Scout is on its way to Spain! It is a twelve foot long autonomous robotic boat designed to cross the Atlantic Ocean, relying only on pre-programmed commands and information that it can collect about its environment through sensors. Built by a group of engineering students it looks like a bit like a surfboard with a sailboat keel covered with solar cells. It departed 21 days ago from Rhode Island and is now almost 700 miles closer to its destination. Other autonomous robotic boat projects, such as Robotboat Mark VI, rely on sail propulsion. The designers chose solar power driving a propeller as the simplest solution. To follow Scout on its slow but steady voyage across the Atlantic, click here.
Of all the things worth remembering on 9/11, one incredible event is often overlooked. After the attack, all the bridges, tunnels and rail lines in and out of New York City were shut down. Somewhere between 300,000 and one million people were trapped trapped in lower Manhattan. Amazingly, perhaps miraculously, they were all evacuated by that evening by a flotilla of ferries, tugs, excursion boats, fireboats, buoy tenders, patrol boats and yachts. The evacuation was unplanned and almost spontaneous. The Coast Guard called for “All available boats,” and all available boats responded, the captains and crews doing what needed to be done. It was truly an 
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Scientists have identified the largest volcano on earth, beneath the Pacific Ocean roughly half way between Japan and the Hawaiian Islands. The giant 
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These are good times for tug boat fanatics in the North East. On Labor Day, there was the running of the