Chainsaw-wielding Robotic Submarine

merryprankster writes "New Scientist is running a story about Sawfish, a chainsaw-wielding robotic submarine used as an underwater lumberjack. There are some 200 million trees thought to be standing on the floor of hydropower reservoirs worldwide. Sawfish attaches airbags to, and cuts around 9 trees an hour - the trees then float to the surface for collection. Cue the jokes about robotic high heels, suspenders and a bra."

Comments

Great Wood from these Trees

[moehoward]

The trees that have been in cold water the longest make some of the best wood in the world. Apparently, these was/is an effort to get some sunken wood from the bottom of Lake Superior that went down with logging ships long ago.

Great idea. Hope it's not one of the ugly big corporations that Michael hates so much that is doing it. And for god's sake, let's hope nobody actually makes an EVIL profit off of it. Right, Michael?

pictures

[bawb]

Found some pics here.

CORRECT photo here...

[nweaver]

Triton Logging Company Engineering Page has a photo of what is presumably the Sawfish submarine.

(darn, I forgot to close a quote. /. needs a cancel feature)

Re:Old growth lumber

[Anonymous Coward]

Oddly enough, the article provides the answer to your question:

Trees left standing in flooded forests die, but they do not rot because the water keeps out oxygen. Worldwide, some 200 million trees are thought to be standing on the floor of hydropower reservoirs.

"Provided its been in cold, close to anaerobic conditions, wood from submerged trees actually can be in very good condition indeed," says Rorke Bryan, dean of the faculty of forestry at the University of Toronto.

Re:How good is the wood like that?

[bobthemuse]

If you're gonna build a deck today, check out some of the composite materials that are available. I saw someone building once, was surprised that they could cut it with a saw, pound nails through it, etc, but that it was mostly plastic. I found one online, but I'm sure there are many others.

With the rapid depletion of old wood, it should be reserved for high-end furniture, instruments, etc. This is a fantastic alternative for outside use!

Re:Old growth lumber

[Anonymous Coward]

Sorry about the AC, but I'd rather not wait to get to my own system:

You obviously don't have the foggiest idea what you are talking about.

Old growth forrests around here are HUNDREDS of years old. Kind of hard to get that way due to 100 years of firefighting.

Also, this wood is in great shape if it is under enough water. You go deep enough, and it's pretty lifeless. I have a picture frame I made out of summerged old growth. It's some of the nicese stuff around.

Re:Old growth lumber

[Rudolfo]

Old growth lumber is a decadent, unnatural forest, that is caused by man supressing forest fires for the last 100 years, which is nature's only way of renewing a forest, believe-it-or-not. Cones won't open, releasing seeds, unless under extreme heat.

Uh ... most old growth forests by definition are over a hundred and fifty years old, existing way before fire suppression. With your logic you can't explain the existence of all those 400 year old trees unless you have Native American firefighters.

Some trees do require fire for their cones to release their seeds, but there are many that don't. In fact, most trees in the Pacific Northwest don't (at least on the west side of the Cascades) - forest fires are extremely uncommon due to the wet climate.

Seattle was covered with old growth forest when the settlers arrived in the 1850s. That certainly was the natural state of the forests. There are only a few old growth trees left within the city.

Re:Old growth lumber

[_Sharp'r_]

Right, because after all, the U.S. Agriculture Department says America has 749 million acres of forestland. In 1920, we had 735 million acres of forest.

Only 7% of current U.S. forestland has been planted by man, so I suppose that only leaves 687 million acres of old growth forest. Yep, sure sounds like it's almost all gone.

Re:Old growth lumber

[craXORjack]

Wood can stay preserved for thousands of years underwater. Take a look at this page which talks about the anaerobic deep water wrecks found in the black sea which was a large freshwater lake until a few thousand years ago. The flooding of that region is suspected to be the genesis of the biblical flood story (and of the Gilgamesh legend before it was co-opted by the Israelites) In particular look at the "mesolithic settlement" link where the same man that found the Titanic discovered a 7000 year old house which predates the epic flood and is very well preserved.