Gregory's Server
 94 comments
Well, Rabbit… I was referring to the photo here not a website that isn’t linked or refernced in the post. But thank you! 😆  @BathysphereHat @MaddieT @stavvers @FeralRobots @MaddieT @stavvers Their phrasing doesn't imply that though, that was the headline that they didn't write. @BathysphereHat @FeralRobots @MaddieT @stavvers title is terrible but its a autonomous cargo ship thats wind powered for slow port to port shipping which is kindov neat and a first of its kind of thing  @castironflower @BathysphereHat @FeralRobots @MaddieT @stavvers well, maybe fully self-sailing will work better than fully self-driving. that was a difficult thing to say with a straight face @thegarbagebird @castironflower @FeralRobots @MaddieT @stavvers The thing that doesn't particularly make sense to me about making something like this self sailing is that the vast majority of labor on a cargo ship like that is, as I understand it, not navigation but maintenance and such. @BathysphereHat @castironflower @FeralRobots @MaddieT @stavvers oh i am sure that much like self driving cars they will not have any build issues. @thegarbagebird @BathysphereHat @castironflower @MaddieT @stavvers @FeralRobots @BathysphereHat @castironflower @MaddieT @stavvers oh, so they're not actually automated. well that's a massive relief. @thegarbagebird @BathysphereHat @castironflower @MaddieT @stavvers @FeralRobots @thegarbagebird @BathysphereHat @MaddieT @stavvers my understanding is the goal fully automated fleets in international waters and human ran within ports @FeralRobots @thegarbagebird @BathysphereHat @MaddieT @stavvers looks like i was combining two projects but it looks like it is legal for robots to drive big ships @FeralRobots @BathysphereHat @castironflower @MaddieT @stavvers that's what i’d like to think too, but tech companies tend to find things like laws restrictive. they stifle ‘innovation’ and cut into profit margins @thegarbagebird @BathysphereHat @FeralRobots @MaddieT @stavvers they dont doc in port automatically but are driven in by humans the ocean is big and accidents are rare at high seas @castironflower @thegarbagebird @BathysphereHat @MaddieT @stavvers @BathysphereHat @castironflower @FeralRobots @MaddieT @stavvers i agree that in open water, they will be effective. i just don't know how they will get there. my guess is with expensive port refits it will be doable. @BathysphereHat @thegarbagebird @FeralRobots @MaddieT @stavvers i think, and i could be wrong, that diesal engines and stuff for humans is the big maintenance task so electric motors and a tiny computer plus rigid sails might actually have significantly less things to break and if they do it might just sail in circles and its frieght so i presume a percentage needing a rescue is ok @castironflower @BathysphereHat @MaddieT @stavvers  @FeralRobots @castironflower @BathysphereHat @MaddieT @stavvers What's to stop a crew from meeting the vessel just before it enters port?  @FeralRobots @BathysphereHat @MaddieT @stavvers What's interesting about it is the hull's superstructure is designed as a wing so the hull itself is providing power along with any sails that are up. It's a vessel that is actually a sail. The additional wing sails are designed to be easily reefed for high winds.  @stavvers   @ColesStreetPothole @stavvers I have this concept for email that you print out and someone brings it from point a to point be in real life! I call it, wait for it, analog email. @thehomespundays @stavvers Boutique, artisanal analog email with personalized delivery. @ColesStreetPothole @stavvers @ColesStreetPothole @stavvers @FeralRobots @stavvers I mean that's kind of a cool concept, and ebike where all the heavy battery/motor bits can be removed and just...pedaled. 🙂 As long as he doesn't say he's designed the first non-e-bike! 😂    @stavvers They will call the Middle Passage a series of rigorous tests with prototypes too.  @stavvers It's a little known fact that the Cutty Sark was only as fast as it was thanks to being powered by twin 600 horsepower diesel engines [/s] @stavvers Ok, I know we're having fun here, but what is more likely: that an otherwise successful (as far as I can tell) Swedish ship design company has reinvented sailboats for no reason, or that there's some sort of innovation here that's just not immediately obvious from a headline? @stavvers Like, looking at their website, it looks like this is a very real effort to reduce carbon emissions in shipping while also avoiding a lot of the disadvantages that make traditional sailboats impractical for modern freight, and it seems kind of backwards to be shitting on that. @BathysphereHat @stavvers what I believe is being mocked here is the need to frame every new idea as some kind of earth-shattering development. It comes from the tech-bro cult of disruption, which is not a sustainable attitude.  @BathysphereHat @stavvers I think the innovation here is the scale of the ship. I wouldn't call this a sailboat because it's orders of magnitude bigger than a sailboat. It is a sailing ship though... I think. I wonder if "wind-powered" is a jargon word that somehow excludes all previous sailing ships... @typeswitch @BathysphereHat @stavvers More accurate headline would be "windpowered modern cargo vessel." Check out the Harryproa for a smaller scale substitute for island-hopping tramp steamers: https://www.harryproa.com/  @stavvers obviously I didn't sail a yacht ⛵ using wind and sails all those years ago, because it hadn't been invented yet 😝  I'm still giggling over that time the tech bros suggested everyone contribute $ to a fund and it could go to providing services. They re-invented taxes!  @stavvers @Hunterrules0_o @stavvers no, is because de headline says that this company invented something and that something was invented thousands of years ago. ⛵️  @stavvers Well, as we all know, the biggest complaint the Pilgrims had was how long it took to row from Plymouth to Plymouth. Chris Columbus lost two ships when the crews just got tired of rowing.   @stavvers I can't believe its 2024 and we just figured out we could use wind to sail the seas!  Wait until they realize that I have invented a new light source that requires no electricity and uses 100% sustainable biofuels! This is going to revolutionize the world!  @stavvers Didn't Jacques Cousteau have a ship with sails like that built in the 80's?  @stavvers Seen this article banded about a lot, and yeah, it is trash, but the Oceanbird itself is actually an interesting solution to a serious problem. This thing is massive, it's almost 3x the displacement and ~1.5x the length of the largest sail ship ever made. Conventional sails do not work at that scale, which is the minimum a modern cargo ship needs. The solved that with super tall "sails" that are more like airplane wings. It's not as silly as the headline makes it out to be. @stavvers by way of extreme (wingsail-assisted) pedantry, Walker Wingsail Systems, 1987     @stavvers These headlines are crafted for click bait, or to be shared and scoffed at. They get shared though and increase engagement "oh look at these idiots"   I am ABSOLUTELY sure it was written as "wing driven" and a committee said it must be a typo.  @stavvers Next year, it'll be AI    @stavvers Um, I think the Ancient Greeks would have a thing or two to say about that, and almost certainly well before them as well. @stavvers@masto.ai did we just see an irl int overflow? |
@stavvers I love that they didn’t call it a ship or a boat… They called it a SAILing vessel and they still didn’t catch on. Brilliant!