[AzCal Retred]

Titanic tourist submersible goes missing with search under way

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65953872

A submersible used to take people to view the wreck of the Titanic has gone missing in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Boston Coastguard told BBC News that a search and rescue operation was under way off the coast of Newfoundland.
It is unclear how many people were on board when it went missing.
Small submersibles occasionally take (5) paying tourists and experts to view the wreck of the Titanic, some 3,800m (12,500ft) beneath the ocean surface. ( Sub is good to 13,123'/4000m, so a 623'/4% margin... )
OceanGate Expeditions, a private company that organises deep sea expeditions, confirmed in a statement that it owned the missing submersible and people were on board.
"We are exploring and mobilising all options to bring the crew back safely," it said on Monday. "Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families."
"We are working toward the safe return of the crewmembers," it added.
The company charges guests $250,000 (£195,270) for a place on its eight-day expedition to see the famous wreck.
It bills the trip on its carbon-fibre submersible as a "chance to step outside of everyday life and discover something truly extraordinary".
According to its website, one expedition is ongoing and two more have been planned for June 2024.

[him a layin]

forgot to say "hold my beer". oopsie.

i'd like to say "hope nobody gets hurt", but it's probably far too late for that.

[gizzo]

Yup, I don't think this is going to end well, either.

Also, if you can afford to drop a 1/4 mil on a sightseeing trip to the bottom of the ocean, you're already outside the bounds of "ordinary life". A trip to space not good enough for you?

[GlennF]

dang, was going to buy one of those for the underwater dock at my Secret Volcano Spy Base.  Lucky I did not, going through far too many minions these days as it is. 

[AzCal Retred]

 

[AzCal Retred]

The "Invisible Hand of the Marketplace" seems to be hard at work here. Odd that people forking over $250K wouldn't do the due diligence necessary to find out what kind of situation they were getting into. It's not like the info wasn't out there. Status comes at a cost, look at the Everest ascenders. It's only a matter of time before the Space Expeditions have a similar incident. Extremely hostile environments are just that and all tech has limits. Treating it like a trip to Disneyland doesn't help anything.

Missing Titanic submersible live updates: 'Banging' picked up by sonar, source says
The deep-sea vessel submerged on Sunday morning with a 96-hour supply of oxygen.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/live-updates/missing-titanic-tourist-submersible/?id=100224153
The deep-sea vessel, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, lost contact about an hour and 45 minutes after submerging on Sunday morning with a 96-hour oxygen supply. The United States Coast Guard, in coordination with the Canadian Coast Guard and the Canadian Armed Forces, immediately launched a search and rescue operation for the 21-foot sealed craft, named Titan.
The U.S. Coast Guard announced via Twitter early Wednesday that a Canadian aircraft with sonar capabilities had "detected underwater noises in the search area."
Remotely operated vehicle operations (ROV) were then relocated "in an attempt to explore the origin of the noises," according to the Coast Guard.
"Those ROV searches have yielded negative results but continue," the Coast Guard tweeted.

OceanGate Was Warned of Potential for ‘Catastrophic’ Problems With Titanic Mission
Experts inside and outside the company warned of potential dangers and  urged the company to undergo a certification process.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/20/us/oceangate-titanic-missing-submersible.html
Mr. Lochridge reported in court records that he had urged the company to do so, but that he had been told that OceanGate was “unwilling to pay” for such an assessment. After getting Mr. Lochridge’s report, the company’s leaders held a tense meeting to discuss the situation, according to court documents filed by both sides. The documents came in a lawsuit that OceanGate filed against Mr. Lochridge in 2018, accusing him of sharing confidential information outside the company.
In the documents, Mr. Lochridge reported learning that the viewport that lets passengers see outside the craft was only certified to work in depths of up to 1,300 meters.That is far less than would be necessary for trips to the Titanic, which is nearly 4,000 meters below the ocean’s surface.
“The paying passengers would not be aware, and would not be informed, of this experimental design,” lawyers for Mr. Lochridge wrote in a court filing.
The meeting led OceanGate to fire Mr. Lochridge, according to court documents filed by both sides. OceanGate has said in court records that he was not an engineer, that he refused to accept information from the company’s engineering team and that acoustic monitoring of the hull’s strength was better than the kind of testing that Mr. Lochridge felt was necessary.
That is far less than would be necessary for trips to the Titanic, which is nearly 4,000 meters below the ocean’s surface.
“The paying passengers would not be aware, and would not be informed, of this experimental design,” lawyers for Mr. Lochridge wrote in a court filing.
The meeting led OceanGate to fire Mr. Lochridge, according to court documents filed by both sides. OceanGate has said in court records that he was not an engineer, that he refused to accept information from the company’s engineering team and that acoustic monitoring of the hull’s strength was better than the kind of testing that Mr. Lochridge felt was necessary.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Deep_Range

[Arschloch]

Chances might be slimm, the radio said just now there's enough air on that vessel until tomorrow lunchtime.

