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EffrafaxOfWug 1 hours ago [-]
I can highly recommend watching this Video by practical engineering:
Is the World Really Running Out of Sand?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB0qDQFTyE8
(Spoiler: It's not)
noworld 5 hours ago [-]
Jamaican police left stranded after thieves steal a beach
This article is more than 17 years old
Rory Carroll, Latin America correspondent
Mon 20 Oct 2008 19.01 EDT
Thieves in Jamaica have embarrassed police and triggered a political row by stealing a beach - and making a clean getaway.
Hundreds of tonnes of white sand vanished from a planned resort on the island's north coast in July but three months later there is no sign of suspects nor sand.
An estimated 500 truck-loads of sand were removed from the Coral Spring beach in Trelawny and were believed to have been sold to rival resorts, a hefty logistical feat which has stumped police.
"It's a very complex investigation because it involves so many aspects," Mark Shields, the deputy commissioner for crime at the Jamaica Constabulary Force, told the BBC.
> It's a very complex investigation because it involves so many aspects
I think this is polite way to say "a bunch of us were bribed to look the other way, get over it".
colechristensen 3 hours ago [-]
I'd watch that bumbling buddy cop movie
lostlogin 3 hours ago [-]
The reality I would have been simple and boring. Corruption all the way down.
arjie 2 hours ago [-]
Growing up in India, this was a huge issue back then. Sand miners were sort of like your alcohol runners. Big mob operations with connections into a bent police force at a high level.
One of those things which needs a strong state to protect the commons. Weak state power is easily outmatched by individual agents of the state conspiring with the mob.
Exoristos 1 hours ago [-]
"Big mob connections" infiltrated the state, the "police force at a high level." To me, this in and of itself says the strength of a given state apparatus is orthogonal to whether that apparatus is used "to protect the commons."
ElijahLynn 6 hours ago [-]
Is it possible to just figure out the ratio of rocks and put them into a grinding machine to make custom sand?
philipkglass 5 hours ago [-]
Yes:
"Crushed rock sand – An economical and ecological alternative to natural sand to optimize concrete mix"
The main problem is that even though crushing rocks is affordable, illegal sand mining is even cheaper in regions where law enforcement is weak.
xattt 6 hours ago [-]
Zombocom… the only limit is your imagination.
In all seriousness, rock crushing is energy intensive relative to just taking sand from the source.
alexpotato 5 hours ago [-]
Create a bag of rocks and leave them in an area with lots of waves.
Let nature and physics do the rest.
qwerpy 5 hours ago [-]
Pretty sure this is a joke but you never quite know, given that HN is infamous for these "javascript programmer applies his smarts to something that's not javascript" moments.
MisterTea 4 hours ago [-]
"bag of rocks" is so ridiculous that I would call it a joke for sure.
darth_avocado 5 hours ago [-]
In a few million years
4 hours ago [-]
darth_avocado 2 hours ago [-]
You’re talking about a product that’s quite literally “pick it up and sell it”. Adding a single step to the process will be economically more expensive. Mining, logging, fishing etc. are all similar examples.
Tyr42 5 hours ago [-]
You'd also care about angular sand vs round sand grains.
lostlogin 3 hours ago [-]
This is the difference and why smashing up rocks doesn’t get the same result. Round sand is nicer.
You can probably engineer the sand somehow but it’s going to be costly.
slashdev 3 hours ago [-]
I thought it was the other way around. Too fine/round is not good for concrete, which is why desert sand is unsuitable.
AngryData 2 hours ago [-]
Yes, if you want a good stable foundation for any structural base you want your medium to be sharp and irregular so it locks together. Round material, be it sand or rocks, can be pushed around more like a liquid. Sharp and irregular get tangled together and acts more like one solid object.
Exoristos 1 hours ago [-]
GP is probably talking about beach sand.
liveoneggs 4 hours ago [-]
it would be better to farm coral reefs and parrot fish
sanktanglia 4 hours ago [-]
I love that I learned about this from the HBO show Barry
Rory Carroll, Latin America correspondent Mon 20 Oct 2008 19.01 EDT
Thieves in Jamaica have embarrassed police and triggered a political row by stealing a beach - and making a clean getaway.
Hundreds of tonnes of white sand vanished from a planned resort on the island's north coast in July but three months later there is no sign of suspects nor sand.
An estimated 500 truck-loads of sand were removed from the Coral Spring beach in Trelawny and were believed to have been sold to rival resorts, a hefty logistical feat which has stumped police.
"It's a very complex investigation because it involves so many aspects," Mark Shields, the deputy commissioner for crime at the Jamaica Constabulary Force, told the BBC.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/oct/21/jamaica
I think this is polite way to say "a bunch of us were bribed to look the other way, get over it".
One of those things which needs a strong state to protect the commons. Weak state power is easily outmatched by individual agents of the state conspiring with the mob.
"Crushed rock sand – An economical and ecological alternative to natural sand to optimize concrete mix"
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221302091...
The main problem is that even though crushing rocks is affordable, illegal sand mining is even cheaper in regions where law enforcement is weak.
In all seriousness, rock crushing is energy intensive relative to just taking sand from the source.
Let nature and physics do the rest.
You can probably engineer the sand somehow but it’s going to be costly.