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BP has fast-tracked a plan to collect all the oil leaking out of its deep-sea well in the Gulf of Mexico by the end of the month - but this new plan isn't risk-free.
Last week, the oil company said it needed until mid-July to have all the ships and plumbing set up to deal with the daily flow of as much as 50,000 barrels of oil, gushing up from a broken well 5,000 feet beneath the surface of the Gulf. In response to orders from the Obama administration, BP came up with a way to shave two weeks off that schedule - basically by hooking up the plumbing to the spigots that are available now instead of taking the time to switch the pipes around.
Eventually, BP and its industrial partners will still have to do that extra pipe-switching. But in the short run, the revised plan should take care of all the oil and gas, assuming it works anywhere close to advertised.
BP's chief operating officer, Doug Suttles, laid out the details in a letter to the Coast Guard dated Sunday, but here's the breakdown in simple terms:
- 1. Discoverer Enterprise, steady as she goes: The current system brings up about 15,000 barrels of oil to the Discoverer Enterprise drillship for processing, through a cap assembly that was installed over the sawed-off top of the well's blowout preventer earlier this month. That capture capability can be boosted to 18,000 barrels, but under the current system, the rest of the oil has to spew through the cap's ports into the Gulf.
- 2. Q4000, for the burn: Another rig, known as the Q4000, was used last month in BP's unsuccessful "top-kill" attempt to close off the well. Now one of the two lines that was used in the top-kill try has been converted to reverse the flow. The collection system leading to the Q4000 could bring up another 5,000 to 10,000 barrels a day, starting as early as Tuesday. But there's no equipment onboard that rig to process and store that oil. Instead, the oil will have to be burned off, using an "environmentally friendly" piece of equipment known as the EverGreen Burner. Some question whether this arrangement is all that environmentally friendly. Clean or not, the burner might have to be used for the next month.
- 3. Pulling a switch with two heavy-hitters: Last week's plan called for setting up another Q4000-type system by the end of the month, which would have accommodated another 10,000 barrels a day. The revised plan goes with a more ambitious operation to handle an additional 20,000 to 25,000 barrels a day. BP has just arranged to have two oil-processing ships sail to the oil-leak site. Either the Helix Producer I or the Toisa Pisces will be hooked up to the other line that was used during the top-kill operation. BP will go with whichever ship is ready first. These three simultaneous operations - the Deepwater Horizon, the Q4000 and one of the two heavy-hitter ships - should be able to handle up to 53,000 barrels of oil a day.
- 4. Make the system more solid: Between the end of June and the middle of July, BP will fine-tune the system to make it more hurricane-proof. The company will also send down a new type of cap that will be sealed more securely on the top of the blowout preventer, with two attachments for riser lines. By mid-July, both of the heavy-hitting processing ships should be ready for service.
- 5. Shift the plumbing: In the latter part of July, the line leading to the Q4000 will be switched over to the other big ship, which brings two big benefits. First, BP will no longer have to burn off hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil every day. Also, the daily processing capability using those two ships alone will balloon to between 40,000 and 50,000 barrels. The Discoverer Enterprise can still take care of 10,000 to 15,000 barrels a day, sucking up oil from the new, improved cap on the blowout preventer. Yet another ship, the Discoverer Clear Leader, can handle another 10,000 to 15,000 barrels flowing through a second line leading from the cap on the blowout preventer. The four simultaneous operations will have a daily capture capacity of 60,000 to 80,000 barrels - far more than the current worst-case estimates for flow from the oil leak.
- 6. Relief wells, still the long-term fix: If the system works as planned, BP should be able to take care of all the leaking oil. But this system can only collect the oil. It can't do anything about controlling the flow or stopping the leak. BP still has to rely on a relief-well system for that part of the job. Right now the first two wells have reached depths of about 14,000 feet and 9,000 feet (including 5,000 feet of water), and they're expected to hit the required 18,000-foot mark by August. There's no guarantee that these first wells will do the trick, but if BP's system is sucking up all the oil by that time, it's not so crucial that the first relief wells are exactly on target.
This is the current best-case scenario, but Suttles' letter points out the potential risks as well. The top-kill lines that are currently connected to the blowout preventer (and figure so prominently in steps 2 through 5) were never designed to be used for continuous oil flow. There's a risk that those lines may erode - or they may get plugged up with the junk left behind by the top-kill attempt.
If a hurricane blows through the area, all the ships will have to disconnect from their lines, and oil will once again flow freely into the Gulf through those lines until the storm has passed and the ships can be reconnected.
Even if all the lines are working, the operations team will have to juggle four oil-processing operations simultaneously and safely. "Work is ongoing to confirm that this combination of four production vessels is indeed possible within appropriate safety parameters," he said.
"The risks of operating multiple facilities in close proximity must be carefully managed," Suttles said. "Several hundred people are working in a confined space with live hydrocarbons on up to four vessels. This is significantly beyond both BP and industry practice. We will continue to aggressively drive schedule to minimize the pollution, but we must not allow this drive to compromise our No. 1 priority, that being the health and safety of our people."
