Giant sea monsters aren't the only ocean-dwelling creatures to be mindful of when taking a dip it seems. The waters around northern Spain are soon to be invaded by swimming robots.
Scientists are planning to release a school of robo-fish into the sea near Gijon to help detect pollution. Designed to resemble carp and swim like real fish, the 1.5m-long patrolling robots apparently won't scare neighbouring marine life – good to know.
Each £20,000 robo-carp has an eight-hour battery life, beaming data back to researchers via Wi-FI when it returns automatically to a charging point. If all goes well, expect to see robo-fish in a river near you.
Mosquito laser
Back on dry land, where once American rocket scientists were devising a laser defence system to devastate Soviet missiles, they're now pointing their lasers at a different kind of threat, reports the Wall Street Journal: the malaria-carrying mosquito.
Oddly enough, the mosquito laser was built from parts bought on eBay. But the lethal device has been worked on by Jordin Kare, an astrophysicist previously connected to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory – home to some of the deadliest weapons known to man.
"We like to think back then we made some contribution to the ending of the Cold War," says Dr. Kare. "Now we're just trying to make a dent in a war that's actually claimed a lot more lives."
Space travel heralds the future
From the skies to the solar system, this week came the news that Sweden's Ice Hotel has teamed up with Virgin Galactic to start selling tickets for tourist flights into space. Commencing in 2012, for £140,000 a pop you could find yourself among an elite few happily holidaying 70miles above Earth.
Gadget therapy
The world's first electric hybrid sports boat was announced this week. The new EPIC 23e wake boat allows for a 50 per cent reduction in fuel, and has slashed CO emissions by 90 per cent. For those unimpressed by its eco-trappings, there's also a touchscreen interface, GPS Speed Control and a "fully-fledged entertainment system" with which to amuse your guests.
On an entirely different level of impressiveness is the BeepEgg, a singing egg timer that cooks the perfect egg, while also playing a suitable song to denote levels of hardness. Allow us to recommend holding out for the piece de resistance: Carl Orff's dramatic O Fortuna, for hard-boiled.
And finally…
Behold! You've seen the Cadbury advert – now see the tech up close. Japanese artist and programmer Daito Manabe has been wiring up his friend's faces to twitch in time to his favourite tracks for quite some time.
In his most recent video, he attaches electrodes to four volunteers. Using a system that converts music into electrical impulses, the resulting facial "sychronised spasming" is a strangely hypnotic observational experience. Only in Japan…