The minimum you could expect is that company to spend their last cent on the search.

[AzCal Retred]

If a 21' submersible is floating on the surface within even 50 miles away that's still a tough search. It's more than likely that sub's just a trail of scattered debris 13,500 feet down on the soft sea bed, and that'd be a real miracle find. OGE is probably just an LLC with a severe liability disclaimer form. Might be a good plan for the OGE managers to take their box of cash and head for somewhere with no extradition.

Again - adventure tourists, do the homework. There's a reason everyone isn't doing "it". The Sherpas in the village where Edmund Hillary was looking for a guide asked him "Why go up there? There's only cold & death up there." The first guys in get the credit, everyone later is just a tourist. Check out Beebe & Barton. Designed & tested their own deep sea rig in the 1920's. Two guys in a sphere on a cable, hoping the cable didn't break or the sphere implode. That's adventure...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathysphere
The Bathysphere (from Ancient Greek βαθύς (bathús) 'deep', and σφαῖρα (sphaîra) 'sphere') was a unique spherical deep-sea submersible which was unpowered and lowered into the ocean on a cable, and was used to conduct a series of dives off the coast of Bermuda from 1930 to 1934. The Bathysphere was designed in 1928 and 1929 by the American engineer Otis Barton, to be used by the naturalist William Beebe for studying undersea wildlife. Beebe and Barton conducted dives in the Bathysphere together, marking the first time that a marine biologist observed deep-sea animals in their native environment. Their dives set several consecutive world records for the deepest dive ever performed by a human. The record set by the deepest of these, to a depth of 3,028 ft (923 m) on August 15, 1934, lasted until it was broken by Barton in 1949.

[axman88]

What a way to go, sitting in a dark, stinking tube, listening to every breath of one's miserable companions, jealous of the air that because they breathe it, you cannot.  A rupture of the pressure vessel would have been a merciful thing compared to this madness.  If indeed the rescuers are hearing "banging noises", and the source is the trapped submariners, it's a heart breaking situation.  Unless they are located at a shallow depth, or on the surface, even once found it seems there won't be time for a rescue.

I read that the CEO of the sub company is down there, inside.  At least the blame game will go quick and easy.

[him a layin]

just by nature of the subject matter, all of us here on the uREcf are to some extent risk-takers and thrill-seekers. we assess the risks, do what we can to mitigate, roughly calculate our probabilities, take our chances. this particular bunch may have thought their money would protect them.

[Arschloch]

...Might be a good plan for the OGE managers to take their box of cash and head for somewhere with no extradition.

definitely not, the rats should be prevented from leaving the sinking ship....

[AzCal Retred]

TANJ!



https://larryniven.fandom.com/wiki/Tanj

[Arschloch]

Still, it's bit unbelievable that in times of Apple Airtags it's taking that long to find that submarine.

[GlennF]

Not really I have the same issue with my car keys at least twice a week.

[gizzo]

just by nature of the subject matter, all of us here on the uREcf are to some extent risk-takers and thrill-seekers. we assess the risks, do what we can to mitigate, roughly calculate our probabilities, take our chances. this particular bunch may have thought their money would protect them.

+1

[Adrian II]

There are some disasters even the best maritime SAR in the world can't fix.

This from the BBC an hour and a half ago.

'Still a search and rescue mission' - US Coast Guard

Rear Admiral John Mauger, of the US Coast Guard, has said the operation to find the missing submersible is "still an active search and rescue".

Asked if he believes the oxygen on board will have run out by now, Mauger told Sky News: "We continue to keep the crew members and the families in our thoughts as we proceed with this search and rescue while we're cognisant of the time and we've factored in a lot of data and information into the search.

"This is still an active search and rescue at this point and we're using the equipment that we have on the bottom right now, the remote operated vehicles to expand our search capability, and then also to provide rescue capability as well."

The Titanic shouldn't still be claiming victims 111 years on, but I fear it is.

A.

[GlennF]

It is actually a maritime grave site. It is odd tourists ae allowed to disturb it.

