An investigation concluded that data from computer simulations and wind-tunnel tests had been misinterpreted.

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The ship would use 60% wind power, relying on three computer-operated masts rising 55-meters -- as tall as a 14-storey building.

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Neodymium is a rare earth metal used extensively to produce permanent magnets found in everything from computer hard disks and cell phones to wind turbines and cars.

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Unusually for a car ferry, this ship would use three, massive computer-controlled sails to harness the maximum wind energy.

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Computer models will factor in currents, weather and wind to create search patterns to focus searchers' efforts, he said.

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Of course, if the euro stays depressed and computer-makers are forced to raise prices significantly, that could wind up hurting demand in Europe.

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And if combined with a number of palaeo-wind records gathered from around the continent, it could provide a useful tool to test climate computer models, they believe.

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For example, in 2007, US researchers built tiny wind engines that created a "breeze" made up of charged particles, or ions, to cool computer chips.

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The computer system helps rescuers track where someone may have fallen overboard by predicting their movements based on the wind, tide and currents.

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From this bunker, the nation's finest weathermen are commanding a squadron of maritime buoys, weather vanes, and far-flung anemometers a whirling device that measures wind speed to collect millions of "observations" about the weather and send them back to a super computer, where they are crunched into a forecast.

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