Use robots to detect life in the Arctic Ocean

Scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA, will use three robots during a 40-day expedition in the Gakkel Ridge Mountains in the Arctic Ocean to find traces of life there.

The most remote and least explored mountain range on Earth, Gakkel Ridge stretches over 1,500 km from northern Greenland to Siberia. Gakkel Ridge has many steep, rocky, and four sides surrounded by the cold Arctic Ocean. That's where scientists think there are many forms of life that humans haven't discovered.

During the expedition that began on July 1 and lasted for up to 40 days, scientists hope to obtain the first research results on this mysterious land.

The veteran biologist Tim Shank, a member of the international expedition team, said the scientists are now unable to imagine what kind of life, if any, is in the Gakkel Ridge area that is taking place. .

The model of using two Puma and Jaguar robots in the expedition will begin on July 1 (Photo: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Dan Torres)

But scientists believe that life can be discovered in this area, because it has a series of hot springs underground and is created at the boundary of geological tectonics, where the sea is exposed. with molten lava (magma) rising from the Earth's crust.

Scientist Robert Reves-Sohn, a member of the expedition team, said life existed in the Arctic basin, and the creatures here are evolving in a particular way, because they are almost isolated. with life in the deep waters of the ocean for nearly 25 million years.

The discovery of new creatures in this wilderness will be done by 3 dedicated robots of the new generation. The robots will help the expedition team locate, map the terrain and sample any signs of living in many underground hot springs.

Of the three robots mentioned above, two robots are designed to orient themselves under thick ice. These are Puma and Jaguar , each worth $ 450,000, built with funding from the US Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). These two robots were successfully tested in the Arctic Ocean on June 3, 2007. The third robot is Camper , which is also a dedicated robot that was tested successfully at the end of May.

Camper robot, a new specialized robot will be used in the expedition (Photo: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Dan Torres)

Scientists hope to use Puma and Jaguar robots to explore beneath the ice of Europa, one of Jupiter's ' moons '.

According to Hanumant Singh, the chief engineer of the expedition team, the two robots are capable of moving down to a depth of 5,000 meters and operating about 5 -6 meters from the ocean floor.

The expedition team also anticipated possible difficulties and dangers for robots when operating in harsh conditions in Gakkel Ridge.

But Singh said the excitement in finding new species and understanding the geological features in the Arctic helped scientists overcome worries about possible risks with robots. . He said: 'Even if we know that there is a large enough probability of losing dedicated robots, that is not too unfortunate compared to the results we will achieve during the full expedition. This is interesting '.

Puma robot during an experiment in the Arctic Ocean on June 3, 2007 (Photo: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Dan Torres)

Quang Thinh