During a recent moonlit port excursion, the conversation quickly turned to stories of piracy and exploration.
A guide shared stories of the days when tall masts and billowing sails towered over coastal horizons and intriguing characters like Blackbeard and Barbarossa sailed the seas.
We couldn’t help but wonder about the secrets that fell with the wrecks and lost artifacts scattered across the ocean floor. But these places are hidden in the depths of the waves where humans cannot normally reach.
However, an explorer is venturing to places no human has gone before.
Ocean secrets
At first glance, OceanOneK looks a bit like a diver going down the waters off the coast of France.
Stanford University researchers designed the robot to go underwater to explore planes, ships, submarines and maybe even lost cities. And this year, the humanoid robot reached a new milestone when it dived half a mile (852 meters) below the ocean’s surface.
The robot has hands that can pick up priceless artifacts and bring them to the surface and stereoscopic eyes that capture the world of the deep in full color.
But another feature makes the robot even more special: a touch-based feedback system. This interactivity allows its operators to feel everything they could experience if they were diving themselves: the resistance of the water and objects in contact such as vases and oil lamps from an ancient Roman ship.
Curiosities
Archaeologists have discovered telltale timbers that may have belonged to a centuries-old shipwreck, one that likely inspired the cult classic “The Goonies.”
A team of volunteers found more than 20 pieces of wood in a cave off the coast of Oregon in June. The timbers belonged to the wreck of the Sant Crist de Burgos in 1693.
The Spanish galleon wasn’t laden with treasure, but local lore and the ship’s mysterious fate have become history over time, possibly enough to inspire Steven Spielberg when he created his 1985 film about teenagers in Astoria who were looking for pirate treasure on the Oregon coast.
The discovery has sparked interest in searching for more parts of the wreck. After all, “the goonies never say die!”
Fantastic creatures
Penguins may reign supreme in Antarctica, but they also live in the wilds of Patagonia in South America. In these remote places, scientists and conservationists dedicate their lives to protecting flightless seabirds.
Gentoo, Magellanic and King penguins act as beacons of how ecosystems respond to the climate crisis.
“It’s the perfect animal to get to know the ocean better,” said marine biologist Andrea Raya Rey.
Tierra del Fuego’s king penguin colony disappeared 200 years ago due to overhunting, but they have made an unexpected comeback. Find out more during Sunday’s episode of the CNN docuseries “Patagonia: Life on the Edge of the World” at 9pm ET/PT. Each new episode of the six-part series will be available on CNNgo the day after it airs on television. You can also access CNNgo through our CNN app.
Across the universe
Astronomers have found a “black widow” in space, and this dead star has grown to record size thanks to a feast on another celestial object.
Like its namesake arachnid, the neutron star is devouring its companion star. This pulsating, cosmic beacon also rotates 707 times per second.
The neutron star, or the dense, collapsed remains of a colossal star, weighs more than twice the mass of our sun, making it the heaviest ever observed. When these objects become too heavy, they tend to collapse and form a black hole, so this could be the limit for neutron stars.
Dino-light!
Meet a rare Gorgosaurus, a relative of the T. rex, but with more speed and a stronger bite. The 77-million-year-old fossil sold for just over $6 million this week during a Sotheby’s auction.
This specimen is just one of a handful of dinosaur skeletons to hit the auction block, a trend that worries scientists. When fossils are auctioned off, they may end up in private collections, which means paleontologists can’t study them.
Who bought the “ferocious lizard” remains unknown, but the buyer will have the rare opportunity to name it.
explorations
Check out these readings:
— Fossils show that sharks have been on Earth longer than trees and dinosaurs — and there’s an ocean phenomenon that’s bringing them closer to shore this summer.– The first mission to return samples of a another planet will land on Earth in 2033, and two Ingenuity-style helicopters will help recover Martian rocks.– Photographer Joel Sartore is on a mission to capture images of 20,000 species to prevent the extinction of creatures great and small. Take a look at some of these endangered species through Sartore’s lens. And keep your eyes on the night sky this weekend for a meteor shower. Here’s how to watch it. Did you like what you read? Oh, but there’s more. Sign up here to get the next edition of Wonder Theory delivered to your inbox, brought to you by CNN Space and Science writer Ashley Strickland, who finds wonder in planets beyond our solar system and world discoveries ancient