4 ms·

I guess it won't be too hard to unjam it, but imagine how the world would change if it does get stuck, everyone would now have to go around Africa, probably boo

I guess it won't be too hard to unjam it, but imagine how the world would change if it does get stuck, everyone would now have to go around Africa, probably boosting a few African economies. A bit like how a tiny bat (citation needed?) changed the course of the world for at least a year.

towergratis 6y ago
> a tiny bat (citation needed?) changed the course of the world for at least a year It wasn't a tiny bat, or a lab accident that changed the course of the world. It was a corrupt non democratic government trying to hide it under the carpet, in similar fashion that a similar government in USSR try to hide under the carpet the biggest nuclear accident in its time.
- lucian1900 6y ago
  Covid was detected in China and the world was alerted. Most other countries didn’t even react, though. That’s hardly on China. From the data we have so far, it was already present and undetected in Europe the year before. It may have originated in Europe, but that isn’t yet clear. Don’t fall to western chauvinism.
  - osacial 6y ago
    China reported to WHO, that it had EVERYTHING under control and that virus was not lethal to humans. China is west to the USA.
    - lucian1900 6y ago
      At the time it was not yet know that the virus is lethal, that’s all that was reported. Everything was also under control in China, as was later confirmed. Unfortunately by the time the virus was detected in China, it was already spread throughout Europe, since at least November 2019. I really didn’t expect this sort of rejection of science and facts on HN.
      - jryle70 6y ago
        IIRC even when Wuhan had been under total lockdown China was still upset that other countries called for flight bans from China. How is that responsible behavior?
        lucian1900 6y ago
        Again the facts are useful. Early on, several countries (including the US and I believe France) repatriated citizens even from Wuhan and in several cases without quarantine, against the recommendation of Chinese authorities and the WHO. After the outbreak in China was determined to be limited to Wuhan and there were plenty of cases worldwide, it made little sense to ban flights from the whole of China. It was obviously an attempt to attack China as part of the trade war the US & friends have been waging. After all, most countries still haven’t dealt with covid. In China (and a few other countries) people’s lives have returned to normal a long time ago. We should demand our politicians put lives before profit instead of letting them distract us with lies about China.
- rhizome 6y ago
  >It was a corrupt non democratic government trying to hide it under the carpet Assumes facts not in evidence.
  - towergratis 6y ago
    Trying to silence Li Wenliang is not evidence?
dragontamer 6y ago
The pangolin seems to be the bridge species. Bats have tons of coronaviruses, but none of them usually infect humans. The question is which animal bridged the gap. Kinda like how the Mink was going to become the bridge-species in Denmark (humans infected Minks with COVID19... and then the mink was probably going to infect another species after that).
- vulcan01 6y ago
  > Bats have tons of coronaviruses Out of curiosity - are bats affected by these coronaviruses? If not, what's different about bats (as compared to humans)?
  - khuey 6y ago
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/why-do-bats-have-so-many-viruses/2020/07/10/0327f584-b65e-11ea-a8da-693df3d7674a_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/why-do-bats-have-so-m...
- speexmex 6y ago
  > The question is which animal bridged the gap. Humans with a pipette.
  - selimthegrim 6y ago
    Citation?
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
viraptor 6y ago
> probably boosting a few African economies. Do you mean some production would shift to Africa, or something else?
- bellyfullofbac 6y ago
  Some lucky places can open ports for the giant ships to stop and refuel/resupply, that brings a lot of income. Though maybe I've got the scale wrong, and these ships can just buy more fuel and more food at their departure ports and go around Africa without stopping...
  - jamiek88 6y ago
    They just go around. It’s not catastrophic just adds cost and time. No refueling or ports required for these mega carriers. We’d go around the cape sometimes just because of loads, some aren’t allowed through, or because fees were too high for the value of cargo. Depending on the size of the carrier it can add 20 days or so to the voyage.
  - austhrow743 6y ago
    There's already a ton of shipping going around the cape and yeah, giant cargo ships aren't doing mid trip pit stops just for food and fuel.
reducesuffering 6y ago
They would blow up or demolish it before that happens.
- Ekaros 6y ago
  Unloading and just dragging off on the land would likely be faster option. Blowing up is really worst case to do...
dmos62 6y ago
Bulk teleportation startups would see increased interest.

