Yesterday, we met up with Iain Russell, the head of Wave Dragon, U.K.  This tidal energy generator uses the power of ocean waves to create electricity. As Iain explained it, the inventor developed the idea after watching waves crash on and drain through coral. The Wave Dragon is a 900-foot wide floating steel-reinforced concrete machine with a 300-foot adjustable “beach” in the middle. As waves approach the Dragon, they’re guided into this beach and crash up over it. They then drain down through six turbines, thus creating several megawatts of electricity. The beauty of this design is that it is incredibly durable and there are very few breakable moving parts. If something does break, the engineers can just remove a turbine and drop a new one in. Oh, and one other very cool thing: The engineers control the movement of the Wave Dragon by sending it text messages! You can find out more about the Dragon here.

We also must mention the site of our meeting with Iain. We had lunch at a small country tea room, which was incredibly charming and unlike anything we’ve ever experienced. The food was great - we had garlic bread, pasta carbonara, and a green salad. Fabulous!

We then headed down to a Days Inn in Stratford-Upon-Avon, and we’ve written this post from the public library in Stratford, just down the street from Shakespeare’s birthplace! Tonight we’re flying to Dinard, France, and hopefully we’ll be able to find an Internet cafe there tomorrow evening.