Over the past few years piracy has been on the rise, with 430 attacks reported in 2010. To combat this growing threat, defense technology company BAE Systems has developed a system to help ships detect and deter potential attacks.  

A laser is mounted to the side of the vessel, allowing crew members to shine a three-foot-wide bright green beam over dangerous waters, temporarily blinding and disorienting pirates up to a mile away.

Did you make a really cool science project this year? If not, would you like to? Google certainly hopes so.

This year Google, in partnership with Lego, CERN, National Geographic and Scientific American, is hosting their first global online science fair.