A high-schooler built BURT, a bionic “robot turtle” that follows autonomous search patterns and flags replicated coral bleaching with 96% accuracy, letting it monitor ...

A teen built a bionic turtle robot that tracks coral bleaching with 96% accuracy. See how BURT is changing quiet ocean ...
Popular Science

Teen builds ‘Bionic Underwater Robotic Turtle’ to detect ecological threats

High schooler Evan Budz's award-winning invention can identify coral bleaching, invasive species, and microplastics without disturbing marine ecosystems. By Laura Kiniry Published May 12, 2026 9:01 AM ...