Any offshore oil operation requires workers to deal with lots of toxic materials and burn off the natural gas that comes up from the well along with the oil. A methane flare-up is thought to be the immediate cause of the April 20 oil-rig explosion that touched off this disaster. Suttles said the stepped-up oil-recovery operation could run the risk of a "major surface accident" - a scenario that one assumes might involve a flare-up from one ship sparking another explosion on a nearby ship.
Coast Guard Rear Adm. James Watson's written response to Suttle's letter, released today, noted BP's stepped-up efforts but held off from voicing explicit approval. "We have continuously demanded strategies and responses from BP that fit the realities of this catastrophic event, for which BP is responsible," he said. "We will continue to hold them accountable and bring every possible resource and innovation to bear."
BP spokesman David Nicholas told me that the team managing the comings and going of the ships converging on the epicenter of the Gulf oil spill will have to serve as "air traffic controllers" for what's shaping up as an unprecedented oil-processing operation. The most crucial two weeks of the response to the disaster in the Gulf may be just ahead. Is this the best BP can do? Are there ways to reduce the risks? Feel free to weigh in with your comments below.
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BP will not pay the $1,100 to $4,300 per barrel spilled penalty depending on the amount of negligence determined...I've been weaning my family off of oil for over 3 years and made some videos to help people do the same...I attached one here....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHmXhgBhtWk
MrEnergyCzar
To me it seems the most important thing is to collect the oil. Why is it not important to shut down this well at all cost. If this continues with failed attempts this will destroy the oceans and will effect every man woman and child on this planet. Plug the damn WELL!
They are trying to plug the well. Apparently the only way to do this is to complete the relief well. The "Top Kill" operation was an experiment to test the possibility of plugging the well and this seems to have lead to a situation that might have worsened things due to the inability of their structure to withstand the forces that would be created.
All hopes are apparently now pinned on containing the oil until the well can be plugged from below the damage using the relief well.
The "top kill" operation is not a new experiment. Check this out....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Od6dJNrw7o
I only meant experiment in the sense that they were trying to see what might happen if they try to plug the well, not that top kill was a new technique.
That is an amazing video! Not many new ideas in 30 years. The water was a lot shallower back then though. Thanks other J!
This plan sounds too risky to me. It feels very much as if BP is doing what they usually do, i.e., speeding up to meet demands (from Obama, this time) that bear little relationship to what can be safely and effectively accomplished. Slow down, please. Best to take the time necessary to ensure the safety of workers, etc. Too much "iffy" production going on in quarters that are too close. All we need is another blow out - then we'll wonder why we didn't slow down and proceed more rationally. BP - stop reacting inappropriately to pressure, i.e., push back and refuse to speed up. Obama - stop the politicking. Some things just take more time than we would prefer.
I fear the combination of politicians reacting to pressure and BP responding in its usual way - cutting corners to move fast - will lead us into even more trouble than we're in right now.
One of the most frightening aspects of all this is that Doug Suttles is in charge. Rachel Maddow aired the interview that Tom Costello did with him.
According to BP, one of the species of animals that might be effected if there was a spill in the Gulf coast would be walruses. That's what they had on their list. Even I know that they like cold water.
Suttles also said that the reason they haven't learned how to clean up oils spills in the last forty yrs. is because BP hasn't had any big oil spills to learn from. Oh God!
Another scary image is to have all the burning oil and smoke on the water and having the toxins released.
Another is all the ships sucking up the oil and possibly having one or more going up in flames.
Then the possibility of a tropical storm , let alone a hurricane.
And still not being able to stop the leak.
Having BP in charge of all these things that might go wrong, leads to at least one major screw-up.
And if it does happen (which I hope doesn't), people will place the blame on Pres. Obama rather than BP, which will be so sad AND disturbing.
Why can not some pipes, just a little smaller than the one where the oil is coming from, be filled with cement and set into the hole where the oil is coming out of? Once in, drill four holes and insert rods into pipe currently down there and fill up with cement.
This is a plugging up plan Bill. They tried that and discovered it won't work until they can get at things from below using the relief well.
This oil must be stopped before all the oceans in the world are affected and marine life is no more. No expense should be spared in this effort, to hell with BP stock, bring in more resources.
All the kings horses and all the kings men....
This spill must be stopped at all costs before all the world's oceans are polluted, marine life ends, and the beaches are unusable. Not to mention potential unknown climate changes.
To hell with BP stock; all resources should be marshaled NOW!!
It seems impossible to me that we do not have a scientist in the world that can create a small nuke to plug this hole. If you have to go down 18,000 feet, then certainly you should be able to create a nuke that would plug the existing well long before 18,000 feet. Doesn't it?
Is the education system system in the world so bad these days that we are not able to produce a collection of mathematicians and scientists that can solve this problem?
Why are politicians wasting their time on everything else except our children? Why do they care about "politically correct" more than "your answer is correct". Why do they care more about grading on a curve than "if you do not get at least 60 you fail". Its OK, you can take the course again until you pass it!
