First Published in DIVER Volume 38 Issue 5 By Phil Nuytten The problem: A swillion, or so, years ago, we humans were designed (or evolved, or left here by aliens – please substitute your desired flavour) to function best under a fairly rigid set of specifications. These specs include …

In a mission through time Nuytco’s robotic Exosuit is set to dive on an ancient shipwreck in the Greek isles for an uncommon artifact called the ‘Antikythera mechanism’. Used for predicting astronomical events, the advanced mechanical calculator was developed in antiquity and is often characterized as the world’s oldest …

Documentary airing May 28th 9pm ET/PT on PBS Our new issue’s cover story on the mapping of D-Day wrecks along the Normandy shore is focus of a new PBS documentary airing May 28, with a DVD release set for June 10. D-Day’s Sunken Secrets recalls that historic WWII invasion, and reveals the unseen battlefield …

In dark depths rarely visited by scuba divers, subs explore hectares of sponge many storeys high that form British Columbia’s ancient Sea of Glass By Sabine Jessen and Alexandra Barron The Aquarius submersible plummets through the depths, the light fades and darkness surrounds the small white vessel. Through the …

  Scientists gave the rebuilt Alvin submarine two thumbs up after field-testing the nation’s only human-occupied deep-sea research vehicle for the first time after a major $42-million overhaul that dramatically upgraded the sub’s capabilities. “We’ve tested the core functions of the new Alvin, and we believe we have a great new tool for the scientific community,” said …

With James Cameron’s record breaking solo dive to the Mariana Trench now faded into media obscurity, it is now up to the Chinese to further push interest in ocean exploration and technology. China’s Jiaolong, has arrived at the Mariana Trench for a series of six dives. The Xiang Yang …

When robots take over the world where will you be? Until now the water has always been a safe bet. Few robots venture forth into the seas, after all you never saw the Terminator in Speedos. Researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology have developed ‘Swumanoid’, a robot that …

The latest deployment of NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) has begun with the international crew of aquanauts entering the habitat, Aquarius, yesterday for a twelve day mission. Aquarius, the world’s only undersea laboratory, is located in about 63 feet (20 metres) of water, three and a half miles …

DIVER magazine scours the internet so you don’t have to. Simply browse our selection of todays top stories and click for further reading… Beneath The Waves Film Festival 2012 is now open for submissions. If you have a marine/ocean orientated film (not necessarily underwater), under ten minutes long then …

The Bathyscaph Trieste Story DIVER contributor Don Walsh is the deepest man alive, co-piloting the bathyscaph Trieste to the deepest point in the world ocean – the Challenger Deep in the western Pacific’s Mariana Trench on January 23, 1960. No human has returned to this abyssal region since then …

Text by Phil Nuytten Who hasn’t stuck their hand out the window of a fast-moving car, angled their flat palm and formed fingers up and down, and marveled at the unexpected force of the air-stream? This simple deflection plane is the basic principle behind the control surfaces or ‘airfoils’ …