Nemo’s Garden Project by OCEAN REEF

Portulaca_sativa_01 © Wikimedia Commons, User: BurschikGrowing plants in the undersea station will be very difficult. But the experiment below brought the following question to my mind: If the site of the station would be the Mediterranean, which is a subtropical environment, then the main season would be the summertime. During that period many crops would not grow due to sunlight intensity and heat. The project in the video might be an alternative to use the seawater as a light filter and cooling medium. Would it be worth to investigate?

Diving between continents

© by Dive.isSilfra on Iceland is the only place where you can dive or snorkel directly in the crack between the two continental plates of North America and Europe. Visit dive.is for more.

Undersea Station: Ballast

Keeping an air filled structure on the sea-floor is more difficult than one would think. Especially during the lowering process major difficulties occurred on previous stations. We can calculate about one kilo of weight (negative buoyancy) per liter of air inside the station (positive buoyancy). The dimensions are huge: imagine a space of 50 m² with a height of 2m, which equals 100 tons of counterweight. At the same time it has to be considered, that these weights have to be lifted again in the end of the mission. For ecological reasons we should find a way to leave the weights on the site and to use a material that would not harm the environment.

Our extensive analysis and proposals are part of the design manual.

Wave Energy

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAustralian based Carnegie Wave Energy and their Ceto Wave Energy System uses buoys and pumps to convert ocean waves into renewable energy and fresh drinking water. Watch it on Huffington Post

Sounds from the deep

NOAA logoSeven miles deep, the ocean is still a noisy place. NOAA and partners bring back first recordings from deepest part of the world’s ocean. For what may be the first time, NOAA and partner scientists eavesdropped on the deepest part of the world’s ocean and instead of finding a sea of silence, discovered a cacophony of sounds both natural and caused by humans. More on NOAA.gov

China’s Atlantis

© CalamarPark.comHow the Lion City was purposely-flooded to make way for a power station but remains completely intact 40m underwater after 50 years. Read more on dailymail.co.uk with many fascinating images and videos.

Submarine Interior

Image Source: Von Bellona Foundation? - Bellona Foundation, Copyrighted free use, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5338641If you always wondered how the biggest ever built submarine, the russian Typhoon class  interior looks like you should have a look at livejournal.com. It has designed for a crew of 160 marines and has a length of more than 170m. The images were taken 2009 and show the whole interior including sauna, pool and gym.

Storing energy at sea

© CalamarPark.comThe development and research project “StEnSEA” (Stored Energy in the Sea) is investigating the installation of large storage facilities on the sea floor, in combination with offshore wind farms. The physical principle on which the energy storage facility operates is similar to that of conventional pumped storage power plants, but based not on two reservoirs, but a hollow sphere. Read more on forschung-energiespeicher.info