The “WTF?!” Thread

Absent

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Not sure they ever explain why everything's spelt like that. But it did almost conjour a chuckle. From a dumb, dark place deep down.
"We have heard the baseless cries of 'you are going to kill someone' way too often, I take this as a serious personal insul-" *kroutch*
 

Xprimentyl

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It likely would’ve been measured in milliseconds. All it takes is one component failing from the stress and the 6,000psi water took care of the rest. Probably so fast that recording it at a thousand frames per second played back at normal speed is what it’d take to even see any details.
I'm certain the ultimate implosion was milliseconds; my concern is that a failure was detected any amount of time before that, and they knew death was inevitable. Imagine being on a plane several thousands of feet in the air, and learning your engines have failed, the panic and terror one might feel during a fatal, uncontrolled descent is undoubtedly a kind of suffering most couldn't bear to imagine, and I imagine submarines don't have the equivalent of a "parachute" for even an iota of hope to fall back on, especially at that depth.
 

Chimpzy

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In light of the whole Titan sub incident, I had the morbid curiosity of looking into some other aquatic accidents, and came across the Byford Dolphin diving bell accident.

I'll share some details, but spoilered because they're gnarly.

Medical investigations were carried out on the remains of the four divers. The most notable finding was the presence of large amounts of fat in large arteries and veins and in the cardiac chambers, as well as intravascular fat in organs, especially the liver.[3]: 97, 101  This fat was unlikely to be embolic, but must have precipitated from the blood in situ.[3]: 101  The autopsy suggested that rapid bubble formation in the blood denatured the lipoprotein complexes, rendering the lipids insoluble.[3]: 101  The blood of the three divers left intact inside the chambers likely boiled instantly, stopping their circulation.[3]: 101  The fourth diver was dismembered and mutilated by the blast forcing him out through the partially blocked doorway and died instantly.[3]: 95, 100–101 

Coward, Lucas, and Bergersen were exposed to the effects of explosive decompression and died in the positions indicated by the diagram. Investigation by forensic pathologists determined that Hellevik, being exposed to the highest pressure gradient and in the process of moving to secure the inner door, was forced through the crescent-shaped opening measuring 60 centimetres (24 in) long created by the jammed interior trunk door. With the escaping air and pressure, it included bisection of his thoracoabdominal cavity, which resulted in fragmentation of his body, followed by expulsion of all of the internal organs of his chest and abdomen, except the trachea and a section of small intestine, and of the thoracic spine. These were projected some distance, one section being found 10 metres (30 ft) vertically above the exterior pressure door.

Don't say I didn't warn you.
 
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XsjadoBlayde

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In light of the whole Titan sub incident, I had the morbid curiosity of looking into some other aquatic accidents, and came across the Byford Dolphin diving bell accident.

I'll share some details, but spoilered because they're gnarly.

Medical investigations were carried out on the remains of the four divers. The most notable finding was the presence of large amounts of fat in large arteries and veins and in the cardiac chambers, as well as intravascular fat in organs, especially the liver.[3]: 97, 101  This fat was unlikely to be embolic, but must have precipitated from the blood in situ.[3]: 101  The autopsy suggested that rapid bubble formation in the blood denatured the lipoprotein complexes, rendering the lipids insoluble.[3]: 101  The blood of the three divers left intact inside the chambers likely boiled instantly, stopping their circulation.[3]: 101  The fourth diver was dismembered and mutilated by the blast forcing him out through the partially blocked doorway and died instantly.[3]: 95, 100–101 

Coward, Lucas, and Bergersen were exposed to the effects of explosive decompression and died in the positions indicated by the diagram. Investigation by forensic pathologists determined that Hellevik, being exposed to the highest pressure gradient and in the process of moving to secure the inner door, was forced through the crescent-shaped opening measuring 60 centimetres (24 in) long created by the jammed interior trunk door. With the escaping air and pressure, it included bisection of his thoracoabdominal cavity, which resulted in fragmentation of his body, followed by expulsion of all of the internal organs of his chest and abdomen, except the trachea and a section of small intestine, and of the thoracic spine. These were projected some distance, one section being found 10 metres (30 ft) vertically above the exterior pressure door.

