Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a sensor that can monitor ocean temperatures and pH levels, using a unique piezoelectric material that converts sound into electrical energy. The technology could be used to track climate change, and also observe marine life, as more than 80% of Earth’s oceans are still unexplored and unknown.
Some scientists believe that there are as many as 25 million underwater species living in the ocean’s depths, but we know of fewer than 250,000 today. It is difficult for researchers to evaluate the effects of global climate patterns on these species, as well as monitor their behaviors.
“The biggest impacts of climate change are happening in the ocean, and we know so little about the ocean,” says Fadel Adib, an engineer at MIT. “From the scope of its marine life, to animal migration or mating patterns, it is extremely difficult to monitor these things along with changes in ocean temperature or sea levels.”
Today’s sensors can measure warming waters and predict rising sea levels based on pressure readings. But they consume massive amounts of energy, primarily because the underwater communication that the sensors use to send out the pressure readings requires sound generation, such as the sonar technology used by submarines to map the ocean floor...
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