101–107 of 107 posts
What is it about this type of story that is so attention grabbing? Kids trapped in cave, Plane missing in jungle, etc etc. Is there a name for this? Pragmatically speaking, this is of little consequence to most people, there are greater human tragedies going on, there are more catastrophic engineering failures happening, more egregious negligence,.. something about the unknown element of it.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What about a signal flare that floats to the surface?
I believe at a certain depth some things compress, density increases, buoyancy becomes negative - and they sink.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
How could they be trapped "near" the surface? That would require the sub to maintain buoyancy precisely, which seems unlikely without active systems.
As I understand it, the vessel is not able to surface on its own. At its most buoyant, a small amount of the sub will emerge from the water, and that weight will push it back down, so the vast majority of the sub is underwater. This bobbing, which depending on waves can have a small amount or none of the sub above water at any time, would make them hard to detect but easy to retrieve if they were located.
Seems like it would have to be criminally bad design without any kind of signalling at all, to be near the surface and not found within hours.
What is it about this type of story that is so attention grabbing? Kids trapped in cave, Plane missing in jungle, etc etc. Is there a name for this? Pragmatically speaking, this is of little consequence to most people, there are greater human tragedies going on, there are more catastrophic engineering failures happening, more egregious negligence,.. something about the unknown element of it.
Plus, being unable to call for help is not something we are used to. To me, just BEING somewhere where I could not contact anyone and nobody could get to me in an emergency sounds terrifying even if nothing was actively happening.
Plus, to laymen it seems like the tech to prevent it should be absolutely trivial in the age of satellites. If I was lost somewhere all because I didn't have a $200 beacon device I would be horrified, and these people paid $250k. I'd expect multiple redundant forms of communication, immediately surfacing with a refund if there was any sign of trouble, etc.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What about a signal flare that floats to the surface?
I believe at a certain depth some things compress, density increases, buoyancy becomes negative - and they sink.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
*Some of them are rich tourists. Paul-Henri Nargeolet is one of the people on board, has done more than 30 dives to the site since the 1980s, technically owns the rights to the ship, was in the French Navy for 20+ years, and has recovered artifacts from the site - only person to do so. Not quite fair to call him a tourist.
I would think he would be sending Morse code, being a Navy man.
What is it about this type of story that is so attention grabbing? Kids trapped in cave, Plane missing in jungle, etc etc. Is there a name for this? Pragmatically speaking, this is of little consequence to most people, there are greater human tragedies going on, there are more catastrophic engineering failures happening, more egregious negligence,.. something about the unknown element of it.
I think a lot of it is schadenfreude. A bunch of rich people pay out their ass to get in a jerryrigged submarine to look at a sunken boat and end up becoming one.
For me, it's a lot of things. A metaphor for the mating habits of spiders. A reminder to be thankful for what I have. Just something grisly to contemplate.