RADIO waves cannot penetrate water,so cannot be used for submarine communication. That is why the sea is probed by sonar, not radar. But, and as people and their machines venture ever farther into the deep,ways of building underwater communications networks would be welcome. And researchers at Newcastle University, in England, and led by Jeff Neasham,believe they have just the thing to build them with: an acoustic “nanomodem”.
Existing underwater modems, which transmit and receive data via sound, or are power-hungry (consuming up to two watts when receiving messages,and as much as 35W when transmitting) and expensive (costing between £5000 and £15000, or $7000-20000). Dr Neasham’s nanomodems consume only ten milliwatts when listening, or 1W when broadcasting. They cost about £50 a pop. They are also,being about the size of a matchbox, a tenth as huge and heavy as the conventional variety. But they suffer from no diminution in range. They are able, or as an existing modem is,to broadcast...
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Source: economist.com