Barry Blitt, New Yorker
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Republican Apocalypse
GOP Horsemen of the Apocalypse
In 2004 almost 60 millions of Americans voted for war, famine, pestilence and disease. In 2008 this platform received 55% of the white vote. Apparently, many people have a death wish.
If the GOP exists in 2048, its notions may again become fashionable.
In 2004 almost 60 millions of Americans voted for war, famine, pestilence and disease. In 2008 this platform received 55% of the white vote. Apparently, many people have a death wish.
If the GOP exists in 2048, its notions may again become fashionable.
Slaughtering Jews in Mumbai
'Israel: Updates on the Chabad Home Hostage Operation in Mumbai'by Gilad LotanAs the commando operation at the Chabad Jewish Center of Mumbai unfolded, very little was known about the state of the hostages. Chabad is one of the largest Hasidic movements in Orthodox Judaism. It runs thousands of centers around the world, providing Jewish community centers, synagogues and schools - providing educational activities for Jews worldwide. They are very popular among Israeli backpackers, who frequent the centers while on their post-military travels.The Chabad website is currently blocked due to their implementation of the Saturday Guard software which prohibits users from accessing the site during Sabbath. However, a constant stream of updates is located on a sister site. The most current update states that the five Jewish hostages held inside the building were found dead:update 06:22 - a commando unit penetrated adjacent to the Chabad home. One terrorist killed.update 07:01 - Chabad home still under seige.update 07:17 - CNN reports that a mother and child were released from the Chabad home as they were weeping. It is unclear if this is the Rabbi Holtzberg's family.update 07:43 - security forces report that at least five terrorists are inside the Chabad home.update 08:05 - Chabad spokesperson, rabbi Menahem Brod: the emissary and her son escaped from Habad homeupdate 08:19 - The woman who escaped from Chabad home is a nanny who escaped with the son of the emissaries. They are still captured.update 08:24 - Chabad Hassids are asked to pray for the wellbeing of the emissaries at the wailing wall in Jerusalemupdate 08:34 - witnesses claim that the kidnappers released the emissary's son and his nanny. They are still held inside the building.update 08:36 - Israeli radio: the nanny who was released from Chabad home reports that the emissary and his wife were unconscious.update 08:55 - Israeli radio: the emissary's son who was released, was taken to the police station with the nanny. His parent's status is still unclear.update 09:03 - the emissary's mother on ynet: "I heard they are alive"update 09:23 - Indian security forces: it is possible that the terrorists ammunition has been exhausted.update 11:23 - a series of explosions are heard minutes ago from Chabad home. It is estimated that the security forces are breaking into the building.update 12:03 - a massive prayer session is being organized in the Wailing Wall at 15:00 in the afternoon, for the wellbeing of the hostages.update 13:51 - the educational Chabad youth center calls for immediate prayers across Israel.update 14:31 - kidnappers ask to open negotiations over the release of the hostages in Chabad home.update 17:31 - Israeli foreign ministry: there is great concern for the lives of those held in Chabad home.update 19:44 - press sources unofficially report that some of the hostages from the Chabad home were released.update 20:11 - Israeli foreign minister: "there is no basis to the claims that Israelis were release from Chabad home. We have little information which is troubling"update 21:41 - the nanny who escaped with the emissary's son in a special interview: "he is constantly asking for his mom and dad"update 23:00 - CNN-IBN: large explosion heard from Chabad home in Mumbai.update 23:51 - the Israeli foreign ministry states that despite the multiple reports, no hostages were released from the Chabad home in Mumbai. The office is checking with the Mumbai police forces the report on a large explosion heard from the building. Earlier reports claimed that eight people were seen walking out of Chabad home, however a diplomatic source stated they left from an adjacent building.update 01:35 - rabbi Nachman Holzberg and his wife left their home in Crown Heights enroute to Israel. The family: we keep receiving contradicting information.update 02:44 - CNN: third explosion heard tonight from Chabad home when a hand grenade was thrown from the building onto the Indian security forces surrounding the structure from the outside.update 02:46 - an Israeli delegation is making its way to help with the recue of the hostages in the Chabad home.update 03:47 - Indian security forces opened fire at Chabad home. It is unclear if they will break into the building.update 03:50 - political correspondant: four dead in Chabad home; Livni: the situation looks grim.update 04:20 - heavy gunfire in the Chabad home.update 05:05 - a white flag is raised from a window on the fourth floor of the Chabad