During a recent moonlit harbor excursion, conversation quickly turned to tales of piracy and exploration.
A guide shared stories from the days when tall masts and billowing sails loomed over coastal skylines — and intriguing characters such as Blackbeard and Barbarossa sailed the seas.
We couldn’t help but wonder about the secrets that went down with shipwrecks and lost artifacts scattered across the ocean floor. But these sites are hidden deep beneath the waves where humans typically can’t reach.
However, one explorer is venturing to places no human has gone before.
Ocean secrets
At first glance, OceanOneK looks a bit like a diver descending through the waters off the coast of France.
Stanford University researchers designed the robot to go underwater to explore sunken planes, ships, submarines and perhaps even lost cities. And this year, the humanoid robot reached a new milestone when it dove half a mile (852 meters) beneath the ocean’s surface.
But another feature makes the robot even more special — a touch-based feedback system. This interactivity allows its operators to feel everything they might experience if they were diving themselves — the water’s resistance and touching objects such as vases and oil lamps from an ancient Roman ship.
Curiosities
A volunteer team found more than 20 pieces of wood in a cave off the coast of Oregon in June. The timbers belonged to the 1693 shipwreck of the Santo Cristo de Burgos.
The Spanish galleon wasn’t loaded with treasure, but local lore and the ship’s mysterious fate have become storied over time — possibly enough to inspire Steven Spielberg as he created his 1985 film about teens in Astoria searching for pirate’s treasure on the Oregon coast.
The discovery has reignited interest in searching for more parts of the wreck. After all, “Goonies never say die!”
Fantastic creatures
Penguins may reign supreme in Antarctica, but they also live across the wilds of Patagonia in South America. In these remote places, scientists and conservationists dedicate their lives to protecting the flightless marine birds.
Gentoo, Magellanic and king penguins act as beacons for how ecosystems are responding to the climate crisis.
“It’s the perfect animal to get to know the ocean better,” marine biologist Andrea Raya Rey said.
Across the universe
Astronomers have found a “black widow” in space, and this dead star has grown to record-breaking size by feasting on another celestial object.
The neutron star, or the dense, collapsed remains of a colossal star, weighs more than twice the mass of our sun — making it the heaviest one ever observed. When these objects become too hefty, they usually collapse and form a black hole, so this one could be the limit for neutron stars.
Dino-mite!
Meet a rare Gorgosaurus, a relative of T. rex — but with more speed and a stronger bite. The 77 million-year-old fossil was sold for just over $6 million this week during a Sotheby’s auction.
This specimen is just one of a few dinosaur skeletons that have made their way to the bidding block — a trend that troubles scientists. When fossils are auctioned, it’s possible they will end up in private collections, which means paleontologists can’t study them.
Explorations
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