This seems like a bad idea. Are they hurting? Can't they just keep flying in food and water?
If they fall they're dead, if they get tangled in the net they might be dead.
Drone operator will try to rescue dogs from Spanish volcano
61–70 of 116 posts
Re: Drone operator will try to rescue dogs from Spanish volcano
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
This rhetoric reminds me of the cynicism that a lot of, especially, environmental activists have. There are a lot of ways to make change. If you can prove that a drone can carry a dog out of a very hazardous environment then it's useful as our environment gets universally more hazardous. You're also casting shade on raising money or publicity -- my question to you: what major problem can be solved without isolated pu…
> my question to you: what major problem can be solved without isolated public examples and money I'm pretty sure the things Bill Gates foundation does are not about isolated public examples - they evaluate proposals based on impact, measured in lives saved, and not in heart warming individual saves. Sterile stuff like providing anti-mosquito bed nets which don't make you tear up.
Right, providing a cheap mosquito bed is a little easier to go mass production with than being able to use drones as an emergency recovery vehicle. The latter requires the right motivation and the right (hopeless) risk profile. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also absolutely does a lot of advertising and interviews which are aimed at winning hearts and minds about their work.
Re: Drone operator will try to rescue dogs from Spanish volcano
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
Which is not quite accurate. AFAIK, the problem is that the tiny particles quickly destroy the turbine engines, not the rotor itself.
Probably the reporter assumes most people consider the whole "spinny thing that keeps helicopter in air" package to be one thing. Turbine, rotor and all.
Or the reporter and editor both don't know much about helicopters, or don't consider the details of why they can't fly to be worth spending their time on.
Re: Drone operator will try to rescue dogs from Spanish volcano
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
To contrast, I think maybe you're being a bit overly cynical. What evidence is there of that happening? Even if they did, is that such a bad thing? Can the guy not want to both save the dogs and make a cool video? They're not mutually exclusive.
I once read an article which was about how we are willing to spend thousands to save one particular dog, or one particular injured bird, instead of donating that money to "animal habitat preservation" or something similar which will save thousands of diverse animals. And then there's the whole industrial farm-animal raising thing, where billions of animals are systematically tortured. But nobody cares, because it's n…
Just because the act is irrational or sub-optimal does not mean it is insincere.
In many respects, the "rational" response would be to shoot the dogs with a rifle and donate the rescue funds to an animal shelter.
Re: Drone operator will try to rescue dogs from Spanish volcano
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
That exactly. People were disgusted by the attention grab and the lack of respect for people risking their lives. 'I'm a billionaire, look at me!' syndrome.
Are. Not were. The fact that we see this still being mentioned is a pretty good testimony to how utterly tone deaf Musk was when he did that.
That’s an astute point.
Re: Drone operator will try to rescue dogs from Spanish volcano
#66They should drop a trap with food if the dogs are still ambulatory. Avoids having to hover and make multiple trap attempts, and risk running out of power in flight. It's also easier to pick up a trap with a dog in it than trap a dog terrified of the giant buzzing thing above them. And it ensures they don't half-net a dog only to have it fall out en-route.
I think that's basically their plan. In order for it to work, they need each dog to voluntarily enter the net.
Re: Drone operator will try to rescue dogs from Spanish volcano
#67They should drop a trap with food if the dogs are still ambulatory. Avoids having to hover and make multiple trap attempts, and risk running out of power in flight. It's also easier to pick up a trap with a dog in it than trap a dog terrified of the giant buzzing thing above them. And it ensures they don't half-net a dog only to have it fall out en-route.
I think that's basically their plan. In order for it to work, they need each dog to voluntarily enter the net.
I'm imagining three skeptical dogs. One cautiously enters the net. The other dogs watch as the first is lifted and flown away. I wonder what the other two dogs would think then. Hopefully they'd see that anywhere else is better than where they've been stuck. And I guess drones have been dropping food so they would have at least some positive experience with drones in the past.
Re: Drone operator will try to rescue dogs from Spanish volcano
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're right but it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, though. For every vegetarian, vegan, or anyone just willing to scale down, there are hundreds who would happily consume more of that sweet subsidized meat, even if it kills them. Sorry for the rant
You may discover one day that there is no "grand scheme of things", no final day of reckoning when all of humanity is tallied up to decide once and for all if we're a Good or Bad species. It's just individuals doing what they can with what they have.
Well, I didn't mean it as some kind of grand cosmic spiritual picture or anything. Frankly, I am not sure what made you believe that.
In any case, what I meant was that while individual efforts matter, they're dwarfed by de facto policy, formal or not. And, implicitly, that I am more than a tiny bit annoyed by people who desperately try to offset anyone's efforts just because they can. Consume, consume, consume. As being able is a justification enough in itself.
Re: Drone operator will try to rescue dogs from Spanish volcano
#69Just wondering: Would this be something for somebody with one of the new jetpacks?
Re: Drone operator will try to rescue dogs from Spanish volcano
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
What a wildly toxic reply. Are you really insinuating that people are saving poor trapped animals due to some selfish motivation? Is this how you see the world? If so, I'd rather be what you call "Naive".
It's worse. There's a whole industry on Facebook/YouTube of people who "save dogs stuck in cement" which they put into that situation, and the videos get tens of millions of views. https://www.four-paws.org/our-stories/publications-guides/fa... https://dogtime.com/advocacy/79431-fake-dog-rescue-videos
I really don’t think this is that, and I’m the most cynical bastard on HN.