There’s already been quite a bit of ink spilled over the demise of the CrunchPad but I thought I’d add a few drops. My opinion is this: the CrunchPad was a testament to the power of online media and a fascinating study in the ability of new media to enact real changes on the real world. While the product faltered, it’s fascinating that the project went as far as it did given the forces arrayed against it.

Think about what happened: if we reduce this to its component parts you have some dudes in California who talked to some dudes in Singapore and who agreed to work together on a piece of hardware. I’ve seen the prototypes and the thing worked and worked well. Most hardware manufacturers can barely take each others meetings let alone coordinate a massive project while separated by a culture and an ocean.

I won’t speak on the problems with Fusion Garage but up until a few hours ago the entire TC/CG team expected to see the CrunchPad at some point in our lives. This is a massive change in this industry. A few years ago a blogger couldn’t get a press pass to CES let alone enough attention to build out a massive and mass-market hardware project.

Other organizations should learn from this or ignore it at their peril. It would behoove the New York Times, for example, to build something like the CrunchPad for consumption of the newspaper. They won’t do it because it is seemingly off-mission. This is what separates new media from old – the acceptance of risk. You can inject that instinct into old media but, as Devin wrote, “old” media can’t make the same mistakes we can.

Trust me: I’m not patting TC on the back here. I had very little to do with the design of this thing and I was as excited – and incredulous – as you were in regards to this product. It was great being part of the organization that began it and it’s sad to see it go.

Michael wanted to make a CrunchPad. It very nearly happened. This marks a sea change in what our media can accomplish as well as a testament to the good will it has engendered in its readership. In the end, a harsh accident intruded. This is an important distinction because from where I sit this clearly wasn’t a case of harsh reality striking down this project but something far stranger.

So goodnight, sweet CrunchPad. Some day your time will come.

Its little compartments and passageways are more suited to tetras and goldfish than whale sharks (alas), but it’s still an awfully cool little thing. Technically, the fish would have more places to go in a big cube of the same measurements, but that’s mostly open water, and I think we have all seen how much fish like to lick the sides of their enclosures.

Unfortunately, at $6500 it’s rather a luxury — not that you wouldn’t guess that, since it’s sold at a shop called “Opulent Items.” Add to that the cost of retaining a full time aquarium-scrubber, since the thing would be unbelievably hard to keep clean, and the cost really starts to skyrocket. I guess the question is whether your fish are worth it? I wish mine were.

[via 7gadgets, I New Idea, and Unpluggd]

You guys! Remember back on January 5th of this year when I put up a post about these scuba goggles that have a built-in high definition video camera for recording stuff under water? Well, they’re finally available. Ah, January 5th. Those were the days.

Just look at all these video clips of various sea creatures attacking other sea creatures! That could be YOU wearing the mask that captures such exhilarating high definition footage.

The clip of the octopus attacking the crab would have scared the bejesus out of me. You should never mess with an octopus and you should especially never mess with a squid. Trust me, I grew up in Minnesota. I know all there is to know about sea creatures.

Back to the actual goggles, the high definition version records in 720p and can dive to a maximum depth of 115 feet. Pricing starts at $300. There are less expensive, lower-resolution models available starting at $110 as well.

Scuba Video Masks [DiveCamCentral.com]

Here’s the full press release:

Liquid Image Scuba Series HD Camera Mask Now Available

SACRAMENTO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Liquid Image High Definition Scuba Series HD Camera/Video Mask model 320 has passed FCC and began shipping in the US and internationally this fall.

The Liquid Image SCUBA SERIES HD320 Camera/Video Mask allows recreational scuba divers to capture underwater photos and High Definition digital video hands free. The HD video is 720P (1280 x 720) and records at a rate up to 30 frames per second with audio. The camera mode features a 5 MP (2560 x 1920) still image. This model is certified during production to a pressure depth rating of 35 meters / 115 ft. Large lever style buttons allow for greater dexterity while wearing diving gloves.

Video Samples on YouTube

To take a photo or a video, the diver lines up the crosshair marks on the mask with the object, and then presses the capture button. LED lights inside the viewing area indicate the mode. Files may be downloaded to a computer through the High Speed RCA/USB cable provided, or through a Micro SD/SDHC card. A 2GB Micro SD Card is provided. The Micro SD/SDHC Card slot holds up to a 32 GB card.

