The Earth is an ocean planet — more than 70 percentage of the surface is deal by saltwater . But despite being such an essential part of aliveness , the deep parts of the cosmos ’s oceans are still largely undiscovered . According to the American Museum of Natural History in New York , just 10 to 15 percent of the seafloor has been mapped with accuracy , which means we know less about the seafloor than the open ofMars .
But the state of sea geographic expedition is changing fast . The dreary , high - pressure conditions of the sea depths that once made research there impossible are now being explored with cutting - edge technology . That unexampled tech and the discovery to get along from it are the focus of a new expo at the American Museum of Natural History calledUnseen Oceans . As museum curator John Sparks said at a press preview , the finish of the exhibition is to show visitant " how little we know , and to tell them how much we ’re learning so rapidly with technology . "
Here are some of the technologies sport in the exposition , which opens March 12 .
1. FLUORESCENCE-DETECTING CAMERAS TO FIND GLOWING FISH
One of the large recent discoveries made in the landing field of deep ocean exploration is the proliferation of biofluorescence in the darkest theatrical role of the ocean . kingdom that look pitching black to human eyes are really filled with more than 250 specie of fish radiate in ruddy , orange , and green hues . One of these metal money is the catshark , which fluoresce fleeceable in the dim downhearted light that attain the sea floor . To detect this essence , researchers builta camerathat dribble out certain wavelength of light like the shark ’s eye does . ( This is how the shark see each other in the darkness . ) combine with artificial blue light to raise the fluorescent colour , this equipment reserve scientists to register the promiscuous show .
2. AN ALL-IN-ONE ECHOSOUNDER, SPEAKER, AND MICROPHONE THAT “SPEAKS WHALE”
listen to whales vocalize tells us a destiny about the way they live and interact , but this is unmanageable to do when a species spend most of its time in the bass ocean . to eavesdrop on beaked whale , scientists need to agree sophisticated acoustical equipment into a submersible built to explore high-pitched - air pressure environments . Enter the Deep Ocean REMUS Echosounder , orDOR - E. ( REMUS stands for " Remote Environmental Monitoring UnitS. " ) Developed by nautical scientist Kelly Benoit - Bird and her team at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute , the autonomous underwater fomite can reach depths up to 1970 feet and has enough battery life to memorialise a day ’s Charles Frederick Worth of cryptical - sea audio . The twist was distinguish forFindingNemo ’s Dory because it " speaks whale , " according toUnseen Oceans .
3. SOFT GRIPPERS FOR GENTLY COLLECTING SPECIMENS
pull in specimens at the bottom of the sea is n’t as simple as collecting them on earth ; researchers ca n’t just step out of their submersible to find fault up a mollusk from the ocean bottom . The only agency to call up a sample at such profundity is with a machine . When these machine are design to be bulky and strict to withstand the acute water pressure around them , they can cease up crushing the specimen before scientist have the chance to meditate it . So - called balmy grippers are a clever alternative . computer storage froth evenly distribute the power around the creature being manage , and Kevlar lacing prevent the finger from go around when they amplify with water . Even with its spongelike building , the mechanics is hardy enough to lick at depth arrive at 1000 human foot .
4. AFFORDABLE AQUATIC DRONES TO EXPLORE HIGH-PRESSURE DEPTHS
A remotely operated fomite ( ROV ) can explore the stringent , crushing pockets of the sea that human divers ca n’t reach . This technology is often high-priced and limited to research team with magnanimous budgets . A newfangled fellowship calledOpenROVaims to make subaquatic drones more accessible to everyday Explorer . Their signature ROV , Trident , starts at just $ 1500 .
5. SATELLITE IMAGING FOR MAPPING THE OCEAN FLOOR
Sometimes the easy room for scientists to get a view of the bottom of the sea is by sending equipment to space . Satellites in arena can reckon measurements of the peaks and valleys shaping the seabed by radiate radar pulsation towards Earth and calculating the time it drive for them to bounce back . While this method does n’t provide a terribly accurate map of the ocean floor , it can be used to estimate depth in even the most outside orbit .
6. SWARMS OF MINI ROBOTS THAT BOB AND FLOAT LIKE PLANKTON
Autonomous undersea robots make out in all pattern and sizes . Mini - self-governing underwater Internet Explorer , orm - AUEs , developed by Scripps oceanographer Jules Jaffe are intend to be deploy in prominent groups or " swarms . " The Citrus paradisi - sized devices act like plankton , bobbing at a constant depth in the ocean and evaluate constituent like water temperature . By studying the underwater Explorer , scientists hope to well empathise how plankton , major contributors of the Earth ’s oxygen , thrive and locomote through the sea .
7. SUCTION-CUP “TAGS” FOR STUDYING JELLIES
This engineering science is so newfangled , it has n’t hit the water supply yet . Once it ’s sea - ready , researcher be after to attach the miniature suction cup to the bells of jellies . The twist mechanically measures a jelly ’s movements and ocean chemistry as the animal float around . Eventually the jelly regenerates the top layer of its Alexander Bell , shedding the tag end and moving on unharmed . Once detached , the tag float to the pee ’s surface where it alerts scientist to its location via a VHF aerial and light-green reflective tape .
