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Message In Bottle Found After 98 Years Near Shetland

Posted by samzenpus on from the message-in-a-bottle dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A drift bottle released in June 1914 by Captain CH Brown of the Glasgow School of Navigation has been found. Part of a project to help map currents, 1,890 scientific research bottles were released around Scotland. Only 315 of them were ever recovered. From the article: 'Mr Leaper, 43, who found the bottle east of Shetland, explained: "As we hauled in the nets I spotted the bottle neck sticking out and I quickly grabbed it before it fell back in the sea. It was very exciting to find the bottle and I couldn't wait to open it."'"

82 of 107 comments (clear)

  1. Sixpence None The Richer? by Cyrano+de+Maniac · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Yes, but was he awarded the promised six pence?

    --
    Cyrano de Maniac
    1. Re:Sixpence None The Richer? by girlintraining · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yes, but was he awarded the promised six pence?

      When the original bottle and items inside are auctioned off, he'll make far more. Assuming he doesn't succumb to a case of stupidity and opens the bottle like the article suggests, in which case he deserves being whipped repeatedly by angry historians -- and the whip's price shall be six pence.

      --
      #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    2. Re:Sixpence None The Richer? by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 3, Funny

      Kiss Me!

    3. Re:Sixpence None The Richer? by Charliemopps · · Score: 3, Informative

      "The bottle has been donated to a Shetland museum"

      Well, at least he didn't open it.

    4. Re:Sixpence None The Richer? by girlintraining · · Score: 5, Funny

      "The bottle has been donated to a Shetland museum"

      I think there might be a typo here.

      --
      #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    5. Re:Sixpence None The Richer? by AchilleTalon · · Score: 3, Funny

      Great deception. I expected the message being something like: That whisky was fucking good!

      --
      Achille Talon
      Hop!
    6. Re:Sixpence None The Richer? by medelliadegray · · Score: 1

      he would still be none the richer.

      --
      Troll, Troll, go away and flame again some other day
  2. Neat by Formalin · · Score: 2

    Bottle looks to be in pretty good shape - I can't tell what the seal is, just cork?

    I wonder if he'll get to collect the 6 pence finders fee. What's that in decimal... with interest?

    1. Re:Neat by gman003 · · Score: 3, Informative

      According to this, sixpence translates to 2.5p, or 0.025L (not even going to try using the right character, /. will eat it). And according to this PDF, the Pound was worth roughly 76 times more in 2005 (the year it was written) than it was in 1914. So it comes out to be about 2L, or about US$3.

    2. Re:Neat by thelexx · · Score: 3, Informative

      "the Pound was worth roughly 76 times more in 2005 (the year it was written) than it was in 1914."

      Less. The pound was worth ~76 times less in 2005 than in 1914. See the graphs on pages 18 and 19.

      --
      "Gold still represents the ultimate form of payment in the world." - Alan Greenspan, 1999
    3. Re:Neat by gman003 · · Score: 1, Informative

      Depends on how you look at it. 76 L(1914) are only worth 1 L(2005), so in that sense it is worth less. But 1 L(1914) would buy you far more than 1 L(2005), so in that sense it is worth more.

    4. Re:Neat by thelexx · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "But 1 L(1914) would buy you far more than 1 L(2005), so in that sense it is worth more."

      Think about that for a minute.

      1 in 1914 = 76 loaves of bread (just a number for example)
      1 in 2005 = 1 loaf of bread

      In absolutely no sense is it worth more now. It is very simple. If it were truly worth more now, in any way shape or form, you would be getting more than 76 loaves of bread for it.

      --
      "Gold still represents the ultimate form of payment in the world." - Alan Greenspan, 1999
    5. Re:Neat by gman003 · · Score: 1

      Ah, my bad, I did have it backwards. Mind kept reading it as what I meant to write, not what I actually wrote.