Don't say I didn't warn you.
Yeah them delta-P deaths are not anything anybody wanna be seeing with their own eyes. Or cleaning up. The oceans do not want us. Neither do the orcas.
 
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I'm certain the ultimate implosion was milliseconds; my concern is that a failure was detected any amount of time before that, and they knew death was inevitable. Imagine being on a plane several thousands of feet in the air, and learning your engines have failed, the panic and terror one might feel during a fatal, uncontrolled descent is undoubtedly a kind of suffering most couldn't bear to imagine, and I imagine submarines don't have the equivalent of a "parachute" for even an iota of hope to fall back on, especially at that depth.
Understood. At the same time though a deep sea environment is an altogether different beast. Essentially there wouldn’t have been any time to process and respond to a catastrophic hull failure. Basically like flipping a light switch between the cause and effect. If it makes you feel any better -

The water pressure at 12,500 feet (3,800 meters) below the surface at the site of the Titanic wreck is roughly 400 atmospheres or 6,000 pounds per square inch.

Arun Bansil, a Northeastern University physics professor, likened that “humongous” pressure to the force of “a whale biting on somebody.”

Though the Titan had a composite hull with inbuilt sensors that could withstand high pressures near the sea floor, any defect could result in a “near instantaneous implosion” in less than 40 milliseconds, said associate professor Eric Fusil, director of the Shipbuilding Hub at the University of Adelaide in Australia.

“The passengers probably would have had no idea what happened,” Bansil said.

The Titan had made more than two dozen deep-sea dives, which put repeated stress on the hull, said Jasper Graham-Jones, an associate professor of mechanical and marine engineering at the University of Plymouth in the United Kingdom.

That stress could potentially cause delamination, a horizontal splitting of the carbon-fiber hull, he said.


 
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Absent

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I do respect the fact that the guy himself was in his thingy, though. An absolute dumbass, but a sincere one. We was honestly betting his life on his ideas, not sending others to test them out.
 
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Zykon TheLich

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Not heard of James Cambon before tbh.
Jesus H Christ, if it wasn't good for airplanes, then it sure as fuck wasn't good for submarines. I think I'll quote myself here...

If I'm going 4km underwater, I don't want "cost effectiveness" to be the design philosophy behind the vehicle taking me there.
 

Thaluikhain

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I'm certain the ultimate implosion was milliseconds; my concern is that a failure was detected any amount of time before that, and they knew death was inevitable. Imagine being on a plane several thousands of feet in the air, and learning your engines have failed, the panic and terror one might feel during a fatal, uncontrolled descent is undoubtedly a kind of suffering most couldn't bear to imagine, and I imagine submarines don't have the equivalent of a "parachute" for even an iota of hope to fall back on, especially at that depth.
At that depth, no. At lesser depths it's not so bad, though usually the best response is to activate distress signals and sit around and wait for rescue. I don't know if it is still used, but the US navy built a really tall vertical tank full of water, and all submariners have to go through a hatch in the bottom and swim up to the top. The Admiral in charge of the submarine fleet at the time was the first one to do it to show the rest how easy it was.

They did this because, even at the best of times, submarines are inherently dangerous things to be on, and safety is a massive concern, which should be obvious to everyone.
 

Absent

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At that depth, no. At lesser depths it's not so bad, though usually the best response is to activate distress signals and sit around and wait for rescue. I don't know if it is still used, but the US navy built a really tall vertical tank full of water, and all submariners have to go through a hatch in the bottom and swim up to the top. The Admiral in charge of the submarine fleet at the time was the first one to do it to show the rest how easy it was.

They did this because, even at the best of times, submarines are inherently dangerous things to be on, and safety is a massive concern, which should be obvious to everyone.
Submarines also often have a detachable part that can float up.
 

The Rogue Wolf

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I don't know if it is still used, but the US navy built a really tall vertical tank full of water, and all submariners have to go through a hatch in the bottom and swim up to the top. The Admiral in charge of the submarine fleet at the time was the first one to do it to show the rest how easy it was.
The thing is that a military will design something to accomplish a mission, and killing everyone aboard its vehicles is usually non-conducive towards that. A for-profit company will build something to generate profit, and it's very easy to come up with justifications to cut costs.
 
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The Rogue Wolf

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So apparently members of the US Army need to be told not to use smartwatches that were anonymously sent to them.