Ocean Cleanup Foundation Plans Relaunch of Giant Plastic-Catching Trap (theoceancleanup.com) 27
On Friday the Ocean Cleanup project posted a status update after their giant U-shaped plastic trap lost a 60-foot section in January and had to be towed back to land:
During the first four months that the system was offshore, we were able to confirm many of the key features of the cleanup system. We also encountered some unscheduled learning opportunities; notably 1) the system hasn't been able to retain the plastic it caught, and 2) the floater suffered from a structural failure, causing an 18-meter end section to disconnect from the rest of the system, just before the end of 2018.
Its four months in the Pacific ocean validated much of their proposed solution, including the device's U-shaped configuration and its ability to orient with the wind. No harmful environmental impacts were observed, and in fact "Plastic concentrations in and around the system were much higher than in any other location in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch; and, although the periods the plastic was retained in the system were not yet of sufficient length, the system did capture and concentrate plastic."
The bottom line: they're going to try again: The engineering team is using these conclusions and results to update the design and prepare for relaunch. Using this thorough understanding, we hope to resolve the issues that are known to us and prove our technology, but we do realize that there may still be more unidentified challenges ahead. Only further proving the importance of returning to the patch as soon as possible, so we can continue to learn from and optimize the technology.... We now have all hands on deck and we aim to be ready for relaunch within a matter of months.
Its four months in the Pacific ocean validated much of their proposed solution, including the device's U-shaped configuration and its ability to orient with the wind. No harmful environmental impacts were observed, and in fact "Plastic concentrations in and around the system were much higher than in any other location in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch; and, although the periods the plastic was retained in the system were not yet of sufficient length, the system did capture and concentrate plastic."
The bottom line: they're going to try again: The engineering team is using these conclusions and results to update the design and prepare for relaunch. Using this thorough understanding, we hope to resolve the issues that are known to us and prove our technology, but we do realize that there may still be more unidentified challenges ahead. Only further proving the importance of returning to the patch as soon as possible, so we can continue to learn from and optimize the technology.... We now have all hands on deck and we aim to be ready for relaunch within a matter of months.
Re: (Score:2)
"Unscheduled learning opportunities"
Good lord take the sock out of your mouth you inhuman fuck
I don't know if this sounds soooo bad. It could be used as a more polite title for all the articles fact-checking presidential rally speeches and tweets -- or, literally, just about anything he says. For example, from Trump says Great Lakes have 'record deepness' [thehill.com]:
I support the Great Lakes. Always have. They're beautiful. They're big. Very deep. Record deepness.
(a) The Great Lakes are not among the deepest lakes in the United States, let alone the world. The deepest lake in the country is Crater Lake, a volcanic crater in southern Oregon with the deepest measured depth of 1,949 feet, according to Geol [geology.com]
Re: In before the trasheating GOP trolls (Score:2)
Trying to figure out if "chicanery" is supposed to reference common GOP behavior or specifically a reference to classic chicanery, whereas the ass is your neighbor's field and your head is your plow.
Re: (Score:2)
it seems you could just have all the ships tow something around to catch and concentrate plastic. and as a bonus, if it ever breaks, you don't need to locate it and tow it back, it's already being towed, they can just disconnect it when it reaches port. i don't know if this would work for microplastics.
It's almost as if you don't know there's other stuff in the sea that's supposed to be there.
You don't want to be trapping that other stuff in giant nets.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: Unscheduled learning opportunities? (Score:1)
The fact that the thing didn't even capture any plastic might just be a sign that you never should have put the design into full scale in the first place!
I know learning before you speak is a taboo here, but it turns out that the implementation here is not full-scale, as it is merely one of many units that would have go be made, it is merely the first onsite, and it is an initial attempt made with the expectation to understand the retention problems which they tested and examined with various means.
You could see this if you had read the report.
Re: Let's hope this is version 2.0 (Score:2)
Or alternatively, second-system effect, whereas the second version is overly complicated by the poorly learned lessons of version 1.
Science! (Score:2)
Plenty were quick to dismiss the prior plastic trap with quips and I-told-you-sos but science doesn't mean you get it right on your first try, it means you make you best guess, observe the result and modify/refine your answer. This is science and this is how science progresses, not by leaps and bounds but by millimeters.
Engineering! Marketing! Spamhandling! (Score:2)
There is a difference.
There is a point where you say 'this was a bad idea'. In this case, that point will be when they stop getting money in their spamhandling accounts.
Cost: Putting a useless hunk of plastic in the ocean. Wasting a lot of fuel.
Benefit: Free money from idiots.
Re:Science! (Score:5, Interesting)
Plenty were quick to dismiss the prior plastic trap with quips and I-told-you-sos
We didn't say it wouldn't work. What we said is that it is IDIOTIC even if it does "work".
Most of the plastic in the Pacific Gyre comes from one country (China) and most of that comes from one river (Changjiang / Yangtze).
Recovering the plastic at the mouth of the river, where it is thousands of times more concentrated, and still in the form of bottles and bags rather than microparticles, would be infinitely more sensible.
Re: (Score:2)
Very true, but 1) that is up to China and I haven't heard anything about them tackling the problem at the source and 2) trapping it coming out of the river would do nothing about the plastic already in the ocean.
Re: (Score:2)
Actually, it is an exercise in engineering more than science, but the same aspect of try and try again applies.
This is how it's supposed to work (Score:1)
You build and test. Figure out what works and what doesn't. What can be improved. Then make the changes and try again.
These days, it seems like it's make something, and ignore/hide anything that doesn't work right. Threaten/sue anyone who points out the problems.
Re: (Score:2)
You're also supposed to look at the big picture and realize that a couple of boats isn't going to make the slightest difference to such a huge problem. Have you ever seen how big the oceans are? Do you have any idea how many billions of tons of junk are out there that need collecting?
This kid's "genius" solution has been debunked dozens of times.
https://www.google.com/search?... [google.com]
Re: (Score:2)
Test it off a southern California beach and see how many bimbos it catches.
“Unscheduled learning opportunity” (Score:2)
Sounds like they attended the Elon Musk School of Doublespeak!
Seriously, though, good on them - and I hope they’re successful.
Someone call admiral Ackbar... (Score:3)
It's a tarp.