Victor Hugo wrote, “Nothing is stronger than an idea whose time has come.” There are some ideas whose time always appears to be coming but somehow never quite arrive. As a young naval architect in the 1970s, I recall predictions that tug boats would be towing icebergs to areas where fresh water is in short supply. On Sunday, Time magazine posted an article asking, “Can Towing Icebergs to Water-Short Areas Really Work?” With the aid of new technology, the answer may finally be “yes.” Then again, this is not the first time that Time magazine has addressed the idea of towing icebergs. It’s article “Science: Towing Icebergs” was published in the magazine in October of 1977.
Just Thaw And Serve (May 29, 2011)
Science: Towing Icebergs (October 17, 1977)
I have always thought that using icebergs to supply water was a good idea that just needed the engineering capabilities to catch up with the idea, and if that point has been reached then it has the potential to improve the lives of many people.
But the story in Time doesn’t give me a warm fuzzy that the engineering challenges have been overcome. It reports they have a 3-D computer simulation that shows it will work. A 3-D computer simulation is commonly known as a video game, that doesn’t mean that with $4 million I could live under the sea with SpongeBob just because there is a 3-D computer simulation that shows it working.
I agree. The idea of towing icebergs dates back all the way back to the 1950s. After half a century, any and all new claims seem worthy of a large dose of skepticism.
There is a very good article in the July 4th edition of Time about Georges Mougin and his plans to do this next year.
Interesting. I’ll take a look. Thanks for passing it along.
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