building.update 06:46 - NDTV reporter located at the front of the Chabad home: the rescue operation is taking longer than expected because the rabbi and his wife are held alive.update 07:12 - rabbi Grossman to Israeli TV channel 2: the emissary's parents arrived in Mumbai and took custody of their grandson who is celebrating his 2nd birthday today.update 08:05 - police officer to Sky News: there are five or six live hostages inside Chabad home.update 08:41 - heavy fighting in the Chabad home. Commando forces break into the building from the air.update 08:52 - report from Mumbai: 3 explosions heard in the vicinity of the Chabad homeupdate 09:25 - high ranked officer estimates: the operation will end within several hours.update 10:25 - Israeli security officer: commando forces are on their way to the floor where the emissaries are held.update 10:51 - the British Sky network: explosions and gunfire heard in the vicinity of the Chabad home in Mumbai.update 10:52 - CNN India reports that the fourth and fifth floors in the Chabad building were evacuated.update 11:33 - commando force took control over most of the building floors. Echoes of bomb explosions are constantly heard.update 12:10 - Israeli radio: Indian media claims the Chabad emissaries are held alive, hence the commando forces are extremely careful.update 14:01 - rabbi says to volunteers: you are allowed to work on this Sabbath, which begins in India within 15 minutes.update 14:44 - great explosion in the Chabad home ruined part of the structure. Police: three terrorists are still inside.update 14:55 - cheerful calls next to Chabad home. CNN: the commando forces overpowered the terrorists. The emissary and his wife's status is still unknown.updateupdate 15:48 - five Jews found dead in Chabad home.You may view the latest post athttp://globalvoicesonline.org/2008/11/28/israel-updates-on-the-chabad-home-hostage-operation-in-mumbai/
Blame Games Mumbai
'Pakistan: Blame Game On Mumbai Terror - The Blogosphere Speaks'by Muhammad Farhan JanjuaRecent terror attacks in Mumbai have seriously disturbed and complicated the on-going peace dialogues between India and Pakistan. Where Indian officials are not hesitating to point fingers to Pakistan, the Pakistani officials have been denying Pakistan's involvement the attacks. Pakistan authorities have further requested not to play the blame game and have offered their full support in the investigation. While all these are happening the Pakistani Blogosphere has a lot of important things to say:Dr. Awab Alvi at Teeth Maestro says:What has also sadly transpired within the following day is that the ‘official’ blame game circus is in full swing, contrary to my initial message where I expressed my relief that Pakistan was not being blamed since Deccan Mujahideen were taking the blame, but much to my dismay the good news [?] was short lived and very soon the Indian government was livid at the Pakistani intelligence agencies for having masterminded this attack, in all honesty it might even had been the ISI [ironically we cant trust them either] but whosoever created the mess, Indian or Pakistanis it must be condemned at all costs.M Junaid Khan at Pro-Pakistan publishes a newsletter that was being distributed publicly:Even when the shootings were going on in hotels, Indian media and army were blaming 'Pakistan' for the attacks. The game is clear and sinister. The Indian Intelligence have diverted the global attention towards another issue where they would blame Pakistan for this slaughter and use Barack Obama’s doctrine of attacks on Pakistan to encircle Pakistan from both sides. It is such a shame that Pakistani media is not highlighting this issue and is only repeating what Indians want the world to see and believe.tperacha at Lahore Metblogs writes his reservations:Times of India is already reporting that Pakistani militants have been captured and that this whole incident could not have happened without support from across the border. Now I am sure that similar to 2001 Indian Parliament Attack, NADRA issued ID cards will be found in possession of all these terrorists and then it requires not much wit to figure it out! The western media are also jumping on the bandwagon and trying their best to portray this as another al-qaeda attack.Maybe we should also borrow a page from our neighbor’s book and God forbid, next time when we have a terrorist attack in Pakistan, simply blame it on RAW and get on with our lives. In fact a lot of analysts believe that foreign elements have played part in the recent attacks in Pakistan, but unlike the Indian government, our government doesn’t have the balls to blame any external element.Adil Najam at Pakistaniat shows his solidarity with Indians in these words:I, too, am a Mumbaikar today.I wish I could reach out and for just one moment hold the hands of the woman in this AP photograph. Maybe shed some tears on her shoulder. But I do not know what I would say to her. I do not think she would want me to say much. The expression on her face matches the feeling I have at the pit of my stomach and in the depth of my heart. I think - I hope - that she