[15:22] anyone want a cheap ride to Australia: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn045ld91yzo [15:23] hmmm, we could use another ferry for the ireland france run. they keep adding ferries since brexit and seem to need more [15:27] * penguin42 looks - is that to erm Roscoff? [15:28] oh, and Le Havre? [15:30] https://ferrygogo.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/ferry-to-france-from-ireland.jpg also 1-2 to belgium as well for truck drivers aiui [15:30] get on boat in ireland wake up in belguim with a full days driving hours ahead of you [15:31] saves on a lot of paperwork and traffic jams in uk [15:45] ah right, not thought of digging a tunnel? [15:46] any bridge or tunnel from ireland would likely go through https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort%27s_Dyke#Dumped_munitions which would be a challenge [15:47] I meant south towards France [15:49] distance too long, depth too great, soil at the bottom is completely the wrong type. would require a whole new tech. a floating tunnel has been suggested but probably wouldn't work in atlantic [15:49] oh great, whose idea was that - they dumped (concrete encased) drums of radioactive lab rubbish and luminous paint in the same dump as explosives and chemical and phosgene [15:50] well they only did that because people complained when they just used to dump it in the irish sea without the encased drums, so progress. yay \o/ [15:50] just gently dig under Wales and the Cotswolds etc - no one will notice - except maybe some sheep [15:50] mutant cannibal sheep. i can see the movie now [15:51] Baahhhhh - pfizzz - bahhh [15:51] and i think uk has a massive underground secret rail network for military reasons. i suspect they'd notice [15:52] oh, hadn't heard of the rail one, I knew there are a load of random bunkers and things [15:53] occasionly they go up for sale and sometimes they have a sealed door you're not allowed to open [15:53] haha [15:54] it's a joke in an early bond movie when japanese spy takes bond on secret railway and asks if m doesn't have one at home [15:54] ah yeh [15:55] but i have heard a few irish navies who were super busy in 40s-60s digging in uk hinting at all the hush hush digging they did [15:55] damn I can't remember which one that is; it's the one with the chemical company, and hmm the 'LOX' [15:55] hmm Tanaka? [15:56] baby the autogyro [15:56] nod [15:56] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallis_WA-116_Agile you only live once. little nellie [15:57] zxmpi: There's a tunnel system under Manchester called 'Guardian' that was a bunker with phone exchange etc [15:57] live *twice* [15:59] oops. caffine levels dropping low :-) [15:59] i suspect they found a way to link a lot of the ghost factories of wwii to each other to move stuff around and just didn't stop when the war ended [16:02] zxmpi: You know how tunneling machines get abandoned at the end of tunnels when they're complete? You have to wonder if anyone checks they're still there... [16:04] abandoned but these tunnels would predate tunnelling machines as we use now [16:05] you're assuming that they aren't still digging new ones [16:06] i suspect they've got miles of tunnels they don't use now. british military is tiny compared to 50s-60s now [16:07] though a lot of europe is now looking at spending a few bob on military. even ireland. [16:08] yeh [16:09] at least the tories aren't in power or britain would have the finest mdf tanks :-P [16:10] oh I'm not convinced Labour's any better at that [16:10] they'll bring back the bison :-D https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bison_concrete_armoured_lorry [16:11] oh wow, didn't know of that [16:14] you should always keep an eye of r/shittytechnicals people can be insanely insane/creative when it comes to having a comfy ride into war. https://old.reddit.com/r/shittytechnicals/ [16:23] comfy for a very select definition of comfy [16:25] if it stops bullets/shrapnel you'd be amazed how little suspension/ventilation/leg or headroom is required for a vehicle to be considered comfortable. [16:27] nod [16:28] add tea making facilities and you've got a fan base :-D [16:47] zxmpi: It makes me wonder if anyone has tried doing that with a standard container [16:49] people think of doing lots of things with standard containers but it turns out standard containeres are incredibly weak. they're just enough metal to support a framework that will hold a container on top of it. good compression in spots. very weak and fragile everywhere else [16:50] zxmpi: I meant moulding a pillbox of standard container size with the right mounting holes [16:52] too expensive probably. concrete without reinforcement would be brittle too. [16:53] i think ukraine has developed a standard prefab pillbox. they've been belting them out and putting them all over the defence lines to protect troops. russians hate them apparently [16:53] ah good [16:54] https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-war-russia-troops-shelters-39a3d36ae6078765908a51975e09a4b7 [16:55] which has now expanded to underground bunker hospitals https://www.edrmagazine.eu/revolutionising-battlefield-medicine-akhmetovs-steel-bunkers-bring-life-saving-care-to-ukraines-front-lines