I wonder if someone can invent a boat

[harlemriverman]

Originally Posted by daiquiri

Hmmmm, now that you mentioned it... I've never thought about this one, actually - do fish make farts too?
And a related hydrostatic question: do they sink after they release a fart bubble?

lol.

apparantly they sink, i don't see bubbles on calm days and its hard for me to believe fish are polite enough to hold them in for those frothy days.

[daiquiri]

Originally Posted by rwatson

Well, if huge whales etc can run on plankton, theoretically a big boat could fuel iteself on plankton too.
Since a boat doenst have to keep itself warm. there might be enough left over for humans to survive on as well.

And what about whales?

[harlemriverman]

Originally Posted by rwatson

Well, if huge whales...Shares at 10 cents each anyone ???

you had me at hello, i swear to ya man, and then you had to go and say something about shares. blast shares and all that sell them...but i'll take one just in case.

[clmanges]

Originally Posted by rwatson

Well, if huge whales etc can run on plankton, theoretically a big boat could fuel iteself on plankton too.
Since a boat doenst have to keep itself warm. there might be enough left over for humans to survive on as well.
Hell, a big amount of oil was plankton to start with.

There is a thread I tried to destroy some time back that discussed the benefits of boats sucking cold nutrient water up to warmer surface water, that not only created sufficient temperature differential to provide significant amounts of power, but also created a large algal bloom (and attracted fish etc)

We could get some of Welmers concrete submarines ( which could submerge in bad storm conditions ), moor it near a volcanic fissure for extra power (of which there are thousands around the pacific) and create a permanent floating city like in the science fiction movies.

Shares at 10 cents each anyone ???

Hmmm . . . If you tried to destroy that thread, why should we feel comfortable about buying shares from you in such a thing?

Yeah, it sounds science-fictiony, all right, but I'd be interested in more information, just for grins. Got a link?

[ancient kayaker]

We already have the technology. The men on the boat eat the fish, then row the boat. The guy who farts takes the downwind oar.

[daiquiri]

Originally Posted by ancient kayaker

We already have the technology. The men on the boat eat the fish, then row the boat. The guy who farts takes the downwind oar.

Can't believe that it took us two pages of physics, ecology, economics etc. to end up at this solution.

P.S.
Now that I think of it, the world might really end up just like that, if we don't become smarter...

[clmanges]

Wanna beer? <fart>

[FranklinRatliff]

Originally Posted by clmanges

You might instead consider harvesting kelp to fuel it . . . I think that would burn better (smell better, too).

How about krill, plankton, or whatever it is that blue whales, whale sharks, etc eat?

[clmanges]

Krill and plankton are tiny, and you'd need a huge, fine-mesh net to gather them. Sounds like too much work to me.

[PortTacker]

No worries.
Electric power and one of these - runs on anything:

http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/res...3/mrfusion.jpg

[rwatson]

Originally Posted by clmanges

Hmmm . . . If you tried to destroy that thread, why should we feel comfortable about buying shares from you in such a thing?

Yeah, it sounds science-fictiony, all right, but I'd be interested in more information, just for grins. Got a link?

A usefull link to my dim memory was provided by Guilermo (brain the size of a planet, but still posts here)

"Using the temperature of water to make energy actually dates back to 1881, when a French Engineer by the name of Jacques D'Arsonval first thought of using ocean thermal energy gradients. His student, Georges Claude, built the first OTEC plant in Cuba in 1930, producing 22 kilowatts of electricity with a low-pressure turbine."

From: The World Ocean Observatory

He quoted a link there, but it is no longer operational

Orignal discussion at -
Solar and wind turbines on vessels?

A google search produced a lot of great references

eg - stories of working projects in Hawaii ( Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) )

http://www.oceansatlas.org/unatlas/u...TEC/OTEC2.html

[Sean Herron]

Hello...

The Gods made fish fast and hard to catch - they then put the fish in water because the damned things stink...

Then the Gods made Cows - cows are slow and stupid and big - easy to catch with a bit of grass or a hand full of grain - and they taste great with little or no sauce...

Kill the cow - fire up the BBQ - eat the steak - go rowing...

Then start all over again - or get a bigger freezer...

This may be interesting - http://waterstudio.nl/ ...

SH.

[rwatson]

Damn, someone already thought of it! (Actually, its people from the future stealing my ideas and coming back years before I thought of it, and taking the credit.)

Some very interesting projects there Sean.

I understand that some years now, people have been experimenting with self contained travelling machines. These long range artifacts also protect the occupants from extremes of heat and cold, store food and water and communicate with other similar machines. These machines can travel for long periods using only local energy sources, with cleverly designed flexible curved extensions that can be retracted when not required.

These objects last for tens of years as they are very sturdy, and the surfaces are made to withstand solar radiation, powerfull acids and even impact with abrasive surfaces.

These machines - are called yachts! Damn clever eh?

[ancient kayaker]

Our yachts are talking to each other? When did that happen? Also tell me how (I have to get back to tell the others). This is too important to trust to the farmers who feed coded silage to cows so they fart a message with just the right combination of isotopes to be found in the upper atmosphere far into the future. Funny the way threads suddenly get senile isn't it?

[rwatson]

Well, in an ancient kayak, you have probably never heard of VHF radio, radar, GPS, that thingo that constantly send your boats details direction and heading, nav Lights, signal flags and a couple of other things I really can remember but I am leaving to others to suggest because I am a trained educator wot knows fings.

Sure - there might be a bit of human intervention going on there as well, but hey - cut me a bit of poetic slack here baby!

I bet I had you going there for a bit - didnt I? well go on - admit it :-)

Its not that threads go senile, its just everyone realises how much stuff has already been said about the topic, and how little we still know about it, how hard it all is, ... what a silly idea it was in the first place, and there is so much real stuff we have to do ...