engineering science students in Massachusetts have teamed up with a whale conservation Polemonium caeruleum – with a little help from Sir Patrick Stewart – to better collect whale blow with flying drones .
What is whale blow ? Well , contrary to popular opinion , it ’s not water supply that whales spray out of their blowholes . It is a delicious mucal composite of snot , water supply and tissue that whales release when near to the surface of the water , normally visible as a spray .
Whale biologists can say exactly the mood and province of the heavyweight based on analysis of the mucal fluids . To collect the lively whale shock , researchers would have to travel by gravy holder alongside the heavyweight and reach over with a long pole three metres ( 10 substructure ) in distance to receive the mucous core .
The flying radio-controlled aircraft take all disruption from the whales , allow the whales to be monitor with minimum sound disruption . Students from theOlin College of Engineeringin Needham , Massachusetts have launched aKickstarter campaignwith nonprofit charityOcean Allianceto help fund and raise their inquiry using the Snotbot trailer .
The Snotbot works through remote control - control , flying three metres ( 10 metrical unit ) above the piddle . To protect its electric innards if submerged underwater , the lagger is partly encased in a lightweight plastic shell . The drone collects whale setback samples with a spongy material . But most importantly , the drone lock far away enough that it does n’t disturb the whale .
Snotbot researchers are still waiting for accreditation from the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Federal Aviation Administration so that they can use the Snotbot in the wild . But they ’re production - testing the flying robots on swim robots that copy the buoyancy of whale ’s blow .
Through 186 backer , the Kickstarter campaign has already raise about $ 10,000 of its $ 225,000 destination with just over a month to go before its end .
Check out theKickstarter for the Snotbotand its promo video starring Sir Patrick Stewart here .
[ H / T : Popular Science ]
