The first crafts made to explore the rest of the world floated on water. Animals and carts took humans to land’s end. Man wanted to go farther so he found a way to float from one place to the next. Imagine the first humans who ventured out on a piece of wood into deeper waters to catch dinner that was just offshore. On clear days the inhabitants of one shore may have seen another shore off in the distance surrounded by water. Curiosity got the better of them and they found a way to navigate a floating craft there. And just as each year’s automobiles get more features, so did those boats of long ago.

Now we have floating cities in the form of US Navy Aircraft Carriers. Ships and submarines are now nuclear powered. A submarine can desalinate water and scrub the atmosphere of carbon dioxide. Their nuclear power plants on board need not be refueled for years. If it was not for the need to take on more provisions, they could stay submerged indefinitely. That is a long way from floating on a makeshift raft of sticks from one island to the next.

However, with all of that advanced technology, only a fraction of the world beneath the water’s surface has been explored. New species are constantly being discovered. The coelacanth (a fish) was once thought to be extinct until one was caught. The military is the birthplace of some of the latest technologies that trickle down to civilian use. However, ocean research vessels and foundations who need to do certain tasks also come up with answers to their own unique technological needs.

Though we can explore the deep parts of oceans in manned and unmanned vessels, there is a wonder of what advances in ships and submarines that will come about in the next decades. There once was talk of underwater cities that were played out in the imaginations of Hollywood and comic books. That has not come to pass yet, but maybe someday it will.