Why have we now created a financial debt so high our grandchildren's children will not be able to pay it off? And, we fail to educate our children that what has been done to them financially is WRONG!
so many whys were to begin. yes education in America. for many decades the graduates from high schools and college's/university's are unable to read instructions on the back of checking account statements and balance the account every month. so we are not producing scientist or mathematicians or people with English comprehension skills. The A an B graduates decades ago became doctors,lawyers,machinist,engineers ,etc...and left the teaching to the c graduates who could not find a job elsewhere. this was bad for society and the future generations with teachers who could hardly read.
the debt is intentional to make this a third world country with the world bank as the only bank. it is traitors working in a gang to achieve this over decades.
the name federal reserve is misleading. it is not a federal department it is a privately own business that lends money to the us government. amazingly it uses our treasury to make the bills then charges us interest on each dollar we borrow. Andrew Jackson and president Kennedy both fought the federal reserve and lost. Kennedy was assassinated a few days after he ordered the five dollar bills printed by the treasury with the treasury seal not the seal of the federal reserve. the bankers were angry that he had the money printed and killed him in Dallas the head quarters at the time of the federal reserve. The federal reserve is invested 40% of funds with BP. they do not want BP stock to fall.
google and read about John d rockefeller years ago took control of not educating the children. he wanted them to not know latin and be dumb. also intentional.
This might sound dumb but, is it just me or is BP still trying to process the oil instead of closing the well. 1.From what I've seen why not fill a bardge with concrete to make a HUGE slab and lower it over the well and smash it shut!
2. make a large heavy dome, I mean HEAVY 50 tons+ lower it over the well. If the weight is more than the pressure of the oil it will hold long enough to do something more permenant.
3. If the pipe from the first attempt froze up due to the gas crystalizing then run a pipe down in the well and pump water in it to induce crystalization in the well to slow the flow.
4. Big metal cork in the well head!!
If BP uses any of my ideas I would like free gas for life!
1) Plugging the well would be dangerous.
2) Plugging the well would be dangerous.
3)Plugging the well would be dangerous.
4) Plugging the well would be dangerous.
We have to think containment measures now.
the scientist have done the math and diamonds and some ceramic will hold the pressure. BP cutting corners drilling and went cheap and caused the problem now they should shell out big bucks and hire tool makers and engineers to design a cap with several relief valves that will work. with a system for pressure relief like a ceramic coating on the pressure valves they could divert the oil to tankers and actually use it instead of burning it up and loosing all that potential energy. yes the cap would have to be big and very heavy stainless steel.
There are so many people posting blame in regards to this "accident". Yea it was from cutting corners or not paying attention or failure to plan, but the bottom line is...it happened. Everyone needs to quit posting blame and assist with trying to find a solution to this problem. There are alot of smart AMERICANS that have alot of knowledge and expirience that if they think hard enough, may have a solution for this. But remember, it is about 1 mile down under the water. That limits alot of options. Lets get the problem fixed first THEN worry about clean up and prevention after we control the situation.
Obama said BP is responsible for ALL the cost but he is responsible to stop the "leak". He doesn't have the equipment but he has access to resources that can help. He needs to see what he has and delegate his authority. Let BP pay for the cost...they did it! different ideas:
1,: yes, a relief valve
2,: stuff it with illegal immigrants till the flow stops...we have enough of them. I heard Home depot has an endless supply
3: seriously.... The military can fire at something with pinpoint accuracy...send in a torpedoe to plug the hole. Design it under the principle of "barbed hooks" all around, filled with cement shaped in a cone shape. make it a remote controlled one, line it up then send it in. just use this idea as a baseline of something to expand on.
4:try the junk shot again but with more solid "junk"like bowling balls
5: attach a pipe that "U-turns" back into the well...I know that is almost impossible. Just throwing the idea out there
6: then we always have the mini nuclear bomb people were talking about that no one wants to do. Anyone else have any ideas?
oil is flammable. also the scientist believe a torpedo would cause more leaks and make the hole bigger not smaller. think about it. BP should never be allowed to drill 13,000 feet into the crust of the earth. this is insanity from the beginning.
This multi-ship plan sounds risky, but I'm no expert.
I wonder if we need to restrict or even end drilling in water a mile deep. Or does anyone out there know if that wouldn't help on the safety side?
Like many people, I also am concerned the oil, especially underwater plumes, might reach the Atlantic and Caribbean and wreak havoc in those waters, or part of them anyway.
I surely do hope everyone along the coast who've have been affected, and future victims as well, get help if they need it as soon as possible. If this leak continues, some people are going to lose their livelihoods, their way of life, especially folks whose families have been, say, fishermen for many years.
Maybe now Congress will act and strengthen and write new laws, if need be, to improve safety. I especially hope companies are stopped from "self-certifying." Let the Coast Guard or some other appropriate agency to check and sign off on this stuff. I don't mean to demonize the oil industry -- after all, we're going to need oil for years to come. But they need to be regulated.