towergratis 6y ago

> a tiny bat (citation needed?) changed the course of the world for at least a year It wasn't a tiny bat, or a lab accident that changed the course of the world. It was a corrupt non democratic government trying to hide it under the carpet, in similar fashion that a similar government in USSR try to hide under the carpet the biggest nuclear accident in its time.

lucian1900 6y ago
Covid was detected in China and the world was alerted. Most other countries didn’t even react, though. That’s hardly on China. From the data we have so far, it was already present and undetected in Europe the year before. It may have originated in Europe, but that isn’t yet clear. Don’t fall to western chauvinism.
- osacial 6y ago
  China reported to WHO, that it had EVERYTHING under control and that virus was not lethal to humans. China is west to the USA.
  - lucian1900 6y ago
    At the time it was not yet know that the virus is lethal, that’s all that was reported. Everything was also under control in China, as was later confirmed. Unfortunately by the time the virus was detected in China, it was already spread throughout Europe, since at least November 2019. I really didn’t expect this sort of rejection of science and facts on HN.
    - jryle70 6y ago
      IIRC even when Wuhan had been under total lockdown China was still upset that other countries called for flight bans from China. How is that responsible behavior?
      - lucian1900 6y ago
        Again the facts are useful. Early on, several countries (including the US and I believe France) repatriated citizens even from Wuhan and in several cases without quarantine, against the recommendation of Chinese authorities and the WHO. After the outbreak in China was determined to be limited to Wuhan and there were plenty of cases worldwide, it made little sense to ban flights from the whole of China. It was obviously an attempt to attack China as part of the trade war the US & friends have been waging. After all, most countries still haven’t dealt with covid. In China (and a few other countries) people’s lives have returned to normal a long time ago. We should demand our politicians put lives before profit instead of letting them distract us with lies about China.
rhizome 6y ago
>It was a corrupt non democratic government trying to hide it under the carpet Assumes facts not in evidence.
- towergratis 6y ago
  Trying to silence Li Wenliang is not evidence?

dragontamer 6y ago

The pangolin seems to be the bridge species. Bats have tons of coronaviruses, but none of them usually infect humans. The question is which animal bridged the gap. Kinda like how the Mink was going to become the bridge-species in Denmark (humans infected Minks with COVID19... and then the mink was probably going to infect another species after that).

vulcan01 6y ago
> Bats have tons of coronaviruses Out of curiosity - are bats affected by these coronaviruses? If not, what's different about bats (as compared to humans)?
- khuey 6y ago
  https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/why-do-bats-have-so-many-viruses/2020/07/10/0327f584-b65e-11ea-a8da-693df3d7674a_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/why-do-bats-have-so-m...
speexmex 6y ago
> The question is which animal bridged the gap. Humans with a pipette.
- selimthegrim 6y ago
  Citation?
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]

viraptor 6y ago

> probably boosting a few African economies. Do you mean some production would shift to Africa, or something else?

bellyfullofbac 6y ago
Some lucky places can open ports for the giant ships to stop and refuel/resupply, that brings a lot of income. Though maybe I've got the scale wrong, and these ships can just buy more fuel and more food at their departure ports and go around Africa without stopping...
- jamiek88 6y ago
  They just go around. It’s not catastrophic just adds cost and time. No refueling or ports required for these mega carriers. We’d go around the cape sometimes just because of loads, some aren’t allowed through, or because fees were too high for the value of cargo. Depending on the size of the carrier it can add 20 days or so to the voyage.
- austhrow743 6y ago
  There's already a ton of shipping going around the cape and yeah, giant cargo ships aren't doing mid trip pit stops just for food and fuel.

reducesuffering 6y ago

They would blow up or demolish it before that happens.

Ekaros 6y ago
Unloading and just dragging off on the land would likely be faster option. Blowing up is really worst case to do...

dmos62 6y ago

Bulk teleportation startups would see increased interest.