The USS New York is the Navy’s newest ship, and it is part of a completely new class of vessel. It is like a floating airport, marina and garage able to deploy 700 marines and their equipment anywhere in the world. Here’s a description of this new class of ships:

It has a stealthy shape and carries an amazing collection of equipment:
- V-22 Ospreys
- Amphibious expeditionary fighting vehicles
- LCAC hovercraft
- Tanks
- Helicopters

4 High-Tech Surprises From the USS New York

The USS New York, commissioned this month in its namesake city, is the Navy’s newest warship. It’s a Landing Platform Dock ship, which means it brings Marines to wherever they are needed. The 700 marines on the ship travel ready for combat, and that means landing hovercraft (called Landing Craft Air Cushions), attack helicopters, tanks, amphibious vehicles and V-22 Ospreys come along for the ride. The aircraft launch from the ship and are maintained in hangars on and below the flight deck. The New York has the most famous hull in the world—the Navy integrated 7.5 tons of steel from the fallen World Trade Center towers into the bow. But that is not the only interesting detail of this new vessel’s design. Here are four high-tech surprises the USS New York has in store for enemies.

An amphibious landing is a major event, as described in this video:

A description of the recycled steel in the USS New York

See also:
- Cut-away diagram
- USS New York
- LPD-21

[[[Jump to previous weapon - Project Jedi and the First Earth Battalion]]]

Eric Schmidt (CEO of Google) and Steven Chu (U.S. Energy Secretary) talk about America’s energy future and how it may unfold:

Topics covered include wind and solar power, carbon sequestration, “clean coal”, nuclear power, the role of science in setting energy policy, etc.

[[[Jump to previous MYT - The Army won’t accept 75% of Americans]]]

A brief history of Google:

A more in-depth time line is available here:

Google Milestones

See also: How Google Works and How Google Works

[[[Jump to previous BFTP - 20 years after the Berlin Wall]]]

Here is an 84 square foot cabin – smaller than a single parking space in a parking lot:

Her house is dwarfed by this 100 square foot home:

Then he upgraded to 120 square feet:

And this 325 square foot house called the MiniHome is a mansion:

There’s an idea that if we were all to live as we do in the West, we would need an additional 10 planets. So instead of saying, “Well that’s absurd, we can’t have 10 more planets,” why don’t we reduce our consumption, our impact, to one tenth? So what we’ve done here is one tenth the gas, one tenth the water, and in fact one one hundredth the electrical consumption of a conventional home.

[[[Jump to previous house - Bridge house]]]

A fun and interesting infographic:

15 things worth knowing about coffee

Fun facts include:

- “70% of the world consumes Arabica coffee, which is mild and aromatic. 30% drinks Robusta, which is bitter-tasting but has 50% more caffeine.”

- “Coffee is the second most traded commodity on earth.”

- “Espresso: It’s not a particular type of bean, roast or blend. Espresso is just a way that coffee is prepared: shooting pressurized, hot water through finely ground coffee.”

More info:
- How Coffee Works
- How Espresso Works
- How Coffee Makers Work
- How Caffeine Works – “More than half of all American adults­ consume more than 300 milligrams (mg) of caffeine every day, making it America’s most popular drug by far.”

Harvesting and roasting the beans looks like this:

This video suggests that you can grow your own coffee at home:

See also: Fair Trade Coffee – Step 1 – The Harvest

[[[Jump to previous Fun Facts - Fun facts about Texas]]]