Latest

Point & Shoot

When it comes to cameras, traditionally, gear is divided into compact point-and-shoot or single lens reflexes (SLR). Compact point-and-shoot cameras are simple devices that many people use just for snapshots. In order to keep the price low, the lenses are not as sharp as the ones designed for SLRs. Some compact cameras are compatible with add-on conversion lenses to expand their range.

A painted comber hides in the seagrass

Fish get emotional too

Now, additional findings lends further credence to the notion that fish do indeed possess emotions and harbour thought processes. It turns out that fish growing up in the wild among predators use their left eye to look at novel objects, while their offspring raised in captivity use the right eye.



Dr Neal W. Pollock (left) and Dr Richard D. Vann
Dr Neal W. Pollock (left) and Dr Richard D. Vann

Preventing decompression sickness in astronauts

A research team at the Duke University Hyperbaric Centre, (North Carolina, USA) has won a Johnson Space Center (JSC) Group Achievement Award from NASA. The Durham-based team comprising Dr Neal W Pollock, Dr Richard Vann, Mike Natoli and Dr Richard Moon developed an in-suit light exercise pre-breathe regimen to prevent decompression sickness from developing in astronauts.



Komodo: Indonesia’s Dragon Isle

Komodo Island kept bobbing in and out of my field of vision as we continued to circle in water that was churning. I could almost see the Pacific colliding with the Indian Ocean. Ali, one of the many talented dive guides from the luxury liveaboard Arenui, popped up from the depths and shouted, “The current is going off!”

Brazil’s Ilha Grande

There are a few places on this planet where things seem to fall into place without any hesitation. Ilha Grande, Brazil, is one of these places. Even on busy weekends, there is a no-stress atmosphere. On the beach, in the garden hammock, or at 20 metres depth—it’s all laid back and lazy.

Rebreather Forum 3 consensus statements

CHECKLISTS 1.

The forum recommends that rebreather manufacturers produce carefully designed checklists, which may be written and / or electronic, for use in the pre-dive preparation (unit assembly and immediate pre-dive) and post-dive management of their rebreathers. – Written checklists should be provided in a weatherproof or waterproof form. – The current version of these checklists annotated with the most recent revision date should be published on the manufacturer’s website

La Cuvée Neptune
Does the sea hold the secret to truly great wines? To find out a trio of French wine lovers – a vineyard manager, a barrel maker and an oyster farmer – teamed up to test the myth, above and below water.

Maturing wine in the ocean improves their quality

Bruno Lemoine, who runs the cellars of Chateau Larrivet Haut-Brion in the southwest Bordeaux region, asked his barrel-maker chum Pierre-Guillaume Chiberry to build him two small 56-litre wooden barrels in which to age his red wine by an extra six months.

One was to be kept in the chateau cellars, the other sunk underwater among the prized oyster beds of the Bay of Arcachon, north of Bordeaux on the Atlantic coast.

The barrel kept at the chateau was dubbed "Tellus", after the Roman goddess of the land, and the other "Neptune" after the sea god.