[axman88]

It is actually a maritime grave site. It is odd tourists ae allowed to disturb it.

Why?  It seems to me to be a similar situation to Mt. Everest, where the bodies have become way markers, too remote and too difficult to retrieve.

https://skyaboveus.com/climbing-hiking/Worlds-Highest-Graveyard-Everest#gid=ci026e2bec90002744&pid=worlds-highest-graveyard-everest-MTc1MTI1NzMwMDA1NTU5MTA4

Eventually, tourists will be taking selfies in front of the bodies of the tourists who died looking at the tourists who died looking at the Titanic.

Personally, I'll save $249,970, and take the local tour.  https://www.architecture.org/tours/detail/graceland-cemetery/
    No bodies on display, but the air is free and there's plenty of it.

[Arschloch]

It is actually a maritime grave site. It is odd tourists ae allowed to disturb it.

Archeologists still digging out mummies, is that any different?

[Racer57]

Search for sub has discovered a debris field.

[Richard230]

They found pieces of the submersible. It apparently suffered a catastrophic implosion. The debris field is located 1600 feet off the bow of the Titanic.  No bodies have been located yet.

[AzCal Retred]

...Fin...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/06/22/titanic-sub-missing-titan-update/

[Racer57]

There will not be anything large enough for the crew to recover to make it worthwhile.   

[GlennF]

Sort of a relief that it imploded.

The idea that they were stuck with limited air banging away on the carbon fibre hull when there were no realistic plans to save them, even if they were located, was a bit horrifying.

[Arschloch]

Sort of a relief that it imploded.

The idea that they were stuck with limited air banging away on the carbon fibre hull when there were no realistic plans to save them, even if they were located, was a bit horrifying.

From what they said on the radio it imploded about 3/4 way on the descent, without any external trigger there wouldn't appear to have been an awfully large safety margin.

With some 5000psi pressure, might even be difficult to design the safety margin into that submersible, don't know if it's even possible to be honest.

Certainly I wouldn't hang myself on a bolt if there wasn't a safety margin of at least 3.

[AzCal Retred]

The carbon fiber epoxy matrix central tube is one candidate. A pinhole void or crack exposed to seawater at 5000 psi would have done the deed. CF is really a nice material, but maybe not for this application. Could have been that plexiglas port hole too. I hope the ROV finds something definitive on the bottom. With the violence of the implosion any human remains were likely atomized - at least it was quick.

[Arschloch]

The carbon fiber epoxy matrix central tube is one candidate. A pinhole void or crack exposed to seawater at 5000 psi would have done the deed. CF is really a nice material, but maybe not for this application. Could have been that plexiglas port hole too. I hope the ROV finds something definitive on the bottom. With the violence of the implosion any human remains were likely atomized - at least it was quick.

It´s a fantastic material, straight out of fantasia, maybe a composite frame for your IB? If you x-ray it every 1k miles or so and scan it for cracks, that it should be fine.

[AzCal Retred]

An aluminum 400cc-600cc "roller" sportbike frame might be a better place to start. I've seen them on Craigslist for $200 - $600 with brakes & suspension. Vacuum bagging up a CF monocoque frame for a 1930's engine might be too much lipstick on a pig, eh? An adapted 100 HP sport frame should have plenty of reserve strength left over for a 25 HP on a good day dinosaur-era power plant.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_fiber_testing#:~:text=Common%20methods%20are%20ultrasonic%2C%20X,methods%20allow%20testing%20during%20application.Introduction
Carbon fiber reinforced plastic and reinforced polymers are gaining importance as light-weight material. There are various disciplines for material testing that especially apply to carbon fiber materials. Most common are destructive tests, such as stress, fatigue and micro sectioning tests. There are also methods that allow non-destructive testing (NDT), so the material can be still be used after testing. Common methods are ultrasonic, X-ray, HF Eddy Current, Radio Wave testing or thermography.[1] Additionally, Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) methods allow testing during application.

[Leofric]

I thought Graphene was the new wonder material !

[AzCal Retred]

IF it was the CF tube, 5000 psi worming thru from outside to inside via a epoxy matrix crack could explain the implosion.

HP water propagating thru a cracked matrix could rapidly hydraulic chunks of CF off, weakening the structure. At a critical point the process rapidly accelerates and "bang". A saltwater mist inside the pressure hull at those pressures wouldn't give much reaction time. 

[axman88]

IF it was the CF tube, 5000 psi worming thru from outside to inside via a epoxy matrix crack could explain the implosion.

