fleet of robots on a mission to earth's final frontier. dylan rath began finds hope in silicon valley. our reporters and frit z nelson of information week. this week on "press: here." good morning, everyone. i'm scott mcgrew. at this moment, a fleet of robots is making its way to hawaii commanded by a guy from outer space.

really? the robots have nothing but good intentions, and while their commander ed lou is from outer space, he lived in orbit for six months, he's orifrnay ll om massachusetts. they are called wave gliders. they measure all kinds of data about the ocean and transmit that data to the internet for anyone to use. ed lou is chief innovation officer at the company that launch them, liquid robotics. lou has been to space three times. twice on atlantis and once on an emergency trip aboard the russian satellite after the columbia disaster. before coming to liquid robotics, he was the head of

google street products. his hobby, i kid you not, is working with other astronauts to develop new ways to save the earth. joined by frits nelson. i don't know where to start. let's start with the ocean. why explore the ocean? it's been unexplored. there's got to be other things that interest astronauts. >> the thing that interests me truthly, the first time i saw it, i thought that is cool. these robots are just neat. they swim by themselves. they navigate. they will go for months at a time. carry whatever instruments you want. i thought this looked like a fun thing to do. but it turns out as you just said, we don't know that much about the ocean. we know more about outer space than we do about the ocean, which is kind of crazy.

the data is poor just because it's expensive to put sensors out there. we want to know about temperatures and all the thing for climate, fisheries management, all our ships crossing the ocean. but it's expensive to put weather stations or sensors out there. and the reason is because big ships cost a lot of money. so what we've got is these surf board-looking things. they will swim wherever you want and you can take the data and understand what's happening out there. it's really kind of amazing. it's going to change the way we think about the ocean. >> they are using wave power for energy, correct? >> the up and down motion of the waves makes them go forward. these things are like little spacecrafts. >> the vi neegs blinds are what

is being pushed around? >> it goes up and forward. then down and forward. it will go a slow walking speed, which is pretty good. at a slow walking speed you can walk across the pacific ocean in a few months. that's what we're doing. >> you have four of them out there? >> we have about a hundred of them. four of them on a special trip where we put all the data online. and with the idea let's see what smart people can do with this. there's everything from -- we don't know everything everybody is doing out there. there's a lot more smart people out there than in your company, no matter how many smart people are in your company. i don't e know exactly what's going to happen. >> that's an interesting point. the game where you take gps and

find treasures? they had no idea that was going to be. and it's now a major source of sales for hand held gps. otherwise, you have it in i phones. there are people who will take your data and do with it what you didn't expect. and i think few organizations take advantage of that. >> yeah. that's what we're trying to do. the idea of putting it online is to see what interesting applications people come up with this. we're finding surprising things. for instance, if you have four ships measuring the ocean currents, what you sometimes find is they are sometimes not measuring the same current. that means the ocean currents aren't these big, grand streams. but flst lots of small currents moving all over the place. that's important. some of these currents are strong. and big ships crossing the ocean, they cost a lot of money

to sail against the current. if they are taking the kind of maps you see on currents for granted, they are very wrong. that's already pretty interesting. >> you come from the space industry and there's a lot of satellites out in space. a lot of stealth work. the first place my thought process went to was is there some kind of spy application for this from the waters? >> actually, yes. we're spying on fish and marine mammals. >> that's not very interesting. >> it's kind of cool actually. when you listen for marine mammals or fish, you are on a boat. and they are loud. it's difficult to do that. but because these are wave powered, they are totally quiet. you put a microphone behind it, you can pick up the sounds of whales and fish and we can monitor the marine protected

reserves for illegal fishing. and it's actually a big deal. it's an enormous industry. monitoring of regions out in the middle of the ocean is hard. you don't want to have an airplane all the time, but they circle and listen for boats. >> is there anything if you let them go and thought, we should have put that on there? >> yes. we have a bunch of different instruments that are outfitted in different ways. we're always testing new instruments on there. so we can do everything from sniffing for chemicals in the water like oils. r instance, we're actually circling rigs looking for oil leaks. the guys who own the oil rigs want to know if they are leaking. >> can it clean a pelican?

