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Undersea WiFi can be made faster, says researcher

physorg.com — As the United States and Canada take their first step toward establishing a cabled ocean observatory, a University of Missouri-Rolla researcher is trying to improve the speed of wireless underwater communication.

Who dugg this? Made popular Sep 5, 2007

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  • nymphetamine, on 10/10/2007, -2/+57"The same acoustic waves that dolphins and whales use to communicate when they are thousands of miles apart can be used by humans to transmit information wirelessly, says Dr. Rosa Zheng..."

    Won't that be bad for the dolphins and whales?
  • fernB, on 10/10/2007, -1/+30I can't wait to see what stories the dolphins start submitting to digg
  • AnteChronos, on 10/10/2007, -2/+25"Won't that be bad for the dolphins and whales?"

    Very likely, considering that sonar has been observed to indirectly cause the deaths of several whales and dolphins, as well as some other marine animals: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonar#Adverse_effects
  • JackyAppleJones, on 10/10/2007, -3/+25Good news for Rapture.
  • BigManOnCampus, on 10/10/2007, -1/+15Not necessarily. You have a range of acoustic frequencies at your disposal if all you're trying to do is set up communications links. Sonar is a loud widely-dispersed noise that is used to measure details in reflected phase. When you're trying to set up a com link, you could potentially make your sound wave cohesive and outside of any frequency range at which mammals are sensitive. This could minimize exposure and damage done. Undersea acoustic communication is not the same as sonar, not at all.
  • Bricks, on 10/10/2007, -1/+13Available Networks:
    AndrewRyan
    CIRCUSOFVALUES (Type X to Hack)
    linksys
    mrBUBS
    rosierouter
    TITSLOL
  • Dokument, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9i for one welcome our new dolphin digg users.
  • rnwen2750, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9SpongeBob? Is that you?!!
  • SantaClauz, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9This is going to be extremely helpful next time I want to submit a story to Digg while I'm in my submarine.
  • D3koy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8Wardiving would have been better....
  • HUKI365, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8Not bad at all. Whales need better bandwidth all the time for their "pod" casts.
  • Bricks, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6I sea what you did there
  • davidsmero, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7Anyone wanna go "warswimming"?
  • Protoss, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7The splicers can then buy all the Adam they want from eBay.
  • webcure, on 10/10/2007, -3/+8I wonder what the dolphins and whales will think of our breakthrough technology as it cuts through the oceans?
  • D3koy, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6After playing Bioshock, I can promise you...Staying underwater != good idea
  • Livewire, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6everyone quick, submit a witty joke about being underwater like everyone else!
  • Bricks, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Same old ***** really:
    http://digg.com/videos/comedy/Horny_dolphin_humping_girl_in_bikini_2/
  • inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Yes, but new evidence points towards a parasite and viral infection.

    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070426100117.htm
  • inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3I am waiting for undersky WiFi to be made faster.
  • Chingmiester, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3wtf?
  • Ansible, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3The first thing I thought of when I saw this was, "I'm going to make an ironic comment about why don't we just use the frequencies that will most interfere with whales and dolphins for underwater communication". Then, I read the story, dangit, my precious irony stolen!
  • Davekcon, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4University of Missouri-Rolla!
  • SpaceDreamer, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3is that a new way to flood us with spam ?
  • Slothy88, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3lol, there's nothing to do in Rolla though :( NOTHING.
  • Stratochief66, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3There is a good reason you can't do standard radio freq wifi underwater. EM waves are quickly attenuated in water, dying out within metres. It turns out the EM waves that survive the best underwater are short waves, low freq. Unfortunately the amount of information that can be sent by EM is proportional to the freqency, so this is no good.
  • KyjL, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Diver 1: OMGOMGOMGOMGLOOKITDIS
    Diver 2: OMGP RETTY LETS SNATCH IT
    Diver 3: ITS A SHRK OH SHI

    *pool of red*
  • WaterDragon, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2But do you really need internet access while scuba diving? Do you just find scuba diving boring without it?
  • Bricks, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Twitter: SeaLegs

    OMG A SHARK (about 50 minutes ago)
    the seaweed salad is so fresh at the sandbar. nom nom nom hahaha (about 30 minutes ago)
    brb, feeding my pet crab (about 10 minutes ago)
    he was SOOO hungry (about 3 minutes ago)
  • dogred, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Sorry Slothy...I've done my time at Rolla and had a blast. You just didn't drink with the right people.

