It should come as no surprise that on January 5th of this year Mike Parsons set a new record for the biggest wave ever ridden when Brad Gerlach towed him into a 70ft+ bomb at the Cortes Bank.  And it should come as no surprise when that record gets broken.

The creator of MonoJet, Egon Monostory, claims that the MonoJet surfboard is the lightest, fastest jet-powered surfboard on the market and is capable of speeds up to 40 mph. Apparently it’s not that easy to get a MonoJet board, though, because Egon will only make one for you if he likes you.

I wonder how long it’ll be before we see surfers using self-propelled surfboards for catching and riding big waves. It stands to reason that a self-propelled surfboard could eliminate the need to have a tow-in partner, although, I do think that if you’re in the water when there are waves of consequence, it’s a good idea to have someone out there with a JetSki for rescue situations.

Thanks, InventorSpot

This spectacular product failure has fueled speculation that the electrical fields, that serve as the basis for SharkShield’s shark-repelling technology, may actually attract sharks and compel them to attack. The company claims that their shark-repelling technology works fine when you’re stationary, but not so much when you’re paddling or riding a wave. Since roughly 52% of a surfer’s time in the water is spent either paddling or riding waves, I’d say it’s a safe play to avoid using the SharkShield device. Link

I’m not an expert on the subject, but it stands to reason that the ESA’s swell animations ought to be more accurate than NOAA’s Wave Watch III (WWIII) animations, which are based on modeled data as opposed to actual wave measurements.  Although the WWIII model still has its merits when it comes to predicting future swell movements, it’ll be interesting to see if and how the ESA’s new method of measuring the ocean’s current surface conditions makes its way into the world of surf forecasting.

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Lisi’s idea is based on an extraordinarily complicated geometric shape called E8, an eight-dimensional shape with 248 points – a pattern he thinks may describe the underlying geometry of the universe itself. The myriad of different particles and forces we perceive would then stem from this shape’s weirdly symmetric geometry.

I can’t help but wonder what would happen if we did find the key that unlocks the universe. What would matter anymore? Would we all still have to go to work?

Scientists explain that the foam is created by impurities in the ocean, such as salts, chemicals, dead plants, decomposed fish and excretions from seaweed. All are churned up together by powerful currents which cause the water to form bubbles. These bubbles stick to each other as they are carried below the surface by the current towards the shore. As a wave starts to form on the surface, the motion of the water causes the bubbles to swirl upwards and, massed together, they become foam.

Here’s a link to the story.

When you look at them on a satellite image, they kinda resemble a WWIII wave period animation.

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I’m gonna work on getting one to put on my desk, so when work’s bringing me down I can just put my head in it.

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