What is Digg?146 Comments
- yunus, on 01/30/2008, -5/+119What an original idea to use a piece of fabric and the wind to move a ship through water.
- pr0t0, on 01/30/2008, -2/+65I like the line the article: "like a giant version of a small kite".
Hey, look at me everybody...I'm a giant version of a tiny me! - frishdude, on 01/30/2008, -2/+54I know, we'll call it a 'sail'. The future is now.
- Berkana, on 01/30/2008, -13/+42Digg needs a classics section for things that keep showing up.
- NJank, on 01/30/2008, -0/+17Hey, I've got the patent on this already. I found no readily apparent prior art, so don't give me any of that malarkey.
- goodbyegalaxy, on 01/30/2008, -1/+16Maybe the idea is old, but this was written yesterday. People digg it because it's a cool idea and we want updates.
- timbo458, on 01/30/2008, -4/+18The world needs more unorthodox ideas like this.
- Maurina, on 01/30/2008, -4/+17Good thing there aren't any trees out at sea.
- XStatic, on 01/30/2008, -1/+14Pulled by a huge kite to catch strong winds up to 100 yards above the surface, the $725,600 SkySails system is projected to cut fuel costs by about 20 percent - or about $1,600 per day. It will also reduce carbon dioxide output, which is blamed for climate change, by a similar amount, the designers say.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2 ... - MindTrigger, on 01/30/2008, -1/+12The problem is, people like you think that just because you live your life on Digg.com and see every single article that makes it to the front page, that everyone does too. Get over it already.
- GPornMaster, on 01/30/2008, -3/+14To those people saying that ships used sails for quite some time: Traditional sails wouldn't work well for these large ship. Those ships would require gigantic sails to get enough wind to propel the ship. Operating those sails would require a large crew and maneuvering would be difficult. This kite is computer controlled and uses the much more stable winds farther up in the sky. It's only deployed once in the open Sea where slight deviations of the planned route are not too dangerous. These kites are relatively cheap, save a lot of fuel and are easy to operate. Ii hope this field testing goes well and more ships can profit out of it.
- GhandicapXRS, on 01/30/2008, -5/+15That system blows...
- JMellissa, on 01/30/2008, -3/+13That which was old becomes new...
- drlha, on 01/30/2008, -1/+11I've already got a patent on a method of drumming to maximize slave rower efficiency.
- noahhoward, on 01/30/2008, -2/+10I know of some engineers and a very satisfied ships captain that would disagree with you.
- brufleth, on 01/30/2008, -5/+13That was my reaction. I think people did this a while ago. Thousands of years ago even.
Next we'll hear about using long sticks with flat ends pulled by slaves to propel ships. - bosssmiley, on 01/30/2008, -0/+8Witchcraft. Demons of the air (kept in those canisters and bags that hang on the gondolas) tow the contraptions around.
- ApokalypseNow, on 01/30/2008, -0/+8Current rate - 100 years till price savings. When time till savings reaches 5-10 years, then maybe.
- baalzebub, on 01/30/2008, -2/+9i think cargo ships should use dolphins like back in the old west when the teamsters used mule teams...
http://www.exploratorium.edu/learning_studio/news/ ... - Hypermarkalan, on 01/30/2008, -1/+8I hope your patent doesn't mention whipping. If so, I'll see you in court.
- TheDreadDiggerD, on 01/30/2008, -0/+7Wishes and grog?
- weeeezzll, on 01/30/2008, -0/+6http://members.tripod.com/~TKOGunn1/kitegifs/charl ...
- noahhoward, on 01/30/2008, -0/+6The Filipinos wouldn't have to be bothered. These kite systems are deployed, controlled and retrieved by computer alone. As for $10 mil to install, you need to get in touch with a new yard, you're being ripped off.
- evan119, on 01/30/2008, -0/+6I just got a flashback of having all my ***** float out of my wagon trying to ford the damn rivers in Oregon Trail...
- GreenGrassyNoel, on 01/30/2008, -3/+8Can some one tell me what the actual real problem is with sites coming up multiple times on digg? I see repeats but i just don't click on them.
