All of us have always had a special fascination with the sea, and this is likely to continue in the future as well. Many people long to spend their days by the shore, where the blue waters and the music of the waves captivate the soul. But when the sea turns fierce, that sense of romance is replaced by fear and anxiety. The ocean’s fury can sometimes lead to loss of life. According to a study, between 2011 and 2018, deadly storms at sea claimed 386 lives and sank 24 ships.
It is often difficult to predict in which current a ship might sink. However, scientists have not stood still. Thanks to their tireless efforts, about 15 million data points have been collected, and with the help of artificial intelligence, a specific pattern in ocean currents has been discovered. By using this pattern, it is now possible to forecast potential dangers up to five minutes in advance.
The research utilized half-hourly data from 172 seas. This artificial intelligence technology is capable of making predictions with about 70% accuracy. Led by scientist Thomas Breuniger from the University of Maryland, this study was published in the journal Nature in July 2024.
Established in 1869, Nature is one of the world’s oldest and most respected scientific journals. It is renowned for publishing high-quality research in various scientific fields including biology, physics, chemistry, medicine, and environmental science. The journal is known for its rigorous peer-review process, ensuring that only the most important and reliable research gets published.
The artificial intelligence technology used in this research is TensorFlow, an open-source machine learning framework developed by Google. It works based on data flow graphs, where nodes represent computations and edges indicate the direction of data flow. Although TensorFlow was initially created for research and prototyping, it is now used in many areas such as image and language processing, autonomous vehicles, and healthcare.
Being able to provide advance warnings about the ocean’s dangerous moods is a major achievement. This can be considered a groundbreaking step not only for the safety of ships and sailors but also for the entire maritime industry.
Sources: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-66315-3
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/ai-predict-ship-sinking-freak-waves
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