Waves pass along the radial corridors, interacting with the pillars and producing forces that pull the water away from the innermost ring. The water is then pushed out of the cloaking area as if it had not encountered anything at all. The circular formation could be used to protect anything from oil rigs to islands, though very few islands can probably afford the amount of pillars needed to make this effect work. [New Scientist via Dvice]

The video above was shot on a generic snorkeling tourist water-bus. We took the boat out from Maui to Molokini, helmed by some hooligans who did donuts and told canned (but funny) jokes for the rich, bleached tourists, Lisa and I counted ourselves among. I suppose we were no different, as much as we'd like to think so, but I did have that camera ready to go when the captain peeled back the throttle, started shouting with excitement and pointing at something moving slowly towards us under the surface. None of us could see past the glare, but the captain's polarized sunglasses, he said, revealed a whale shark, the biggest he'd ever seen in his life on Hawaii, as big as our 30-foot boat. He urged us to jump into the water, promising that this was a rare thing to find on what was supposed to be a pedestrian look at some small, colorful reef fish. I can't say I was very comfortable with the idea of jumping over the side, despite the Museum of Natural History's tutelage so many years ago that the whale shark only ate microscopic schmeg in the water. But the captain asked twice and over I went, after putting the camera in underwater movie mode. Others soon joined with the disposable wind up cameras that the crew joked, "used to cost $15, but after the shark showed up, cost $100." The whale shark made several passes, perhaps curious about the strange hairy fish as pale as the undersides of a flounder, splashing around ineffectively and groping at its dorsal fin. After awhile, I normalized my breathing — the water almost always makes me panic a bit — and could grab enough breath to chase the fish below the surface and grab on for a few seconds. I felt safe, but we were not all lucky enough to escape unharmed. One man cut his finger on the fish's denticles, rubbing it the wrong way. I shot a photo of the man. Professional marine biologists might disagree, but I suppose that's technically the first whale shark attack to draw blood in recent history.

The W60 is the third or fourth generation waterproof camera from Pentax, and earlier ones were only safe to use to a depth of 5 feet for 30 minutes. So the W line has graduated, in the W60, from the wading pool to more earnest underwater endeavors only short of full on diving. The W60 is also rated to shrug off dust and dirt and temperatures down to 14 degrees F, but this is not nearly as rugged as the larger Olympus waterproof cameras.

The shots, above water, were solid, aided by the multiple modes for portraits (with multiple face detection), flowers (macro), etc. Shots were sometimes adequate color and saturation and sharpness, sometimes would be foiled by flat contrast or washed out colors or a droplet of water it could not focus past. There were also amazing frames that made photos look like those from little sticker picture booths in Tokyo. I didn't like how long it took to switch between these modes, but one could make due with almost anything by leaving it in auto mode. (Note: I shot everything at 3MP, which suited my needs for memory preservation and online presentation of shots.) But underwater, away from a pool and off the shallows of Hawaii, modes tended to not color shift out enough of the blue as you can see in the shots above. This is sad, and you can only recapture so much color in post processing.

Other gripes: The USB cable is non-standard on the mini side, and the screen was sometimes hard to see in the bright sun or underwater. Also, my unit was supposed to record sound underwater but only ticked and buzzed and you could sometimes hear the zoom motors functioning.

I tested the W10, a W60 predecessor, a few years ago, and lost it while almost being washed down the coast over some shallow reef. Pentax's press people send along two terrific accessories, a bright orange foam float with the logo surf camera on it that looped through the wrist strap, and a rubber case. Having a camera float in the ocean is a great, great comfort. And although the rubber case needed to be taken off every time to rinse the camera after a salt water swim, the added protection made my experience in the surf even more carefree. Both are highly recommended. And the camera isn't bad, either.

The Lunocet weighs about 2.5lbs out of the water, but in the water it's positively buoyant. Constructed from silicon wrapped in carbon fiber with a titanium footplate, the system gives you the same power on a downstroke as an upstroke. Coupled with a pair of strong legs the monofin could theoretically generate enough power to drive a human completely out of the water—yes, real life dolphin acrobatics at last.

So is the Lunocet worth its $1250 to $1800 pricetag? We don't know, but it sure sounds a whole lot better than actually training. And we doubt that we'll be getting access to DARPA's swimming tech anytime soon. [Lunocet]

His body was found yesterday by the Anna Gabriela, a tug working for Brazilian oil company Petrobras, 683 miles (1,100 kilometers) from Father De Carli's starting point. His trip started on April 20 after a mass, and his last contact was a desperate attempt to learn how to use his GPS and communicate his position as the wind took him deep into the Atlantic Ocean.

I need to contact someone who can teach me how to operate this GPS, so I can give the latitude and longitude coordinates, which is the only way that people on the ground can know where I am.

An Petrobras official spokesman said that "his clothes and shoes indicate that it's him." And now I don't know if I should say "Godspeed, Padre" or "this is another candidate for the Darwin Awards," so I would just say rest in peace.

[Editor's Note: I commend you for finding your way out of this world while trying to do some good for the rest of it. Rest in Peace, De Carli. -B.L.] [Bloomberg]

Instead of using the typical heavy cranes and tugs, they do their jobs very cheaply using computer models of the ship's intricate ballast systems, heavy cutting and drilling tools, pumps (and more than a bit of personal risk.) And salvage like this, recognized as a form of legal modern piracy, is compensated by a percentage of the value of the loot they save. Generally millions for jobs only days long. Here's how they flipped her around:

This is the best feature I've read in a long time. It's worth checking out. [Wired]

With a beam of just over four feet, the Sentry stands three feet above the waterline, and its remote control uses a PC-based console. On board is a camera for day or night use, microwave data-link communications gear, and a lighting rig that meets international maritime standards, according to Qinetiq.

Suggested missions include harbor patrol, battlefield reconnaissance and damage assessment. Not a swimming pool toy, then. [Crave]

"Simply put, people like light and illuminations - it just enhances any accessory; especially in Japan, where it gets dark so early.

For example, mobiles are just so part of our daily lives now and they have become very accessoried in trying to be unique and user-friendly with their displays. I think watches are just another accessory and LED lights give off an illumination everyone enjoys. The lights are like those small insects in the night, those bugs that can light up."