[HN Gopher] Newly released footage of a 1986 Titanic dive reveal...
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       Newly released footage of a 1986 Titanic dive reveals the ship's
       interior
        
       Author : isaacfrond
       Score  : 60 points
       Date   : 2023-02-17 10:34 UTC (12 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.npr.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.npr.org)
        
       | GalenErso wrote:
       | The Titanic's wreckage was supposed to be completely gone by
       | 2030, according to a study, because of bacteria that eat metal.
       | 
       | https://www.businessinsider.com/titanic-shipwreck-disappeari...
       | 
       | What's become of that? We have less than seven years to go. (taps
       | wristwatch)
       | 
       | Another fun fact about the Titanic is that while it lies 3,800
       | meters below the water, it lies at the bottom of a continental
       | cliff, as you can see on this map: https://doyouremember.com/wp-
       | content/uploads/2019/05/titanic...
       | 
       | The Titanic's journey would have taken it West, so it would have
       | continued to sail over deep waters for hundreds of nautical
       | miles, but the place it happened to sink was situated just off an
       | underwater peninsula in the continental plate.
        
         | exebook wrote:
         | Might be they estimated based how quickly bacteria eats pure
         | metal, but it could be covered with something that protects it,
         | dust, rust, another bacteria, some chemistry that is
         | synthesized there over decades.
        
           | shadowgovt wrote:
           | My gut tells me the biggest source of error is they probably
           | estimated it in a clean-room environment for the bacteria.
           | 
           | Bacteria in the wild are perpetually in a war for survival
           | with other bacteria (and larger organisms) that see them as
           | an incredibly convenient source of aggregated biomass and
           | carbohydrates. I'd expect the rate at which they chew through
           | metal in the wild is attenuated by predators on them
           | increasing predation as their numbers grow.
        
           | amelius wrote:
           | Or perhaps they used metal with extremely large surface area
           | (e.g. lots of small particles).
        
         | tablespoon wrote:
         | > The Titanic's wreckage was supposed to be completely gone by
         | 2030, according to a study, because of bacteria that eat metal.
         | 
         | > https://www.businessinsider.com/titanic-shipwreck-
         | disappeari...
         | 
         | > What's become of that? We have less than seven years to go.
         | (taps wristwatch)
         | 
         | Considering that claim is cited to a republished version of an
         | article [1] from the tabloid The Sun [2] (apparently from the
         | credible-sounding "virals" section), I would guess the claim
         | was exciting but wrong or misreported.
         | 
         | [1] https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/natural-
         | wonde... (which, by the way appears to misidentify what looks
         | like a literal illustration as an "undated video image of the
         | Titanic wreck")
         | 
         | [2] https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/2334495/the-titanic-
         | wreckage...
        
         | strangattractor wrote:
         | It is pretty cold at that depth. I suspect may slow bacteria
         | metabolism.
        
         | exitb wrote:
         | The bacteria causing the erosion have actually been discovered
         | there and are named after the ship. It wouldn't be at all
         | unusual to be somewhat wrong about that estimate in such a
         | unique situation. It rather seems like a typical case of a
         | researcher making a wild guess and media presenting it as
         | proven fact.
        
         | pomian wrote:
         | Oxidation processes are studied in various environments,
         | important to understand in complex issues such as acid mine
         | drainage _. The chemical reactions are driven by a combination
         | of biological (bacteria, eg.), physical, and chemical
         | processes, in a feedback loop. After much research and study,
         | one of the best practices is to keep such material submerged
         | under water. (Deep enough to prevent oxygen transfer from
         | surface.) In such deeper waters, the processes eventually stop
         | or at least slow down, reaching a sort of, equilibrium. It 's a
         | fascinating and complex field - in which mathematical modelling
         | can help, but requires non linear differential equations for
         | real world accuracy. (In the past, only linear methods were
         | used, to simplify the models.) _ Waste water becomes acidic,
         | this leaches out more metals from rocks, thus increasing
         | available reaction material, thus increase in acidity, etc. Can
         | cause cyclic blooms of highly contaminated waste water,
         | followed by normal flows. (Similar reaction cycles happens
         | under landfills, grain or coal stockpiles, etc.)
        
       | 1101010010 wrote:
       | Love Titanic history and all of its glory - a magnificent machine
       | doomed by human arrogance and hubris (we even went so far as to
       | call it "unsinkable").
       | 
       | And for only $2 you can relive the experience first-hand in full
       | 1996 CGI splendor!
       | https://www.gog.com/en/game/titanic_adventure_out_of_time
        
       | ChainReaktion wrote:
       | For contrast, here's footage recorded last summer:
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCwg2h7i4Ac
       | 
       | The company that collected it, OceanGate [0], is going back in
       | May-June this year to continue cataloging the wreck and
       | documenting its degradation.
       | 
       | [0]: https://oceangate.com/
        
       | exebook wrote:
       | It seems that the wires prevent the drones to go further inside
       | the ship, so I wonder if they can be made wireless? If radio is
       | not working in such conditions maybe sonic or light signal can
       | get through?
        
         | shadowgovt wrote:
         | At the time, the technology was not nearly trustworthy enough
         | to run the millions-of-dollars ROV untethered.
         | 
         | Nowadays, we could probably build it smaller, untethered, and
         | semi-autonomous (but that hunch is not intended to undercut the
         | tons of work it would take to do it).
        
       | kioshix wrote:
       | Full video on youtube:
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmfjjsRbKCY
        
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       (page generated 2023-02-17 23:00 UTC)