- nospinhere, on 01/30/2008, -0/+5That's because the majority of those diggs are probably from the same group of rubber stamp friends.
- Sharky35, on 01/30/2008, -1/+6And we can use a bunch of them and call it a ...."Sail Boat".
- theacer, on 01/30/2008, -6/+11ok, I have friend who is incharge of a fleet of cargo ships. He looked into these sails, install for their current ship: 10 million. Saving in fuel in a year (you can only use this for 1 way): 100k a year. Also can you see Filipinos putting up and down a sail?
- AndreiOttawa, on 01/30/2008, -0/+4Welcome to 2900 BC
- claphands22, on 01/30/2008, -5/+9Greenpeace just wet themselves.
- XStatic, on 01/30/2008, -1/+5This is a new story as the ship is now underway and using the sail.
The last story was about the ship before it set sail http://digg.com/general_sciences/Kite_Powered_Ship ...
Thanks for the update. - simplicityiskey, on 01/30/2008, -4/+8"...wind power might just be the future of nautical transportation." Good article, except that it seems to not want to acknowledge that wind power was the foundation for nautical transportation for most of human history.
- evan119, on 01/30/2008, -0/+4Dugg for "malarkey"
- Hypermarkalan, on 01/30/2008, -1/+5Hey, show some respect. God's blowing into the sails. It's His breath that propels the believers across the waters. Faster you pray, the faster you can transport that tobacco!
- weeeezzll, on 01/30/2008, -1/+5Just because you heard about it last week when the ship set sail, doesn't mean everyone else did. It-was-posted-last-week/month/year snobs need to get over themselves.
- bosssmiley, on 01/30/2008, -2/+6Powering a ship with an invisible force captured by sheeting erected on some kind of nautical pylon? That's just some crazy sci-fi idea! It would never work.
- noahhoward, on 01/30/2008, -0/+3Are you really too dense to see the difference?
- alittleroy101, on 01/30/2008, -0/+3That's because Kate Winslet wasn't 300 feet above the surface.
- noahhoward, on 01/30/2008, -0/+3Agree but wind power from the sailing days is not the same as this system. Traditional sails do not work for ships of this size.
- Toxigen, on 01/30/2008, -0/+3Always nice how diggers seem to have friends doing stuff and still not having a clue as to how those things work.
- GhandicapXRS, on 01/30/2008, -1/+4Wrong! If the price of the sails go down and the price of oil goes up, the effect will be exponential and it will definitely NOT be 100 years until you would see savings. AND you have to assume that the sails would get bigger and more efficient further increasing savings. It's common sense.
- noahhoward, on 01/30/2008, -0/+3People please research. You can sail up to 50 degrees off of the wind with these systems http://www.skysails.info/index.php?id=39&L=1
- alittleroy101, on 01/30/2008, -0/+3*oars
- opticsnake, on 01/30/2008, -0/+3Easy there Charlie Brown.
- darksydxx, on 01/30/2008, -1/+4Geat , more obstacles superman has to fukin deal with.
- Toxigen, on 01/30/2008, -0/+2That's so not PC .................... Nice!
- glacius99, on 01/30/2008, -0/+2Yes, yes I believe it was..
- noahhoward, on 01/30/2008, -0/+2Absolutely wrong. Like any other sail this can be used in a wide angle of relation to the wind. It's effective at up to 55 degrees off of upwind. Like any other sailboat a commercial vessel of this size is a displacement hull. There is nothing at all bogus about this.
- redxxx, on 01/30/2008, -0/+2Spinnakers only work when you are running with the wind. In such a cases the apparent wind speed is decreased by forward speed.
Kites like these and rigid sails work almost all the time and allow you to tack. They contribute the most energy when you are on a reach because the apparent wind speed actually increases with forward speed. Kites themselves move increasing apparent wind speed even more.
Spinnakers are *****, and are only really useful when you are forced to do something dumb with your boat. - tnvwboy, on 01/30/2008, -0/+2The kite/sails are not substitutes, they are additions, augmentations to the existing (typically diesel) power. When in storms or near port they can pull in the kite and run on diesel. The savings to the shipping company are clearly not trivial or they wouldn't do it.
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