I came across this somewhat "attention-drawing" article and decided to share it here on my science blog.
Three Chinese scientists plunged to the bottom of the South China Sea in a tiny submarine early this summer. They did not only simple plant their country's flag on the dark seabed, but during the 3000m descent in a craft the size of a small truck, they also signalled Beijing's intention to take the lead in exploring remote and inaccessible parts of the ocean floor, which are rich in oil, minerals and other resources the Chinese would like to mine. But, many of these areas are actually where the country has clashed with its neighbours over territorial claims. The mineral nodules are apparently worth trillions of dollars, and china are in a perfect position to go after these.
A small craft that made the trip-JiaoLong, meaning sea dragon in Chinese, was unveiled publicly late august after eight years of secretive development. It is designed to go deeper than any other craft in the world and it gives its owners access to 99.8% of the ocean floor. Technically the JiaoLong is a submersible as it differs from submarines in their size, their need for a mother ship on the surface of the water and their ability to dive extraordinarily deep under the waves despite the darkness and crushing pressure. These types of craft are extremely rare with only a few existing in the whole world. The JiaoLong is able to go the deepest ever depth of 7000m, deeper than many other Japanese, Russian, french and US crafts.
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