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Synthetic Sebum Makes Slippery Sailboats
sonnejw0 writes "Sea-faring vessels are a major contributor of greenhouse gas production due to a deficit in international laws and inherent inefficiencies at sea, such as barnacle build-up on hulls. Many marine animals avoid the build-up of drag-inducing barnacles through secreting oily residues from their pores or through the nano-molecular arrangement of their skin. Sailors regularly defoul their hulls, removing the barnacles at dry-dock, which requires them to reduce the amount of time they have at sea. Some synthetic chemicals in paints have been used to prevent barnacle build-up but have been found to be toxic to marine animals and thus outlawed by several nations. Now, engineers are trying to replicate the skin of marine animals to produce a slippery hull to which marine bacteria cannot attach, saving fuel costs and improving speeds."
The image of a smegma producing sail yacht is now stuck in my head!
Where's the brain bleach when you need it!
Genetically engineered whales with a built in cargo hold. You just have to train them well, and take advantage of their natural migration patterns..
... stopped reading after the headline...
...and no, you don't grow out of it.
Any further discussion would be TMI.
Errant preachers travel for free! *
* select destinations only.
Well, my farts probably produce 100 times as much SOx emissions as the vehicles I drive. It's not terribly meaningful to compare two different fuel sources.
We could just keelhaul more people. They'll scrape all the crap right off the bottom of your ship. Or they'll get stuck down there and create a bigger problem. Either way, it's entertainment. Yar.