[glibgil]

> Maybe this thing doesn’t work

It doesn’t

> Maybe they have to start over

They spent $20M. They shouldn’t be allowed near money ever again

> Maybe someone else comes up with something better

Everyone who did nothing came up with something better. My $0 solution gets more plastic than this and leaves $20M available for other things

[eganist]

> Everyone who did nothing came up with something better

With that attitude, no research projects will ever go to production.

As an aside, spending money doesn't destroy it. You talk as if some grave crime was committed... nah. People passionate about the environment (or at the very least, blue collar folks in need of work) likely earned a living supporting this project, something that wouldn't have happened if zero dollars were spent trying to solve the problem. The funding will continue only if we're willing to spend towards validating or invalidating new ideas; researchers just need to either rework or exclude this approach and explore others as different concepts succeed or fail.

[jacobwilliamroy]

The ocean is a common resource, and the full-scale ocean cleanup would have far-reaching negative consequences around the pacific. Opposition to the project is more than just an attitude: it's supported by decades of scientific evidence regarding the nature of the ocean and the plastics within it. The ocean cleanup seems to be ignoring the warnings and skepticism because they believe they'll be on the right side of history no matter what happens. If they don't change course, the ocean cleanup will be heading into a very slow, very expensive PR nightmare.

[eganist]

> The ocean is a common resource, and the full-scale ocean cleanup would have far-reaching negative consequences around the pacific.

Citation seriously needed here. Where does your assertion of certainty ("would") come from?

[dang]

Even if you're right, please don't post bilious denunciations to HN. Those are a cheap internet commodity that lowers the signal/noise ratio.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Edit: unfortunately, it looks like your comments have done little but break the site guidelines lately. If you keep that up, we're going to have to ban you. If you'd review the guidelines and take the spirit of this site to heart, we'd appreciate it. You might find these additional links helpful for getting a clearer idea of that original spirit:

https://news.ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html

https://news.ycombinator.com/hackernews.html

http://www.paulgraham.com/hackernews.html

http://www.paulgraham.com/trolls.html

[glibgil]

> please don't post bilious denunciations to HN

It's not personal and I'm not sure why you would attribute malice

> If you keep that up, we're going to have to ban you

If you keep this up I'm going to have to delete my account

[Domark]

He’s pointing out a scam.

You might not believe it’s a scam, but it’s a valid opinion.

Maybe try moderating HN if you don’t like the quality of the posts. Up voting and down voting is cute but it’s not moderation.

[richmarr]

If you look at this post by cultus you'll see how to share the exact opinion you describe, without violating the HN posting guidelines like glibgil's comment did:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18730865