I bet we're going to face higher prices at the pump somewhere along the line -- and that this time they'll be here to stay. We've been very lucky regarding the prices of fossil fuels, but we also have been paying artificially low prices. In parts of Europe, gasoline costs somewhere around $8/gallon, last I knew, for instance.
They do not have tankers in place to collect the oil? What is with these people? From day one they should have been lining up the tankers to collect the oil. The only question would have been how to get the oil into the tankers. When you have a state of emergency you need to get the job done. That was the problem with Bush and Katrina. They just did not move fast enough. How could we ever deal with a terrorist attack if they can not figure out how too get all the emergency workers into place with a situation like this? Back during WW2 they knew how to get the job done with bailing wire and duct tape. That is why we won the war. They had confidence that they could get the job done and they did.
"I wonder if we need to restrict or even end drilling in water a mile deep." What they need to do is have back up systems. What if a terrorist were to blow the top off of these wells? You need back up systems to keep the oil from flowing into the Gulf. Sometimes one is not enough, if that were to fail then they need a second system in place. Is it cost effective to drill for oil in a way that does not put our environment at risk? The government is there to protect the consumer and to force the Oil Industry to do the right thing and not to destroy our world to make a quick profit. The day will come when those who destroy the earth will be destroyed. (rev 11:18) The party is over for BP.
I totally agree with you on this! I would go a step further and say no to any offshore drilling for oil. There will never be a system that could guarantee this won't happen again.
BP and the other Oil companies need to get on with investing in alternative energy and we all need to learn how to get on without oil.
They're just givin' it all they can, aint they?
I see two problems. One is not the ships. The Coast Guard can and should monitor the proximity of the ship(s) traffic to secure collision hazzards. The toxic material handling should be adequately addressed with hazardous duty pay for the crews of the ships, coupled with adequate protective clothing, respirators, and etc.
The politics of the spill is a very real problem. Many "jobs" may be created, not so much as to help with the outcome of the clean up, but to delay the economic disaster which looms ashore. The Gulf States will be prone to want clean up receipes, whether they are scientifically sound or not, which in the short term at least will favor the state(s) treasury. This would be use of heavy equipment, ports and harbors, etc., whereby a fee could be exacted from the clean up contractor. The state treasurers would by now have dooms day revenue forecasts for such things as tourism, beach front home construction, fishing, both commercial and recreational, support industrys to these major users, and regional banking forecasts. For instance, a commercial fishing boat out of operation is one less customer for Sam's Club, let alone one less provider for the local seafood restruant and bar. You loose jobs in an area, that means you loose votes in an area. You loose votes, and the "local" political machinery unravels as folks are forced to move on.
Problem two. Litigation. If this mess is anything close to the Exxon Valdez legal escapade, the States and the Federal Government will make and recieve a "claim" within a reasonable period of time. Someone, such as an employee of Sam's Club who looses their job ashore because of a major decline in customers for their once thriving service, but who is not directly tied to the oiled shoreline, where do they go in these times of 10% unemployment around the country? Detroit, and get a job manufacturing cars? As more people feel the economic pinch of this spill, and the local population declines, so declines their political representation, and lack of political representation will manifest itself in school budgets, and hospital construction projects down the road, and a multitude of other politically tied tax revenues for the local area(s).
Now that there is a more realistic view of the actual amount of oil being released into the ocean, from 5000 to 50,000 barrels, scientists and engineers have better data to assess, and to design fixes for. I think the public has a more realistic view as well. No there are no walrus to save in the Gulf of Mexico, and no, junk shots don't cut it in a 50,000 barrel spill. Someone, should be looking for oil plumes now a good 800 miles away from the origin of the accident, using subsurface water current data, sso the political and economic ramifications of this accident don't manifest themselves at a broader degree than what's apparent on the surface.
dear steve herbert thanks for a great accessment. I hope they save the manatee and the dolphins.
Politicians LOSE votes, BP LOOSENS standards, LOST is the innocence. Bookmark Dictionary.com.
THEIR mistake is our LOSS. THEY'RE killing the Gulf. Noone will vist THERE due to BP's having been given the option to perform at substandard levels of safety protocol. And a lot more than Manatees and Dolphins are at stake. DO NOT LET THE BIG OIL DEFENDERS PULL WOOL OVER OUR COLLECTIVE EYES!!! Drill Baby Drillers will be back w/ a vengence in no time.
Just curious, how do they normally transport oil from one of these deep water wells? Why can't they use that (whatever it is) to transport the recovered oil from this well instead of burning it?
One of the advantages of being highly literate, highly numerate, and apparently highly unemployable (mostly due to being an older American citizen at a time when the driving words and phrases of the modern workforce are "young", "naive", "motivated by free pizza and plenty of game console time", "offshoring", and "temporary foreign worker visa") is that having no options other than devising a completely and totally new self-employment career when one has an abundance of time with nearly nothing else to do tends to cause a somewhat rational person to do one or all of perhaps three things, which is fabulous:
(1) Devote great attention to understanding and following as precisely as possible the various instructions beamed daily into the human brain by the aliens from outer space who at this very moment are circling our planet in low-Earth orbit where they are searching frantically for the Mirror Matter Popcorn™ they "misplaced" during what they imagined would be a "happy picnic" in the desert outside Roswell, New Mexico in the 1940s, which among other things prevents them from doing anything else, since the Mirror Matter Popcorn is fuel for the Hilbert Space Hopper Drive™ that provides the Faster-Than-Light (FTL) propulsion for their spaceship . . .
