underwater

Underwater wheelchair flies through the liquid blue

Wheelchair-using British artist Sue Austin can fly... underwater. In a series of live and film events called "Creating the Spectacle," Austin uses a modified wheelchair to move gracefully about in the blue.

Austin is challenging the perception of wheelchairs with her creation. According to BBC News, the wheelchair is fitted with two dive propulsion vehicles to propel it through the water.… Read more

Robotic jellyfish for U.S. Navy powers itself with seawater

Imagine a military surveillance robot that looks and moves like a jellyfish and can ply the seas indefinitely by powering itself with ocean water.

A team of researchers at Virginia Tech, the University of Texas at Dallas, and several other schools are working to develop just such a device.

In a paper published yesterday in the journal Smart Materials and Structures, team members outlined their recent progress on the "Robojelly" project, which is being funded by the U.S. Navy's Office of Naval Research.

Made of a combination of silicone and various high-tech materials, the Robojelly uses … Read more

FourPro iPhone housing for Jacques Cousteau wannabes

"The sea is everything. It covers seven-tenths of the terrestrial globe. Its breath is pure and healthy. It is an immense desert, where man is never lonely, for he feels life stirring on all sides." - Jules Verne, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"

The ocean is indeed teeming with life, and I, for one, never tire of watching documentaries and nature specials about it. Now, a Los Angeles-based company is giving you the chance to capture video of life under sea with your iPhone.

The FourPro is an underwater housing rig designed for the iPhone 4 and 4S by Mocean Armor. Built from marine-grade aluminum and stainless steel components, the FourPro seals in your smartphone and allows you to shoot video underwater at a depth of up to 100 feet. … Read more

The 404 898: Where we wish the economy had longer legs (podcast)

The number of the day is 0, brought to you by the United States economy and Jill Schlesinger, editor-at-large for CBS MoneyWatch.com and host of an Emmy-nominated podcast! Jill sits with us today and reveals her plan of attack on Suze Orman at the award ceremony.

She'll also give an update on the state of the economy, the financial implications for Yahoo ex-CEO Carol Bartz, and why the rich and poor have never been further apart.

Check out the video today to see our new Bathroom Break video segment, and afterward Jill will predict the content of President Obama's jobs speech tomorrow. Finally, we'll run through a quick listener-submitted Q&A about how to keep yourself above water on your mortgage, the exact definition of a "robosigner," and why it's never a good idea to draft your prenuptial agreement.

The 404 Digest for Episode 898

Dial Global's Jill Schlesinger nominated for Emmy! Yahoo fires Bartz as CEO, names CFO to fill void. Bank of America sued by U.S. Bancorp over mortgages. August jobs: Obama blew it. Check out Jill's podcast on CBS MoneyWatch.com. Add Jill on Twitter. Today's Bathroom Break: Never Ending Story.

Episode 898 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Floating camera captures sea and sky in one shot

Have you ever seen photos in which the bottom half of the frame shows the sea while the top portion displays the sky? Well, if you have an underwater camera, you could do that fairly easily by submerging the shooter midway underwater and shooting. Or, you could wait for Han In Kyung's Underabove, a concept dual-lens snapper that does the same thing.

Han's idea is to float the device. The submerged end would have a camera that snaps photos under the sea, while the top half of the shooter would capture the scene above water. It's not stated, but we're guessing the rig will combine the two shots into one. … Read more

Crave 03: Moonbots, Velcro, and hoverboards (podcast)

This week, Donald's back in the studio, joined by Eric Franklin and Dong Ngo from Inside CNET Labs. We ponder Japan's plans to turn the moon into a playground for robots, and tackle OLED displays that roll and vanish. Dong drops some knowledge on recent hard drive innovations and a waterproof case for his Flip Ultra HD. The iPad meets Velcro. And the hoverboard makes a comeback (kinda).

Subscribe in iTunes SD Video |  Subscribe in RSS SD Video… Read more

Record summer fun with Flip underwater case

Summer is here and it's time for having some water fun. The question is how to capture that without damaging your camera? If you have a Flip camera, more specifically the Flip Ultra or the Flip UltraHD, here's something you definitely want to check out: the underwater case.

It's a simple clear case with an orange rubber rim at the opening and at the camera's controls that seal tight to keep water out from down to 30 feet depth.

It's a great tool when you want to record underwater activities at the swimming pool, while … Read more

Robotic undersea vehicle draws power from ocean

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

Under the sea

Screen savers these days tend to give users a lot of options: adjust the speed of one element, change the quantity or color of something else, add your own music, and so on. Coral Reef screen saver downplays customization in favor of really, really good graphics, and we can't say it's a bad trade-off.

The screen saver doesn't do a whole lot. As the name would suggest, it's an underwater scene, with fish leisurely swimming past a shipwreck. Sunlight streams through the water, creating a ripple effect on the sea creatures in the foreground. Users can … Read more