    6. Re:Neat by msauve · · Score: 1

      There was no promise to pay interest, or adjust for inflation, etc. One can buy a sixpence coin on UK eBay with shipping, for a pound, so you can probably get one for less than that.

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    7. Re:Neat by rossdee · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Depends on what you are going to buy with it. Inflation isn't totally uniform. - How much did radios and other consumer electronics cost back then?

    8. Re:Neat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      USS3 how dumb the L use looks to a Brit.

      £.

    9. Re:Neat by fuzzywig · · Score: 1

      Do you mean £? I thought you were talking about Lira for a minute. And yeah, a pre- Decimalisation quid could buy you a lot more back then.

    10. Re:Neat by Inda · · Score: 2

      One night, eight years ago, down on the Cornish coast, we drank this sickly drink called Dooleys. In a moment of madness we placed a scrap of paper in the bottle with my email address and the words "Just for fun". Our small boat was pushed into the English Channel and we sailed out a mile before I lobbed the bottle overboard. Stupidity knows no bounds.

      A month later I recieved an email.

      The bottle had travelled all of two miles down the coast in that time, through one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.

      A crappy little rubber seal protected the data inside. Maybe it's not so hard to believe a cork could do a better job. :)

      --
      This post contains benzene, nitrosamines, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide.
    11. Re:Neat by geekoid · · Score: 1

      you made me curious.
      In the US:
      1914 - price of bread per pound 6 cents
      2002 - 149 cents

      Calculating inflation, 6 cents in 1914 is equivalent to 107 cents in 2002.

      So we are paying more for bread, but. It s sliced, safer, higher quality, and consistent.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    12. Re:Neat by cellocgw · · Score: 1

      you made me curious.
      In the US:
      1914 - price of bread per pound 6 cents
      2002 - 149 cents
      Calculating inflation, 6 cents in 1914 is equivalent to 107 cents in 2002.
      So we are paying more for bread, but. It s sliced, safer, higher quality, and consistent.
      ?? Pre-sliced sucks. "Safer" is nonsense. Consistency is boring. And most important, sliced mass-produced bread is crap both nutritionally and gustatorially. Give me a good local bakery any day.

      --
      https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
    13. Re:Neat by oldmac31310 · · Score: 1

      LSD. Librae, solidi, denarii. Pounds, shillings and pence.

      --
      http://www.acetonestudio.com
    14. Re:Neat by thelexx · · Score: 1

      For sure, technological advancement SHOULD lead to a natural decrease in many prices over time. That isn't the case though because the money is losing value more quickly than the advancements are happening. The fact that even superior (let's say 5x) bread is now more than 30 cents per pound shows that pretty clearly.

      And you made me curious too! The loaf of bread on my shelf says 1lb on the label and it was a little over $2 IIRC.

      --
      "Gold still represents the ultimate form of payment in the world." - Alan Greenspan, 1999
  3. So... by msauve · · Score: 2

    how do they know it was near Shetland for 98 years?

    --
    "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    1. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I could tell you but I think it is more fun to know the answer and keep you in the dark. Also, read the article you twat.

    2. Re:So... by icebike · · Score: 4, Interesting

      how do they know it was near Shetland for 98 years?

      They obviously don't. In fact, unless there are some incredibly regular local current loops this bottle could have traveled a very long way.
      These were designed to sink to some depth, (but obviously not to the bottom) and flow with the currents, and be below the depth where they
      would likely be dashed on the rocks by waves.

      Looking at a map of the Atlantic Currents its quite possible these bottles may have covered would be up to the arctic, back down along Greenland, Labrador, delivered to the North Atlantic Drift and back to Shetland. Probably many round such trips over the years.

      --
      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    3. Re:So... by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      In fact, unless there are some incredibly regular local current loops this bottle could have traveled a very long way.

      Right. But this is fascinating data. Datum? The time-integrated value of ocean currents with an integration time of 98 years.

