The unimportant news thread

[Spotted Horses]

I hope they find the submersible today.  I wouldn't want to die like that.  It was literally the first thing I did when I woke up was check the news.

The accounts of the rescue efforts are so strange. First they were searching an area the size of Connecticut, now they say they are searching and area twice the size of Connecticut. (How did a "Connecticut" become a unit of area?) A passenger on a previous mission said at the start of the trip "you drop like a stone for two hours." The thing sends a ping every 15 minutes, and the last ping received was 1 hour 45 minutes. Isn't the obvious place to look directly under the deployment ship, on the sea bed near the Titanic wreckage? (Probably they don't have anything available that can go that deep.) I guess if it was neutrally buoyant it might drift with ocean currents, but neutral buoyancy is difficult to achieve, most objects either sink or float and this thing was sinking when they lost contact.

Note added: Multiple news outlets are now reporting a debris field has been found near the Titanic Wreckage.

[Karl Henning]

First they were searching an area the size of Connecticut, now they say they are searching and area twice the size of Connecticut. (How did a "Connecticut" become a unit of area?)

I don't propose it as general coinage, but it's a reasonable referent in New England, anyway. 🐠

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Not official yet:  BBC reported several minutes ago that the president of the explorers' club said that they found the landing frame and the rear cover of the submersible.  If true, I would be shocked that he would announce that before the Coastguard (and others involved) had their news conference.  Hope that the families heard the news first!

PD

p.s.  Press conference to be in about 90 minutes.

[Spotted Horses]

Apparently a Canadian ROV discovered the debris field, in which recognizable parts of the lost vessel were identified.

To give some perspective, the pressure at depth 3000 meters is about 30 million Pa, or about 4500 psi. That's about 300 times atmospheric pressure.

Another way to think of it, the craft has to support the weight of the column of water above it. From the looks of it, the craft had a cross-sectional area of about 4 square meters. The roof of the craft was holding up about 12 million kg of water. That's a weight of about 26 million pounds. If the structure fails, that's the weight bearing down on the crew. 

[Karl Henning]

Horrible catastrophe.

[BWV 1080]

Horrible catastrophe.

Although at this point, past the O2 supply, a mercy perhaps.

[Spotted Horses]

Horrible catastrophe.

I will be condemned as cynical, but last week a ship containing between 400 and 700 migrants fleeing war-torn countries in the middle east sank in the Mediterranean, with only 98 recovered alive. Most drowned below deck. You will need an adjective way beyond "horrible" to describe that.

[Karl Henning]

Although at this point, past the O2 supply, a mercy perhaps.

Yes.

[Karl Henning]

I will be condemned as cynical, but last week a ship containing between 400 and 700 migrants fleeing war-torn countries in the middle east sank in the Mediterranean, with only 98 recovered alive. Most drowned below deck. You will need an adjective way beyond "horrible" to describe that.

You are sadly correct, friend. 

[BWV 1080]

I will be condemned as cynical, but last week a ship containing between 400 and 700 migrants fleeing war-torn countries in the middle east sank in the Mediterranean, with only 98 recovered alive. Most drowned below deck. You will need an adjective way beyond "horrible" to describe that.

And worse than that every day in Ukraine, Sudan and far too many other places.  If these people had gone down in a private plane, we would never have heard about it. 

[Spotted Horses]

If these people had gone down in a private plane, we would never have heard about it. 

...unless John John was at the controls.

[T. D.]

This story was also in the NY Times, but I'm totally paywalled there.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/vegan-landlord-flat-rent-tenants-meat-b2360641.html

Landlord's listing for two Brooklyn apartments has gone viral over request that tenants do not cook meat or fish in the building

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

The USA federal gov (FTC) accuses Amazon of deceiving customers with Prime subscription sign-up, etc.

https://thehill.com/policy/technology/4060293-ftc-amazon-deceiving-customers-prime-subscription-sign-up-cancellation/

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I will be condemned as cynical, but last week a ship containing between 400 and 700 migrants fleeing war-torn countries in the middle east sank in the Mediterranean, with only 98 recovered alive. Most drowned below deck. You will need an adjective way beyond "horrible" to describe that.

