A boat powered by flippers, ratherthan a propeller, is being developedby the Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology, USA. The system,based on the swimming action ofthe penguin, uses two motor-drivenflippers, thereby saving fuel andenergy, claim the developers. Theflippers are designed to produce thesame hydrodynamics as the tail of atropical fish. The flippers flap 30times per minute and can propel a300-fect boat at speeds up to 30knots. The developers of Proteus, a12-feet-long boat with two oscillating foils, or flippers, attached to its stern, say it is the forerunner of ftffi-scale flipper-propelled ships (Engineering Designer, March 1997).