Found: Medieval Cargo Ship – Largest Vessel of Its Kind Ever • Hacker News Board

alberth wrote: post #3

Who would have guessed the Smithsonian of all organizations would have so many video popup ads. Isn’t the greatest experience on mobile when so little of the content can be seen due to popups.

Ads ? What Ads...

I forgot that I use Firefox for Android with uBlock Origin. I don't see any ads NEVER.

Re: Found: Medieval Cargo Ship – Largest Vessel of Its Kind Ever

#7

Post by dyauspitr » Thu, Jan 15, 2026, 6:47 PM UTC

alberth wrote: post #3

Who would have guessed the Smithsonian of all organizations would have so many video popup ads. Isn’t the greatest experience on mobile when so little of the content can be seen due to popups.

I can appreciate their troubles. How is someone supposed to pay for all the overhead that goes into research and writing these articles without a source of income. People also seem dead against subscriptions. The only way that seems to work is appealing to the LCD and raking in stream bucks but not all media/literature, especially the valuable kind, is conducive to that model.

Re: Found: Medieval Cargo Ship – Largest Vessel of Its Kind Ever

#8

Post by quinncom » Thu, Jan 15, 2026, 7:01 PM UTC

alberth wrote: post #3

Who would have guessed the Smithsonian of all organizations would have so many video popup ads. Isn’t the greatest experience on mobile when so little of the content can be seen due to popups.

Smithsonian Mag used to be the Institution’s brain‑child, now it’s just a click‑bait lifestyle tabloid full of celebs. The magazine’s editorial directives have diverged from the institutions mission. They care more about pageviews and ads than research.

Re: Found: Medieval Cargo Ship – Largest Vessel of Its Kind Ever

#9

Post by einpoklum » Thu, Jan 15, 2026, 7:02 PM UTC

This is the kind of ship they found:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cog_(ship)

larger ships in the later middle ages were the Caravel and the Carrack, which typically had more than a single mast.

Re: Found: Medieval Cargo Ship – Largest Vessel of Its Kind Ever

#10

Post by mikkupikku » Thu, Jan 15, 2026, 7:05 PM UTC

> Its planks are made of Pomeranian oak from modern-day Poland, and the wood of its frame came from the Netherlands.

I'm surprised the raw materials came together over such a distance. That transporting lumber was economical back then is remarkable.