Editor’s Note: Tech for Good is a series that highlights young innovators designing technology to make our world a better place. Now, we want to hear from you. Vote to tell us which of the three marine technologies below you think will have the biggest impact on our oceans.
As summer kicks into high gear, at least some CNN readers are likely to spend their vacations at the beach. From atop a boogie board, they may wonder: was that a piece of seaweed that just touched my foot? And: what exactly is lurking below?
The answer? We don’t really know. By some estimates, almost 2 million undiscovered species could exist in Earth’s oceans. Only about 26% of the seafloor has been mapped. No one has ever witnessed a newborn great white shark. (Except once, maybe, but scientists aren’t 100% sure).
But technology is helping to give us some answers about what’s happening beneath the waves. In 2019, a blue whale’s heartbeat was recorded for the first time, and it dropped to as little as two beats per minute when the massive mammal dove for food. In 2022, scientists found thawing permafrost under the seabed is creating sinkholes – one larger than a city block of six-story buildings – on the Arctic seafloor. Last year, a rover exploring a trench near Japan filmed an unknown snailfish species five miles below the surface – the deepest fish ever caught on camera.
More exciting discoveries are sure to come. Students around the world are racing to develop innovative technology that will help us learn more.
We’ll highlight some of this technology in a special episode of Tech for Good, taped in front of a live studio audience, that will air on November 30, 2024. Your input will help us decide what projects to feature.
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Additional image credit: Getty Images
