PMEL in the News
The captainless research vessel
The regular patrons of the White Shark Café have had some company lately. In March, two autonomous robots, called Saildrones, departed from California en route to the “Café,” a mysterious stretch of water in the middle of the Pacific Ocean where the sharks are known to congregate. Jessica Cross and Meghan Cronin are quoted.
Climatologists bet on El Nino, warm months ahead
The odds now strongly favor an El Nino forming in the Pacific Ocean, federal climatologists said Thursday, tilting the long-range weather outlook toward a warm 2018-19 winter in the Northwest. Nick Bond is quoted.
Our tsunami warning system is faulty. Can these scientists fix it?
Emerging technologies promise faster, more reliable life-saving alerts. Diego Arcas is quoted.
Adaptable and driven by renewable energy, saildrones voyage into remote waters
In March 2009, engineer Richard Jenkins broke the world land speed record for a wind-powered vehicle by sailing a bright green sailboat on wheels across a dried lakebed in Nevada at 126 miles per hour. Now, after many engineering developments and an orange paint job, Jenkins’ design autonomously sails the sea gathering ecologic, oceanic, and atmospheric data in the employ of NOAA.
This Armada of Saildrones Could Conquer the Ocean
Engineer and adventurer Richard Jenkins has made oceangoing robots that could revolutionize fishing, drilling, and environmental science. His aim: a thousand of them. Chris Meinig is quoted.