone else by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Also, to be "an hero" means to commit suicide.