There's only one way to know the truth: Get your iPhone 3GS to the pool today, submerge it for a few seconds, and tell us. Come on. You know you want to do it. Send me your test video to jesus@gizmodo.com.

The Price: $40

The Verdict: The HydroStar SUB is one of the most supremely useful flashlights I have ever seen. The hand-crank means that it will never need batteries, and it can hold a charge surprisingly well despite having several modes. About a minute of cranking at a forearm-busting pace will generate about 45 minutes to an hour of usable light from the 1/2 watt center LED, and nearly two hours from the side LEDs and the strobe. The laser pointer, on the other hand, will only get about 5 to 10 minutes. Still, I would not recommend detaching the hand crank because every once in a while you will need to give it another hit to keep it functionally bright.

The USB charging option is also a handy feature, although your arm would probably fall off before you fully charged an iPod. In an emergency though, you could probably stand the pain long enough to juice up a basic cellphone to make a quick call. The whole package is fairly rugged too, so you don't have to worry about dropping it or getting it wet. Under most situations, the SUB should come away unscathed.

The bottom line is that if you are looking for a solid, utility or emergency flashlight, the HydroStar SUB would be a great choice. It packs in far more functionality than standard flashlights, and it is maintenance-free to boot. [Seattle Sports]

As Cindy L. Van Dover, a marine biologist who has logged hundred of hours in Alvin, puts it:

“Depth is a big deal,” she said. “It’s hard to wax lyrical on the subject because we don’t know what’s there. So we can’t guarantee a discovery. Yet we know that every time we extend our ability to go somewhere, we discover new things about how the planet works, about how life on the planet is adapted.”

Unfortunately and as one might expect, the project's budget has ballooned (titanium alone has had a 5x increase in cost since work began), and researchers are having to get creative to scrape up the necessary funding. So 2015 is now the still somewhat shaky current target date for the bigger, badder sub's first dive. But before then, old Alvin may get some of its successor's new gear (like its titanium crew sphere) until the whole thing comes together. [NY Times]