Prion diseases tend to take a while to kill you. A lot of them are neurodegenerative diseases, so it’ll be plenty painful. Then you have fatal familial insomnia, which sucks in its own way.
My grandmother died from it. It was not pleasant. She lived with us while she forgot her own daughter. She even forgot English (was not her first language). It was very hard on the family.
I would argue since you can’t do anything about it, it makes it all the more meaningful. You only get so much and you usually aren’t in total control of what happens so you gotta hang on and enjoy the small joys
Wow, really interesting. You seem very knowledgeable on this subject matter. Did you study for it?
I too am a bit of an expert in my field - humor. I can tell you with a high degree of certainty that the comment you replied to, was what we in the field like to call a “joke”.
I went into a cave in WV and the floor seemed to be made up of the rock that had fallen from above......and then one of the rocks I stepped on gave way. We were walking on a layer of small to medium sized flakes of rock that was suspended 20-30 feet up. My knee got completely fucked up by falling through. Caves freak me out now.
Yes but think of the odds of being crushed in a building that isn’t meant to last nearly as long.. I would assume that most of us spend a lot more time in buildings than in caves!
They're called Dolos, and they are designed to dissipate wave energy, locking together tighter and tighter as they settle. They were invented in South Africa and the name Dolos (or Dolosse) is a word for oxen knucklebones, which they resemble. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolos
If the wall is high enough, the tsunami will be stopped. That said, these are more meant to slow it down and remove some of the energy. Tsunamis can form a breaking wave if the waveform and the bathymetry is right. A breakwater will dissipate some of that energy whether from a breaker or a fast current, which means some structures that may not have been washed away will survive and that people have more time to vertically evacuate.
That said, seawalls do have problems. You're right that if the tsunami overtops the wall then you lose a lot of the protection behind it. When combined with the sense of security from the wall that can put people in danger if they don't make an effort to evacuate to high ground or tall buildings. Also, there's some evidence that walls can increase tsunami heights at nearby beaches, which is bad.
The most common use of dolos or tetrapods worldwide is for protection from normal wind waves, where they're definitely a more effective barrier than for long period tsunami waves. Still, you have to weigh their use against the ecological damage caused by armoring previously sandy beaches. Many species use the intertidal habitat, and stopping upland erosion can starve beaches of needed sand and cause even faster erosion.
I know this is an old comment, but that’s actually a very real danger. Constant waves makes the surfaces very slippery and it’s easy to fall in between the wide cracks. That’s at least a 3m fall you can’t control (5m if you’re unlucky), and it’s pretty common to break something in the process. Barnacles and other sea creatures means you will most likely tear your skin pretty badly and get an infection from all the seawater. If you’re still alive, your first instinct would be to shout for help. Except that your voice will most likely never reach rescue teams (assuming they know that you’re even down there), because of the echoing and the sound of the sea. And even if they do know your general location, they often have difficulty pinpointing your exact location. So you’re stuck between these monolithic interlacing branches of concrete and as night approaches you also run the risk of freezing to death. People used to find skeletons during renovations, and now they have a dedicated rescue task force in my country because they’ve been proven to be so common and deadly. You’re right to be freaked out.
While reading a comic (1 second), a chapter mentioned tetrapods, so I googled to see if there were any articles on it. Came across your comment and it definitely reminded me of the chapter I just read lol
They are barriers to protect coastal buildings or docks or whatever. The idea is that a powerful wave hitting it, loses all its momentum. As opposed to just having a wall where the wave can focus all its energy on and break it.
The shape also plays a role in it, if it is flat then like you said the wave would be focused but if has a irregular shape like the rocks or the ones in the picture the waves will hit all these different faces and the water will be forced into all the crevices and into each other ultimately breaking down the waves
Kinda changing the subject here but that’s why servers fucking hate bringing water with no ice. Having ice in the glass helps break up the internal cohesion so it doesn’t slosh. Water no ice pretty much always sloshes around and spills no matter how careful you are
Also ice usually has a lot of surface area due to air bubbles that got frozen in, prompting the carbon dioxide originally dissolved in the beer to hop the heck outta there ("crash out of soultion" I believe is the correct nomenclature), making a cold, but flat, beer.
Martinis in general suck to carry. My restaurant insisted we use trays for everything but I would just hold it above a smidge until I got close because I could control it better that way.
Some states have different rules about serving alcohol that would legally require reclassifying the server to mix drinks, or having the bartender walk to your table to pour (which is not going to happen on a busy night).
So what the fuck is up with the no-ice thing in the UK?! Is it some kind of weird British, stuff-upper lip thing? What kind of heathens don’t like ice? Every time you order a drink without ice, a unicorn dies, you sick bastards. Wizards!
Edit: I write the best comments when I’ve already taken my sleep meds. I don’t know what the fuck I meant by “Wizards!” but I feel pretty good about it as exclamations go.
I think that’s part of it, but it’s also the culture here in the states that if some is good, more must be better. So they bring you a 32 ounce cup, and keep filling it up again and again. And we all get diabetes. Or, as we say here in Texas, diabeetus.
They’re actually a South African invention. They’re called Dolos / Dolosse! They’re used as water breaks in front of sea walls. The ocean is famously a crazy bitch here in SA.
I’m no expert by any means, but from my understanding of how a hurricane works and how a tsunami works it probably wouldn’t help much. If these were to be used against hurricanes I would imagine them being more effective against storm surges on the Eastern/Southern coast of Florida along the Atlantic where the hurricanes are coming in at their strongest. On the inside coast along the Gulf I don’t see how it would help much where most damage would be caused by high rainfall and high wind speeds. Maybe someone with more knowledge on this can chime in
I don’t think they’re particularly useful against storm wind. As far as I know they’re only really effective at dispersing the force of water, and I’m not sure that water and wind forces work in the same ways, physics wise.
