NAVY WANTS SHARKS’ ELECTRIC SENSORS

Sharks pro­duce and pick up tiny elec­tric fields, to hunt their prey. Navy researchers are look­ing to pull off the same trick, so they can spot under­wa­ter mines.
Inside sharks’ heads are jelly-​​filled canals called “the ampul­lae of Lorenzini,” which the preda­tors use to detect the itty-​​bitty elec­tri­cal charges a fish makes when it flexes its mus­cles, or swims counter to the earth’s nat­ural mag­netic fields. It’s a real-​​live sixth sense. And it’s way more accu­rate the sharks’ eye­sight.
The Navy is hop­ing the kind of sen­sors work bet­ter than sonar, too. Acoustic mine detec­tors have a hard time oper­at­ing in the crowded, shal­low waters near the coasts. There’s too much hap­pen­ing there to get a clear sig­nal. But with an elec­tri­cal charge, there’s a chance to could be noticed, instead. So the Navy is ask­ing for pro­pos­als on how to build a set of Lorenzini’s ampul­lae for peo­ple.
The device should be small less than three feet long, the Navy coun­sels. And it should be able to pick up elec­tri­cal sig­nals of small, mov­ing objects in fresh, brack­ish, or salt water.
At first, the Navy is look­ing for a few com­pa­nies just to develop ideas for the detec­tors. Then, a few pro­to­types. But if all that goes well, the Navy promises, the sys­tem “will have imme­di­ate use in sur­veil­lance and mon­i­tor­ing oper­a­tions with Homeland Security, Global War on Terrorism, Joint Forces Operations, and future com­bat sys­tems under devel­op­ment.” Happy hunt­ing.
(photo credit: Callaghan Fritz-​​Cope/​Pelagic Shark Research Foundation)

December 6th, 2004 | Ships and Subs | Comments Off Both comments and pings are currently closed.