Comments on: Inside Alvin: Scientists as Makers

By: Matthew Miller

Matthew Miller — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 13:52:00 +0000

What facial expression are you looking for? “What’s wrong with this person and why are they insulting my crew?”

By: Mr. Protocol

Mr. Protocol — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 17:10:00 +0000

Back in the days when I wrote the column “Ask Mr. Protocol”, I got to sit inside the Alvin and write a column. My host was one of the Alvin’s pilots at the time, Tom Tengdin. He related some of the nitty-gritty. One thing that stuck with me is that very few things go through the Alvin’s hull. Those special connections are made via cone-shaped “penetrators”, which have the narrow end pointed inward, so that sea water pressure tends to hold them in place. The air conditioning is primitive, so the inside of the hull “sweats” during a dive, especially around the penetrators. One part of the pilot’s job is to swipe the “sweat” with a fingertip and taste it, to see if it’s salty. If it is, they might have a problem.

By: boxyroom_22

boxyroom_22 — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 03:35:00 +0000

Innovation should never cease to exist. We should not be complacent, all things can be made greater, just look at Alvin after so many years there are still room for improvement.

By: william shannon

william shannon — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 03:58:00 +0000

next time I make it on a boat I am going to tell the owner or captain that they might need a bosun to optimize their experience. just to see the facial expression.. i might have to hold this one for a year or two and pull it out. bosun.. good for scrabble too

By: Ito Kagehisa

Ito Kagehisa — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:19:00 +0000

I’m the other way ’round; it aggravates me to have my survival depend on stuff that wasn’t built by someone at least as capable as me, and generally I cannot afford stuff built by people more capable than me.

But as you say, it’s a personal thing really…

By: drugdoc

drugdoc — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 15:12:00 +0000

personally, I don’t do DIY’s upon which my survival depend.
but hey, you do what you want to…..

By: Lobster

Lobster — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 13:16:00 +0000

I hear that milk is pretty good inside Alvin.

By: gordonjcp

gordonjcp — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 06:43:00 +0000

I love Poseidon chilling out at the barbecue. I think that’s my favourite photo out of the set ;-)

By: Jed Goldstone

Jed Goldstone — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 04:43:00 +0000

I should note that at WHOI the overhead rate is such that it does cost easily $100-$150 an hour for an engineer. The DIY part comes into play because there just isn’t anyone commercially able to build an Alvin. Forging the titanium pressure sphere involved calling people out of retirement who knew how to do it. And, all of the systems have to be repairable *on the ocean floor* by the pilot – no calling tech support or getting a replacement part shipped down. DIY is the only way to do it.

By: Art

Art — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 03:11:00 +0000

Awesome, indeed!
Thanks, Maggie, for the great post :)

By: Mister44

Mister44 — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 01:51:00 +0000

Alvin Shmalvin – Bathyscaphe Trieste FTW!!

By: website sales

website sales — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 00:09:00 +0000

Now Thats a throw back. I remember dreaming about how it would be to operate this thing when i was a kid.

By: bkad

bkad — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 22:30:00 +0000

with overhead, engineers can cost US$ 150 per hour.

Actually can cost much more; $150 is just a reasonable billing rate for an average mix of engineers on an outside contracts, with overhead. DIY is rarely cheaper in that kind of environment.

By: bkad

bkad — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 22:11:00 +0000

I used to work in experimental science, and it is very much DIY. Partly because we were doing things that had never been done before, and partly because of the economics. Grad student labor is much cheaper than equipment, and grad students are supposed to be provided with educational opportunities, so having them design, wire, machine, and build their own stuff accomplishes both goals at once.

In the non-academic world world, there isn’t as much DIY, because the economics flip. Including overhead (which includes everything from heating the building to paying the boss’ secretary) engineers can cost US$ 150 per hour. It is easy to spend more money just talking about whether to buy something than the purchase itself. Still, new product development is like profession DIY.

By: Stefan Jones

Stefan Jones — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 20:43:00 +0000

I remember reading about and being fascinated by Alvin when I was a grammer-school kid. It was the kind of thing that appeared in My Weekly Reader.

By: Adam Cahan

Adam Cahan — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 20:41:00 +0000

awesome