(2) Become an expert Googler, since the fact of the matter is that when one officially becomes an entertainer, nothing is better for building stellar self-esteem than Googling oneself daily . . .
(3) Realize the vast importance of ensuring that there is no worldwide shortage of happy songs about ladies underpants, especially when "ladies" in this particular context is Swedish Death Metal singer Angela Gossow, who might be the hottest German chick on the planet as well as being able to carry a tune to places which musically are a bit beyond mind-boggling . . .
[NOTE: Daniel Erlandsson of Arch Enemy is the best double-kick drummer in the known universe! ]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMGpcjzb67Q
[NOTE: This is the YouTube music video for my pretend Rock and Roll band's self-proclaimed hit song, "(I Want) Angela Gossow's Underpants (Ya-Ya-Ya)" (The Surf Whammys) . . . ]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecAFV-6rQ7Q
Fabulous!
And while I am not entirely convinced that my counselors at the local employment center (Bob and Rita) had this particular career path in mind when they advised me nearly a decade ago (a) that like so many other folks after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, I was completely and totally screwed and (b) that there probably were "thousands" of skills that I had but never took the time to recognize, this is the way it is working here in the sound isolation studio, and the fact of the matter is that there is a lot of practical utility in being able to find virtual festivals of information quickly with a bit of focused Googling, for sure . . .
For sure!
Specifically, this is the link to one of the many US Minerals Management Service (MMS) reports and documents for the BP "Macondo" well, where one of the key search phrases for general Googling is "Mississippi Canyon block 252 (MC252)", really . . .
http://www.gomr.mms.gov/PI/PDFImages/PLANS/29/29977.pdf
Really!
This PDF document has several very detailed maps with extensive chroma-coding that provide various information on aspects of geology, location, and so forth and on, where among other things it appears that the nearest shore point is approximately 47.6 statute miles (41.4 nautical miles), which to be specific is a location on the coast of Louisiana (see page 34 of the PDF file) . . .
And while I have not found the defining information regarding the way the oil and natural gas were going to be delivered to refineries, the way this usually works is that there are pipelines on the seabed that carry the oil and natural gas nearer to shore, where there are various types of collection points or in some instances a direct connection to other pipelines that run to onshore terminals and refineries . . .
For those folks who followed the aftermath of hurricanes Ike, Ivan, Katrina, and Rita, it is not so difficult to recall that some of the pipelines carry crude oil to refineries located in non-coastal states, which puts the distance of approximately 50 miles into a practical perspective, even when a good bit of the seabed distance is in deep water, because the fact of the matter is that the petroleum industry is quite skilled in building and operating massive pipelines with a generally good safety record . . .
Hence, the general answer is that the way it works for some types of so-called "deep water" and "offshore" producing wells is that the crude oil and natural gas is piped along the seabed to onshore and perhaps shallow-water oil terminals and processing facilities, as explained in this report from MSNBC done by Andrea Thompson (Managing Editor of OurAmazingPlanet.com), which provides a few key clues, including the estimate from the US Minerals Management Service (MMS) that there are 33,000 miles of seabed pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico that are relevant to whatever the MMS is tasked with doing, for sure . . .
[NOTE: It is not so clear in the article whether the "33,000 miles" is for the entire Gulf of Mexico, including pipelines that service facilities in Mexico and Cuba, but so what . . . ]
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37688861/ns/technology_and_science-science/
For sure!
These links provide some excellent maps of the various pipelines and other Gulf of Mexico oil and natural gas exploration and production data, where "pipelines, Gulf of Mexico, chart" is a good search phrase for a bit of Googling, really . . .
http://www.theodora.com/pipelines/gulg_of_mexico_pipelines_map.jpg
http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2010/05/mapping_the_gul.php
Really!
And on a related note, I think that Alan Boyle and MSNBC.com deserve much credit for providing outstanding information on everything involved with the BP "Macondo" well disaster, including hurricane season updates, and so forth and so on, which is one of the reasons I have my homepage set to MSNBC.com, which is fabulous . . .
Fabulous!
Amazing insight as usual.
About no 2 : I once googled Cosmic Log and my comment about sniffer dog clones showed up:
Cosmic Log - The science of sniffer dogs
Jan 15, 2010 ..."So I googled and found this interesting article about sniffer dog clones. It was from last yr., so Alan may have already shared a link to it ..."
cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/01/15/4351485-the
My moniker was "moonshadow" way back in Jan. I couldn't deal with fame. I don't know how Alan does. His name is recognized by so many people, he's wrote a fantastic book, and he gives speeches( which I couldn't do in my wildest dreams), and of course he brings us valuable info. So he deserves some awards. But MSNBC... they tend to get a little sensational and gabby...if you have two hosts together.
