Scientists hoping to preserve coral reefs have developed an autonomous submarine to help control populations of crown-of-thorns sea stars. The sea stars devour coral at alarming rates, and are surprisingly hardy. Missing limbs simply regrow after being removed, so scuba divers have had to resort to injecting the starfish with poison up to 10 times each.
The autonomous robot can stay underwater for up to six hours, and uses a new poison that requires only one injection. The robot identifies the sea stars using a sophisticated image processing algorithm. The new poison is allegedly harmless to other sea creatures.
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Scientists Develop Killer Robots That Inject Poison Into Coral Munching Starfish
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(Score: 5, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday September 09 2015, @03:47AM
Why are the crown-of-thorns sea star populations increasing? Is it "natural"? Nope:
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(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday September 09 2015, @03:53AM
Don't delude yourself into thinking those submarines are an actual solution to the problem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 4, Funny) by takyon on Wednesday September 09 2015, @03:59AM
Moore's law will increase the capability of those subs. Pretty soon they'll be killing 4096 sea stars per nanosecond.
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(Score: 3, Funny) by c0lo on Wednesday September 09 2015, @04:06AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 09 2015, @04:46AM
They already have. You can practically shred a crown of thorns and each piece will eventually grow into a full-size starfish. That's why they have to inject them, you can't really kill them otherwise.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday September 09 2015, @05:12PM
Crown-of-thorns-nado just doesn't have a great ring to it. Hollywood will need to wait for real scientists to get closer to adding that power to humans.
Or maybe read DBZ.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday September 09 2015, @04:57AM
Don't delude yourself into thinking those submarines are an actual solution to the problem.
In fact they seem to be completely non-germane.
The problem was that the old way required 10 injections per sea star, by divers.
The new way use a new poison that is effective with a single injection.
I'm betting the divers with an injection stick could do far more injections per hour than the robot, using the new poison.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 09 2015, @05:20AM
The robot doesn't need air.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday September 09 2015, @05:31AM
So what? It needs batteries.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Wednesday September 09 2015, @06:23AM
They should have made a robot that gets its energy from the killed starfish.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday September 09 2015, @05:16PM
Maybe of the bastards are highly flammable, which is why they evolved to live underwater.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday September 09 2015, @05:31AM
Which, you see, is a problem. A biiig problem...
the way you suggest, it is the divers who will get paid and stayed employed instead of the corporation that builds those subs.
Why do you hate progress?
(cynical grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 2) by Sir Finkus on Wednesday September 09 2015, @05:35AM
I'm betting the divers with an injection stick could do far more injections per hour than the robot, using the new poison.
Keep in mind that human divers can only spend a limited time underwater before they begin to have decompression related health risks. A lot of time and air can be burned ascending safely. A robot can dive and ascend as fast as it wants, and can stay underwater longer. It's also probably less expensive in the long run.
Join our Folding@Home team! [stanford.edu]
(Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday September 09 2015, @06:18AM
The long run ??
But I point out it took 10 years to develop the robot. Long run indeed.
How many robot subs can they afford? The cited articles are careful to never mention a price, or how many people it takes to maintain, launch and recover these robots. About the biggest advantage it has is that it can go deeper than a scuba diver, but its not clear if the sea stars inhabit deeper water.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 09 2015, @07:10AM
> The cited articles are careful to never mention a price, or how many people it takes to maintain, launch and recover these robots.
Conspiracies under every rock. It was created at a university. They probably don't have a pricetag because it was research work, not product development. And operational costs are certainly shoe-string budget level because the people who do this sort of work of protecting reefs aren't in it for the money. The only benefit they get out of it is that their jobs are pretty mellow, hanging out on the water most of the day.
(Score: 2) by morgauxo on Thursday September 10 2015, @08:53PM
Um... you don't think that the extra nutrients are also human caused? A lot of that is probably unatural fertilizer. Even the natural stuff, much of it should have been filtered through swamps which have been filled or drained before reaching the sea.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday September 11 2015, @01:25AM
Have you replied to the wrong comment?
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(Score: 4, Interesting) by c0lo on Wednesday September 09 2015, @03:50AM
Why do you think those starfish breed like crazy? Too much organic matter from farm run-offs (boosted by more intense flooding) and/or port dredging. Plus warmer waters
Typical "privatize benefits and socialize cost" - who do you think is going to pay for those robots? And for how long?
And what about addressing the actual cause of the problem? Even assuming you destroy the entire starfish species, do you really think that extra organic matter will stay unused? What's next, develop robots to inject poison into microscopic organisms?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 5, Informative) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday September 09 2015, @04:35AM
There are other nutrients plants need than nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. Fertilize with compost not synthetic fertilizer. The fibers in the compost will absorb more water.
To contribute to the solution, eat organic food. Brits call it "whole foods".
I eat organic to the extent I possibly can. It's not about boosting my immune system, cleansing my liver of impurities or fellating my lower chackras. Organic food is good for the farmer, good for the soil, good for the birds and good for coral.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 09 2015, @04:04AM
Why not let the starfish eat the coral, then we have reefs made out of starfish instead. Evolution in action, eggheads.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday September 09 2015, @04:11AM
Because those starfish are thorny. And they'll scare the shit out of sharks to such a degree they'll evolve land-dwelling creatures that will come and hunt us.
Oh, wait, never mind... we already adapted to that... just look at how many banksters, lawyers and politicians we support.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 2) by Username on Wednesday September 09 2015, @05:27AM
If coral gets killed off who is Rick going to protect every episode?
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Wednesday September 09 2015, @06:28AM
How else would you test autonomous poison-injecting robots without raising suspicion?</conspiracy-theory>
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Wednesday September 09 2015, @10:44AM
It's full of stars, Coral, full of stars!