would understand how I feel. I can only imagine what she is going through.Rana at The Pakistani Spectator tries to unfold the facts in his opinion:1. They came on speed boats from Pakistan. WOW :). Indian coastguards intercept fisherman that cross the maritime borders into Indian waters everyday. Thousands rot in Indian jails and here we have guys with sophisticated weapons entering India and their coast gaurds were fast asleep…….hmmmm fishy.2. Mumbai police intercepted calls made to/from Pakistan….what idiot would do that?? maybe the Mumbai police. Hey there is my number…come get me. 3. They had the “footprints” of the ISI…..did the ISI leave behind its footprints….hmmmJokes apart…so who were behind the attacks?Where all these rumors were flying around, the Indian mainstream media has nonetheless been irresponsible with the blame game. At my blog Guppu.com I have posted a video of a sensationalist reporting by the Indian media speculating about accents of the terrorists. On a request of the Prime Minister of India a representative of ISI is to visit India for sharing of intelligence. The Prime Minister of Pakistan has promised his country's full support in the investigation. But still fingers are being pointed out towards Pakistan and the blame game continues. A portion of Pakistani media is playing along with the game inciting rumors.You may view the latest post athttp://globalvoicesonline.org/2008/11/29/pakistan-mumbai-terror-blame-game-and-the-blogospheres-perspective/
Rape in Iraq
Rape’s vast toll in Iraq war remains largely ignored
Author: Wameeth (Iraq), Mideast Youth
This is a report by Anna Badkhen, a correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor, who highlights the sort of news that has too often gone unreported. I felt it was important to also share here for the sake of awareness:
Many rape victims have escaped to Jordan but still don’t have access to treatment and counseling.
AMMAN, JORDAN - As though recoiling from her own memories, Khalida shrank deeper into her faded armchair with each sentence she told: of how gunmen apparently working for Iraq’s Interior Ministry kidnapped her, beat and raped her; of how they discarded her on a Baghdad sidewalk.
But her suffering did not end when she fled Iraq and became a refugee in Jordan’s capital, Amman. When Khalida’s husband learned that she had been raped, he abandoned her and their two young sons.
Rumors spread fast in Amman; soon, everyone on her block knew that she was without a man in the house. Last month, her Jordanian neighbor barged into her apartment and attempted to rape her.
Khalida never reported the incident. Like tens of thousands of Iraqi refugees in Jordan, she does not have a permit to live or work here, and she is afraid that if she turns to authorities for help she will get deported. So instead of seeking punishment for her assailant, she latched the flimsy metal door of her apartment and stopped going outside.
Her story sheds light on a problem that is little researched, poorly understood, and largely ignored: Iraqi rape victims who now live in Jordan illegally and without protection. Sexual assault is heavily stigmatized in the Middle East, and victims are often afraid to talk about it to anyone, fearing that their families will abandon them. And their shaky status in Jordan leaves them afraid to seek help and vulnerable to new assaults and abuse. They fear persecution by Jordanian immigration authorities almost as much as they fear returning to Iraq.
“The lack of legal status does lead to these sorts of protection issues [and] puts them in very exploitative situations,” says Imran Riza, who heads the mission in Jordan of the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the main international agency that assists Iraqis in Jordan. Women like Khalida, he says, “are certainly vulnerable, and much more vulnerable than others.”
Rape is a common weapon of any war; no one knows how many Iraqi women have been raped since the war began in 2003. Most crimes against women “are not reported because of stigma, fear of retaliation, or lack of confidence in the police,” MADRE, an international women’s rights group, wrote in its 2007 report about violence against women in Iraq. Some women, like Khalida, are raped by Iraqi security forces. A 2005 report published by the Iraqi National Association for Human Rights found that women held in Interior Ministry detention centers endure “systematic rape by the investigators.”
A handful of organizations are working to help rape victims in Iraq. MADRE, together with the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, operates several shelters and safe houses in Baghdad for Iraqi rape victims, where the women have access to healthcare and counseling.
But militias often target women’s rights advocates in Iraq, so these facilities are “a clandestine network,” operated by “mostly somebody who at a great risk to themselves has opened a room for these victims,” says Yifat Susskind, MADRE’s communications director. The shelters have helped several thousand Iraqi women since 2003. Most rape victims learn about the shelters from other women.
