WC> There's a link at the Dept. of Energy web site. 

i'll take a look and see if i can find any other videos than the one i have
been watching... they've definitely been moving Skandi Neptune because now
it is showing a completely black view with some rod or pipe of some kind at
about a 30 degree angle that's barely lighted... depth of 4626.something if
i'm reading the screen correctly ;)

[trim]

 WC> This idea seems somewhat more promising than the 'junk shot.' 

 WC> I mean what do I know but has this junk shot worked in the past and
 WC> if so what's its track record?

i dunno... this is the first blowout they've had to deal with in deep
water... AFAIK, it is also the first time a "junk shot" has been
used, too... i thought that i was mis-hearing what they were saying until
they said soemthing about tire pieces and golf balls...

 ML> what i thought was rather "facinating" was their
"junk shot" idea... in
 ML> this they pump all manner of stuff of varying sizes down into the BOP
 ML> to get it to stop up... things like pieces of tires, golf balls,
 ML> marbles, and such... the idea being to get large things in to the large
 ML> holes and then plug the smaller holes with the smaller items and so on
 ML> until it is all plugged up...

 WC> I don't see how a bunch of loose stuff is supposed to prevail
 WC> against the force of that oil rushing out of the well.

it'll get into the cracks where the oil is flowing out of and plug them...
the larger ones would block the larger holes and make smaller ones... then
the smaller stuff would block those smaller holes and make even smaller
ones and so on... kinda like taking a mix of gravel and sand in a jar...
shake it and the smallest stuff goes to the bottom and the largest to the
top with everything intermediate in between in layers according to size...
  
 ML> at least this oil isn't that thick sludge crap like what exxon released
 ML> in alaska...

 WC> Heres hoping *someone* comes up with something that works.
 WC> I don't really much care who.

i hear ya!

 WC> If it's stopped today it's still an unprecidented environmental
 WC> disaster.

yup but everything i've been seeing looks like it is cleaning up pretty
well... supposedly this oil makes a silvery sheen on the surface of the
water but their blockades and skimmers along with their dispersent seem to
be doing the job of containing and removing the material... at least with
skimming, they can still process and use it...

)\/(ark