Science is cool, isn’t it? Yeah, it is. But so much of science is all too regularly shrouded in the corners of time, often going unnoticed to us regular folk. However, there are two really cool pieces of engineering we’ve stumbled upon that we must share with you… and before you ask, yes, these two things are very much real and very much active pieces of equipment operating at a sea near you.

First up is something known as a “heavy lift vessel.” While having a simple enough premise of transporting heavy objects while at sea, you won’t believe just how heavy these objects in question can get. You know, things like the USS Cole, oil rigs and radars:

In addition to that hard-to-believe aquatic vessel, there’s also this Floating Instrument Platform or FLIP that Nerdist science editor Kyle Hill – thanks Kyle – made us aware of:

Apparently, this platform is used in the aid of scientific research at sea, giving scientists a stable platform to work off of in the aid of research on lasers, meteorology, physical oceanography and education – just to name a few.

Don’t you feel just a little smarter knowing these vessels exist? As it turns out, boats aren’t just limited to the idea we’ve come to know. These guys are something we would have never imagine existed, and now that we know of them, we’re going to have our eyes peeled for a future sighting we can gawk at in amazement for an afternoon.

What do you think of the heavy lift vessel and FLIP? Let us know in the comments below.

[HT Ocean.si.edu, boredomtherapy.com and Jandalofdoom]