A system inspired by the way dolphins communicate – and using the latest technology from modems, has enabled scientists to devise a way to transmit video pictures from underwater cameras to the surface. A team at Newcastle University in the UK believe their system can be used to inspect the legs of oil rigs, and hunt for shipwrecks and mines. According to the New Scientist, the system uses low frequencies between 10 and 20KHz and reference markers are included in the data stream to enable the receiver to identify the clearest signals and strip out distortion. The Newcastle team have been able to achieve a data rate of 16 kilobits a second – sufficient for a video image can be updated twice a second. What is not mentioned is how dolphins will respond to human data being transmitted on their frequency.
