Innovation of the week

A Dutch battery-powered submarine is being billed as the world’s first “underwater party boat,” said Andrew Liszewski in Gizmodo. Measuring 115 feet long with a 1,600-square-foot interior, the submersible can squeeze in 120 guests “for parties, floating casinos, even wedding receptions.” Fourteen massive windows offer riders a view, illuminated by underwater spotlights, at depths as great as 650 feet.The ship is powered by a 1.2 megawatt-hour battery that can last 18 hours on a single charge and is equipped with an engine capable of hitting almost 3 mph underwater. “Should something catastrophic happen, it also carries an emergency power system that keeps critical systems powered and running for 96 hours.”