The hands free aspect of this unique underwater camera is appealing to divers performing additional activities. Markets outside of recreational scuba diving include: spearfishing, search and recovery, evidence collection, military,ecological ocean monitoring, reef monitoring groups, reef rehabilitation efforts, TV Shows and films.

In the US, consumers may purchase the Scuba Series Camera Mask through Dive Cam Central, West Marine,Comp USA, Tiger Direct, Circuit City, Sharper Image and a variety of scuba stores plus online retailers.

The Scuba Series HD 320 model shipped a few months after the release of the VideoMask model 310. These new models meet more rigorous depth certifications along with higher quality video modes and larger storage capacities than the original Explorer Series Camera Mask model 301 & 302.

High Res Images on Flickr
Product Collection and Group Images on Flickr

Light accessories
Filter accessories

Liquid Image Co, LLC, is an international manufacturer of cameras, electronics, toys and games that target sports and outdoor activities. The corporate office is located in Sacramento, CA, with an international office located in Hong Kong.

Are you stoked about Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2? Dude, I am, but I don’t know if I’m willing to go out at midnight on November 10 to buy the damn game. If you are, click through for the full list of Best Buy locations that will be open to support your gaming addiction.

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[via Kotaku]

It has come to my attention that the music industry now wants royalties for those 30-second clips of music you hear in iTunes. That, I think you’ll agree, is bullshit. Seeing as how we’re a solution-oriented blog here at CrunchGear, I want to offer a completely fool-proof way to save the music industry and put an end to the years and years of nonsense we’ve seen since Napster was first released: let’s ban music. That’s right, let’s pass a law that says “the creation or performance of music, in any form, is hereby banned. Any violation of this law will be punishable by death.” Problem solved, let’s all play Hungry Hungry Hippos.

It’s clear that there’s at least two sides to this argument: one, people who think music should be free, and that includes bands that give their music away or sell it for mad cheap, and kids who have grown up with Kazaa and BitTorrent; and two, people who demand to be paid for their work, which includes organizations like the RIAA and musicians like Lily Allen.

I say screw all of them. You like being paid for music? Too bad, it’s banned. Go work at the post office. You think you’re being altruistic by releasing a few songs for free? Too bad, it’s banned. Since both you guys can’t agree on whether or not you think it’s a good idea to sue a single mother for more money than she’ll ever see in her life let’s shut the whole damn industry down.

All music radio stations will be scuttled, and we’ll mine the Sirius XM satellites for the useful metals they contain. Instrument stores will be transformed into Chuck E. Cheese’s or Discovery Zones. All music gadgets—iPod, Zune, you name it—will be placed on a boat and sunken halfway into the ocean.

Anyone caught humming a tune or whistling melodically will be thrown into the nearest state prison. (That’s right, state prison, not the country clubs known as federal prison.)

This is the punishment for 10 years of the RIAA, its dunderhead henchmen and mollycoddled musicians. It pains me to do this, but it really does seem like these stupid issues will never go away. So it’s gone. Music is gone. Now nobody has to worry about “piracy” or “marketing” or any of that garbage. We’ll be a society completely devoid of music. No more lawsuits, no more rootkits, no more nothing.

It’s a perfect world. There’s no piracy, there’s no sons-of-bitches illegally listening to unauthorized 30-second sound clips—think of the lost revenue!—and no reason to sue single mothers because their dumb kids downloaded three Britney Spears songs in 2001.

You will all receive letters in the mail detailing our plans to ban music forever. I look forward to your cooperation, and I look forward to huge consultancy check from the RIAA. I literally just solved all its problems; pay me.

There can be no doubt “green” energy is becoming more and more important in Japan. And just like the many other inventions in this area, I am sure this newest invention that’s potentially beneficial for the environment can one day make its way outside Japan, too: A floating wind turbine that’s currently in prototype mode and is 12.5m tall (5.5m are above the surface).

The turbine is being jointly developed by researchers from Sasebo Heavy Industries, Toda, and Kyoto University. The big idea it is to avoid the high costs involved in fixing wind turbines to the seabed. One area where the turbines could be put to good use according to the researchers is out in the ocean, simply because of the strong winds to be found there.

