jellyfish

Navy robot jellyfish is as big as a person

"We're gonna need a bigger jellyfish." I imagine that's what the Navy and researchers at Virginia Tech were thinking when they started development on Cyro, a robot jellyfish that is 5 foot 7 inches across and weighs a hefty 170 pounds.

The Navy has been into robot jellyfish before, but none have been on this scale for sheer size. This big boy is a much larger version of an earlier robot called the Robojelly, which was only about as large as a hand.… Read more

Behind the scenes at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

MONTEREY, Calif.--It's 1:30 in the afternoon and three of the most famous residents of this coastal town are getting ready for lunch. A very large crowd has gathered to watch.

These, of course, are Joy, Mae, and Abby, the Monterey Bay Aquarium's three resident sea otters, and it's standing-room only up against the glass separating visitors from the animals as several staff members appear with small buckets full of shrimp, clams, and squid.

I've come to the aquarium as part of Road Trip 2012, and I've been treated to a very special viewing … Read more

Best of Buzz Out Loud 6: IBM Turns 100, Laser Jellyfish and Facebook Guns for Apple. (Podcast)

100 Years of IBM milestones, scientists combine a human cell and a jellyfish into a living laser and Facebook is armed wih HTML5 and going after Apple.

Report: Billions of jellyfish wipe out salmon farm

A 10-square-mile pack of jellyfish wiped out a 100,000-fish salmon farm in Northern Ireland, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

The billions of jellyfish, piled densely in a 35-foot-deep layer, did in the fish through stings and stress, according to John Russell, managing director of Northern Salmon.

The Pelagia nocticula species, or "mauve stinger," ordinarily is found in warmer waters such as the Mediterranean Sea. Scientists pointed to the presence of the jellyfish, rarely seen that far north, as evidence of global warming.

All of the fish, worth $2 million, are dead or dying and, absent government aid, … Read more

Just a fiber-optic jellyfish in the ocean of your pool

There are certain gadgets that make me wish I had a swimming pool. Namely, pirate ships, remote-controlled water cannons, and Robo-Shark. Then there's this one, the floating jellyfish pool light.

They're pretty much completely awesome; the top lights up and changes color, and the tentacles are made of glowing fiber optics. They'd be the perfect decoration for all your pool parties! Unfortunately, they aren't remote-controlled, nor do they squirt water at people. That's why I classify them as "pretty much completely awesome" rather than "completely awesome."

The price, at $59 a … Read more