By Harriet McLeod (Reuters) - As Tropical Storm Isaac was on its
path through the Caribbean before becoming a hurricane in the
Gulf of Mexico this week, U.S. scientists were testing an
experimental new weather spy tool - an unmanned, marine robot
about the size of a surfboard that can gather storm data at sea
level. A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA)research laboratory in Miami sent the "Wave Glider," a
floating platform of sensors with an underwater stabilizer
christened Alex, into ocean waters about 100 miles north of
Puerto Rico last week to try to intercept Isaac. "Isaac did not
barrel right over it," said Alan Leonardi, deputy director of
NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory in
Miami, after the storm passed to the south of the island before
turning north and making landfall near New Orleans as a Category
1 hurricane. "But Isaac being the size storm it is, the Wave
Glider was able to collect data from the outer rain bands. We
can't steer a hurricane, but we did