I'm afraid to click on to your link. Is the great Angela Gosswow's underpants going to be staring me in the face? Yuck! But I'll be brave and check it out.
I'm looking forward to Pres. Obama's speech tonight. Hopefully things will go as planned over the next two wks. regarding the oil spill. I guess all we can do with BP is to keep our fingers crossed.
oops!
Correction: "he's written a fantastic book'
One of the more fascinating aspects of Alan Boyle's "Cosmic Log" is that it allows a bit of wandering into the more surreal aspects of metaphysics and science, and my experience over the past few years is that when all comments needed to be approved by Alan, he usually approved every comment that was related to the original topic in one way or another, no matter how abstruse the relationship might be, since after all it a cosmic log, literally . . .
And while a song about Angela Gossow's Underpants certainly is at the far fringes of "related", it actually is relevant to other popular "Cosmic Log" topics, since among other things the song is an experiment to determine whether there actually is a formula for creating a viral YouTube video . . .
But it also is an experiment in a different type of what usually is called "quantum entanglement", where as noted in my comment to a recent "Cosmic Log" report on the quantum universe, researchers in Switzerland hypothesize that it is possible to entangle photons in such a way that the human eye and brain actually can perceive a qubit, which is mind-boggling, for sure . . .
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/03/17/4351539-tales-from-the-quantum-frontier
For sure!
So, being both intrigued and motivated by this particular "Cosmic Log" report, it occurred to me that there might be a bit of quantum entanglement operating with phenomenal hit songs, where for example the phrase "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" became strongly associated with the Beatles, even though this phrase initially appeared in only one of their early songs (specifically, "She Loves You") . . .
Similarly, their first huge hit song in America, "I Want To Hold Your Hand", appeared within a few months of everyone seeing photographs of President John F. Kennedy's son holding the First Lady's hand and saluting his father's flag-draped coffin after the assassination . . .
Another example is Michael Jackson moonwalking for the first time in public during a performance of his stellar hit song, "Billie Jean", as well as the silver glove, white socks, penny loafers, and hat . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PAJqgeeJf4
At present, it is an hypothesis, but it looks to provide the only logical explanation for a series of events that combine to create a moment of patently unique serendipity, and I think it adds a new dimension to the understanding of the way a song becomes a phenomenon virtually overnight, even if it takes a while . . .
Certainly, there is a bit of what most folks call "luck" involved in a stellar hit song, but attributing anything to an abstrusely defined metaphysical concept is a bit troubling from the perspective of science, so I prefer the hypothesis that it is not so much a matter of "luck" as it is a matter of entangling a song with so much apparently unrelated data that for all practical purposes the song becomes what one might call "informationally overloaded", at which time when the information overloading is especially vast, it becomes part of what Carl Jung called the "collective unconscious" . . .
And as an example of one instance of completely and totally surreal quantum entanglement and information overloading, the Angela Gossow's Underpants song continues to the ranked in the Top 10 all-time most popular "Armenian Christmas" videos on Truveo.com, which truly is mind-boggling . . .
http://www.truveo.com/search?query=armenian%20christmas#armenian%20christmas%20sort:mostPopular
[NOTE: The music video is quite silly, but it does not have anything risque or whatever. Also, the lyrics are the title of the song, which makes it all the sillier, really. Yet from the perspective of music theory, it includes an elaborate rhythm pattern and continues the series of songs that derive from "In The Hall Of The Mountain King" (Edvard Grieg), including "Purple Haze" (The Jimi Hendrix Experience), so there is more to the Angela Gossow's Underpants song than meets the eye, and there certainly are no detailed drawings of an Hilbert Space Hopper Drive on the cue cards displayed during the lead guitar solo, which incidentally was composed on the fly in real-time on the first take, which is the way I usually like to do everything, since I think this is the best way for a pretend Rock and Roll band to be as real as possible when one person plays all the instruments and does all the singing . . . ]
And on an oddly related note, it appears that my idea for building a "V2" rocket; filling it with 1 million tampons; and firing it upside-down into the BP "Macondo" wellbore is not so goofy as it might appear, since Halliburton makes a similar pair of devices (absent the 1 million tampons) called the RTTS Packer and SSC III . . .
http://www.halliburton.com/ps/default.aspx?pageid=537&navid=88&prodid=PRN::IQTV99F9W
http://www.halliburton.com/ps/Default.aspx?navid=88&pageid=1316&prodid=PRN%3a%3aJHQBC615
And as explained in this Halliburton podcast, the SSC III is an amazingly powerful device, for sure . . .
http://www.halliburton.com/public/tools_resources/pubsdata/RedTech/audio/SSCIII_Podcast.wma?AD-Type=SSC-III-WMA-Button
For sure!
This Halliburton video shows the SSC III design and how it operaties, really . . .
http://www.halliburton.com/public/tttcp/contents/Multimedia/web/SSCIII.wmv
Really!
