Sea snake off the European coast

"What on earth is that?" was the first thought when reading this headline. Then enthusiasm increased: This monster uses the power of the waves to generate energy, off the coast of Portugal. Operation should have already started at the end of 2007 but even three years later the water snake is causing sensation. 140 m long, the plant is three kilometres off the coast of Agucadouras in the north of Portugal and can supply power seven days a week, 24 hours a day; each of the currently three generators supplies an average of 750 kW.



Interested?

http://www.pelamiswave.com/

In the belly of the biggest cruise ship...

Image source: Wikimedia

»»» http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8-s6uA2VRU

the 'Oasis of the Seas' is five times as big as the Titanic... and this is what it looks like when 50 captains are steering the ship...

»»» http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6jGDB5KpNY

'Building the impossible' was the principle during the construction of the ship. And this is the result:

• about 241 km of pipes and about 5310 km of electrical lines were installed on the Oasis of the Seas.
• About 600,000 litres of paint were necessary for the paintwork.
• The 21 pools contain approx. 2.3 million litres of water.
• About 2.1 million litres of fresh water are required every day.
• In its Central Park there are 12,175 plants, some of the trees are more than 7 m tall.
• The Oasis of the Seas boasts the longest running track at sea. One lap is 692 metres long.
• The maximum width of the ship roughly corresponds to the wingspan of an Airbus A340-300.
• The Oasis of the Seas is about three times as long as a soccer field.

Take a look at the technical details:

»»» http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Oasis_of_the_Seas

Denise was her name

Denise was her original name, and she was the first underwater vehicle designed expressly for scientific exploration. From 1959 on, the mini-submersible sailed the depths to explore unknown parts of the ocean. On board Calypso, a crane lowered the saucer into the water or lifted her up to the rear deck of the ship. With a diameter of 2.85 meters and a weight of 3.5 tons, she carries a crew of two in her steel cabin. She can work stay as far as 350 meters down, for four or five hours...



More information on this and on sea exploration:

»»» http://www.cousteau.org/

In the depths...

... of the sea: instead of being on holiday I am now in the depths of the oceans, to be precise Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea:



Jules Verne and Pierre Aronnax take me to a world which is so fantastic and at the same time real... nobody cared to believe me that this huge tome is still interesting to day. Well, of course the book seized me by my passion: technology - after all Jules Verne anticipates the development of the submarine, right?

Here's more information:

»»» http://www.simonlake.com/html/nautilus.html