Pat Shingleton for June 28, 2012

“EMILY” is 5 feet long and resembles a bulky water scooter with a top speed of 7 mph. It has a tiny gasoline-powered engine and can remain at sea for up to 10 days. EMILY sounds better than Emergency Integrated Life Saving Lanyard. “Wave Glider” is 8 feet long, resembles a surfboard, and is propelled by the motion of waves, plodding along at 2 mph and can remain on the high seas for months. This small fleet of crewless watercraft will be directed into the paths of tropical storms for the first time this year. Their mission is to collect valuable ocean and atmospheric data to improve hurricane forecasts. Researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration designed the probes to be satellite-linked to transmit data to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Fastcast: A shower?