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Small-Scale Question Sunday for June 18, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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the sub vanished from communications 2 hours into the dive

The only way the sub could have any communications while in actual dive would be with a long cable (at which point the almost exact location would have been known all the time). Radio doesn't penetrate deep in water without extreme measures (antennas tens of kilometers long with megawatts of transmission power - obviously limited to ground to sub transmissions only).

They have a sonic modem -- a crappy one apparently, but they are not completely retarded.

Cameron was able to communicate with his mission control from the bottom of the Mariana Trench @ six miles or whatever -- this particular problem is well solved.

Why did they send the mayday after supposedly losing contact with the sub 2 hours into an 8 hour dive, then?