Documenting sexual assault in Iraq by international researchers remains complicated because of widespread violence. “There’s been a security issue, so we haven’t been able to get people on the ground to look at the issue for a long time,” says Marianne Mollmann, who leads women’s rights advocacy at the New York-based Human Rights Watch, which published its last report about rape in Iraq in 2003.
Similarly, no one has tried to estimate how many Iraqi refugees have been raped while in Iraq or in Jordan, says Mohamad Habashneh, a Jordanian psychiatrist who works with Iraqi rape victims.
Mr. Habashneh has treated approximately 40 Iraqi rape victims for clinical depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. But he estimates that they are just a fraction of Iraqi refugees who had been raped.
Psychiatrists like Habashneh charge between $25 and $40 per visit, too expensive for most Iraqi refugees, who, like Khalida, live hand-to-mouth on monthly handouts of about $100 from international agencies.
Many victims are afraid to go outside or travel to a clinic out of fear of being detained by Jordanian authorities.
To help these women, women’s rights organizations in Jordan must coordinate with larger agencies, such as UNHCR, to provide care and programs that would help the victims earn money “because rape survivors are alienated from their family and therefore have no way to sustain themselves,” Ms. Susskind says.
But so far, these resources are not available for most Iraqi rape victims in Jordan. There are no support groups, no counselors, no hot lines, an no one to soothe Khalida when she has flashbacks that make her relive the day when assailants dressed in police uniforms arrived at the Oil Ministry where she worked and said they were taking her in for questioning.
She did not tell her husband that she had been raped but he figured it out. Now, Khalida does not blame him for going away, or for leaving her so vulnerable to men who wish to prey on her.
“I have his phone number,” she says, sobbing quietly. “I dial it sometimes for the kids to talk to their father. Sometimes, because I love him, I like to hear his voice. But when I say ‘hello’ he hangs up.”
Author: Wameeth (Iraq), Mideast Youth
This is a report by Anna Badkhen, a correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor, who highlights the sort of news that has too often gone unreported. I felt it was important to also share here for the sake of awareness:
Many rape victims have escaped to Jordan but still don’t have access to treatment and counseling.
AMMAN, JORDAN - As though recoiling from her own memories, Khalida shrank deeper into her faded armchair with each sentence she told: of how gunmen apparently working for Iraq’s Interior Ministry kidnapped her, beat and raped her; of how they discarded her on a Baghdad sidewalk.
But her suffering did not end when she fled Iraq and became a refugee in Jordan’s capital, Amman. When Khalida’s husband learned that she had been raped, he abandoned her and their two young sons.
Rumors spread fast in Amman; soon, everyone on her block knew that she was without a man in the house. Last month, her Jordanian neighbor barged into her apartment and attempted to rape her.
Khalida never reported the incident. Like tens of thousands of Iraqi refugees in Jordan, she does not have a permit to live or work here, and she is afraid that if she turns to authorities for help she will get deported. So instead of seeking punishment for her assailant, she latched the flimsy metal door of her apartment and stopped going outside.
Her story sheds light on a problem that is little researched, poorly understood, and largely ignored: Iraqi rape victims who now live in Jordan illegally and without protection. Sexual assault is heavily stigmatized in the Middle East, and victims are often afraid to talk about it to anyone, fearing that their families will abandon them. And their shaky status in Jordan leaves them afraid to seek help and vulnerable to new assaults and abuse. They fear persecution by Jordanian immigration authorities almost as much as they fear returning to Iraq.
“The lack of legal status does lead to these sorts of protection issues [and] puts them in very exploitative situations,” says Imran Riza, who heads the mission in Jordan of the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the main international agency that assists Iraqis in Jordan. Women like Khalida, he says, “are certainly vulnerable, and much more vulnerable than others.”
Rape is a common weapon of any war; no one knows how many Iraqi women have been raped since the war began in 2003. Most crimes against women “are not reported because of stigma, fear of retaliation, or lack of confidence in the police,” MADRE, an international women’s rights group, wrote in its 2007 report about violence against women in Iraq. Some women, like Khalida, are raped by Iraqi security forces. A 2005 report published by the Iraqi National Association for Human Rights found that women held in Interior Ministry detention centers endure “systematic rape by the investigators.”
