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posted by martyb on Tuesday December 18 2018, @11:43PM   Printer-friendly
from the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaCHH5D74Fs dept.

Phys.org:

A floating device sent to corral a swirling island of trash between California and Hawaii has not swept up any plastic waste—but the young innovator behind the project said Monday that a fix was in the works.

Boyan Slat, 24, who launched the Pacific Ocean cleanup project, said the speed of the solar-powered barrier isn't allowing it to hold on to the plastic it catches.

"Sometimes the system actually moves slightly slower than the plastic, which of course you don't want because then you have a chance of losing the plastic again," Slat said in an interview with The Associated Press.

A crew of engineers will reach the U-shaped boom Tuesday and will work for the next few weeks to widen its span so that it catches more wind and waves to help it go faster, he said.

The plastic barrier with a tapered 10-foot-deep (3-meter-deep) screen is intended to act like a coastline, trapping some of the 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic that scientists estimate are swirling in the patch while allowing marine life to safely swim beneath it.

They should try hiring dolphins.


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by hendrikboom on Wednesday December 19 2018, @02:35PM

    by hendrikboom (1125) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday December 19 2018, @02:35PM (#776316) Homepage Journal

    A similar Dutch project in the North Sea was successful. The big difference is that the North Sea is shallower than the Pacific, and they could anchor the barrier and let the natural ocean currents bring on the floating current.

    It seems the limit here is their ability to keep the barrier moving relative to the surface water. This may be a solvable problem.

    Using the Dutch anchoring tech across a river might work, too, but unless you're willing to block navigation channels, there will be plenty of room for plastic to bypass the barrier.

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