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>>Between 1864 until 1933, thousands of bottles were thrown overboard from German ships, each containing a form on which the captain would write the date, the s
by gpvos 9y ago
>>Between 1864 until 1933, thousands of bottles were thrown overboard from German ships, each containing a form on which the captain would write the date, the ship's coordinates and details about its route.
It was part of an experiment by the German Naval Observatory to better understand global ocean currents.<<
Now I wonder: did that actually work to get a better understanding of these currents?
- LolWolf 9y agoMaybe; I mean, see [0] where an accidental experiment was made when a container with >28k rubber ducks and other floating toys, tipped. New evidence for some models was discovered using roughly the same idea—by tracking the floting toys to their final locations. —— [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendly_Floatees https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendly_Floatees
- digi_owl 9y agoI seem to recall reading about a similar event involving a container of shoes that went overboard in the pacific, that allowed some scientists to test a computer model by predicting where the shoes would end up.
- zimbu668 9y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hansa_Carrier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hansa_Carrier
- skookumchuck 9y agoI would imagine that since a large part of the duck sits out of the water, that the wind would introduce enough variance to render the data fairly useless.
- PoachedSausage 9y agoQuite possibly. The Tokio Express[0] Lego spill[1] has provided some data on ocean currents. There was also a spill of yellow bath ducks that turn up on beaches around the world. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokio_Express#Accident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokio_Express#Accident [1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28582621 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28582621 Yaarr!!
- selectodude 9y agoThe thing that sticks out to me is that they expect lego pieces to hit washington state 23 years after the spill without biodegrading. I hope we're able to fix that someday.
- dragonwriter 9y agoThat Lego are durable and don't rot is, I would say, a feature not a bug. (It would be better if they were practically recyclable, OTOH.)
- mc32 9y agoI consider that a pro. Instead of buying new sets, the toys get down-cycled to younger children or gifted to some other kids. It's better than toys which because they don't last, they get bought at a higher velocity, thus producing waste. Of interest, Lego will begin MFG 1-2% of their toys [apropos mostly "vegetation"] from plant-based plastics[1]. Possibly resulting in higher prices for sugar--which may also be a good thing. [1]https://www.cips.org/supply-management/news/2018/march/lego-producing-plant-based-plastic-toys/ https://www.cips.org/supply-management/news/2018/march/lego-...
- adrianN 9y agoLego are made from ABS, and ABS can be recycled.
- dragonwriter 9y agoABS can be recycled, but normal municipal recycling (which has to take and sort multiple recyclables mechanically) can't practically sort ABS pieces the size of Lego bricks for proper recycling, which results in them ending up in landfills from municipal recycling. If you set up dedicated collection infrastructure for Lego bricks and delivered them in huge lots (or merged them with another waste ABS stream) for delivery to an ABS recycler you could recycle them, but the logistics and economics don't seem likely to be workable for that.
- 9y ago