    The school was hard, but that just meant you got to play hard.
  • WaterDragon, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Just because a sound is not heard, doesn't in any way mean that it can't do major damage to an organism.
    If you want to experiment with this, get a synthesizer/ electronic keyboard, connect it to a really powerful amplifier and speaker system,and tune one of its oscillators so that it is just above the range that you can actually hear.
    Now place your ear right up to the speaker, and turn the volume up as loud as it goes.

    I bet you won't hear a sound....EVER AGAIN!
  • WaterDragon, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Yeah there's gonna be surfboards with flat screens built into them, so you can watch Youtube while surfing.
    How boring our lives have become, if we keep needing more stimulations. It will never be enough, as we are all damaging ourselves and have created a kind of eternal insatiability .. that can only mean eternal frustration.
  • guinsu, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1As a scuba diver I am pleased by this. I mean eventually we will at least have some sort of texting underwater, plus 2 way comms with the boat.
  • inactive, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3This is sad, I hope this technology gets killed. Pick any other radio frequency, not the ones that they use to communicate.
  • xike, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Thank God...Can you imagine the world having to pick between cell phones and survival? Einstein supposedly claimed if we lost honeybees, mankind would die off in four years.
  • CircleFusion, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Well WiFi doesn't necessarily equate to internet usage. It opens up more easily-to-implement ways to communicate between other divers and the boat.

    OTOH, it could be useful to be able to do internet research while you are underwater by using a water proof touchscreen tablet with an onscreen keyboard. When newer technology comes out for searching things by image (Google and others are working on this) then you could possibly take a photo of a fish and search to find out what it is. It would open possibilities for the tourism industry.

    And what about keeping track of kids at beaches. They wear a underwater WiFi enabled wristband that notifies a lifeguard if someone is getting too far out. The wristband beeps loudly to notify the kid.
  • jonatei, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Errm... not to be a stickler, but how is that either WiFi (TM), which currently is a specific set of technology operating at 2.4GHz or 5GHz, or indeed even "wireless", which according to Wikipedia, is the part of the EM spectrum from 9KHz to 300GHz?
    Not to mention "The amazing thing about acoustic signals is that the lower the frequency, the farther away it can travel". I'm not feeling the amazement... That's physics 101.
  • sakuraz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1minimize.....hrm...

    Will that be enough?

    Aren't some of those mammals already endangered?
  • Rambus89, on 10/10/2007, -4/+5great idea guys, lets have a LAN party between my submarine and your submarine. It will be awesome I promise.
  • dogred, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Nah, Officer Phillips helped my group once. Someone was trying to steal a cooler full of beer once after a party was getting broken up...he ran after the perps and got our beer back!
  • NinjaBoy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I'm just happy my small ass home town made it to digg!
  • Abomonog, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Undersea WiFi? WTF? Why? Do scientists have to shop Ebay while 3 miles down in a tethered bathysphere now? Can we get more internet dependent people? Just use the ultra low radio frequency you have for years folks. Works just fine for data transfers and reaches farther.
  • Bricks, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1WPA2 String Not Recognized
  • NinjaBoy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I grew up in rolla. and other than drink/smoke/party there ain't ***** to do. Its sad when the highlight of your Friday night is going to denny's.

    and one more thing, ***** officer phillips!
  • theratdotus, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1DARPA wants to destroy enemy anything.
  • inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Don't be such a slow poke, Mr. Bubbles.
  • srodolff, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I'd like to be, under the sea, in an underwater garden, with you......
  • astrotrain, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Underwater WiFi... sounds like its time for a Staturday Night Fish Fry....
  • kraftyballs, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Or warsubbing?
  • leerayIG88, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0OMG! My eyes, they are being microwaved from the inside out!! @_@
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