And while these particular Halliburton devices are used in the Gulf of Mexico in wells that are 19,000 deep, the pressure of the BP "Macondo" well might be a bit excessive for them, but so what . . .
So what!
This is sound technology, and the rules of engineering and physics certainly allow the possibility of devices that can handle much greater pressures . . .
And while one RTTS and SSC III pair might not be able to handle the extreme pressures of the BP "Macondo" well, mathematics and physics tends to suggest that a series of such pairs might be able to handle the pressures, although in a way that for all practical purposes might seal and decommission the well for all time, which since this likely is the only well--other than "relief" wells--that the federal government will allow BP to drill on this lease might be the reason that BP continues to do everything possible to keep the door open to putting the BP "Macondo" well and its "relief" wells into full production sometime in the future . . .
But then, what do I know?
I am an entertainer, and I am . . .
Unencumbered by Knowledge!™
OMG, Baldenario! I checked out your girl Angela Gosswow. I don't want to piss you off, considering that you're my only friend on Newsvine...well, just from a female's point of view...the girl's got a tummy, and looks like she could use a vacation...but she's pretty in a strange sort of way. I haven't seen her in person, of course...
And The Surf Whammys...wow! When you wrote that it was a "pretend" band, I thought that's what you meant. Now I see you what you meant. There's nothing like men wearing aluminum foil! It's quite delicious.;-) I can't stop laughing...in a good way.
You're soo right. There's nothing like Alan's blog. I get the feeling though, that he can't or won't appreciate my sense of humor or mind expansion. But he should allow himself to. I'm sure he has a strange sense of humor too, or a sense of humor...Maybe I just have a crush on him and he doesn't know how to deal with--then maybe so. Maybe it's the fact that he's old enough (almost) to be my grandfather. :-)
Look forward to your next comment.
Delicious!
@Darrah:
Glad you enjoyed the song and YouTube music video! :-)
As noted, before the recent switch to Newsvine for "Cosmic Log" comments, Alan had to approve each comment individually, and as far as I can determine, he was quite reasonable in his approvals, which in some respects is a Pacific Northwest thing, where the general rule is to be as gracious as possible . . .
And based on a report he did on a set of planetary signs in Mt. Vernon, Washington, it appears that at least for a while we were in the same part of the world, which among other things maps to there being an expresso stand probably every 100 yards no matter where you might be, since folks in that part of the world tend to be coffee achievers . . .
Folks there are very bright, and for example you can order an iced quad vente three pumps of peppermint breve extra ice latte macchiato on a first visit to a new expresso stand and the next day when the barrista sees you in line, they are likely to whisper, "the usual?", and if you nod "Yes", then they have it ready by the time it is your turn, which typically does not happen anywhere else in the known universe, and certainly nearly never in the Deep South, with the exceptions being Starbucks, where for some unknown reason the barristas must have photographic memories . . .
[NOTE: If the aliens from outer space teleport you somewhere on the planet but you have no idea where it might be, one strategy is to walk about 100 yards in any direction, and if there is an expresso stand, then you are in the Pacific Northwest or Italy . . . ]
On a curiously related note, long-time "Cosmic Log" readers understand that all the recently strange events are the direct consequence of the start-up of the Large Hadron Collider, and last night it occurred to me that it might be possible that quantum forces actually are driving a set of events designed to cause the Large Hadron Collider to malfunction, where even though it is a bit of a stretch, one might suppose that the BP "Macondo" blowout and subsequent oil spill occurred as a surreal back-up plan that somehow involves streaming hydrocarbons across the Atlantic Ocean in such a way that some of it appears in the vicinity of the French and Swiss border where the Large Hadron Collider is located, which when atmospheric conditions are favorable will result in a huge fireball, perhaps ignited by a japanese tourist who is taking photographs of the facility with a digital camera that just happens to have an electrical short of sufficient intensity to cause the required spark, but perhaps not . . .
At present, this is just a hypothesis, and since the aliens from outer space have not indicated one way or the other whether it is totally goofy or only a tiny bit goofy, all I can do is guess . . .
I have no idea!
The more plausible hypothesis is that the BP "Macondo" well blowout will cause a dramatic shift in tectonic plates, which on a global scale is more likely to cause the Large Hadron Collider to malfunction than a hydrocarbon fireball ignited by an overly enthusiastic Japanese tourist and a sparking digital camera, since the way things are going at the dawn of the early 21st century the facility probably is located specifically so that it sits directly atop a seismic fault line, because nearly nobody does much homework these days and, borrowing a bit from William Shakespeare, the rule of the day is that the new millennia is in, but the wit is out . . .
Basically, all one needs to do to understand some of what is happening at present is to look at this photograph of the May 30, 2010 sinkhole in Guatemala City, really . . .
http://media.cleveland.com/world_impact/photo/aptopix-guatemala-sinkhole-d7a52121c7de8b17_large.jpg
Really!
When a nearly perfect cylinder that is approximately 60 feet in diameter and 30-stories deep appears sua sponte in the center of a 4-way intersection, I think this provides a huge clue that the universe is a lot more "cosmic" than most folks imagine . . .
