Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus)

CNN’s NASA’s forays yield earthly spin-offs briefly mentions the use of an algorithm originally developed to track star patters, which is now being used to track “endangered animals” including whale sharks.

The article doesn’t go into to much depth about the technology, but it mentions that everyday citizens can contribute to the tracking of these animals by uploading photos of them using services such as Flickr and Facebook.

While not shark-related, I also found it interesting to note that the article lists a few products that have been erroneously credited to being developed by or during NASA space missions. The most notable of these products include Tang and Velcro.