When the Boat's a Rockin'...

...you have clean, natural power that looks good from all angles.

According to The Times (of London) via CNN, Google has applied for a patent to build data centers (server farms if you're old school) off the British coast. The data centers would be built on boats and designed to use the water's natural motion to power the servers and/or cool them.

Aside from the whole risking life and limb in the not-known-for-its-friendly-nature North Atlantic thing, the idea looks good on paper.

• Clean energy source? Check.
• Lower costs? (No rent on the open ocean.) Check.
• A new revenue stream for the struggling maritime industry? Check.
• Smaller aesthetic impact? (Have you SEEN a data center? The building are ugly and have enough lines and cables running to them to audition for the part of Frankenstein's lab.) Check.
  
• A whole bunch of seasick computer guys? Check.

That last was just to see if you were paying attention. It sounds good, but we'll have to wait for more details before we can judge the actual feasibility of floating data centers.