Tag Archives | ocean

Navy Planning To Stash Drones On The Ocean Floor Around The World

By on January 19, 2013 in News 7

Via NBC News, the Navy is working on making the bottom of the sea less peaceful:

The U.S. Navy wants to pack aerial drones and other intelligence-gathering technology into special containers built to withstand deep ocean pressures and distribute them around the world’s seas. The containers will rise to the surface when called into service from a remote location.

These “upward falling payloads” are seen as readying the Navy to address conflicts in corners of the world where it is too expensive or complex to establish a forward operating area, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) explained in a call for proposals.

The containers would be stealthily deployed well ahead of time and designed to stay put on the seafloor for years.

… Read the rest

Continue Reading · 7

Study Finds Caffeine Pollution In Pacific Ocean

By on July 20, 2012 in News 5

All of humanity are coffee addicts, and apparently we won’t stop until we have every creature on land and sea hooked. Via EurekAlert!:

A new study finds elevated levels of caffeine at several sites in Pacific Ocean waters off the coast of Oregon—though not necessarily where researchers expected.

This study is the first to look at caffeine pollution off the Oregon coast. It was developed and conducted by Portland State University master’s student Zoe Rodriguez del Rey and her faculty adviser Elise Granek, in collaboration with Steve Sylvester of Washington State University, Vancouver.

Caffeine is found in many food and beverage products as well as some pharmaceuticals, and caffeine pollution is directly related to human activity (although many plant species produce caffeine, there are no natural sources of the substance in the Northwest). The presence of caffeine may also signal additional anthropogenic pollution, such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals and other contaminants.

… Read the rest

Continue Reading · 5