Support the fact-based journalism you rely on with a donation to Marketplace today. Give Now!
Codebreaker

Robots AND pirates together in one blog item

John Moe Jul 14, 2011

It’s tough to do your job if it entails sailing to the Indian Ocean for research. That’s what climate scientists found out while trying to conduct deep ocean experiments. The problem? Pirates. Under normal conditions, the scientists often ask commercial boats to drop robots called, “Argos” into the ocean. Argos measure the salinity and water temperature, then transmit that information to satellites for the scientists. Unfortunately, about a quarter of the ocean has been taken over by pirates. New hope for the scientists comes from the Navy, who will begin deploying the Argos in dangerous waters in coming months. Pirate-proof robots hooray!

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.