The current version of the turbine is being tested in Sasebo in Southern Japan, with the researchers hoping to achieve 2,000kW for the finished version. It will be ten times larger, too, and the technology is supposed to be commercially available by 2012 or 2013. (As no picture of the floating turbine is available yet, the picture shows a conventional model.)

Via Moneyzine [JP]

My mind, of course, immediately jumps to the fact that those “hot spots” could just as easily be warm, fleeing humans after the Robocalypse, but for the moment that’s not a danger. For the moment.

This one in particular is being used in Alaska, where a major wildfire has destroyed almost half a million acres since June. Check out the video below. I like how they fire the thing into the air like a toy glider.

I’m now ripping off Ron and Fez bits wholesale. In a gripping discussion today, the radio show debated the following question that’s 100 percent relevant to our interests here at CrunchGear: what invention has changed the most since its inception?

The question is not “which invention has changed mankind the most,” but what invention today looks or works totally different than Version One did.

The airplane. Version one was basically a glorified kite, yet today we’ve got double decker aircraft that can cross the oceans on a single tank of gas, albeit a big one.

The tank. The design is basically the same—a mobile, armored personnel thing—but compare that to today’s mad fast vehicle with laser sights.

The computer. Back in the day, computers filled entire rooms. Today, you’ve got people typing their fingers off on a netbook. (The computer is even smaller if you consider mobile phones to be computers.)

The pen. You had to kill a bird, then constantly refill the quill with ink. Today, you can go to the store and buy a perfectly acceptable six-inch piece of plastic from Bic that’ll last for weeks on end.

Your thoughts? (Be sure to check the gallery, too. It took a hot five minutes to put together.)

Once upon a time great wizards named Kamal Youcef-Toumi and Pablo Valdivia Y Alvarado created a magical mechanical fish. The King of MIT was pleased and so put forth a press release describing the fish as a “long-term sensing and exploration unit.”

The fish are completely self-contained and covered in delicious rubber. It moves just like a real fish by twirling its fins and moving its body to create waves.

The robofish bodies are continuous (i.e., not divided into different segments), flexible and made from soft polymers. This makes them more maneuverable and better able to mimic the swimming motion of real fish, which propel themselves by contracting muscles on either side of their bodies, generating a wave that travels from head to tail.

Sadly, I can’t imagine they’d taste good with tartar sauce.

New robots mimic fish’s swimming
–could be used in underwater exploration

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Borrowing from Mother Nature, a team of MIT researchers has built a school of swimming robo-fish that slip through the water just as gracefully as the real thing, if not quite as fast.

Mechanical engineers Kamal Youcef-Toumi and Pablo Valdivia Y Alvarado have designed the sleek robotic fish to more easily maneuver into areas where traditional underwater autonomous vehicles can’t go. Fleets of the new robots could be used to inspect submerged structures such as boats and oil and gas pipes; patrol ports, lakes and rivers; and help detect environmental pollutants.

“Given the (robotic) fish’s robustness, it would be ideal as a long-term sensing and exploration unit. Several of these could be deployed, and even if only a small percentage make it back there wouldn’t be a terrible capital loss due to their low cost,” says Valdivia Y Alvarado, a recent MIT PhD recipient in mechanical engineering.

Robotic fish are not new: In 1994, MIT ocean engineers demonstrated Robotuna, a four-foot-long robotic fish. But while Robotuna had 2,843 parts controlled by six motors, the new robotic fish, each less than a foot long, are powered by a single motor and are made of fewer than 10 individual components, including a flexible, compliant body that houses all components and protects them from the environment. The motor, placed in the fish’s midsection, initiates a wave that travels along the fish’s flexible body, propelling it forward.

The robofish bodies are continuous (i.e., not divided into different segments), flexible and made from soft polymers. This makes them more maneuverable and better able to mimic the swimming motion of real fish, which propel themselves by contracting muscles on either side of their bodies, generating a wave that travels from head to tail.

“Most swimming techniques can be copied by exploiting natural vibrations of soft structures,” says Valdivia Y Alvarado.

As part of his doctoral thesis, Valdivia Y Alvarado created a model to calculate the optimal material properties distributions along the robot’s body to create a fish with the desired speed and swimming motion. The model, which the researchers initially proposed in the journal Dynamic Systems Measurements and Control (ASME), also takes into account the robot’s mass and volume. A more detailed model is described in Valdivia Y Alvarado’s thesis and will soon be published along with new applications by the group.