      Most people want to know the instantaneous value. Climatologists want to know the perhaps one year average. But here we have the 98 year integration. Do you know how much it would cost to build a modern electronic current meter that would have a calibration valid for 98 years?

    4. Re:So... by Kryptonian+Jor-El · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It wouldn't be very useful. The air in the bottle would be representative of only that particular day, in that particular place. For example, if it were bottled by a wood fire stove, it would have much higher concentrations of CO2 than the average mass of air

      --
      All your 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 are belong to us
    5. Re:So... by RabidReindeer · · Score: 1

      It wouldn't be very useful. The air in the bottle would be representative of only that particular day, in that particular place. For example, if it were bottled by a wood fire stove, it would have much higher concentrations of CO2 than the average mass of air

      All grist for the mill, though. There have been studies where they do open old bottles and other airtight hollow objects (I think even things like binoculars) just to analyze the air.

      One sample isn't worth much, but that's how you build knowledge somethings. One sample at a time.

      Also, they don't just do straight chemical analysis. Isotopes can tell all sorts of stories.

  4. On the back was written by Jailbrekr · · Score: 4, Funny

    BSD Is Dying

    --
    Feed the need: Digitaladdiction.net
    1. Re:On the back was written by msauve · · Score: 1

      FreeBSD, or OpenBSD?

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
  5. ping by djl4570 · · Score: 4, Funny

    $ping 192.168.28.1

    Pinging 192.168.28.1 with 32 bytes of data:
    Reply from 192.168.28.1: bytes=32 time=3,092,644,800,000ms TTL=64

    Ping statistics for 192.168.28.1:
    Packets: Sent = 1, Received = 1, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
    Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 3,092,644,800,000ms, Maximum = 3,092,644,800,000ms, Average = 3,092,644,800,000ms
    $

    1. Re:ping by p0p0 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Shouldn't it be closer to:
      $ping shetland.gov

      Pinging shetland.gov with 32 bytes of data:
      Reply from shetland.gov: bytes=32 time=3,092,644,800,000ms TTL=64

      Ping statistics for shetland.gov:
      Packets: Sent = 1,890, Received = 315, Lost = 1575 (83% loss),
      Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
      Minimum = 3,092,644,800,000ms, Maximum = 3,092,644,800,000ms, Average = 3,092,644,800,000ms
      $

    2. Re:ping by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I think the average ping time is shorter (from the 314 recovered bottles), just the max value being 3Ts.

    3. Re:ping by drkim · · Score: 2

      Still, better than my ISP...

    4. Re:ping by fm6 · · Score: 1

      I think you got the TTL wrong.

    5. Re:ping by Alomex · · Score: 1

      TTL is in hops, not time units.

    6. Re:ping by Pieroxy · · Score: 1

      I think you got the TTL wrong.

      Or ping is buggy as hell.

      --
      Write boring code, not shiny code!
  6. Obvious joke here by dkleinsc · · Score: 5, Funny

    Unfortunately, The Police could not be reached for comment.

    --
    I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
    1. Re:Obvious joke here by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 2

      However, there *were* reports of an SOS...

    2. Re:Obvious joke here by c0lo · · Score: 2

      However, there *were* reports of an SOS...

      Yes... actually a hundred billion of them... stingy luck to have found only one of them.

      --
      Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
    3. Re:Obvious joke here by ThePeices · · Score: 1, Funny

      Unfortunately, The Police could not be reached for comment.

      Joke not so obvious....what do the police have to do with this?

    4. Re:Obvious joke here by gman003 · · Score: 3, Informative

      One explanation, coming right up..

    5. Re:Obvious joke here by Trogre · · Score: 5, Funny

      Man, you would have to have been living in a box or walking on the moon not to get that one.

      --
      "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
    6. Re:Obvious joke here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Jeez, where have you been? Living at the bottom of some dark Scottish lake, or something I presume?

