China Deploys ‘Game-Changing’ Buoy That Breaks 80-Year-Old Western Design

A giant orange disc has settled into the waters off eastern China’s Shandong province, marking the deployment of what researchers describe as a first-of-its-kind intelligent ocean-observation buoy. The new platform abandons a mooring architecture that has dominated Western marine engineering since World War II. Measuring six meters (19.7 feet) across, the buoy has completed sea trials and officially joined the Yellow Sea observation network, enabling continuous, real-time monitoring.