undersea

Google is bringing the undersea world to the Internet's landlubbers.

The Web giant today launched an expansion of its Map tool to take users on an adventure that includes colorful reef fish, coral forests, and rare turtles. The goal of the program is to allow people around the world to explore the ocean while also conducting the first detailed study of the composition and health of coral reefs.

"With these vibrant and stunning photos you don't have to be a scuba diver -- or even know how to swim -- to explore and experience six of the … Read more

A new breed of undersea robot promises to give oceanographers a deeper understanding of ocean life by going faster, farther, and longer than its predecessors--and by doing a little thinking all on its own.

Scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute say their newest autonomous underwater vehicle, called Tethys, introduces a new class of AUV that will take their oceanic research to a whole new level.

The two types of AUVs that researchers have relied on in the past both had their drawbacks. Propeller-driven vehicles could travel at a relatively quick pace and carry big payloads but could only be out at sea for a few days. Another type, called gliders, could endure weeks-long expeditions but were seriously lacking in the speed category. Traditional gliders top out at about 0.5 mph, according to the team's statement. … Read more

Researchers say they've taken underwater robotics to the next level, successfully running an autonomous robotic vehicle off the Hawaiian Islands for more than three months, powered only by energy harnessed from changes in sea temperatures.

The Sounding Oceanographic Lagrangrian Observer Thermal RECharging vehicle (or Solo-Trec, for short) is the product of a years-long joint research project by NASA, the U.S. Navy, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and the University of California at San Diego. The group said Monday that Solo-Trec is the first such vehicle to be powered entirely by the ocean's thermal energy.

Solo-Trec works by … Read more

Parts of Asia, the Middle East, and Europe experienced Internet and telephone outages Friday when three undersea cables between Italy and Egypt in the Mediterranean Sea were damaged.

The affected cable systems, which run from Alexandria in northern Egypt to Sicily in southern Italy, carry more than 75 percent of traffic between the Middle East, Europe, and the United States.

It's still unclear how the cables were damaged or when they will be fixed. Reliance Globalcom, a communications provider in India, told Bloomberg News that there was no time frame for getting the network fixed. France Telecom said it … Read more

In addition to a legacy of adventure and entrepreneurship, Steve Fossett leaves behind a top secret project he'd been working on. He had bought a highly advanced underwater submersible he hoped would take him to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, lower than any point on Earth humans have gone. Reporter Daniel Terdiman joins today's podcast to talk about the project and where it goes from here.

Apple is strongly denying a rumor posted on CNN's iReport page that Steve Jobs suffered a heart attack this morning. iReport is a citizen journalism section of CNN, where people … Read more

A crucial undersea fiber-optic cable that will provide more Internet capacity between the U.S. and China was completed Monday, according to news reports.

Six of the world's largest phone companies have finished building an 18,000-kilometer "Trans-Pacific Express" cable that will link the U.S., China, South Korea, and Taiwan, according to the Dow Jones news service.

The high-speed link will provide more capacity for the region, which is currently served by a single low-capacity cable that provides connectivity between mainland China and the U.S. Most Web traffic between the U.S. and China goes … Read more

Google is once again joining forces with foreign phone companies to help lay new undersea fiber-optic cables to bring faster Internet speeds to the far corners of the world.

On Tuesday, the Web site TeleGeography reported that Google has joined a consortium to build an intra-Asia undersea cable called the Southeast Asia Japan Cable to connect Japan, Guam, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Thailand.

Earlier this year, Google joined a group to build an undersea cable linking Japan to the United States. The consortium building the new intra-Asia cable has many of the same members as the consortium developed … Read more

A new undersea fiber-optic cable being laid between Cuba and Venezuela will help provide high-speed Internet access to Cuban citizens by 2010.

Earlier this week, Wikileaks published documents that were signed in 2006 by officials in Cuba and Venezuela describing plans for the new undersea cable that will connect the two countries.

The United States economic embargo against the island nation has forced the communist country to rely on slow and expensive satellite links for Internet connectivity, according to the Wikileaks article. Even though it would cost less and be more efficient to lay a new cable between Cuba and … Read more

The largest phone company in the U.S. AT&T and Japan's NTT said Tuesday that they joined an international consortium to build a new undersea network underneath the Pacific Ocean.

As more businesses expand internationally, phone companies such as AT&T are trying to diversify their networks to keep up with growing demand. AT&T said it was joining the effort to build the new Trans-Pacific Express network to help stabilize the Internet and its voice services.

AT&T and NTT are the latest members of a consortium formed 15 months ago by Verizon … Read more