>> not so good at that. >> the garbage patch. are birds an issue? if a bird is landing on it, you have an issue. >> we took a picture of it before. but water washes over the top. >> that answers that question. >> for 50 years in the space program, there's been this ongoing debate about man versus unmanned. in a lot of ways, the parallels are striking. is there the same debate in ocean exploration? >> the debate even in the space program is misguided. it's like asking someone should we have airplanes or bicycles? they are two different things. if i'm shipping something across the street, i use a truck. across the ocean, maybe an airplane or boat. you use the right tool for the right thing. there are certain things people can do, but there are certain things that robots are better at. keeping things in the middle of

storms, i don't want people out there holding a little thing measuring the wind. i'd rather have an unmanned version. there's applications that are just better for robots and things that are better for people. >> when you watch the last shuttle launch, having launched twice on the shuttle, that must have been a bittersweet thing to watch. >> i'm sorry to see it go, but on the other hand, it was time to go. it was a vehicle that was tremendous for its time. if we're going to move on, you can't -- you have to give up the hold things in order to do the new things. >> dr. ed lu, thank you for being with us. up next, all bad economic data has an asterisk. that's when "press: here" continues.

there's a mat mat call fact. this is is not some opinion. this is a mathematical fact. tens of trillions of dollars are being extracted from the united states of america. >> that was msnbc's dylan ratigan. we get so worked up in the politics of it, we ignore the bigger problem. he's the author of "greedy bastards." and the host of the "dylan ratigan show." we're joined by fritz nelson. i didn't run that touf embarras you. i ran that to compliment you. people aren't getting worked up enough about what's going on.

the bumper sticker. if you're not mad, you're not paying attention. >> what you're seeing is not to focus on the prowrestling of the political parties, but on our obvious need to understand the root of our issues, which i see as a corrupted tax code that's encouraging money to leave this country. a rigged trade policy that's encouraging money to leave this count country, and a dysfunctional banking system that does not invest in this country. but instead, either incentivizes their own speculation or exports money from this country. if you don't have investment in your country, yao will not have the jobs and prosperity. >> that's where people need to get upset. you talk about money outflow. but people don't -- i think

people underestimate the trouble we're in and are too quick to take easy answers. >> it's one of those things where acknowledging a big, scary problem is who wants to do that? nobody wants to do that. but the other side of that coin is, if we don't acknowledge the problem, have no chance of solving it. when you acknowledge problems, you have a tremendous opportunity to solve any problem. and i think that's -- and i'm optimistic, by the way. i really am. if you look at our track record of problem solving in this country, once we identify what the problem is, we have a great history of solving them. >> you're here in silicon valley. are there lessons that can be drawn from the experiences here that may help on a broader stage? >> we're here for the 30 million jobs tour. one of my favorite books is this

book "how?" . his premise is that how is the answer and not the question. and this area is representative of that culture. what i mean when i say that is, forget the companies that have come out of this part of the world. that's secondary. a decision by stanford university and the other institutions to reach out to capital, to reach out to ideas, to reach out to entrepreneurs and say we want to cultivate you. that's the how of silicon valley. but the ultimate model is one that isn't an export possibility. there's no reason why other universities can't solicit other investors. it's on us to learn from silicon valley. not how to get rich, but how to

create an environment that can solve problems. >> we have some of the same issues that are besetting other industries in our country. the patent issue, for example, is starting to become one that's overwhelming the valley and stifling innovation. are we going to see the same thing happen there that we have seen elsewhere? >> that goes to the how question. it's up to the people that are doing it. so in other words, the only thing we actually control is our intent. and if the intent of the people in the valley is to screw it up, they will screw it up. if the intent of the people and how they solve their problems is to actually work through and resolve not only the patent issues, but the issues of the valley has screwed up their risk allocation. it used to be a higher threshold for allocation.

now more money has come in because of the available capital from back east in the swaps market. just put positions on, but when you put positions on, they don't pay as well. >> there have been so many efforts in other places to try to replicate the ecosystem here. silicon alley in new york. new york went through this process that stanford was involved in and then pulled out of and eventually went to kornell to try to create that in new york city. none of them have taken root. why is that? >> because when people look at the valley, they are distracted by the outcomes. they say we need to create something that gives us fabulous outcomes as opposed to looking what is the best of the culture in the valley? and how they actually relate to one another. so deciding we're going to take a prestigious university and investors and make them talk to each other and think it's going

to create another silicon valley is dumb. understanding that what really is at the root of the valley at its best is that culture of the problem-solving culture. the view of experimentation as the top priority. not wealth creation. and i don't think people that have tried to duplicate it in recent years have focused on the actual nugget of truth that's represented here in the success, which is in that culture of experimentation, that culture of collaboration. instead they focus on we'll get a big university and some money. >> so the wealth creation is the by product and not the main product? >> right. >> sorry. i'm jumping. i was go to ask if this week's activities around sopa are a sign of the valley's dominance? in some ways, at least temporarily, it overcame the

established entertainment industry. >> i wouldn't so much say it's a sign of the valley's dominance as much as it's a sign of the aspirations to more noble val valleys. there's an aspiration in power to either be dominant or to have nobility. one or the other. that's what's going to happen. what we have seen here is the recognition that the desire to fight government control of the internet, which is a noble aspiration, was something that the power was used for that aspiration and really effectively so. and so for me, it is a testament not just to the valley's power or dominance, but more a testament to the 311 million people affected by policymaki policymaking's ability.