HP water propagating thru a cracked matrix could rapidly hydraulic chunks of CF off, weakening the structure. At a critical point the process rapidly accelerates and "bang". A saltwater mist inside the pressure hull at those pressures wouldn't give much reaction time. 

I watched a U-Tube wherein James Cameron, (who has been deeper than 35,000 ft, solo), said the he heard from his deep diving community friends, that the Titan's support ship received data that Titan's crew had dropped their dive weights shortly before losing contact with the sub.  He suggested that this meant they had heard something that made them change their minds about descending.

He says the info he got from his contacts, the fact that the support ship had lost contact with the tracking module, which is in a separate pressure hull, simultaneous with loss of communication with the main hull, plus the fact that a "bang" was picked up by sonabuoys, plus the weight drop info. indicated to him, before monday even dawned, that the eventual outcome was inevitable.  Of course, we didn't hear about any of this until the hard evidence was found.

It seems to be against human nature to admit the worse truths, while hope has any plausibility, no matter the financial cost.

[Arschloch]

Certainly there would be no coverage if it was 5 guys with 100$ on their account, how many died on the Greek ship a week ago or so? How many in that Ukrainian conflict so far? Nobody is reporting, nobody wants to actually know until it hits their rats ars.

...globo oligarchs connected everyone to an wire account than pulled the cash out of everything and said "let's wait for a miracle".

[AzCal Retred]

Just another set of folks with money, playing with submersibles instead of space ships. The Navy (i.e. the Electric Boat Company...) has an interest in finding out the failure mechanism. As do the other submersible folks, but they aren't the guys with the cash, that's the Pentagon. It also makes a good training exercise for the "rescue" ship.

The Navy wasn't forthcoming about SOSUS data until the CinC cleared it. CF has weight & internal volume advantages for deep submersibles IF you can tame it. An unmanned deep-exploration autonomous vehicle would not make the news if it imploded, but probably good to know why it did so if you are using CF yourself in a similar application.

The rest of it ( media frenzy) was another case of life imitating art.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace_in_the_Hole_(1951_film) ( aka "The Big Carnival")

People generally like to hear about rich folks problems, makes your own situation seem less pressing, knowing even the wealthy have issues. Old films from the Depression Era really played this up. That Greek tragedy that played out last week as you point out would have gotten more coverage if it wasn't just the hoi polloi drowning.

[GlennF]

There is a lot of stuff kicking about talking about the duty life of carbon fibre and how it can delaminate over time under pressure.

By all accounts the duty cycle of that vessel should have been two dives before retirement.

[AzCal Retred]

At a two 5,000 PSI duty cycles per build the cost per ticket would likely have gone up. 

Maybe they could sell the used 5" thick x 20 foot long CF shells to Bezos or Musk to build a space station with. 14.7 PSID is a lot easier to deal with than 5,000 PSID, and a 5" thick CF shell might have at least some micrometeorite shield value.

"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."

[Arschloch]

Anyone knows the diameter of that thing?

An one week long search just to find it more or less at the exact last coordinates before it stopped transmitting any signals. Wow.

[Richard230]

Anyone knows the diameter of that thing?

An one week long search just to find it more or less at the exact last coordinates before it stopped transmitting any signals. Wow.

I heard that it was about the size of a mini-van in the crew compartment. It could barely hold 5 people on its flat floor. No seats, heating or any other passenger accommodations. 

[AzCal Retred]

The sub was fairly neutrally buoyant until the ballast was jettisoned, then it was ascending. Apparently the central tube was found in two chunks and one end cap found as well. Seems like a CF failure best explains the implosion. It was a few thousand feet from the bottom when it went. Currents and "hydrodynamic drift" account for the parts scatter. One medical man said there would be no remains due to the violence of the implosion.

[Arschloch]

I heard that it was about the size of a mini-van in the crew compartment. It could barely hold 5 people on its flat floor. No seats, heating or any other passenger accommodations. 

Without an atleast 65" TV with a Disney+ subscription it's a defitive nogo. Most of the customers who came out of it seem to complain about the rusty balast weights, so maybe a better paint job next time.

[GlennF]

This is the Aussie version, free beer and a BBQ after your dive ...

Doubt it is 4000m capable though.

[Arschloch]

Looking good, in  view of current events I would probably skip the dive and go for the beer &  BBQ straight shot...