Other researchers, including a team at the University of Essex, have developed new generations of robotic fish using traditional assembly of rigid components to replicate the motions of fish, but the MIT team is the only one using controlled vibrations of flexible bodies to mimic biological locomotion.

“With these polymers, you can specify stiffness in different sections, rather than building a robot with discrete sections,” says Youcef-Toumi. “This philosophy can be used for more than just fish” — for example, in robotic prosthetic limbs.

Mimicking fish

With motors in their bellies and power cords trailing as they swim, the robo-fish might not be mistaken for the real thing, but they do a pretty good fish impersonation.

The team’s first prototypes, about five inches long, mimic the carangiform swimming technique used by bass and trout. Most of the movement takes place in the tail end of the body. Fish that use this type of motion are generally fast swimmers, with moderate maneuverability.

Later versions of the robo-fish, about eight inches long, swim like tuna, which are adapted for even higher swimming speeds and long distances. In tuna, motion is concentrated in the tail and the peduncle region (where the tail attaches to the body), and the amplitude of body motions in this region is greater than in carangiform fish.

Real fish are exquisitely adapted to moving through their watery environment, and can swim as fast as 10 times their body length per second. So far, the MIT researchers have gotten their prototypes close to one body length per second — much slower than their natural counterparts but faster than earlier generations of robotic fish.

The new robo-fish are also more durable than older models — with their seamless bodies, there is no chance of water leaking into the robots and damaging them. Several four-year-old prototypes are still functioning after countless runs through the testing tank, which is filled with tap water.

Current prototypes require 2.5 to 5 watts of power, depending on the robot’s size. That electricity now comes from an external source, but in the future the researchers hope to power the robots with a small internal battery.

Later this fall, the researchers plan to expand their research to more complex locomotion and test some new prototype robotic salamanders and manta rays.

“The fish were a proof of concept application, but we are hoping to apply this idea to other forms of locomotion, so the methodology will be useful for mobile robotics research — land, air and underwater — as well,” said Valdivia Y Alvarado.

EnglishRussia has a fantastic photo set showing the inards of a Russian sub. I burned a good amount of time pursuing the set. The sub is a B-413 that once was part of the Soviet Northern Fleet, but is now hosting tourists at the Museum of World Ocean in Kalinigrad. Supposably, the interior is just as it was when the sub was commissioned in 1969. Amazing.

Do you think the versatile Zii will be able to take advantage of any of the cool Opera Unite tools that were revealed a while ago? I’m not a fan of cloud stuff on desktops and other stationary devices, but on a device that is naturally mobile, it’s a good fit.

When I interviewed modder extraordinaire Ben Heckendorn a couple of months ago, he mentioned that he’d been working on building a pinball machine from the ground up and that it’d be called “Bill Paxton Pinball” when all is said and done. While it’s not quite together yet, Heckendorn has made some serious progress on the actual cabinet itself, which now includes photos of Paxton in various movie and TV roles such as Twister, Big Love, and True Lies.

The TV and movie themes won’t just be found on the outside of the pinball machine, though, they’ll also be incorporated into the scoring and obstacles:

The idea with the pinball is to have the modes based off popular Bill Paxton movies, for instance, in “True Lies” mode, you’ll need to shoot combos and multipliers to I guess get into Jamie Lee Curtis’ pants.

Some current other mode ideas:

• Titanic: Probably a ramp shot, then the ball rolls down a miniature “sunken Titanic hallway” with a chance at 3 exits for x1, x2 or x1 multiplier. This fills a “Heart of the Ocean” light matrix near the flippers (hung around the neck of Britney Daniels from Club Dred) that gives a big bonus when full.
• Aliens: Hitting the 4 position drop target cues “Hudson, run a bypass”. There will be (2) 2 digit LED counters near the drop targets, representing the ammo in the Alien guns (starting at 99 each) At random intervals gunfire is heard (aliens being shot) and the counters drop. The goal is to clear all drop targets before they reach zero, if successful, you get points equal to the counters X 1000.
• Twister: Probably not much for this one as there already exists a Twister pinball. Mostly quotes, and one of the metal rails will probably be vaguely tornado-shaped.