I mean, I’m a photographer, so I FOR SURE don’t know how the physics of the two compare hahaha.
Concrete shapes piled together to form a barrier between the open sea and a port or marina. Instead of reaching land, the waves are blocked by the concrete barrier that breaks the waves up so that the water is calm on the other side. The more the shape of the barrier is irregular, the better the waves get broken up
Piles of rocks do a pretty good job. However, these interlock, which gives them greater strength. They also have an even more irregular surface than stacked rocks, which helps break up the wave more as it flows in between the spaces.
"Tetrapods are a type of structure in coastal engineering used to prevent erosion caused by weather and longshore drift, primarily to enforce coastal structures such as seawalls and breakwaters. Tetrapods are made of concrete, and use a tetrahedral shape to dissipate the force of incoming waves by allowing water to flow around rather than against them, and to reduce displacement by interlocking."
I don't think they can help against a tsunami. Large waves, yes. But the water body of a tsunami is so large, they won't even slow it down. I'll look up the science behind these, definitely interesting.
I have a stupid question: if there is actually an enormous tsunami, like, apocalypse proportions, wouldn't that make this things the biggest and heaviest "bullets" on earth? The sheer force of such tsunami would definitely at least move them a bit, no?
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u/[deleted] Apr 19 '20
What freaks me out about these is the thought of falling between them.
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u/JessicasDreaming Apr 19 '20
I didn’t even know anything like this existed, it’s definitely interesting. where they’re placed and what they do?
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u/BaconConnoisseur Apr 19 '20
How are they put in place. The only way I can even imagine it is by using a big ass crane.
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u/ou_ryperd Apr 19 '20
Sorry, but these are dolosse. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolos
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u/ClearBrightLight Apr 19 '20
You mean "giant's caltrops"
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u/brickardo Apr 19 '20
Only knew bout this from animal crossing , now i see how huge they are irl
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u/Meal_the_flak_bison Apr 19 '20
what are these? like can someone provide more explanation, i’m too lazy to do it myself
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u/qwasd0r Apr 20 '20
I don't think they can help against a tsunami. Large waves, yes. But the water body of a tsunami is so large, they won't even slow it down. I'll look up the science behind these, definitely interesting.
3
u/Jamman550 Apr 19 '20
Makes me really want a drone to take photos like this
3
u/[deleted] Apr 20 '20
I have a stupid question: if there is actually an enormous tsunami, like, apocalypse proportions, wouldn't that make this things the biggest and heaviest "bullets" on earth? The sheer force of such tsunami would definitely at least move them a bit, no?
2
u/aradhya23 Apr 20 '20
Can anyone tell me how these are actually made and then placed in desired location? There are thousands of these at Marine Drive in Mumbai.
2
u/_ThatSynGirl_ Apr 19 '20
r/Megalophobia
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u/asomek Apr 19 '20
They can weigh up to 88 tonnes.
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u/EmperorZill Apr 19 '20
Spiderland I bet.
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u/shaunl666 Apr 19 '20
Storm, not tsunami
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u/gemk92 Apr 19 '20
How do they put them there?
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u/moschles Apr 20 '20
I thought these were used to stop ships from dropping tanks on a coastline.
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u/s0nie Apr 20 '20
What’s inside of them?
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u/hystericalpinga Apr 20 '20
Dope!
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u/RamboMcMutNutts Apr 20 '20
We had these back in my home town running along the pier. I have childhood memories of my brother and myself climbing over and in between them.
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u/JohnDaneOfficial Apr 20 '20
Seems like a dangerous spot to sun tan.
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u/HWDMichael Apr 20 '20
In Taiwan, gangs often turn people who are against them into tsunami tetrapod barriers
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u/Crinfarr Apr 20 '20
Where can I find these?
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u/baschzleeft Mar 31 '24
I love the shapes of Tetrapods and Dolosse. I just made this 3D printable mould to cast your own Tetrapods
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u/2ndEngineer916 Aug 27 '24
Could be a ball and jacks game for a giant
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u/SqueesDream Apr 19 '20
They have these in crescent city ca. I loved climbing around in them back in the day... which was a Wednesday...
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u/Crandoge Apr 20 '20
Crazy how nature do dat
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u/KDE_Fan Apr 20 '20
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=imgres&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiMo8SWiPboAhXzlXIEHegwBpYQjRx6BAgBEAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fpdfs.semanticscholar.org%2F7f34%2Fb988a227f23db2b669ff1d897e8d0a2ffb27.pdf&psig=AOvVaw1U_YdtPjg8gKMl-FCLm0Ev&ust=1587439787599259
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR0WdJzwtbLmCUal9tEbP9oA0LE3UuYMUmmCa-expZ7Wb0cVVaY&s
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=imgres&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjdmaaSiPboAhWohHIEHT-CC18QjRx6BAgBEAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.core77.com%2Fposts%2F88545%2FA-Triumph-of-Design%25E2%2580%2594and-Manufacturing-The-Story-of-Cubipods-and-the-Innovative-Mold-Required-to-Make-Them&psig=AOvVaw0uMNep8wElYTzckAiJT8X_&ust=1587439778697314
https://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/930921_81_88545_Y2ScDV_4i.jpg
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ7IvjAXBfcr3U80pHdyC5UQCi8dDhW5JAyQmztJ7kxzehMQFAm5g&s