[Arschloch]

The "Invisible Hand of the Marketplace" seems to be hard at work here. Odd that people forking over $250K wouldn't do the due diligence necessary to find out what kind of situation they were getting into. It's not like the info wasn't out there. Status comes at a cost, look at the Everest ascenders. It's only a matter of time before the Space Expeditions have a similar incident. Extremely hostile environments are just that and all tech has limits. Treating it like a trip to Disneyland doesn't help anything.

Missing Titanic submersible live updates: 'Banging' picked up by sonar, source says
The deep-sea vessel submerged on Sunday morning with a 96-hour supply of oxygen.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/live-updates/missing-titanic-tourist-submersible/?id=100224153
The deep-sea vessel, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, lost contact about an hour and 45 minutes after submerging on Sunday morning with a 96-hour oxygen supply. The United States Coast Guard, in coordination with the Canadian Coast Guard and the Canadian Armed Forces, immediately launched a search and rescue operation for the 21-foot sealed craft, named Titan.
The U.S. Coast Guard announced via Twitter early Wednesday that a Canadian aircraft with sonar capabilities had "detected underwater noises in the search area."
Remotely operated vehicle operations (ROV) were then relocated "in an attempt to explore the origin of the noises," according to the Coast Guard.
"Those ROV searches have yielded negative results but continue," the Coast Guard tweeted.

OceanGate Was Warned of Potential for ‘Catastrophic’ Problems With Titanic Mission
Experts inside and outside the company warned of potential dangers and  urged the company to undergo a certification process.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/20/us/oceangate-titanic-missing-submersible.html
Mr. Lochridge reported in court records that he had urged the company to do so, but that he had been told that OceanGate was “unwilling to pay” for such an assessment. After getting Mr. Lochridge’s report, the company’s leaders held a tense meeting to discuss the situation, according to court documents filed by both sides. The documents came in a lawsuit that OceanGate filed against Mr. Lochridge in 2018, accusing him of sharing confidential information outside the company.
In the documents, Mr. Lochridge reported learning that the viewport that lets passengers see outside the craft was only certified to work in depths of up to 1,300 meters.That is far less than would be necessary for trips to the Titanic, which is nearly 4,000 meters below the ocean’s surface.
“The paying passengers would not be aware, and would not be informed, of this experimental design,” lawyers for Mr. Lochridge wrote in a court filing.
The meeting led OceanGate to fire Mr. Lochridge, according to court documents filed by both sides. OceanGate has said in court records that he was not an engineer, that he refused to accept information from the company’s engineering team and that acoustic monitoring of the hull’s strength was better than the kind of testing that Mr. Lochridge felt was necessary.
That is far less than would be necessary for trips to the Titanic, which is nearly 4,000 meters below the ocean’s surface.
“The paying passengers would not be aware, and would not be informed, of this experimental design,” lawyers for Mr. Lochridge wrote in a court filing.
The meeting led OceanGate to fire Mr. Lochridge, according to court documents filed by both sides. OceanGate has said in court records that he was not an engineer, that he refused to accept information from the company’s engineering team and that acoustic monitoring of the hull’s strength was better than the kind of testing that Mr. Lochridge felt was necessary.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Deep_Range

You still have to explain why it's anyone's problem if an rich ars builds himself a plastic submersible and kills himself with it? The passengers signed apparently multiple times a paper that stated the risk of death. Not exactly anyone's problem outside the company...

It was not exactly an mass transportation certified vehicle, which means anyone entering it was self responsible for judging the risk involved. I doubt it was an large commercial success anyway, mere an expensive hobby.

[GlennF]

You still have to explain why it's anyone's problem if an rich ars builds himself a plastic submersible and kills himself with it? The passengers signed apparently multiple times a paper that stated the risk of death. Not exactly anyone's problem outside the company...

It was not exactly an mass transportation certified vehicle, which means anyone entering it was self responsible for judging the risk involved. I doubt it was an large commercial success anyway, mere an expensive hobby.

All well and good EXCEPT for the millions or perhaps tens of millions of public money wasted on the public rescue attempt.

[Arschloch]

All well and good EXCEPT for the millions or perhaps tens of millions of public money wasted on the public rescue attempt.

You can guess where the public servants will try to suck the cost for their efforts that no one asked for from.

[tooseevee]

All well and good EXCEPT for the millions or perhaps tens of millions of public money wasted on the public rescue attempt.

      I have no sympathy at all for the squashed people in the submersible. The only difference between them and the not-experienced-enough people who pay $100K* to attempt Everest (or others) is that they didn't jeopardize other people's lives as the Everest wannabees have many, many times.

