Skip to Content

Jet Boats

Ships and even small boats are a major source of noise and other pollution, a growing concern along today’s crowded coasts. One solution: a waterjet technology being developed by Rolls-Royce Naval Marine in Walpole, MA. The waterjets propel ships by shooting water out their sterns, allowing them to maneuver in water that would be too shallow for comparably sized vessels that rely on propellers and rudders. And unlike the waterjets used in personal watercraft and some ferries, which expel water above the vessels’ waterlines, the new design discharges the propulsive stream underwater, thereby reducing wake and lowering noise. The Rolls-Royce waterjet operates at 30,000 to 50,000 horsepower-suitable for propelling fast ships like naval destroyers, which would benefit from the underwater jets’ stealth. Smaller boats also may benefit from similar technology, though; a 2,000-horsepower version is scheduled for testing in spring 2003.

Keep Reading

Most Popular

Large language models can do jaw-dropping things. But nobody knows exactly why.

And that's a problem. Figuring it out is one of the biggest scientific puzzles of our time and a crucial step towards controlling more powerful future models.

OpenAI teases an amazing new generative video model called Sora

The firm is sharing Sora with a small group of safety testers but the rest of us will have to wait to learn more.

Google’s Gemini is now in everything. Here’s how you can try it out.

Gmail, Docs, and more will now come with Gemini baked in. But Europeans will have to wait before they can download the app.

This baby with a head camera helped teach an AI how kids learn language

A neural network trained on the experiences of a single young child managed to learn one of the core components of language: how to match words to the objects they represent.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.