15 ms·
Love the armchair engineers who think they're gonna solve this better than billion dollar companies
by adflux 6y ago
Love the armchair engineers who think they're gonna solve this better than billion dollar companies
- wongarsu 6y agoSo you are complaining that on a startup forum people are trying to solve billion dollar questions? Besides, billion dollar companies often miss things. Yes, they have the more relevant experts and much better data than we, but they have to content with internal and external politics and have fewer people throwing around ideas. Sometimes the answer is to "why haven't you done X" is simply "nobody with a voice to be heard had that idea". If billion dollar companies were the infallible giants you make them out to be then startups straight up couldn't work.
- lamontcg 6y agoJust let the air out of the tires, simple.
- yitchelle 6y agoPut balloons around it to give extra buoyancy. That should work.
- fendy3002 6y agoOr with crabs, potc style! /s
- dghlsakjg 6y agoThat actually is something that you can do in smaller salvage operations. The technical word for these balloons is lift bag.
- raisedbyninjas 6y agoI searched for the biggest ones I could find this week and it was something like several tons. So we only need about 10 thousand of them.
- cryptonector 6y agoAnd the key words are "smaller salvage operations".
- Arrath 6y agoJust bring in a Bagger 288[1] and use it to excavate a new diversion canal in front of the ship long enough to get it out of the main canal, bada-bing bada-boom. Simple! [1]Obligatory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azEvfD4C6ow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azEvfD4C6ow
- _ph_ 6y agoThat beast is really outstanding and would probably be able to do the job in reasonable time. This machine is so insanely large, it would fit into any sci-fi movie. The craziest thing is, some years back it was driven over a distance of 22 kilometers cross country to a different site, which was just mindblowing.
- fuzxi 6y agoWhy don't they just give me a long enough lever so I can simply lift the ship out of the canal?
- imtringued 6y agoPut huge hydraulic cylinders below the ship. The obvious problem is, what are those cylinders anchored to?
- atdt 6y agoIt's a way of thinking out loud and providing an opening for someone more knowledgeable to explain what is being overlooked. It makes for interesting threads.
- arkitaip 6y agoIt's hilariously arrogant too.
- breckinloggins 6y agoI feel like we need a "why don't you just?" safe word, where the intent is to signify "hey I'm not being a smartass, I'm really just curious about why this seemingly simple solution won't actually work". So much of what happens on the internet is in bad faith that it makes it really hard to just have innocent conversations without being misunderstood. :-(
- lovemenot 6y agoWhy dont you just coin a new phrase? Perhaps it'll stick.
- breckinloggins 6y agoI've actually seen literal quotes before, e.g. a question like: "Why don't you just" get a bunch of people on rafts and row real fast to push it off?
- umanwizard 6y agoBecause if it doesn’t stick, everyone else will just think you’re annoying (like the “fetch” girl in Mean Girls).
- 1123581321 6y agoAgreed. I’ve thought the same for posting an interesting fact. Anymore, I want to preface every single one by saying, “hey, you may already know this; I’m just sharing it because it hasn’t been mentioned yet and I think it’s neat. If you were implying the fact already, I apologize for overlooking that.”
- gregoriol 6y agoThat's what some scientists said about mRNA research
- prox 6y agoIf this was space engineers I would build a crane drone and offload it unto nearby ships. Or build giant trucks to help the ship get unstuck. Or just tow it outside the environment...
- topspin 6y agoWhere is Elon when you need him?
- ericj5 6y agoHe just offered to build them a little submarine
- marvin 6y agoI don't think Musk will give unsolicited help to anyone ever again, after the spectacular form of gratitude the underwater capsule was received with.
- kergonath 6y agoThat ship is never going to fit in that submarine.
- bluescrn 6y agoHow many Raptor engines would we need here?...
- gizmo385 6y ago> Or just tow it outside the environment... For those who haven't seen this video... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m5qxZm_JqM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m5qxZm_JqM
- tiborsaas 6y agoWe have the luxury of just throwing around ideas and not caring about the consequences (because nobody in power will read it). It's just fun to think about how you'd solve a problem like this. For example I'd try to attach a two Raptor engines to the ship and blow it back to the water :)
- TeMPOraL 6y agoOr tear the ship apart :). Which makes me think - why not cut the ship in half? Two pieces will be easier to dislodge and tow away :).
