North Atlantic Iceship Design Principle

Tim

Creative Writer
Cold water + wood pulp = Iceship!!

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Bid by BBC presenters to sail boat made of ice fails after ship melts (they might have seen that one coming)

If you have a boat made to go in cold waters such as the North Atlantic, maybe even the North Sea actually, then you can freeze water and hemp (or other material) to make a very cheap cargo ship or aircraft carrier. The large mass of such a ship combined with cold water means it will not melt.

But, of course, if you make a small boat and put it in warmer waters then it will melt and sink:

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Pykrete was thought up during the Second World War when the Allies were running out of steel for ships. They decided that sticking wood pulp in ice would suffice, but the principle hasn't been put into action till this UK tvshow decided to test it out. I think they need to now think larger, and use colder waters, get this really tested!

If proved it does show that colonisation of ice worlds can be done a lot easier than having to set up mining and refinery equipment on the planet before being able to build ships to transport required goods around the globe!
 
Tim, the US based Myth Busters TV show beat them to the punch testing it out. ;)

Project Habakkuk - Wikipedia

In the April 15th, 2009 episode of Mythbusters, Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage built a small boat out of a modified formulation of Pykrete (using newspaper instead of wood pulp). They successfully piloted the boat in Alaskan waters at a speed of 25 miles per hour (40 km/h). Based on this success, they determined that it is possible to build a boat out of Pykrete. They also determined that Pykrete lived up to its purported properties of being bulletproof, stronger than ice, and taking longer to melt than ice. However, they expressed doubt that an aircraft carrier made of Pykrete could have survived long.
 
and their version worked! Because it was piloted in the correct environment.

Obviously we don't get most of the US shows over here, so I wonder why the producers for this Brit show did what they did?

Previous experiment in correct conditions worked. I know, lets set ours up to fail, have a good laugh about it and use a "science" show to leave people going away with the belief it can't ever work.

Now, imagine what would have happened to todays technology if a show like this had of done a show on solar panels in the shade, or wind turbines at the bottom of a valley. The public would now be voting in new nuclear power stations no problem and laughing at anyone trying to save the planet.

Ooh, a ship that doesn't need all that metal dug out of the ground? Using renewable resources? There closes one door on eco-living.
 
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