I did watch the news...and still am as to who responded and when and differing stories.

PD

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I just heard that a debris field was found by an ROV (live on BBC news).  They (the US Coastguard) is evaluating it. 

PD

Apparently a Canadian ROV discovered the debris field, in which recognizable parts of the lost vessel were identified.

To give some perspective, the pressure at depth 3000 meters is about 30 million Pa, or about 4500 psi. That's about 300 times atmospheric pressure.

Another way to think of it, the craft has to support the weight of the column of water above it. From the looks of it, the craft had a cross-sectional area of about 4 square meters. The roof of the craft was holding up about 12 million kg of water. That's a weight of about 26 million pounds. If the structure fails, that's the weight bearing down on the crew. 

Yes, I've heard about the pressure.  I'm terribly sorry about the loss of life.  From what I understand, at least it was fast--so fast that they wouldn't have known what was happening to them...nanoseconds.

It seems to me to be smart to let the ROVs explore further.  Perhaps it will help us to understand more about materials and construction?  Maybe not.  I don't know much about implosion but my gut level thoughts are that the families won't be able to retrieve anything in terms of their family's members bodies.  I feel for them.

PD

[Florestan]

Yes, I've heard about the pressure.  I'm terribly sorry about the loss of life.  From what I understand, at least it was fast--so fast that they wouldn't have known what was happening to them...nanoseconds.

Better this way than the slow and agonizing suffocation. May God rest them in peace --- them and all those unfortunate people that Spotted Horses mentioned.

As for the sub itself, it was operated by way of a Play Station remote controller. 

[T. D.]

It appears the craft imploded after only a few hours:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-23/us-navy-detected-titanic-sub-s-catastrophic-implosion-days-ago

An elite US Navy acoustic detection system picked up the sound of a blast from near the debris site only hours after the submersible had deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing a statement from a US defense official.

Expect abundant disclosure of the company's disregard for safety. Stories began appearing a few days ago:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-21/titanic-tour-operator-has-faced-questions-on-safety-for-years

[I subscribe to Bloomberg. In case of paywall, try right-clicking and selecting "open link in incognito window" or the like.]

[Pohjolas Daughter]

It appears the craft imploded after only a few hours:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-23/us-navy-detected-titanic-sub-s-catastrophic-implosion-days-ago

An elite US Navy acoustic detection system picked up the sound of a blast from near the debris site only hours after the submersible had deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing a statement from a US defense official.

Expect abundant disclosure of the company's disregard for safety. Stories began appearing a few days ago:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-21/titanic-tour-operator-has-faced-questions-on-safety-for-years

[I subscribe to Bloomberg. In case of paywall, try right-clicking and selecting "open link in incognito window" or the like.]

I heard or read that earlier (I think late yesterday afternoon??) about the detection of the noise made from the implosion.  The impression that I got was that they weren't able to identify specifically where it came from.

Looks like I'll have to register with Bloomberg to at least get some access.

And, yeah, that company will certainly have some answering to do.  I did also see an article/interview in which someone had stated that OG got around having to be certified by only operating in international waters.

From the BBC website:  'William Kohnen, chairman of the Manned Underwater Vehicles Committee, has told the BBC that regulations for building submersible vessels were "written in blood".

Kohnen wrote a letter raising safety concerns about OceanGate's development of Titan in 2018.

He says OceanGate circumvented certification processes by operating in international waters.'

PD

[T. D.]

You could look for the WSJ story re. US Navy acoustic detection, but my impression is that the WSJ imposes total paywall.

[Florestan]

I might be alone in this but I think such endeavors are not only extremely dangerous, they are useless. I mean, why is it so important to look at Titanic's wreck at close range? The goddam ship sank long time ago taking more than 1,000 lives down with her. Let her --- and them --- rest in peace on the ocean's bed and let's concentrate on more pressing and contemporary issues. Have we solved all, or even most, of the problems we are facing in the here and the now? Could not all the money, knowledge and time invested in creating that goddam sub have been put to better use?