A handful of organizations are working to help rape victims in Iraq. MADRE, together with the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, operates several shelters and safe houses in Baghdad for Iraqi rape victims, where the women have access to healthcare and counseling.
But militias often target women’s rights advocates in Iraq, so these facilities are “a clandestine network,” operated by “mostly somebody who at a great risk to themselves has opened a room for these victims,” says Yifat Susskind, MADRE’s communications director. The shelters have helped several thousand Iraqi women since 2003. Most rape victims learn about the shelters from other women.
Documenting sexual assault in Iraq by international researchers remains complicated because of widespread violence. “There’s been a security issue, so we haven’t been able to get people on the ground to look at the issue for a long time,” says Marianne Mollmann, who leads women’s rights advocacy at the New York-based Human Rights Watch, which published its last report about rape in Iraq in 2003.
Similarly, no one has tried to estimate how many Iraqi refugees have been raped while in Iraq or in Jordan, says Mohamad Habashneh, a Jordanian psychiatrist who works with Iraqi rape victims.
Mr. Habashneh has treated approximately 40 Iraqi rape victims for clinical depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. But he estimates that they are just a fraction of Iraqi refugees who had been raped.
Psychiatrists like Habashneh charge between $25 and $40 per visit, too expensive for most Iraqi refugees, who, like Khalida, live hand-to-mouth on monthly handouts of about $100 from international agencies.
Many victims are afraid to go outside or travel to a clinic out of fear of being detained by Jordanian authorities.
To help these women, women’s rights organizations in Jordan must coordinate with larger agencies, such as UNHCR, to provide care and programs that would help the victims earn money “because rape survivors are alienated from their family and therefore have no way to sustain themselves,” Ms. Susskind says.
But so far, these resources are not available for most Iraqi rape victims in Jordan. There are no support groups, no counselors, no hot lines, an no one to soothe Khalida when she has flashbacks that make her relive the day when assailants dressed in police uniforms arrived at the Oil Ministry where she worked and said they were taking her in for questioning.
She did not tell her husband that she had been raped but he figured it out. Now, Khalida does not blame him for going away, or for leaving her so vulnerable to men who wish to prey on her.
“I have his phone number,” she says, sobbing quietly. “I dial it sometimes for the kids to talk to their father. Sometimes, because I love him, I like to hear his voice. But when I say ‘hello’ he hangs up.”
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Ocean Currents Can Power the World
Ocean currents can power the world, say scientists
A revolutionary device that can harness energy from slow-moving rivers and ocean currents could provide enough power for the entire world, scientists claim.
By Jasper Copping, telegraph.co.uk
Existing technologies require an average current of five or six knots to operate efficiently, while most of the earth's currents are slower than three knots Photo: AP
A revolutionary device that can harness energy from slow-moving rivers and ocean currents could provide enough power for the entire world, scientists claim.
By Jasper Copping, telegraph.co.uk
Existing technologies require an average current of five or six knots to operate efficiently, while most of the earth's currents are slower than three knots Photo: AP
The technology can generate electricity in water flowing at a rate of less than one knot - about one mile an hour - meaning it could operate on most waterways and sea beds around the globe.
Existing technologies which use water power, relying on the action of waves, tides or faster currents created by dams, are far more limited in where they can be used, and also cause greater obstructions when they are built in rivers or the sea. Turbines and water mills need an average current of five or six knots to operate efficiently, while most of the earth's currents are slower than three knots.
The new device, which has been inspired by the way fish swim, consists of a system of cylinders positioned horizontal to the water flow and attached to springs.
As water flows past, the cylinder creates vortices, which push and pull the cylinder up and down. The mechanical energy in the vibrations is then converted into electricity.
Cylinders arranged over a cubic metre of the sea or river bed in a flow of three knots can produce 51 watts. This is more efficient than similar-sized turbines or wave generators, and the amount of power produced can increase sharply if the flow is faster or if more cylinders are added.
A "field" of cylinders built on the sea bed over a 1km by 1.5km area, and the height of a two-storey house, with a flow of just three knots, could generate enough power for around 100,000 homes. Just a few of the cylinders, stacked in a short ladder, could power an anchored ship or a lighthouse.
Systems could be sited on river beds or suspended in the ocean. The scientists behind the technology, which has been developed in research funded by the US government, say that generating power in this way would potentially cost only around 3.5p per kilowatt hour, compared to about 4.5p for wind energy and between 10p and 31p for solar power. They say the technology would require up to 50 times less ocean acreage than wave power generation.
