/sci/ - Science & Math

>>2279185

I'm not denying the Alvin is a superior sub, just saying the Japs built a research minisub with the same crush depth sooner.

With that exotic new sub Cameron's commissioned venturing into the Challenger Deep I'm tempted to believe others will attempt to match or top the feat.

In the 1970s the focus was all on sifting. Valuable metals can be found throughout the ocean floor in trace quantities. The idea was to develop sifting machines on caterpillar tracks . The problem was it took a great deal of energy and time to produce any valuable quantity of metals.

Since then the focus has shifted to vents. Valuable metals exist in much higher concentrations there and are often completely exposed, and thus easy to get to. There are cases where the richest deposits are under the volcanic crust, but methods for cracking the crust and getting at those deposits can of course be developed.

All interest now is on the richest few sites in the ocean. Nautilus Minerals has a headstart, and is, I think, currently planning on exploiting a massive deposit of gold, platinum and other metals surrounding an undersea volcano in Papau, New Guinea.

>>1948398

>>those jet fighter subs are cool.

No kidding. Check out this police minisub (on the right) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocoN4XSq0YY

For law enforcement you'd want something that could easily outrun those one-person bubble scooters. Something like this would do the trick. If you were pulling some stupid shit, vandalizing coral reefs, driving around nude, whatever, they could pull you over and get your info. Radio would work fine as both the cops and the driver would have their heads inside an air-filled chamber so verbal communication would be possible. The vehicle ID would be recorded and you'd get a ticket via email to be paid online.

Live 12 miles out however and none of this would apply. But you're also liable to be robbed by unscrupulous divers.

Here's another such winged, highspeed sub. Being developed in the hopes of selling it to the Military. China has expressed growing interest in mining the seafloor and presumably it would be advantageous to be able to put men on site in something small enough to resemble a shark on sonar.

>>1831934

Ooh, that's another good point. It's possible to own a personal submarine. It's not possible to own a personal spacecraft. Yet, anyway.

Pic related, badass personal sub.

http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/08/29/135221/China-Plans-To-Mine-the-Yellow-Sea-Floor?from=rss

We are increasingly reliant on substances like manganese and sulfur as battery production ramps up, and China (who recently declared an intention to lead the world in electric vehicle manufacture) has been looking to the sea floor, where freely available deposits can be found.

The growing scarcity of a number of elements on land will drive us and other developed nations to the sea. That means more investment in combat subs, in sea floor bases for them, in aquatic robots and all manner of other technologies neglected until recently.

It's an exciting time to be alive. Along with space and the poles, the ocean depths remain one of the last largely unexplored frontiers.

It's a shame that nationalism and conflict over resources, rather than the urge to explore, will motivate a race to claim the sea floor. But however it happens, it is long overdue.