If the ball goes down the drain the game will play a mode-specific negative comment, for instance, in “True Lies” mode, Paxton would probably say “I got a little dick, it’s pathetic!”

Look it’s Bill Paxton’s family from the weird HBO show “Big Love”! Instead of multiball this game has BIG LOVE MODE, in which you must juggle 3 balls at once – fitting, eh? Also notice above the moon (”Apollo 13″) there is a greasy pork sandwich being served in a dirty ashtray.

Outstanding stuff. This machine will rest forever in Heckendorn’s house because “since it clearly contains artwork and sound from movies, it could never legally be resold.” So if you want one, you’ll have to build your own.

Hold Flipper for Status Update [BenHeck.com]

Fortunately, they only need to change its temperature in a certain area, and only by a few degrees. This would create enough atmospheric something-or-other to affect the storm. A whole bunch of “sail-maneuvered barges” (why sails?) with pumps and 500-foot tubes would pump up cold water from the depths and push warmwater down. Of course, it’s going to be hard to staff a hundred ships that will be going straight into the path or eye of the hurricane. Not exactly the safest place to be, but on the plus side it’d make a great movie.

If you were to say to me “that’s madness,” I wouldn’t think less of you for it. But it seems that hurricanes apparently cost the US $10bn annually and Katrina cost us $81bn. A fraction of that would pay for this entire fleet.

My problem is this: the ocean is a very well-tuned ecosystem, and a temperature change of a few degrees might be negligible to us, but for microfauna or algae it may be fatal. Mess with the planet’s homeostasis at your own risk, my friends.

The latest fiend to come out of DARPA human-extinction research money is this Nano Air Vehicle, which flies like a hummingbird, at least for the few seconds it’s managing to stay up at this stage of research.

The idea, of course, is to create something like the hunter-seeker from Dune, floating silently in through the air vent and executing you while you sleep. Do not fear… fear is the mind-killer…

[via Wired Danger Room]

Major Nelson, whose military credentials I suspect, said on his thrilling podcast at the weekend the Microsoft is already hard at work creating the next version of the Xbox 360 dashboard. Don’t expect a silly name, like NXE, this time around, though.

What can you expect? Well, nothing has been made official just yet, but you can safely assume there will be Zune HD streaming, an on-demand downloadable game store that includes 360 games, and an Avatar Marketplace.

The day I spend money kitting out my Avatar is the day I buy a yacht, tie myself to the floor, then scuttle it in the middle of the Southern Ocean.

Flickr

Sharp has developed an LCD screen that can display a total of five primary colors, two more than usually used. In addition to red, green and blue, the prototype features cyan and yellow color filters. The result: A screen capable of reproducing 99% of the surface colors existing in the real world through what Sharp calls “Multi-Primary-Color Technology”.

According to Sharp, colors that are difficult to render for LCDs currently on the market aren’t a problem for their model, i.e. the emerald blue of ocean water. Enhanced color reproduction usually results in higher power consumption, but the company claims it leveled this off by using an extremely economical backlight.

We are likely to see the new LCD in some selected areas first, for example in museums, industrial design or remote medical treatment systems. It’s currently being showcased at the international symposium of the Society for Information Display (SID) in the form of a 60.5-incher with 1,920×1,080 resolution and 2,000:1 contrast ratio (the picture shows a conventional Sharp LCD).

Tell yer ma and tell yer pa if they need a little, handheld video camera for taking high quality shots of the cousins messing around in the yard, then the miniature Kodak Zx1 is for them.

A successor to the Zi6, the $150 Zx1 – the “x” stands for “xtra smaller than the Zi6″ and the 1 is for the number of units that come in a retail box – is a weatherproof – but not waterproof – little camera that takes 720p video and comes in five colors.

Small, portable video cameras, even HD ones, are a dime-a-dozen these days. However, Kodak has done some good work here. This model has an SD card slot that supports SDHC cards as well as a mini HDMI port and tiny, proprietary USB port. The camera, unlike its predecessor, records directly to SD but does not have a built-in USB port for direct attachment. Instead, you have to connect the SD card to a computer separately or carry a USB cable around with you.

Video quality is quite strong, on par with any HD video mini camera, and the screen is large and bright. You can take HD, SD, and VGA quality video as well as still images.