    7. Re:Obvious joke here by istartedi · · Score: 1

      Well, as someone who came of age in the 80s myself... there's a chance he wasnt' born yet. Yeah I know. Sucks to be old.

      Now that we've turned him onto The Police, he may be one of the fetuses on YouTube that loves their music.

      --
      For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
    8. Re:Obvious joke here by Kreigaffe · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I worked briefly with a 19 year old girl who had never heard of: David Bowie, Neil Young, Sid Vicious, James Brown, Pearl Jam, Janis Joplin, or Run DMC.

      I very nearly wept.

      --
      ... still waiting for this free-as-in-beer free beer I keep hearing about. :|
    9. Re:Obvious joke here by Dripdry · · Score: 2

      That's "have to be a man in a suitcase or...."
      As a resident Police fanatic I can say unequivocally that they have no song called "living in a box." Wow, I can't believe I'm the snooty, uptight dork who feels So Lonely on this issue...
      My apologies, but the Voices Inside My Head felt a deep-seated need to make things "right"

      What can I say? Truth Hits Everybody.

      --
      -
    10. Re:Obvious joke here by raddan · · Score: 2

      I work with a former Microsoft intern about whom I have a similar story. Microsoft plans a "special event" every summer for its interns, and they're often things like cruises or concerts. So I asked him-- what was your special event? He said, "Oh, it was just some wedding band or something. Totally boring." I later found out that it was Dave Matthews Band. Gah.

    11. Re:Obvious joke here by heneon · · Score: 1

      I know this joke! "I very nearly wept." ...then you realised she was deaf! Bada-bum, thank you I'll be here all week.

    12. Re:Obvious joke here by joke_dst · · Score: 1

      You shouldn't have wept, you should have been happy!

      http://xkcd.com/1053/

    13. Re:Obvious joke here by sa1lnr · · Score: 1

      Sid Vicious sells dairy and Iggy Pop is an insurance salesman. :(

    14. Re:Obvious joke here by dargaud · · Score: 1

      One of the very first argument I had with my then girlfriend (and now wife) was that she'd never heard of The Clash. I was "that's not possible" and she got pissed at me for claiming that I could tell what she knew better than her. The argument ended when I put their most famous songs on the player: "Oh! But I've heard that before..."

      --
      Non-Linux Penguins ?
    15. Re:Obvious joke here by karbonforms · · Score: 2

      Sid Viscous is long dead you nobber. Johnny Rotten (John Lydon) punts butter.

    16. Re:Obvious joke here by karbonforms · · Score: 1

      Loch!

    17. Re:Obvious joke here by mug+funky · · Score: 1

      "Sid Viscous is long dead you nobber"

      yes, he came to a rather sticky end.

    18. Re:Obvious joke here by mug+funky · · Score: 2

      tricky thing to get the stats on really. it's sort of between two.

      it's easy to rock the casbah if you live by a river.

    19. Re:Obvious joke here by mug+funky · · Score: 1

      what about "Labyrinth"?? where are the parents in this poor girl's life?

    20. Re:Obvious joke here by guyniraxn · · Score: 2

      Ha! That's the best description of Dave Matthews Band I've heard. I never did "get" them.

    21. Re:Obvious joke here by karbonforms · · Score: 1

      aye. him too. (drunk in charge of spellchecker)

    22. Re:Obvious joke here by Bob+C.+Cock · · Score: 1

      I had a similar jaw dropping experience when a 20 year old I work with didn't get the reference "nuke them from orbit, it's the only way to be sure." When I told him it was from Aliens his response was, "I don't watch old movies."

    23. Re:Obvious joke here by heefeneet · · Score: 1

      Loch!

      Maybe he meant the Lake Of Menteith?

    24. Re:Obvious joke here by oldmac31310 · · Score: 1

      Hope not. Rubbish band.

      --
      http://www.acetonestudio.com
    25. Re:Obvious joke here by oldmac31310 · · Score: 1

      Well out of that lot IMHO only JB and maybe Run DMC are worth bothering with.

