# Bad News: 30 years for Titanic to rust away to a shapless blob **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 12, 2012, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-30-years-for-titanic-to-rust-away-to-a-shapless-blob/618519 "2012-04-12T01:15:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-30-years-for-titanic-to-rust-away-to-a-shapless-blob/618519/1 "2012-04-12T01:15:22Z")
Surely there is something we could do? I have some ideas: 1/ Pump oxygen down there, should speed up oxidation, right? 2/ Invite everyone who blathers on about the damn thing to go for a dive down there and collect souvenirs. Sufficient oxygen for them to return to the surface would be a waste, in my view. 3/ Pay for all the Titanic obsessed to go out on old ready-for-scrapping cruise ships to the location of the sinking and re-enact it, hopefully causing their sinking ships to fall on and crush the Titanic into unrecognisable scrap. Any other ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-30-years-for-titanic-to-rust-away-to-a-shapless-blob/618519/2 "2012-04-12T01:36:43Z")
You could just not pay attention to Titanic-related media. Do Titanic buffs wish death on you because of your obsession with Hummel figurines? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-30-years-for-titanic-to-rust-away-to-a-shapless-blob/618519/3 "2012-04-12T01:38:51Z")
Do headlines and news stories about Hummel figurines demand my attention 20 hours a day? I think not. Sadly. What is wrong with people that they are not interested in Hummel figurines? ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-30-years-for-titanic-to-rust-away-to-a-shapless-blob/618519/4 "2012-04-12T01:39:33Z")
Encase both sections in transparent concrete. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-30-years-for-titanic-to-rust-away-to-a-shapless-blob/618519/5 "2012-04-12T01:44:42Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Do headlines and news stories about Hummel figurines demand my attention 20 hours a day? I think not. Sadly. What is wrong with people that they are not interested in Hummel figurines? Nude photos of Jeanine garofalo and Marsha warfield engaging in angry lesbian sex might demand my attention. I’m somewhat of a Titanic buff and I’m not seeing these articles that distress you so. Lately there have been articles about the re-release of the movie; but since I don’t particularly like the movie I skip over them. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-30-years-for-titanic-to-rust-away-to-a-shapless-blob/618519/6 "2012-04-12T01:52:58Z")
You have got to be kidding me. Climb out from under that rock. Putting “Titanic” into google news gives 29 results for the _last 24 hours_. Hummel figurines haven’t featured in that many news stories _ever_. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-30-years-for-titanic-to-rust-away-to-a-shapless-blob/618519/7 "2012-04-12T02:02:11Z")
What if Hummel produced a limited edition figurine of garofalo and warfield having angry lesbian sex? Don’t you think that would be all over the news? Blame Hummel’s lack of courage, not the news media. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-30-years-for-titanic-to-rust-away-to-a-shapless-blob/618519/8 "2012-04-12T02:08:52Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > What if Hummel produced a limited edition figurine of garofalo and warfield having angry lesbian sex? Then that would I suspect evoke one highly relevant and worthwhile news story. What if this event produced re-hashed, warmed over, endlessly repetitive, trivial, dull, irrelevant, breathless, melodramatic, gormless, mindnumbing dribble for day after day after month after month after year after year? What then? ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-30-years-for-titanic-to-rust-away-to-a-shapless-blob/618519/9 "2012-04-12T02:11:23Z")
There’s a big uptick in stories about the Titanic because the 100th anniversary is coming up in a few days. Give it another week or so, and it’ll fall off to one every few months like it has been for the last several years. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-30-years-for-titanic-to-rust-away-to-a-shapless-blob/618519/10 "2012-04-12T02:14:42Z")
We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Get your Hummel figurine fan club on the company to make the limited edition figurine and we’ll see what happens. I’ll buy at least four. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-30-years-for-titanic-to-rust-away-to-a-shapless-blob/618519/11 "2012-04-12T02:26:03Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > You have got to be kidding me. Climb out from under that rock. Putting “Titanic” into google news gives 29 results for the _last 24 hours_. At the risk of being mistaken for giving medical advice… “Well, don’t do that!” With the combined power of my Titanic disinterest and vast capacity for not giving a damn in general, I have succeeded in not noticing any failboat-related media for days. I didn’t even notice this thread; I misclicked while aiming for the random quote thread. However, since I’m here, I decided to offer my counsel to another unfan of Titanic maundering. Oddly enough, it’s the same suggestion we’ve made to the Titanic-obsessed: The boat sank. Get over it. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-30-years-for-titanic-to-rust-away-to-a-shapless-blob/618519/12 "2012-04-12T02:29:20Z")