    * I have no idea what it costs now. Last time I was the least bit interested it was $60,000. The sherpa should be canonized for continuing to put up with these kinds of climbers & losing their lives trying to save them & other climbers who the inexperienced fools & idiots have put in jeopardy.   

[Arschloch]

Where exactly would you get the experience from if you didn't go up that hill, from someone who's been there and told you what a suicidal mission it is? Like all the arsholes who've been on the titan prior the event? ... I'm sure they've got about zero clue about carbon fibre properties too.

Maybe ask Greta... sounds like a good idea.

[Racer57]

Where exactly would you get the experience from if you didn't go up that hill, from someone who's been there and told you what a suicidal mission it is? Like all the arsholes who've been on the titan prior the event? ... I'm sure they've got about zero clue about carbon fibre properties too.

Maybe ask Greta... sounds like a good idea.

If you talked to Greta, she's tell you the snow is almost gone from the mountains.

[Arschloch]

If you talked to Greta, she's tell you the snow is almost gone from the mountains.

That's probably true, however the mountains are now occupated by Norwegian trolls.

[AzCal Retred]

Joe Pasquale impaled in freak moose antler incident in Skegness

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-66415545

[GlennF]

Holy Grail Credits with Swedish subtitles featuring a moose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79TVMn_d_Pk

[AzCal Retred]

Only in Florida...

Florida man arrested after trying to cross Atlantic in hamster wheel vessel
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66733230
A Florida man was arrested after trying to "run to London" across the Atlantic Ocean in a homemade, human-powered hamster wheel-type vessel.
The US Coast Guard intercepted Reza Baluchi about 70 miles (110km) off Tybee Island, Georgia on 26 August.
Officials said the 44-year-old marathon runner refused to leave the vessel for days and threatened to kill himself.
Mr Baluchi has tried three similar voyages before, all of which ended in Coast Guard intervention.
The makeshift contraption he was using is shaped as a wheel, with paddles that are designed to propel it forward as the wheel revolves.
"Based on the condition of the vessel - which was afloat as a result of wiring and buoys - [US Coast Guard] officers determined Baluchi was conducting a manifestly unsafe voyage," the criminal complaint says.
Mr Baluchi's voyage began as officials were preparing for the arrival of a major hurricane.
But he refused to leave the vessel for three days and threatened to kill himself with a 12-inch knife. He also claimed that he had a bomb on board, according to court papers.
On 1 September, he eventually surrendered and abandoned his vessel after being brought to a Coast Guard base in Miami.
Officials later determined that the "bomb" had been fake.
He is now facing federal charges of obstruction of a boarding, and violation of a Captain of the Port order.

https://www.themarysue.com/best-florida-man-headlines/

[AzCal Retred]

And it was on video too...

Wrong-way driver calls police on himself by mistake
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-66745802
A driver in Nebraska phoned police to report that he was almost hit by a driver who he said was going in the wrong direction, seemingly unaware that he himself was the one on the wrong side.
A deputy was able to arrest the driver before anyone was seriously injured.

[GlennF]

Well it is somewhat confusing that the US drives on the wrong side of the road.

[Richard230]

Well it is somewhat confusing that the US drives on the wrong side of the road.

My newspaper reported yesterday that this weekend a man from Australia, driving a BMW M4, killed two people and injured 3, while traveling at high speed in the wrong direction near La Honda, CA (located about 8 miles west of Alice's Restaurant). The man was said not to have been in the U.S. for very long. The accident happened on a tight, blind, turn, according to the police report.
Another article said that he was a former Australian race driver by the name of Luke Nardini and was traveling 15-20 mph over the speed limit. He has been charged with two counts of vehicular manslaughter.

[AzCal Retred]

A foreigner charged in a Bay area venue? Probably get one of those Kangaroo courts...

[AzCal Retred]

Bennu is coming...maybe.    Now where's that pesky Space Force?


https://www.bbc.com/news/live/science-environment-66881285/

It is hoped the material from Bennu could tell Nasa how life on Earth began
Scientists estimate the probe has 250g of dust onboard, which will be analysed by researchers around the world
Bennu is regarded as the most dangerous rock in the Solar System because, although chances are slim, its path gives it the highest probability of impacting Earth of any known asteroid

[Leofric]

How could  this dust sample tell NASA how life of earth began ?