And how can anyone not like someone who fights the good battle for Pluto continuing to be a planet?
I have no idea!
Regarding Angela Gossow, the reality is that white painter's pants and a tank top works for David Bisbal but not for her--unless she adds a bit of color and graphic design, in which case it works very nicely--so her level of what one might call "cuteness" is dependent more on her sense of fashion than anything else, since she is cute but has a high waist, so for her a bare tummy definitely is not on the list of fashion tips, for sure . . .
[NOTE: I found this song and music video while doing research on the Bulería style of Flamenco, and the fact of the matter is that David Bisbal is an amazing singer, where it is entirely possible that he is the best tenor currently on this planet, at least for popular music . . . ]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDfbjK155dI
[NOTE: With a bit of added graphic design, sparkle, and pizazz, what essentially is the same outfit as the one David Bisbal is wearing in the "Buleria" video works for Angela Gossow, especially when the directors and camera operators are skilled, which certainly is the case in both the David Bisbal music video and the Arch Enemy music video . . . ]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH12rSBGf28
For sure!
And while in some respects it might be virtually impossible to devise a segue from Baldenario's Death Metal Fashion Tips for Cute German Chicks™ to deep sea oil well blowouts, the reality is that BP certainly has a bare tummy in the Gulf of Mexico that needs to be covered posthaste, since everyone on the planet--including me--is tired of looking at it. . .
But then, what do I know?
I am an entertainer, and I am . . .
Unencumbered by Knowledge! ™
Angela Gossow certainly has cuteness, though I am not a fan of the genre (I like deathklock)
I have enjoyed your comments enough to look. Unemployment becomes you.
i think we should use i bladder type plug to stop oil leak. it works in sewer drains to open them why not to plug it? simple easy and would fix oil leak
I think what has happened on the Gulf coast is apauling, however I am sure BP is doing everything in it's power to bring the spill to an end. What makes me mad though is Mr Obama's comments how the Gulf coast will be even better than before.
Can Mr Obama please ensure that his oil companies in the rain forest go back in and clean it up? Recently we in the UK watched a documentary all about the rainforest and the massive damage that has been caused by US Oil companies, who, have just upped and left. Where are vast stinking pools of oil by products have been left. Or can he be reminded of the hideous events that the poor people of Bhopal endured. Have the American people been as castigated for these two awfull episodes...nope I don't think so.
Anyway Mr Obama if you want to start clearing up the environment, how about starting with the rainforest and then perhaps give some compensation the the families of the thousands that died in Bhopal.
you go girl!
I Don't recall the engineers name that has worked in Saudi Arabia where the sea is constantly having oil spills. He has been there for 17 years and has offered to provide the means to clean up the gulf but has had no response.
This is a much bigger mess than they are admitting openly. Collecting is our only hope until those relief wells are successful. The casing is obviously cracked and the oil is very close to seeping up through the sand around the well head already. It is an Annulus leak, not from the production pipe. If the well head goes there is left a big empty hole spewing oil with no way to collect it. Imploding or exploding could create the same even worse situation than we have now. Several means already exist for doing plug and divert on solid well heads, but capping this one at the top would potentially increase the pressure beyond a limit nobody even knows right now. Can't use them in this doomsday senario. This is why they are very careful to not stop or slow this flow. Those shears had to pinch it shut momentarily and the pressure just opened it right back up again. The bottom kill from the relief wells hopefully will be successful and not blow out as this one did. No guarantee there either. Maybe January.
In item #3, where it says Deepwater Horizon it should be Discoverer Enterprise
As I have suggested, I believe new recovery cap will bolt to, or clamp on BOP flange after damaged riser and riser flange are removed. If so, why cannot a lever activated ball valve shut off ( a robot can close ) be incorporated in case of hurricane ? Also, I wonder if suction lines can be ran through a deck mounted BOP like shallow water rigs use for added safety....compliments to BP for positive action to control leak
read will - engineer comment (two back)
Collecting the oil seems to be the only way to save what's left of the Gulf of Mexico until this well (hopefully) can be killed with the two relief wells. Use a gigantic funnel with a very wide opening at the base, secure it to the sea floor around the wellhead. The funnel would have sides that extend above the water line. As it fills with oil, the contents can be pumped onboard barges, etc. to be hauled away. Too simple?
This might seem like a very big thing to make, but they talk about having thousands of miles of boom, and the thing is only one mile down, so it seems reasonably practical to me.
I think the big end should be up though.
They shouldn't BE collecting it! They should be stopping it! But BP lost a big investment when the rig blew up and sank, and they don't want to wait for the relief wells to be drilled to recoup some of those losses. This is a crime against the entire Gulf region! BP needs to be slapped with HEAVY fines for every day that thing has pumped, and for every day it continues. Make that oil too expensive to collect, and they WILL stop the leak.
I don't know what needs to be done to stop the leak. Only that it needs to be stopped before we don't have any ocean just a great big ocean of oil. I think they ought to stop worrying about collecting it all. Just stopping it. Money is the root of all evil, and this evil may destroy a lot!!!