when we get our act together and actually are able to communicate to the 545 of them, being our federal government, what it is we object to, they are remarkably responsive. what the valley does better is align their interests to communicate that. >> does silicon valley have their act together? i think we're underrepresented in washington. google will decide to do thus and so and look shell shocked when the trade commission says, don't do that. it's as if we have forgotten they are in charge. >> if there's one challenge for the valley because of its success and the creativity and the power, with that comes a tendency towards arrogance. we don't need to participate in the rest of the world, because we're the smartest people in the wor world. but what i really actually think is the most important thing as

far as the valley is concerned is, and the thing i would compliment the most, at their best the valley issed on the real issue. working on drawing a second set of maps. the old system is naturally decaying. our choice is either to engage the old system in battle, or to devote our creative attention in creating a second set of maps. it's the arrogance that gets you into trouble in this world. at the same time, it's the creativity that solves the problems. >> dylan ratigan is the author of "greedy bastards." up next on "press: here," three reporters known for their incredible insight. their opinion on football. that's when "press: here" continues.

welcome back to "press: here." one of the most powerful teams in sports is the group of writers known as the bleacher report. in a culture that loves statistics, here are some impressive numbers. 6,000 writers publishing 500 stories a day. >> reporter: those stories are found on bleacherreport.com. a blog founded by a trio of friends. together, they have raised more than $20 million in venture capital to fund their coverage of everything from racing to football to not football. all that bringing in 20 million readers every month. >> he quit his financial job to work on bleacher report. tim tebow is a quarterback to watch. one of the first to say that.

so we have a couple games ahead of us. what are your readership excited about? >> the giants and 49ers game. a lot of people are looking at the quarterbacks. alex smith has emerged from the ashes over the past few months. i think for 49ers fans, coming off a huge win last week. there's a big question of can this rise continue? can alex smith take the 49ers to the promised land? is he the next young or montana? and eli manning for years and years is harolded as one of the five best quarterbacks in the league. so i think everyone is talking about the quarterbacks matchup. i think the giants have a great d-line. it's going to be raining out there. who is going to be running the

ball? and i think who wins the field position battle will be key. >> but in the interest of full disclosure, you are rooting for the 49ers. >> yes, in full disclosure, i've been a 49ers fan my entire life. >> do you think the cloud of the peyton manning story, rob lowe tweeting about him retiring. is that casting a paw over things for lie? >> i'm not sure. i think there will be a lot of speculation, which is fun for us and our writers and readers about peyton that will go on up until the draft. i think eli has come out of the shadows. he's played so well this entire year. if he makes a run to the super bowl this year, he will be considered an elite tom brady quarterback in the nfl.

>> do you spike during big events like these football games? or is that when regular readers go to the traditional media? >> we absolutely spike. what we do so well is to provide, i think, more fun and entertaining coverage around these events, which traditional media is doing a better job with but isn't there yet. we also, through our product, have an ability to be more comprehensive and probably more informative than traditional media. that is when our readership spikes. people tune into us through the desk top and now through mobile and our app team stream. it's a very popular app. it's the place to go to get anything relative and informative about your team or the sports you care about in realtime. realtime is a big deal these days. that's an area where traditional media has, at least in sports,

struggled to keep up. >> that begs a question of in this age of realtime and people tweeting news before sources can tell you, how do you raise through the clutter, not just of your competitors, but everything that's out there. social media and so forth. >> that's a great question. i move the mind that smart systems and processes can get you a long way. we have very talented engineers. but we also have really smart and talented human beings who are editors who sit on top of all those systems and processes. i think in silicon valley, where a lot of money has been poured into the sports base, some of those media properties that have come out as a result have struggled. they focus a little bit too much on the tech. maybe in new york they focused too much on the media without the tech. i think we have kind of created a hybrid model where we're doing

both. we look at all the content and make sure we're only delivering the content that's relevant. >> what's your prediction? >> i will give the disclaimer that i must pick the giants because i have a terrible reputation of jinxing my team. >> we'll be back in a minute.

that's our show for this week. i'm scott mcgrew. thank you for making us part of your sunday morning.