You can’t learn to skim headlines? That is really odd. Maybe you should open a thread asking for helpful tips on how to skim over boring not newsworthy articles. It really doesn’t seem that hard. If you see the word Titanic though, just move on and you’ll be happier for it. I’ll admit the ads for the 3-D movie are a little annoying but I can’t always skim past these sadly. Now to the actual question of the op, perhaps some depth charges could speed things along, no need to endanger anyone and the wreck should be gone or buried. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-30-years-for-titanic-to-rust-away-to-a-shapless-blob/618519/13 "2012-04-12T02:37:00Z")
Maybe we should drain the pond so we can access the wreck easier. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-30-years-for-titanic-to-rust-away-to-a-shapless-blob/618519/14 "2012-04-12T03:13:01Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > You can’t learn to skim headlines? That is really odd. Maybe you should open a thread asking for helpful tips on how to skim over boring not newsworthy articles. It really doesn’t seem that hard. > > If you see the word Titanic though, just move on and you’ll be happier for it. I’ll admit the ads for the 3-D movie are a little annoying but I can’t always skim past these sadly. Yeah, yeah, I know. This response was inevitable. However it reaches the point where there are just so many of the damn things to skim past it becomes irritating. When I saw the headline about the wreck rusting away in 30 years (OMG, OMG!!!) I couldn’t resist the temptation to invert the story’s assumption that this was a bad thing. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-30-years-for-titanic-to-rust-away-to-a-shapless-blob/618519/15 "2012-04-12T03:20:39Z")
I was annoyed at the number of articles about it in the science section of the NYT this week. I’ve really started enjoying doing the crossword and then reading the science news on Tuesdays but I don’t really care about Titanic. Luckily I had a book with me, so I just read that instead. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-30-years-for-titanic-to-rust-away-to-a-shapless-blob/618519/16 "2012-04-12T03:49:48Z")
What about this Angry Lesbian Sex? And is Bob Ballard somehow involved? ---
**Author:** ![wheresmymind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@wheresmymind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheresmymind)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-30-years-for-titanic-to-rust-away-to-a-shapless-blob/618519/17 "2012-04-12T08:02:33Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Yeah, yeah, I know. This response was inevitable. However it reaches the point where there are just so many of the damn things to skim past it becomes irritating. When I saw the headline about the wreck rusting away in 30 years (OMG, OMG!!!) I couldn’t resist the temptation to invert the story’s assumption that this was a bad thing. I’m another Titanic buff. I met Robert Ballard when I was 6 and had him autograph my book on the Titanic’s discovery. As a child I pored over pictures of the discovery in National Geographic. It inspired me so much that two decades later I’m a marine scientist who spent over 200 days at sea last year on research cruises. It’s hard to overstate the effect the Titanic has had on my life. I haven’t noticed a single article. I’ve seen a few ads and articles, but nothing that wasn’t directly related to the movie. I’m sure I’ve skimmed over far more headlines about Kim Kardashian in the past month than the Titanic, and I guarantee I care less about KK than you do about the Titanic. I suspect there’s some confirmation bias going on somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-30-years-for-titanic-to-rust-away-to-a-shapless-blob/618519/18 "2012-04-12T08:23:09Z")
You think I notice Titanic stories unduly due to confirmation bias when there have been 29 individual Titanic stories in the last 24 hours? Really? I’m curious as to how many stories per 24 hours would you regard as “a lot”? ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-30-years-for-titanic-to-rust-away-to-a-shapless-blob/618519/19 "2012-04-12T10:50:13Z")
On PrimeTime On Demand (or rather it’s twin channel for non-network shows, Entertainment on Demand?), there’s a half dozen shows you can watch on the _Titanic_. The kids and I watched both the original documentary showing Ballard’s initial plunge to take photographs of the wrecks and the follow-up documentary when he returns to the wreck. ---
**Author:** ![Suil\_Dubh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85f322/32.png) [@Suil\_Dubh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suil_Dubh)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-30-years-for-titanic-to-rust-away-to-a-shapless-blob/618519/20 "2012-04-12T11:02:48Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Putting “Titanic” into google news gives 29 results for the _last 24 hours_. TOP TIP: don’t put “Titanic” into google news [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-30-years-for-titanic-to-rust-away-to-a-shapless-blob/618519.md?page=2)