The Lilliputians offer Gulliver a drink in a container that is about the size of a thimble. They use a special harness to carry the container and then assist him in drinking from it by using a miniature ladder to reach his mouth.

Light always takes the shortest path possible through any medium.

As such, when it travels through a vacuum, it travels in a straight line (no refraction).

When it travels through the air, the molecules in the air scatter it very slightly, causing some diffusion and refraction, depending on the composition of the air through which it passes.

When it travels through water, the shortest path through that medium is not a straight, collinear line from the point of incidence...it is actually offset by a small angle (the angle of refraction). The bent path that light takes through water or another substance is actually the shortest path available to it through that medium.

styrofoam, but warning fammable and unsafe for the environment!

The bonds between the atoms in a gas are weaker than in a liquid. All atoms are vibrating. In a gas this kinetic energy overcomes the bonds between atoms and allows them to spread apart and "fill" the container. This is why a smell "travels", carried on the wind for example.

Speed is no longer a design criteria for cruise ships.