[GlennF]

My crazy Messianic ex flat mate  would claim it is all a fraud and waste of money, as according to her the earth was created around 5000 BCE and everything you need to know about how it happened is in Genesis - the King James version of course, as all other translations are the work of the devil.

Needless to say we did not discuss science or religion.

[Richard230]

Bennu is coming...maybe.    Now where's that pesky Space Force?


https://www.bbc.com/news/live/science-environment-66881285/

It is hoped the material from Bennu could tell Nasa how life on Earth began
Scientists estimate the probe has 250g of dust onboard, which will be analysed by researchers around the world
Bennu is regarded as the most dangerous rock in the Solar System because, although chances are slim, its path gives it the highest probability of impacting Earth of any known asteroid

One thing is for sure, that is some really expensive dust.   

[AzCal Retred]

The price per gram is out of this world...


How could  this dust sample tell NASA how life of earth began ?
Bennu Bolide...the LIFE of the party...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_(2001_film)

[AzCal Retred]

"Thrill of a lifetime..."

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-66910324

Passengers left upside down as ride malfunctions in Canada

Passengers were left hanging upside down for almost 30 minutes, after an amusement park ride broke down in Vaughan, in Ontario, Canada.

[Richard230]

"Thrill of a lifetime..."

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-66910324

Passengers left upside down as ride malfunctions in Canada

Passengers were left hanging upside down for almost 30 minutes, after an amusement park ride broke down in Vaughan, in Ontario, Canada.

That is an amusement ride thrill that I would not like to experience. 

[AzCal Retred]

A new take on high caliber cuisine...

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-66933961

[GlennF]

Fat Amy is in the news again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2YngaDglZQ

[AzCal Retred]

Guinness World Records crowns new hottest pepper

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67136085

The Guinness World Records has crowned Pepper X as the hottest chili pepper in the world, dethroning the Carolina Reaper chili pepper after 10 years.
For comparison, a habanero pepper typically hits 100,000 Scoville heat units, but Pepper X registers at 2.69 million units.
Breeder and grower Ed Currie created both record-breaking peppers.
After overcoming drug and alcohol addictions, Mr Currie started growing peppers as a hobby and says peppers act as a natural high.
Though people tend to believe the spice of a pepper comes from its seeds, capsaicin is contained in the placenta, the tissue which holds the seeds. Because of Pepper X's curves and ridges there is more surface area for the placenta to grow, according to the Guinness World Records.
Mr Currie is one of only five people who has eaten an entire Pepper X.
"I was feeling the heat for three and a half hours. Then the cramps came," Mr Currie told the Associated Press.
"Those cramps are horrible. I was laid out flat on a marble wall for approximately an hour in the rain, groaning in pain."
In an effort to protect his intellectual property and see profits this time, Pepper X pods and seeds will not be released.
The only way to taste Pepper X will be through sold hot sauces.


Operators are standing by...

[Adrian II]

"I was feeling the heat for three and a half hours. Then the cramps came," Mr Currie told the Associated Press.
"Those cramps are horrible. I was laid out flat on a marble wall for approximately an hour in the rain, groaning in pain."

I have to ask myself WHY?

A.

[AzCal Retred]

Operators are standing by...

Plan to revive Bloodhound UK land speed race car

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-67349595

The UK wants another crack at the world land speed record and needs a driver for its Bloodhound supersonic car.
To be in the running, you'll need to prove you can handle travelling at more than 800mph (1,290km/h), and have a major sponsorship deal behind you.

[Leofric]

Operators are standing by...

Plan to revive Bloodhound UK land speed race car

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-67349595

The UK wants another crack at the world land speed record and needs a driver for its Bloodhound supersonic car.
To be in the running, you'll need to prove you can handle travelling at more than 800mph (1,290km/h), and have a major sponsorship deal behind you.

One for Henry Cole 

[AzCal Retred]

Wanted: Part time bulldozer driver and tourist reservations for discounted Blue Lagoon tours...

Iceland: Helicopter footage shows giant cracks in earth
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-67445280

BBC correspondent Jessica Parker has flown on a mission with the Icelandic Coast Guard over the Reykjanes Peninsula, where recent volcanic activity has been concentrated.
Scientists say the area could face decades of increased volcanic instability.
Fears of an impending eruption led to the evacuation of the town of Grindavik, which has partially sunk by more than a metre.
It is thought that magma is running underneath a previous, centuries-old, visible fissure seen in aerial photographs.
Iceland's biggest bulldozer is heading to the small fishing town to build defences to stop lava from a volcano destroying key buildings.
One of the country's most famous tourist attractions, the nearby Blue Lagoon, will remain closed until the end of this month.