The system, conceived by scientists at the University of Michigan, is called Vivace, or "vortex-induced vibrations for aquatic clean energy".
Michael Bernitsas, a professor of naval architecture at the university, said it was based on the changes in water speed that are caused when a current flows past an obstruction. Eddies or vortices, formed in the water flow, can move objects up and down or left and right.
"This is a totally new method of extracting energy from water flow," said Mr Bernitsas. "Fish curve their bodies to glide between the vortices shed by the bodies of the fish in front of them. Their muscle power alone could not propel them through the water at the speed they go, so they ride in each other's wake."
Such vibrations, which were first observed 500 years ago by Leonardo DaVinci in the form of "Aeolian Tones", can cause damage to structures built in water, like docks and oil rigs. But Mr Bernitsas added: "We enhance the vibrations and harness this powerful and destructive force in nature.
"If we could harness 0.1 per cent of the energy in the ocean, we could support the energy needs of 15 billion people. In the English Channel, for example, there is a very strong current, so you produce a lot of power."
Because the parts only oscillate slowly, the technology is likely to be less harmful to aquatic wildlife than dams or water turbines. And as the installations can be positioned far below the surface of the sea, there would be less interference with shipping, recreational boat users, fishing and tourism.
The engineers are now deploying a prototype device in the Detroit River, which has a flow of less than two knots. Their work, funded by the US Department of Energy and the US Office of Naval Research, is published in the current issue of the quarterly Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering.
Existing technologies which use water power, relying on the action of waves, tides or faster currents created by dams, are far more limited in where they can be used, and also cause greater obstructions when they are built in rivers or the sea. Turbines and water mills need an average current of five or six knots to operate efficiently, while most of the earth's currents are slower than three knots.
The new device, which has been inspired by the way fish swim, consists of a system of cylinders positioned horizontal to the water flow and attached to springs.
As water flows past, the cylinder creates vortices, which push and pull the cylinder up and down. The mechanical energy in the vibrations is then converted into electricity.
Cylinders arranged over a cubic metre of the sea or river bed in a flow of three knots can produce 51 watts. This is more efficient than similar-sized turbines or wave generators, and the amount of power produced can increase sharply if the flow is faster or if more cylinders are added.
A "field" of cylinders built on the sea bed over a 1km by 1.5km area, and the height of a two-storey house, with a flow of just three knots, could generate enough power for around 100,000 homes. Just a few of the cylinders, stacked in a short ladder, could power an anchored ship or a lighthouse.
Systems could be sited on river beds or suspended in the ocean. The scientists behind the technology, which has been developed in research funded by the US government, say that generating power in this way would potentially cost only around 3.5p per kilowatt hour, compared to about 4.5p for wind energy and between 10p and 31p for solar power. They say the technology would require up to 50 times less ocean acreage than wave power generation.
The system, conceived by scientists at the University of Michigan, is called Vivace, or "vortex-induced vibrations for aquatic clean energy".
Michael Bernitsas, a professor of naval architecture at the university, said it was based on the changes in water speed that are caused when a current flows past an obstruction. Eddies or vortices, formed in the water flow, can move objects up and down or left and right.
"This is a totally new method of extracting energy from water flow," said Mr Bernitsas. "Fish curve their bodies to glide between the vortices shed by the bodies of the fish in front of them. Their muscle power alone could not propel them through the water at the speed they go, so they ride in each other's wake."
Such vibrations, which were first observed 500 years ago by Leonardo DaVinci in the form of "Aeolian Tones", can cause damage to structures built in water, like docks and oil rigs. But Mr Bernitsas added: "We enhance the vibrations and harness this powerful and destructive force in nature.
"If we could harness 0.1 per cent of the energy in the ocean, we could support the energy needs of 15 billion people. In the English Channel, for example, there is a very strong current, so you produce a lot of power."
Because the parts only oscillate slowly, the technology is likely to be less harmful to aquatic wildlife than dams or water turbines. And as the installations can be positioned far below the surface of the sea, there would be less interference with shipping, recreational boat users, fishing and tourism.
The engineers are now deploying a prototype device in the Detroit River, which has a flow of less than two knots. Their work, funded by the US Department of Energy and the US Office of Naval Research, is published in the current issue of the quarterly Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering.
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