
Man builds life-sized replica of Noah's Ark - recycleme
http://www.foxnews.com/science/slideshow/2012/12/12/man-builds-life-sized-replica-noah-ark/
======
Irregardless
> “I will kill everything, except the floating ones and the swimming ones, who
> will get out due to a loophole.”

\-- Eddie Izzard, speaking as god

I've never understood why bible fanatics are so fixated on that story, it's
one of the bible's most conspicuous flaws.

Edit: When I say "bible fanatics" I'm referring specifically to bible
fanatics: people who are obsessed with the bible and view it as the literal
word of god. I'm not trying to classify all bible followers as "fanatics", nor
do I mean to impart any negative connotation to that word.

If you read it the latter way, it's most likely a projection of your own bias
-- either towards excessive political correctness or anti-theism.

~~~
simon
Careful, your lack of tolerance is showing.

There are records in the ancient historical stories of many cultures of a
world-wide flood.

Update: the downvotes have started already! Thank you for firmly establishing
my point! :-)

~~~
arethuza
There are also fairly epic floods or lands lost to floods in fairly recent
times (i.e. since the last ice age):

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doggerland>

Not to mention a large tsunami in an area where you really wouldn't expect it:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storegga_Slide>

Part of me sort of wishes there _was_ some kind of record of these events -
even if it was a bit mangled.

~~~
lurkinggrue
I'll just leave this here:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_of_Gilgamesh>

------
programminggeek
I think I'm more shocked to see foxnews.com linked from HN.

Also, if you're planning on doing this yourself, start with the Minimum Viable
Ark and see if other people and animals are willing to join you before going
all in on the full ark yourself.

~~~
jggonz
Yes, it may be the end of the world after all.

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fisadev
I think "replica" isn't the best word...

~~~
glhaynes
Next thing you know there'll be an authentic steampunk version.

~~~
illuminate
It's got gears! GEARS.

What would this be called, anyway? Tunicpunk?

------
spiffistan
At least he's Dutch, so there's a decent probability it will be used, even
within his lifetime.

~~~
Udo
From the article:

" _For Huibers, a builder by trade, it all began with a nightmare he had in
1992, when the low-lying Netherlands was flooded, as it has been many times
throughout its history._ "

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lutze
This thing looks about as seaworthy as a tin bath with a missing plug...

Oh look, glad to see my instincts aren't wrong:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan%27s_Ark>

So it doesn't actually even float on its own, it's built on top of a steel
barge. Fox News: "functioning" ark, "functioning" journalism.

------
jeremyarussell
I'd love to read a book detailing how he went about it. (Other then the
bible.) It looks beautiful. That he had the forethought to put a restaurant
and theater in is topping on the cake.

~~~
Shorel
Probably worth investigating the Atra-Hasis flood myth.

It is the original version of the retconned Gigamesh myth, which was in turn
retconned into the Noah myth.

~~~
illuminate
It's always enjoyable how the literalists tend to blank out at any mention of
syncretism.

------
passionfruit
The article references the phrase "the cities of the coast shall tremble" as
being in the New Testament [1] but the closest verse I could find is Ezekiel
26:18 [2] which is in the Old Testament.

[1] [http://www.foxnews.com/science/slideshow/2012/12/12/man-
buil...](http://www.foxnews.com/science/slideshow/2012/12/12/man-builds-life-
sized-replica-noah-ark/#slide=9)

[2] <http://studybible.info/LITV/Ezekiel%2026:18>

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donohoe
You can't make a replica of something that never existed

~~~
JangoSteve
Even if you're not religious, you don't know whether or not such an ark ever
existed. Even if you don't believe in the Bible as being an accurate recording
of events, it's still possible that some of the stories could have been based,
even in part, on actual events.

Let's take Noah's Ark for example. It has been claimed that there is evidence
that such a flood may have actually taken place [1]. It's even been claimed by
some explorers that they found remains of a large ark-like vessel (though the
fact that these explorers were evangelical Christians makes the credibility
dubious, and thus seems unlikely) [2].

I'm not saying whether or not this stuff happened or whether or not I believe
it. All I'm saying is, given that stories could be based, even if exaggerated,
on actual events, and given that unbelievable feats of engineering and
construction exist from long ago, like the pyramids for example; it seems
closed-minded to make disingenuous and dismissive statements about something
we don't know with certainty.

[1] [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/10/evidence-noahs-
floo...](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/10/evidence-noahs-flood-ark-
real-robert-ballard-archeologist-titanic_n_2273143.html)

[2]
[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/04/100428-noahs...](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/04/100428-noahs-
ark-found-in-turkey-science-religion-culture/)

~~~
bunderbunder
Perhaps there's a kernel of truth in there, in the form of a boat. But kernels
of truth can get pretty amazingly distorted over the course of centuries or
millennia of developing mythology. There's a kernel of truth to the Greek myth
of the Cyclops, but it has nothing to do with giant one-eyed men. It's fossil
elephant skeletons, with their nasal cavity looking a lot like a huge eye
socket.

Even given, for the sake of argument, that at some point there was an actual
boat at the root of this myth, the likelihood that this Ark is a replica of
that boat is only not a whole lot greater than the likelihood that the world
did actually experience a rainfall rate of 12 inches per minute over the
course of forty days. The vessel described in Genesis is simply not plausible,
neither from an engineering nor a historical perspective.

~~~
JangoSteve
You seem to get my point at the beginning of your comment when you acknowledge
that it's possible there's a kernel of truth in the form of a boat. But then
by the end of your comment, you for some reason concluded that the vessel
described in Genesis is not plausible. No kidding.

We weren't talking about the vessel as described in genesis, we were talking
about the boat that may have possibly existed at some point which may have
inspired the story. Unless you're saying this guy built the boat as described
in Genesis. But that wouldn't make sense, because it's not plausible from an
engineering perspective, and well, this guy built it, so his boat is plausible
from an engineering perspective.

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sunwooz
Ok, now lets try to fit every female and male of every species into that boat!

~~~
ohwp
I wouldn't be surprised when it will actually fit. There aren't that much
different large animals.

Edit: I agree this was a very unclear post. What I meant: The available space
is about 20,000 m2. Lets say the African bush elephant fits in 25 m2. This
means you can take 400 different kinds of the largest terrestrial animals on
board. But I don't think there are that much different kind of large animals.

~~~
dEnigma
You are kidding, right? Unless you have some really weird definition of "large
animal" in mind.

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barkingcat
according to <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl9oFHRJ6kE> It is 1:14th size

~~~
ohwp
I think thats the old version. He now built a 1:1 version.
<http://www.arkvannoach.com/informatie/geschiedenis/>

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arjn
Impressive dedication and effort. Reminds me of that man who built an entire
stone castle all by himself. I forget his name.

~~~
bmuon
Quick Google search: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_Castle>

------
jasonmoo
I made a bowl of spaghetti last night. Where was fox news on that one?

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codex
I'd like to see him try to fill that ark with two of every kind of animal on
the planet.

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shepbook
Cool, though I think 20 years of time and however much that cost could have
been put toward something that actually helps a fellow human. Maybe build a
bunch of smaller houses for poor people instead of a giant houseboat for your
stuffed animals.

Then again, maybe that's just me...

~~~
danneu
I wonder how many people started writing a reply to you, attempted a few
drafts, but ended up just slowly removing their hands from the keyboard,
turning off their computer, and sinking their face firmly into their palm,
never to return to HN again.

~~~
illuminate
The perfect comeback (theirs, of course.)

