[Rocketfan]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A seagoing glider that uses heat energy from the ocean to propel itself is the first "green" robot to explore the undersea environment, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.

They said the glider had crisscrossed the 13,000-feet-(4,000-meter-)deep Virgin Islands Basin between St. Thomas and St. Croix more than 20 times since it was launched in December.

And it could keep going on its own for another six months, the team at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Webb Research Corporation in Falmouth, Massachusetts, predicted.

"Gliders can be put to work on tasks that humans wouldn't want to do or cannot do because of time and cost concerns," Dave Fratantoni of Woods Hole said. "They can work around the clock in all weather conditions."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/robot_glider ... aNUPkjtBAF