In Australia, researchers were concerned about noise pollution and how it can impact marine mammals like whales and dolphins that rely on soundwaves for communication, migration, hunting, and basically everything they do to survive. They flew two different types of drones that are often used as scientific tools, and measured the noise levels with microphones about a meter underneath the water. They found that the noise didn’t travel down into the water as much as they thought and was pretty minimal, like shallow water background noise, and even better, the noise levels were below the auditory level of most marine mammals. So now we know that marine research drones aren’t disturbing sea creatures, but we still aren’t sure how drone noise levels and visual presence affect birds and airborne creatures, which may be another study down the road.
Latest article
You better be-leaf it: Dawn Bio cultivates wood in a petri dish
In the Netherlands, a startup based at Wageningen University’s campus is pioneering technology to produce wood from cultured cells.
Dubbed Dawn Bio, the company has...
Algae-based snowboards from WNDR get nod from Time Magazine
In Utah, WNDR Alpine’s algae-based snowboards have been named to Time Magazine’s top 200 inventions list.
Unlike most snowboards, which are made out of petroleum-based...
Prince William’s Earthshot Prize names seaweed firm Coast 4C as a finalist
In Australia, a startup sustainably cultivating seaweed has been chosen as a finalist for Prince William’s 2024 Earthshot Prize.
Coast 4C works with farmers in...