Video: Robotic High Tech Sailboat Put to a Good Cause

This one is for techies and environmentalists: a robotic sailboat that sails about autonomously soaking up oil spills with its long absorbent tail. Check out the video describing this project in development by scientist-environmentalists. One of the things I find most fascinating about its design is the lack of a rudder for steering the sailboat; instead, the whole hull shape flexes to change how it moves. Fascinating stuff! Makes you wonder what kinds of sailboats we might end up with if more scientists and engineers got into cruising. But it's also really cool that the "low-tech" physics of sail that have been around for thousands of years are still being put to use - and for an important cause, even!