How about trying a version of this to replace the ever-diminishing ice in the Arctic? Perhaps polar bears, walruses and seals could haul out and rest on platforms such as these? Obviously the very different temperatures up north (or in Antarctica) might impact the fiberglass, but it’s worth experimenting with in order to save these creatures.
mexico city was a bunch of floating islands on a muddy swamp lake half a millenia ago or more. it filled in. sediments are a pain.
in a potentially flooding /sinking city scenario my money is on technology allowing existing buildings to more easily flood the basement while building up to compensate. the venusian model lasted many centuries and modern tech makes it far more viable.
building floating cities has never really worked and nothing has yet demonstrated it can. cities that are just built on top of their previous basements have existed all over the world, at various times not even because of flooding.
finding better ways of BUILDING UP is the sensible solution. for example. you could triple the available space in manhattan simply by building no higher than 15 floors up over every city street and highway. not even skyscraper height, it can be done with wooden beam construction too. the problem is politics and property rights not per se technology at this point. building in water, useful water that is not drinking water (rivers and lakes) , means building in the ocean or estuaries.
that is a MASSIVE challenge , one with a more than checkered past, and a graveyard littered with the bodies of stupid ideas (blue seed isn’t the least of them).
you’d bee better off simply building cruise ships designed for long term habitation. it’s been tried, it’s expensive, but it can work. the other alternative is revitalizing old oil platforms. they are too expensive to build a new, but not a bad idea to turn them into floating stations to support cruise ships, refueling at sea, and sea support in general.
seasteading is a great mindset but a horrible literallism.
sinking a spar somewhere and floating in the ocean. on a building size bouy is a research project, not a way to survive nor thrive.
While fiberglass doens’t corrode or rot, it does decompose under UV light. A canoe stored in sunlight will get brittle in about 10 years. Mind you — ocean boat hulls are thicker. Degradation of plastics generally can be slowed down a lot by adding carbon black to the resin. The carbon absorbs UV very well.
A firmly anchored float island should be able to incorporate a wave energy machine.
I would suggest a different experiment: Build a houseboat community. Basically make a marina with sewage, water, and electrical hookups. The marine equivalent of an RV park. Given the extreme pricing of housing in the California area, this might easily become popular.
Intriguing. Am sure the floating lab will evolve and have many important and exciting uses regardless whether human communities live off shore. Permanent floating labs to test currents, water temperature, components and micro organisms across seasons and years could alone make important contributions to science. Very worthwhile research!
In the 5th paragraph the entire article stops for me. Why read about all the research, hope, design on the outcome of research when the writer states they don’t really believe what’s actually happening around the globe! “whether or not that will happen remains to be seen?”
How about trying a version of this to replace the ever-diminishing ice in the Arctic? Perhaps polar bears, walruses and seals could haul out and rest on platforms such as these? Obviously the very different temperatures up north (or in Antarctica) might impact the fiberglass, but it’s worth experimenting with in order to save these creatures.
mexico city was a bunch of floating islands on a muddy swamp lake half a millenia ago or more. it filled in. sediments are a pain.
in a potentially flooding /sinking city scenario my money is on technology allowing existing buildings to more easily flood the basement while building up to compensate. the venusian model lasted many centuries and modern tech makes it far more viable.
building floating cities has never really worked and nothing has yet demonstrated it can. cities that are just built on top of their previous basements have existed all over the world, at various times not even because of flooding.
finding better ways of BUILDING UP is the sensible solution. for example. you could triple the available space in manhattan simply by building no higher than 15 floors up over every city street and highway. not even skyscraper height, it can be done with wooden beam construction too. the problem is politics and property rights not per se technology at this point. building in water, useful water that is not drinking water (rivers and lakes) , means building in the ocean or estuaries.
that is a MASSIVE challenge , one with a more than checkered past, and a graveyard littered with the bodies of stupid ideas (blue seed isn’t the least of them).
you’d bee better off simply building cruise ships designed for long term habitation. it’s been tried, it’s expensive, but it can work. the other alternative is revitalizing old oil platforms. they are too expensive to build a new, but not a bad idea to turn them into floating stations to support cruise ships, refueling at sea, and sea support in general.
seasteading is a great mindset but a horrible literallism.
sinking a spar somewhere and floating in the ocean. on a building size bouy is a research project, not a way to survive nor thrive.
disclosure, former boat owner and houseboat resident.
my 2 cents, ask someone advocating seasteading how many nights they’ve slept on a small or big boat, at sea, or in port docked.
While fiberglass doens’t corrode or rot, it does decompose under UV light. A canoe stored in sunlight will get brittle in about 10 years. Mind you — ocean boat hulls are thicker. Degradation of plastics generally can be slowed down a lot by adding carbon black to the resin. The carbon absorbs UV very well.
A firmly anchored float island should be able to incorporate a wave energy machine.
I would suggest a different experiment: Build a houseboat community. Basically make a marina with sewage, water, and electrical hookups. The marine equivalent of an RV park. Given the extreme pricing of housing in the California area, this might easily become popular.
Intriguing. Am sure the floating lab will evolve and have many important and exciting uses regardless whether human communities live off shore. Permanent floating labs to test currents, water temperature, components and micro organisms across seasons and years could alone make important contributions to science. Very worthwhile research!
In the 5th paragraph the entire article stops for me. Why read about all the research, hope, design on the outcome of research when the writer states they don’t really believe what’s actually happening around the globe! “whether or not that will happen remains to be seen?”
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