The waters of Bermuda will be the testing ground for a revolutionary new tool in ocean research this summer, according to an article in Tuesday's The New York Times.

Engineers from the Webb Research Corporation in Falmouth, Massachussetts, are set to introduce a new diving robot which will allow scientists to collect data on the entire ocean.

These `Slocum Gliders' - named after Nova Scotia's Capt. Joshua Slocum, the first man to sail solo around the world - will carry scientific equipment to measure changes in temperature and salinity, chase currents and eddies and even to listen to whales communicate and count microscopic plants, the article said.

The sleek gliders are revolutionary on two fronts: They will provide more comprehensive readings than those currently available from stationary buoys or surface bound ships and they will use an unlimited power source.

The hardy research vessels can stay in the water for up to five years, rather than using a short-lived battery propulsion system like other small ocean robots. They will also harness the energy generated from the ocean's `thermocline', the zone where warm surface water of meets the colder nether regions.

"Only the engine valves and the electronic scientific equipment use batteries," the article states.

The gliders are also economical - at $50,000 each - and will allow scientists to disperse hundreds into ocean waters where they will zigzag through the top 5,000 feet of the water while communicating with scientists via satellite linkup.

David Fratantoni, a scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, will test the first two Slocum gliders off Bermuda, the article said.

"It is as close to perpetual motion as we can get," Mr. Fratantoni told The New York Times.