- gregoriol 6y agoSomeone actually is trying that idea in Georgia right now (https://www.thedrive.com/news/34648/capsized-cargo-ship-in-georgia-with-4200-cars-aboard-will-be-cut-into-pieces-with-a-giant-chain https://www.thedrive.com/news/34648/capsized-cargo-ship-in-g...) but it really is not easy! Many likely problems: equipment avilability to do so, time it will take, debris falling off and from the operations, risk of capsizing, probably need to load pieces on barges/crane but canal is not much large
- prof-dr-ir 6y agoin half? I would not go for less than nine pieces. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ENOJBLVgjw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ENOJBLVgjw
- ampersandy 6y agoWhat a fascinating watch! That they were able to produce such clean cuts through the entire ship with the cutting wire is absolutely incredible.
- nullsense 6y agoThe salvage company hired to fix this problem is probably just reading this thread and nodding along like yeah that could work. Great idea HN!
- undefined1 6y agobut did they try turning it off and on again?
- nullsense 6y agoThe canal or the ship? Maybe if you kill the ship it respawns at its port of origin?
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- olalonde 6y agoThat's how a lot of billion dollar companies got started.
- danaris 6y agoI think there's still room for suggesting potential solutions that might work, even if they make the operation of the cargo ship (even more?) unprofitable for its owners. That said, the ones mentioned there don't pass the smell test.
- zepearl 6y agoDetonate a small but still relatively powerful bomb upstream (or maybe multiple small but staggered ones), to create a small tsunami-like wave, which in turn will move at least the ship's aft/stern (as the ship creates in the canal a "V"-like shape which will therefore concentrate most of the wave's force in that area) when it hits it. Almost guaranteed to work, theoretically.
- Transfinity 6y agoIIRC the banks of the canal aren't very high above the water level.
- suzzer99 6y agoRaising the banks for say 1/2 mile on either end of the ship might not be impossible? Maybe?
- yxhuvud 6y agoOr more likely, it will break the hull apart and then there are 5000 containers stuck in the bottom of the canal.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- busyant 6y ago> armchair engineers who think they're gonna solve this better than billion dollar companies There are 2 types of armchair engineers. The ones who sneer and say, "If they just <x> then it would be fixed because I know best" Those people are bores. There are others who are just tossing ideas around: partly for amusement and partly because they enjoy thinking, "What would I do in this situation ...?" I haven't seen too many bores in this thread. I don't think this latter group _seriously_ thinks they know better than experts, and I have found the various ideas and counterarguments interesting to read.
- tengbretson 6y agoCongrats! You've discovered that engineers like to stretch their imaginations and theorize about solutions to problems for their own fun and enjoyment
- _ph_ 6y agoYes, most here are armchair engineers, though quite a few actual engineers around, so you never know. But the embarassing point is: the billion dollar companies currently also don't seem to have an idea about the possible solution :p. I am pretty optimistic that they will come up with a reasonable plan soon, but there is a nonzero chance that someone here will come up with a good idea. Sometimes it quite helps to be at a distance.
- tim333 6y agoFrom the actual engineers https://www.tradewindsnews.com/casualties/salvors-warn-ever-given-refloating-operation-on-suez-canal-could-take-weeks/2-1-987316 https://www.tradewindsnews.com/casualties/salvors-warn-ever-...
- hellbannedguy 6y agoBillion dollar companies are filled with people. Nothing special about billion dollar companies except money. I wish money equated to great ideas.
- tim333 6y agoOutfits like SMIT also have a lot of experience with this kind of thing, plus some equipment.
- austhrow743 6y agoWhy didn't anyone think of this before? Internet commenting is over folks. This guy realised its not productive.
- bcrosby95 6y agoI assume you're The Person that Googles the answer to every discussion you have with your friends rather than having a little fun with it.
- tim333 6y agoIt's entertaining. I think a big winch or two to drag it off.
- umanwizard 6y agoProposing ideas shouldn’t be taken as suggesting that the poster is confident the ideas are correct, but rather as an invitation to talk through whether it would work and maybe learn something interesting.