mariner

We were recently given the opportunity to kick the tires of a wide variety of hybrid electric and alternative fuel vehicles.

There were a few clean diesels, including a CR-V with a 2.2-liter four cylinder that we should see reach production in a diesel variant of the 2010 Acura TSX. Ford brought out its hydrogen fuel cell, Focus, and a pair of hybrids, one of which was a plug-in model.

According to Ed Kjaer, a representative from Southern California Edison, plugging in electric hybrid vehicles on an overnight cycle is better for the electric grid, because it evens out … Read more

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--The fledgling ocean energy industry is awash in ideas for making electricity from moving water but it is still reaching for a toehold in the commercial world.

Greentech Media last week released a summary of an ocean energy report that forecasts great potential for wave and tidal energy.

Ocean power--a resource often located near large population centers--could ultimately generate 25 percent of today's total electricity usage, said report co-author Travis Bradford, president of the Prometheus Institute for Sustainable Development.

In the next six years, electricity production from the ocean could swell from just 10 megawatts now to … Read more

Sanyo made headlines last week with a waterproof 52-inch LCD in full HD (note: we resisted saying it made a splash), but there are actually larger versions already on the market. Earlier this year, for example, we saw a water-resistant 57-inch HDTV from Aquavision, and now there's a model that dwarfs its competitors.

U.K.-based MarineAV is selling a 70-inch LCD that's "fully waterproof" and comes in full 1080p HD glory, as seen on Book of Joe. Not much is known about its original manufacturer, but its description says the TV uses a Samsung display … Read more

Plastic contamination in the world's oceans is worse than previously imagined and no amount of technology can clean it up, according to Charles Moore. The oceanographer returned February 23 from a five-week odyssey in the Pacific Ocean with samples showing 48 parts plastic for every part of plankton.

"We are damned to a future of pollution by plastic," said Moore, who has spent more than a decade investigating Pacific plastic pollution. "There's no evidence it will end in a millennium."

A plastic "graveyard" double the size of Texas swirls in the Pacific … Read more

Most owners of the 13 million recreational boats in the United States dump their waste in the water, fouling fish and coral reefs with sewage and fuel, according to Klean Marine. The start-up plans to help boaters clean up their act.

Its founders aim to launch a service that would clean sailboats, motorboats, and yachts in ports of harbor around the country. Klean Marine would thus be able to serve, say, traveling snowbirds whether they're docked in Chicago in July or Miami in December. An annual subscription would start at $250.

Company president Kean Fulton, presenting Tuesday at the … Read more

The Pentagon hasn't been saying much about what's up with the Osprey in Iraq. That could be because it doesn't want to jinx what seems to be, after the first three months of deployment, a success story for the long-controversial tilt-rotor aircraft.

(By contrast, try getting it to stop crowing about the performance of a different breed of new aerial technology, unmanned aerial vehicles such as the Reaper.)

Since arriving at Al Asad Airbase last fall, the 10 MV-22 Ospreys of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 have accumulated more than 1,600 hours of flight time, carrying … Read more

This can safely be categorized as one of those only-in-California items because 1) it requires a hot tub, 2) there's a huge TV involved and 3) it's absolutely ridiculous. Making it even richer, there's competition between two appropriately named companies: CalSpas and Catalina Spas.

The first purveyor was featured awhile back with a 42-inch plasma that rises automatically from the side of the tub. But now we're treated to a competing four-seater from Catalina Spas that boasts--get this--a 61-inch LCD HDTV, according to BornRich. (Both of which dwarf the puny screens we've written about in … Read more

As state-level officials and other critics push back hard against the federal Real ID mandate here at home, the U.S. government is reporting success abroad with a biometric ID system it has installed in Iraq.

The automated biometric identity system being used by the Iraqi government now holds more than 350,000 sets of fingerprints, photos and retina scans, and "we increase the database by 4,000 or 5,000 each week," Army Lt. Col. John W. Velliquette Jr. said in a teleconferenced briefing this week. Velliquette runs the fingerprint and retina scanning center in Baghdad's … Read more

The Milwaukee Brewers hit a home run this year, landing the 10th ranked spot on Harris Interactive's list of America's favorite baseball teams.

Last year, the Brewers ranked No. 18, after having spent four consecutive years in the dugout with rankings in the low to mid 20s, according to Harris Interactive's announcement. The fact that the Brewers are leading the National League's central division is likely giving some froth to its rankings.

The online poll, which surveyed 2,372 adults in the U.S., ran from June 5-11.

And who was America's favorite baseball team … Read more