      --
      http://www.acetonestudio.com
    26. Re:Obvious joke here by oldmac31310 · · Score: 1

      You mean in a van by the river like Chris Farley?

      --
      http://www.acetonestudio.com
    27. Re:Obvious joke here by karbonforms · · Score: 1

      which is a loch in Scotland

  7. The context read ..... by Brigadier · · Score: 1

    Send more Rum ....

    1. Re:The context read ..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Be sure to drink your Ovaltine...

  8. Long Term Storage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Remember the story on this site about creating a time capsule to be opened in the future? And everyone was going on about various seals, gas interactions, acid free paper, etc.

    Seems like a piece of paper stuck inside a bottle can last a hundred years.

    1. Re:Long Term Storage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It may be important to note that the typical ocean surface temperature near the British Isles is in the mid 50s (F) year-round, but "10 feet underground" temperatures can hit 70F in the summertime. That extra 20F might cause a lot of aging.

      (Yes, I'm ignoring the damage caused by direct light/UV; underground stuff doesn't have to worry about that.)

    2. Re:Long Term Storage by RabidReindeer · · Score: 1

      Remember the story on this site about creating a time capsule to be opened in the future? And everyone was going on about various seals, gas interactions, acid free paper, etc.

      Seems like a piece of paper stuck inside a bottle can last a hundred years.

      Progress.

      I think that the use of acid to bleach paper might actually post-date the post-card in question.

  9. Excitement & Despair by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    It was very exciting to find the bottle and I couldn't wait to open it.

    Followed immediately by a crushing disappointment that it did not hold liquor.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  10. Oops by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    Should have read down further before I posted. MY apologies for totally ripping off your joke.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  11. Obvious reference by techno-vampire · · Score: 1

    Fan mail from a flounder?

    --
    Good, inexpensive web hosting
  12. I hate you all that bottle is.... by NSN+A392-99-964-5927 · · Score: 1

    My Whiskey and there are not enough drams to go around....therefore first posters get a wee dram and the rest can piss off!

    Topic CLOSED!

    --
    All cows eat grass!
    1. Re:I hate you all that bottle is.... by History's+Coming+To · · Score: 1

      There's no e in Scottish Whisky.

      --
      Please consider this account deleted, I just can't be bothered with the spam anymore.
    2. Re:I hate you all that bottle is.... by heefeneet · · Score: 1

      There's no e in Scottish Whisky.

      If it was whiskey (with an e) that explains why it was thrown overboard!

    3. Re:I hate you all that bottle is.... by NSN+A392-99-964-5927 · · Score: 1

      There's no e in Scottish Whisky.

      If it was whiskey (with an e) that explains why it was thrown overboard!

      You should all me modded up and where the hell is my Whiskey :)

      --
      All cows eat grass!
  13. printf( "%s \n", SLASHDOT_STD_JOKE ); by Young+Master+Ploppy · · Score: 1

    Hey, 1914 called, they want their.... oh.

    --
    http://instantbadger.blogspot.com
    1. Re:printf( "%s \n", SLASHDOT_STD_JOKE ); by eternaldoctorwho · · Score: 1

      Did you warn them about WWI and WWII???? No??!! You bastard!

  14. Re:Technically.. by History's+Coming+To · · Score: 1

    Very close - it was upgraded to £1.

    --
    Please consider this account deleted, I just can't be bothered with the spam anymore.
  15. The note said: by geekoid · · Score: 2

    First post!

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  16. That character by Max+Hyre · · Score: 1
    Sure, they'll let it through: £ :-)

    Choose ``HTML Formatted'' in the menu below the text-entry box, and type in ``£''.

    Alternatively, just cut and paste the character, and ignore the A-ring that /. sticks in front: £

    --
    I refuse to believe corporations are people until Texas executes one. -- desert rain on http://www.dailykos.com/user/