Scientists from the Tomsk Polytechnic University have told the press about the first results of their work on a modem which can provide for an internet link in underwater conditions.

      "The first results we got show a capacity for a 1.2 kbp/s connection under conditions of underwater environment. Today, according to our data, similar devices in Russia operate at a speed of 0.2 kbp/s. We equipped our new devices with pressure and temperature sensors. The technical characteristics of the devices are on a level comparable with the best foreign analogues, and have no analogues in Russia," said Yuri Svinolupov, the head of the Laboratory of Telecommunications, Instrumentation and Marine Geology.

      According to Svinopulov, this year scientists are planning to conduct tests on the modems together with the Institute of Marine Technology (IMT) of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

      The new modem may become very helpful for the control of deep-sea vehicles, environmental measurement, geological research and the exploration of mineral resources in the seas and the oceans, scientists explain. The Institute of Marine Technology  is already creating vehicles capable of operating at a depth of six kilometers under water, and work is underway on the creation of an apparatus which can reach the depths of the Mariana Trench, which is almost 12 kilometers.