That's a lot of batteries to recycle!

So they're looking at the effects of the current climate change, climate crisis / climate catastrophe / climageddon (take your pick). Let's hope they do the sensible thing and send all those batteries for recycling once they're dead.

Or maybe they'll do the old trick of just sitting them on a radiator for half an hour then sending the sub out again...

of one of Jimmy Carr's ideas. "planes should run on AA batteries....just pray the ribbon doesn't get stuck and you have to remove 5,000 batteries with a biro"

I wonder what's wrong with just replacing the Alkaline "D" cells with off-the-shelf NiMh ones and adding a charging circuit and plug? Ok, nowhere near as interesting as designing a new Li-ion battery pack, but it'd work and cost sod all to do.

I suppose the main drawback with the existing version has to be when it refuses to work. You just *know* the reason's going to be that someone's put one in the wrong way round......

(Note to self. Robotic subs make bad Christmas presents.)

"It can go 400 kilometres at depths of as much as 1600m before its thousands of D-cells run flat and it must return to its mothership for fresh ones."

If it's batteries are flat, does it have a reserve power source to power it back to the mothership?

'..."planes should run on AA batteries....just pray the ribbon doesn't get stuck and you have to remove 5,000 batteries with a biro" '

I always use a teaspoon, they are easier to find in the house.

It's obviously actually looking for the Sea of Green and Pepperland...

will use elastic bands instead of a rocket

If all the ice was floating it would be different, but as much of the polar ice is on land the good old archimedes effect doesn't apply here. Also, think that archimedes effect would already counteract the difference in volume, its the weight that matters.

Anonymous Coward wrote:

"Dont Water expand when it freezes? So when the Ice caps melt water levels should remain the same or get lower?"

Eureka! If the ice were floating on the water the level would remain the same when it melts. Just ask Archimedes.

But since the glaciers are moving from the land into the sea, it's a different story.

Didn't you know that George Lucus owns the word droid?

If you scan through the latest Columbia disaster report you get to see interesting snippets including photos of the remains of the crew space suits.

Peeking out of the shattered cases of the AN/PRC radios installed in each suit are clearly recognizable Duracell D-cells - the classic bought in supermarket types.

I guess if you want an absolutely reliable battery that works in hard vacuum and extremes of temperature then alkaline chemistry is the perfect match.