Instead of harpooning a whale for samples, wouldn’t it be easier to just collect their snot using an R/C helicopter? More

New research shows that the advantages of HDTV aren’t lost on octopuses. A recent study on octopus behavior made the upgrade from CRT sets to HDTVs for the playback of octopus-related videos, like one of a tasty crab. More

New research shows that the advantages of HDTV aren’t lost on octopuses. A recent study on octopus behavior made the upgrade from CRT sets to HDTVs for the playback of octopus-related videos, like one of a tasty crab. More

The W90 is Pentax’s solid successor to the W80 . It’s got a new strap and LEDs around the lens for close illumination. It’s also slightly more resistant, rated to 20 feet of water and 4-foot drops. The new case is nicer than the old, and the innards seem pretty similar to the older model (which I liked). There’s the 12mp sensor, 720p video recording and digital shake reduction as well as a 5x 28-140mm equivalent lens.

The Zero Emission Electric Propulsion Ship is a 100-foot, 800-person ferry that sucks no diesel. Instead, the boat operates from a huge bay of lithium ion batteries, all while looking vaguely like it’s going to kill you and your family. Just how many batteries are we talking about? Between 200 and 300 times the amount you’d find in an electric car—all for a fuel capacity of only about 50 miles. For now, what you see here is just a prototype. Manufacturers at IHI Marine United hope to commercialize the machine by 2015 with the hopes that battery prices will be more economical

Oh. Dear. The Ady Gil trimaran, used by the Sea Shepherd organization to hunt down whalers, got itself an unexpected rhinoplasty yesterday, while buzzing around Japanese whaling vessel, the Shonan Maru, in the Antarctic waters of Commonwealth Bay. One crew member suffered a couple of cracked ribs, but the rest of them were unharmed, and taken to the organization’s support boat, the Steve Irwin. Let’s hope there are no gigamuntic sting rays patrolling the seas at the moment. [ Daily Mail ]

What’s next for Virgin? After nightclubs, record labels, gadgets, cellphone carriers, airlines and space ships, Sir Richard Branson is getting into subs. Fifteen miles from his Necker Island, is the Puerto Rican Trench, deepest spot in the Atlantic. They’ll dive! Time Mag has this interview, the first place I’ve heard of the Virgin Oceanic project. From the sounds of it, they’re still thinking about the subs themselves

Popping bubblewrap , or opening beer cans just not your obsessive compulsive cup of tea? Here’s another toy for Bandai’s Mugen range: the Mugen Tokoroten, which simulates squeezing a sea algae snack. 630 Yen for our Japanese brethren. [ CNET Asia ]

This microphoned submarine glider has been collecting ocean sounds for a few weeks. When it is plucked from the sea in a few more, researchers will use software to parse its audiofiles for rare beaked whale songs. [ Wired ]

If there’s a tougher waterproof camera, I haven’t seen it before. That’s not to say it’s perfect, but it’s the point and shoot I’d take to cover an Aquaman vs Red October brawl. The Price: $379 The Waterproofing and Toughness: It’s rated to 10 meters, or 33 feet, without a case, making it just as pressure resistant as the Powershot D10. And there’s a 30 meter case , optional, for deeper excursions, too, which the Canon doesn’t have. It is the only periscoping internal zoom lens with a mechanized metal cover.