NEWS : TECH (NFPC)

Solar Cells Charge Robots Underwater

The ocean is a vast and mysterious place full of untapped energy potential. Huge machines have been built already to harness the power of waves and tides and groups are investigating the possibility of floating wind turbines. The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory is exploring another source: underwater sunlight. 

Researchers there have built photovoltaic solar cells that are able to collect sunlight down to 30 feet below the surface and convert it to electricity. The energy could be used to power sensors or autonomous research devices designed to monitor ocean environments.

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In the past, such devices have had to rely on long power cords or onboard batteries that die too fast or corrode in the salt water environment. Other sources of power include above-water solar cells built on platforms, which are cumbersome and costly.

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For this technology to work, the researchers, lead by Phil Jenkins, had to first analyze the kind of photons that were penetrating the water. 

"We first studied the spectrum of filtered sunlight underwater and then designed a cell to best match the environment," Jenkins told Discovery News. Not surprisingly, a higher percentage of blue and green wavelengths of light made it below the water's surface.

Next, they had to figure out the best kind of solar cell for the job. Previous methods of collecting sunlight penetrating underwater relied on conventional crystalline silicon or amorphous silicon solar cells, which are designed to collect the full spectrum of lightwaves from the sun. Gallium indium phosphide solar cells (GaInP), are better suited for the blue and green spectrum and work in low light conditions.

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To test the solar panels, Jenkins and his colleagues encased a gallium solar cell and a silicon solar cell in a glass sphere along with pressure sensors and a spectrometer, and then lowered it 30 feet into the ocean. The sensors measured the solar intensity and spectrum. The deeper into the water the GaInP cells went, the less interference they got from other wavelengths of light, making the collection of energy easier and more efficient.

So far, seven watts per square meter were collected from the cells at a depth of no more than 9.1 meters. This is enough energy to power a small AUV used by the laboratory for researching underwater ecosystems.

Because the solar cells work better in dark underwater conditions, solar-powered research vessels may be able to stay under longer. This isn't something that would directly affect consumers, but for scientists it's a big deal. Continuous solar power means more research time and less energy usage. And that means more time to research the ocean floor, the environment and to find even more of those creepy new species and organisms we keep hearing so much about.

via NRL

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Paranoid Android: Simulating Schizophrenia on a Computer

"A mental breakdown in the relation between thought, emotion and behavior, leading to faulty perception, inappropriate actions and feelings, withdrawal from reality and personal relationships into fantasy and delusion, and a sense of mental fragmentation."

Sound like what your brain feels like after an Angry Birds marathon or an 8-hour binge of searching for the end of the Internet? Maybe. But this is actually the definition of schizophrenia.

Ubiquitous computing might send schizophrenic ripples through your frontal lobes whenever you log on, but researchers at the University of Texas at Austin are taking that a step further by actually using computers to simulate the mental disorder.

One theory about the cause of schizophrenia suggests that an afflicted brain remembers too many irrelevant things, due to an excessive release of dopamine. Overwhelmed by vast caches of facts, thoughts and memories all junk-piled in their heads, schizophrenics start processing them into delusional conclusions not based in reality.

Uli Grasemann, a graduate student in the University of Texas' Department of Computer Science, used a synthetic neural network to simulate these delusions, often called hyperlearning hypothesis.

Designed by his adviser, professor Risto Miikkulainen, Graseman used the network, dubbed DISCERN,to mimic the effects that different neurological dysfunction have on human language function.

Graseman and Miikkulainen began by programming DISCERN to remember a series of stories using a process similar to human memory.

"With neural networks, you basically train them by showing them examples, over and over and over again," Grasemann said in a university press release. "Every time you show it an example, you say, if this is the input, then this should be your output, and if this is the input, then that should be your output. You do it again and again thousands of times, and every time it adjusts a little bit more towards doing what you want. In the end, if you do it enough, the network has learned."

Next, they modified DISCERN to stop filtering out extraneous and irrelevant information. In other words, they programmed it to forget less, resulting in "fantastical, delusional stories" that spliced together unrelated stories. In one instance, DISCERN confessed to being the culprit of terrorist bombing.

Ralph Hoffman, professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine analyzed the behavior of the network and found it similar to schizophrenic behavior in humans.

Grasemann thinks the experiment shows great potential for using computers in neurological research.

"Information processing in neural networks tends to be like information processing in the human brain in many ways," he said. "So the hope was that it would also break down in similar ways. And it did."

