Ask HN: "Platelets" for stopping the oil leak?

1 pointitistoday3 comments

I was thinking today about how much the oil leak resembles a cut on an animal, and how those cuts eventually heal on animals but not in the Gulf.

So far we've attempted to put a "band-aid" over the hole, but what eventually stops people from bleeding are platelets, not band-aids. Are there any chemicals we could pump in from the side of the leak to plug the hole as they drift out of it? Has this been tried?

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I think the problem here is that oil is not drifting but gushing out. Platelets don't get a chance to do their thing until bleeding mostly stops; in this case we need to apply a tourniquet first.

Good point, but it seems like so far they're only applying a tourniquet, unless I'm mistaken.

What more do you need to stop bleeding? It's not like we're worried about gangrene here.

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