Autonomous sailing drones investigate climate change on the high seas

An autonomous sail boat collects ocean data in the Dutch Harbor, Alaska. A whopping 97 percent of the Earth's water is in oceans, so it's vital that we monitor and understand them. Therefore, ocean data is regularly collected by government agencies, research scientists, and private companies. Currently, ocean research is conducted on large, expensive ships, but a couple of entrepreneurs in California have a new solution: autonomous sailing drones. A company called Saildrone launched commercially this year, and the founders have announced that they raised 14 million in Series A funding, led by Social Capital with investments from the Capricorn Investment Group and Lux Capital.