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Future Ships Could Float On Bubbles
MattSparkes writes, "Creating a layer of bubbles underneath a ship's hull could improve fuel efficiency by 20%. When you consider that 90% of the world's goods are transported by sea, the importance of this discovery is obvious. 'Conjured up from thin air at the flick of a switch, this slippery blanket will help transport a fully laden tanker or container ship across the ocean at higher speed, and using far less fuel, than ever before... There is currently no other technique in naval architecture that can promise such savings.'" The article looks in some detail at the engineering problems that will need to be overcome before this technique is practical.
good point, i was going to bring this up in my post. I bet the bubbles add a little instability from side to side as that is where the most give would be, but none from the bottom (thats why there will be no bubbling along the bottom of the hull);
Sails and tight schedules don't go well together.
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be the name of a store, not a government agency.
That wouldn't be saving energy, that would be collecting it from an ubiquitous source. A sailing ship equipped with systems this research develops would outperform one without them.
Somehow using wind to suppliment conventional fuels is a good idea though. Why pay for what you can get for free?
clicky --> http://www.skysails.info/
Well, the thing about a cavitating torpedo is that because the only bit of it that's touching anything is the very tip, it's a right bugger to steer...
More idiots adding more sh!t to the environment. We've already seen how the ocean provides the particulates and the water vapor for the clouds that keep the planet from going supernova...
I dislike greenies as much as the next guy, but adding polymer ejaculates to ships - battleships, ships of war, or just ships that have to go fast, to make them go faster or use less fuel.... ffs wtf are the thinking!?
From TFA: "The polymers probably won't damage the environment"
Let's start a famous quotes page, here are a few to kick things off:
Qld gov't: "The cane toads probably won't damage the environment"
B Gates: "You probably won't ever need more than 640k"
Local Dr: "This might sting a little bit"
If you're a mile away and the torpedo travels at 230 MPH- it might not matter.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
then add some soap and La Voila!
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
IIRC, they have a couple of rocket-powered supersonic torpedos that panicked the US Navy when first demonstrated...
You're probably referring to the "Shkval" torpedo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VA-111_ShkvalWhile certainly fast it's nowhere near supersonic, and furthermore it utilizes supercavitation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercavitation
which is someting quite different from this technology.