Photo: Lisa Valder

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For 'Avatar' Sequel, Cameron Dives to Deepest Point in Ocean

James Cameron wants to be the first man in 50 years to venture to the deepest point on the ocean floor. The "Avatar" director is finding locations for the movie's sequel, which is to be set in the oceans of the movie's fictional planet, Pandora.

More than 500 people have ventured into space, twelve of whom have walked on the moon's surface, but only two people have dived to the deepest point in the Earth's oceans. On January 23, 1960, explorers Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh dove via their sub, the Trieste, into the Pacific Ocean's Marianas Trench, a 1,600-mile-long, arc-shaped, undersea chasm east of the Philippines. With more than a mile to go, the outer layer of a porthole cracked under the pressure of six miles of sea water. As they told the UK's Daily Mail, "It was a pretty hairy experience." Nonetheless, they reached 35,810 feet below sea level. To date, no one has broken the record.

But it looks like James Cameron is on his way.

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He has already commissioned a submarine made from high-tech composite materials and powered by electric motors. This personal submarine will dive deeper than any commercial subs out there currently being designed to dive up to a half mile down. Cameron's sub needs to be able to survive the enormously powerful water pressure present miles below the ocean's surface. And if it does everything Cameron hopes, it could win the Ocean X Prize for "oceanographic research, exploration, conservation and healing."

Cameron will dive to the same place Piccard and Walsh did, known as Challenger Deep, located at the southern end of the Mariana Trench. At seven miles down, it's deeper than Mt. Everest is tall.

It's unclear exactly how Cameron's submarine will work, but this is how the submarine used in 1960 worked. Their submarine, the Trieste, wasn't hooked up to any ship floating on the surface water, as most deep-diving crafts are.

The ship was made of two parts: a huge cigar-shaped balloon filled with 22,500 gallons of the lighter-than-water liquid petrol to provide buoyancy. Underneath this balloon was the tiny steel sphere holding the pilots. It worked like a hot air balloon underwater, since the petrol in the balloon could not be compressed, so it could keep its shape even in great pressure.

For the submarine to descend to the bottom, it was weighed down with nine tons of iron pellets. When they reached the sea floor and wanted to rise again, they simply let of the iron pellets.

The first explorers remarked at how odd it was to see living creatures at seven miles deep. Had they left their metal vessel, the water pressure would have collapsed their lungs, killing them immediately. And yet, exotic sea creatures floating by all around them.

Maybe those same creatures will be able to inspire Cameron for the "Avatar" sequel.

Credit: Black smoker at Logatchev; Bremen University 2004

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Explorers to Create 3D Map of Titanic

On August 18, a team of scientists will embark on a 20-day expedition to assess the condition of the Titanic, which lays 2 1/2 miles below the Atlantic Ocean, and create a three-dimensional map of the shipwreck for public viewing.

The expedition will be lead by RMS Titanic, which has exclusive salvage rights to the wreck, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.

David Gallo, an expedition leader and Woods Hole scientist, told The Associated Press:

"For the first time, we're really going to treat it as an archaeological site with two things in mind. One is to preserve the legacy of the ship by enhancing the story of the Titanic itself. The second part is to really understand what the state of the ship is."

The explorers will use three submersibles, and cutting-edge imaging, filming and sonar technology to conduct an inventory of artifacts as well as examine the two main sections of the ship, which over the years have been damaged by currents, salt water and deep-ocean pressure. The equipment will allows experts to "chart the boundaries of the wreck site, map the physical position of the Ship and its artifacts on the ocean floor and create a blueprint that will inform the wreck site’s ongoing maintenance," according to a press release from RMS Titanic.

Part of the analysis of erosion will also include comparing images taken 25 years ago with new images taken on this mission.

And according to RMS Titanic, the three-dimensional modeling, will mark many firsts, among them:

• The first time the wreck site will be transformed into an archaeological site.
• The first microorganisms will be collected from the site, which could inform theories about biodeterioration.
• The first time high definition and 3D video will be used to image the site.

People interested in the Titanic will be able to stay in close contact with the explorers through live video feeds, photos, a Twitter feed (@RMS_Titanic_Inc) and a Facebook page (www.facebook.com/rmstitanicinc)that will be updated by crew members.

A team last visited the Titanic wreck in 2004, and hopes to return again after this year's trip to conduct regular assessments of the shipwreck.

Caption: And undated photo of the bow of the Titanic. Credit: AP Photo/Ralph White

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