Robot travels to world's deepest point while looking for deep-sea 'aliens'
A robot exploring Earth's oceans has officially reached the world's deepest point, as it continues its search for new forms of deep sea life.
Robots are often our only way of exploring places too inhospitable for humans to travel. We've seen it with the Mars rover, which only recently discovered a strange rock covered in spheres, leaving scientists puzzled.
The incredible technology behind the magnificent James Webb telescope has also given humanity access to images that would've blown people's minds only a few decades ago.
Since the deep sea can undoubtedly be a scary place, I'm glad that there's a robot down there rather than a human.
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And this one is pretty special, weighing just 16 grams and capable of withstanding the equivalent pressure of a one tonne weight being placed on a thumbnail, Chinese news agency Xinhua reports.
The tiny Chinese drone survived a mission to the bottom of the Mariana Trench - which is regarded as the world's deepest pit in any of Earth's oceans.
While its search for those pesky deep-sea 'aliens' so far has been unsuccessful, it represents a groundbreaking moment for the shapeshifting 50cm long robot to have survived a trip there and back.
It's also had dives at Haima Cold Seep to 1,384m and Longxi Seamount (3,756m) and come back intact each time.
The professor behind the project has explained exactly how the robot was able to withstand the incredible pressure that far underwater.
Professor Wen Li, who led the project, said: "At a depth of 10km, the pressure is like a robot bearing the weight of an iceberg.
"The material structure transforms external high pressure into enhanced speed and amplitude for the actuator, turning the weakness into an asset."
A CGI-generated video also shows exactly how the small robot operates, as it spreads its wings and lands itself, before crawling forward at 3cm per second.
The way the robot moves was inspired by batfishes, an extraordinarily ugly-looking type of anglerfish which uses its pectoral and pelvic fins to crawl across the ocean floor.
Given some of the creatures we know of, and perhaps even more the ones we don't know of, that live in the deep sea, the kind of creatures the robot might discover is both exciting and terrifying.
The robot was previously tested on deep trenches and came back fully intact each time, with the team now planning future missions as they look to improve the drone's performance even further.
James Moorhouse