The Good
This thing is definitely a small, inexpensive camera. It shoots great video with little artifacting and it’s fun to carry and use. The battery lasts about 12 hours on a charge – more than enough for a week’s vacation – and because it uses AAs you can replace them at will.

The new model is smaller and seemingly more rugged than the older model. A metal front and rubber buttons add to that impression but I wouldn’t take this into the ocean with you.

The Bad
This isn’t a huge deal, but the camera doesn’t take 1080i or p video – which is fine. The included ArcSoft software also only works under Windows. OS X users will have to import the video into iMovie or a similar program.

Finally, while the camera supports up to 32GB of SD memory, you still have to pay for your SD cards. It comes wil almost nothing out of the box – 128 MB ain’t much.

Bottom Line
If you’re shopping for a minicam, go ahead and pick this one up. My experience with the Zi6 and Kodak in general has been very positive and this is a nice, rugged little camera for not much money.

What it looks like Nintendo is trying to do is create a whole Nintendo-centered ecosystem, kind of like what Microsoft has had mixed success doing with Live. But with far more market penetration in the entertainment sector and more standard equipment, the Wii-DSi team could be a very potent force. Japan is a way better test market for it, though, and of course it’s the seat of Nintendo’s power, so I can’t blame them for doing a stepped roll-out. Of course, they’ll have to make video quality and usability competitive before they try to infest our shores with it; from what I hear it’s pretty rough right now.

Chris German, Chief Scientist for Deep Submergence at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution here in Massachusetts, has been busy finding undersea volcanoes with the help of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs).

With more than half the planet’s water exceeding depths of two miles, mapping the sea floor is no easy task. What’s more, technology being developed and used at Woods Hole may eventually make its way to one of Jupiter’s moons, Europa, in order to collect data from the ocean that’s thought to be buried beneath two kilometers of ice.

Up until about 15 years ago, human occupied vehicles were used for deep sea exploration. Despite the inherent limitations of cramming one or two people into a tiny submarine like the one pictured above, it remains true that humans are still far better than robots at things like decision-making and situational awareness.

While the recent trend in undersea exploration has been a shift to ROVs, a new class of autonomous underwater vehicles, or AUVs, has begun to emerge and aims to bridge the gap between all-human and all-robotic exploration.

In order to map an area of the sea floor, scientists previously had to deploy an ROV attached to a long length of cable and drag it back and forth over a target zone at a rate of 1.5 miles an hour – roughly half the speed of walking. Needless to say, mapping a large area took a long, long time. Newly-developed AUV’s, though, are able to greatly expedite the process.

Take “ABE” – the Autonomous Benthic Explorer (photo, left) — an AUV that was in service at Woods Hole until last year. It was built like an underwater helicopter, with propellers in the back and on top to allow it to maneuver easily.

Much cheaper than towing an ROV manually, ABE was able dive down to five meters off the sea floor, photograph it, then work its way back and forth along a specified region from the bottom of the ocean to the surface. ABE completed 202 dives between 1995-2008.

ABE is being replaced by a robot called Sentry, which will enter service this year. Compared to ABE, Sentry has a longer working range and can travel faster. It also has angled thrusters, allowing it to move up and down and side to side like ABE, but also at various angles too.

Along with Sentry, Woods Hole is developing a vehicle called “Nereus” – a hybrid ROV/AUV named after the Greek God of shape-shifting. Nereus will be able to autonomously dive to depths of up to 11,000 meters and can also be remotely controlled via a single fiber-optic wire while powered by an eight-hour battery. Nereus will complete its first mission in June and will be featured on the Discovery Channel.

NASA’s Galileo Project aims to explore two of the four main moons of Jupiter in the next 20 years. Io is the most volcanically active moon in our solar system with eruptions reaching above two kilometers from the surface, and Europa is thought to contain a vast ocean underneath a two-kilometer-thick layer of ice.

NASA plans to build a vehicle to explore Europa’s ocean and has contacted Woods Hole in the hopes of basing the design off of Nereus. As mentioned, Nereus will complete its first mission in June, followed by a mission in the fall to Cayman Trough, the world’s deepest ocean trench (just south of Cuba), and then eventually to arctic regions in order to simulate conditions on Europa — like how to drill through two kilometers of ice.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution [whoi.edu]