Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Monday June 01 2020, @04:21AM   Printer-friendly
from the ***=|*|*=*|=*==||*|*=|*=*|*=**|=*==||*==|**|=****=|**=*|** dept.

[20200601_233900 UTC: updated to elide a couple paragraphs and update suggestion to read original article.--martyb]

US court grants permission to recover Marconi telegraph from Titanic wreckage:

When RMS Titanic struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912, crew members sent out numerous distress signals to any other ships in the vicinity using what was then a relatively new technology: a Marconi wireless telegraph system. More than 1,500 passengers and crew perished when the ship sank a few hours later. Now, in what is likely to be a controversial decision, a federal judge has approved a salvage operation to retrieve the telegraph from the deteriorating wreckage, The Boston Globe has reported.

Lawyers for the company RMS Titanic Inc.—which owns more than 5,000 artifacts salvaged from the wreck—filed a request in US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, arguing that the wireless telegraph should be salvaged because the ship's remains are likely to collapse sometime in the next several years, rendering "the world's most famous radio" inaccessible. US District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith concurred in her ruling, noting that salvaging the telegraph "will contribute to the legacy left by the indelible loss of the Titanic, those who survived, and those who gave their lives in the sinking."

However, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is fiercely opposed to the salvage mission. The agency argues in court documents that the telegraph should be left undisturbed, since it is likely to be surrounded "by the mortal remains of more than 1500 people." Judge Smith countered in her decision that the proposed expedition meets international requirements: for instance, it is justified on scientific and cultural grounds and has taken into account any potential damage to the wreck.

[...] This latest ruling is bound to generate more controversy, given that the expedition's plans call for "surgically" removing the telegraph from the hull, risking further damage. (It's believed that the telegraph is located in a deck house near the grand staircase.) According to an Associated Press report, the company's 60-page plan calls for an uncrewed submersible to pass through a skylight. If that doesn't work, the expedition would cut through the roof, which is already heavily corroded. Then a "suction dredge" will remove any loose silt, and the submersible's arms will cut through any electrical cords.

The linked story at Ars Technica goes into considerable detail on the history of how several famous people vied for the claim of creator of telegraphy and wireless communications — well worth reading the entire article.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 1, Offtopic) by Phoenix666 on Monday June 01 2020, @02:34PM

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Monday June 01 2020, @02:34PM (#1001697) Journal

    Let's see how different formulations of your words read:

    Seriously, fuck all Jews. You fuckers are concerned about recovering old hardware from a sunken ship, knowing that nobody will ever use the hardware again. But you don't care about the lives of the unarmed black men who are killed by racist Jew police. Worse yet, the one comment here that actually acknowledges the problem has been censored to -1 by "moderators" using their Jewish privilege. Fuck all Jews. You are all racist pigs. Do something useful instead of worrying about recovering obsolete radios from sunken ships.

    Hmm, seems anti-Semitic to me. How about this?

    Seriously, fuck all Muslims. You fuckers are concerned about recovering old hardware from a sunken ship, knowing that nobody will ever use the hardware again. But you don't care about the lives of the unarmed black men who are killed by racist Muslim police. Worse yet, the one comment here that actually acknowledges the problem has been censored to -1 by "moderators" using their Muslim privilege. Fuck all Muslims. You are all racist pigs. Do something useful instead of worrying about recovering obsolete radios from sunken ships.

    That one sounds Islamophobic.

    It seems to me that blaming all white people for the actions of one white cop is like other categorical statements such as, "Jews are selfish, greedy, conniving, and evil," or "Black people are predisposed to crime," or "All Muslims are terrorists." It is bigoted.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   -1  
       Offtopic=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Offtopic' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   1