[gizzo]

Breeder and grower Ed Currie created both record-breaking peppers.

Really? LOL.

After overcoming drug and alcohol addictions, Mr Currie started growing peppers as a hobby and says peppers act as a natural high.

Read "The core of the sun" By Johanna Sinisalo

I have to ask myself WHY?

A.

Because he can.

[AzCal Retred]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/graffiti-towers-stretching-resources-lapd-base-jumping-stunt-rcna138767

Unfinished tower blocks in Los Angeles that have become a destination for vandals, graffiti artists and BASE jumping thrill-seekers have cost 3,000 hours of police time so far, authorities said Tuesday.

LAPD Chief Michael Moore told a news conference Tuesday that the Oceanview Plaza Towers in a busy downtown area of the city had "strained our deployment."

"We have called in some officers on an overtime basis, so that we can provide for these added patrols or station them at that site to deter vandals and others from gaining access to it while also ensuring that we meet the minimum deployment requirements for stations across the city," he said.

He was speaking after footage went viral of a man parachuting from the top of one of the towers on Monday, prompting an urgent safety warning from city mayor Karen Bass.

Video shared on Instagram appeared to show someone paragliding from the top of the towers.

"People being in that building is extremely dangerous," Bass told NBC 4 LA. "I guarantee you tragedy will take place there if that place is not boarded up quickly,"

The towers are being monitored 24 hours a day by police patrols, after it emerged that 30 floors of the towers had been covered in graffiti, with some 18 people being arrested there since Feb. 1.

The towers began construction in 2015, but by 2018 money had ran out and building work stopped in 2019 after the developer went out of business, NBC 4 LA reported.

"We do think that unfortunately it has become an iconic location to draw and for nefarious acts," Moore said, referring to the graffiti. He added that some of those arrested were from out of town.

Moore said the owner of the tower had gone bankrupt but that efforts were underway to recoup the costs of the extra policing.

Next week, the LA City Council will consider a motion to spend $3 million on installing a new fence, clearing debris and possibly hiring private security guards to alleviate the pressure on the police force.

Councilman Kevin De León, who represents the area and tabled the motion, told NBC 4 LA he had attempted to contact the China-based developer through phone, email and social media but had not managed to make contact.

[him a layin]

flatten it, tun it into a drop zone for chinese airborne troops.

[GlennF]

Now if it were a private residence it would have been sold off by now for unpaid rates or seized under some sort civil forfeiture for some obscure infraction or other.

[Richard230]

Here is what we have to put up with in the north. Why can't they protest in Israel?: https://patch.com/california/pacifica/s/iusw0/protesters-shut-down-golden-gate-bridge-total-gridlock-police-say

[GlennF]

Why can't they protest in Israel?

Probably this ...

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2019/02/no-justification-israel-shoot-protesters-live-ammunition

[AzCal Retred]

I'll bet Australia has some truly exemplary "poor pet choice" stories...

Colorado man dies after being bitten by pet Gila monster
20 February 2024

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68348902

Authorities in Colorado have confirmed the death of a 34-year-old local resident four days after he was bitten by one of his two pet Gila monsters.
The creatures are venomous reptiles native to the south-western United States. Their bites are not normally fatal to humans.
But an expert told the BBC's US partner CBS News that the victim may have suffered an allergic reaction.
The last human death from such a bite is believed to have been in 1930.
That incident "was not even a medical journal case," Dr Nick Brandehoff, a medical toxicologist and reptile expert, told CBS News Colorado.
"The vast majority of bites cause local swelling and bleeding," he said.
Dr Brandehoff added that last week's death "highlights that any venomous animals should be respected".
The Jefferson County victim - who has not been identified - reportedly owned two of the carnivorous reptiles.
Gila monsters are the largest lizards in the country and can grow to about 22 inches (56cm) in length, according to the Smithsonian Institution. They are named after the Gila River.
The creature that bit the man on Monday 12 February was a juvenile that measured about 12 inches long.
He was taken to hospital and died last Friday.

[GlennF]

Statistically the animal most likely to cause death in Australia is the horse.  Presumably, mainly from falling off the things.

[AzCal Retred]

My dad grew up in Missouri in the Depression. No money, no car parts, farm horses were the fall back transportation. He said he'd never seen so many people hurt so bad so often. My take is that when you have 2 dumb animals closely tied together speeding along you have 4 times the likelihood of disaster...