# Summary of #hplusroadmap IRC Discussion (November 21, 2016)

• Participants explored the economic viability of towing icebergs for freshwater transport, calculating that a 7 million-tonne iceberg could be moved from Newfoundland to the Canary Islands in 141 days for approximately €8 million.

• The discussion highlighted that iceberg transport is significantly more cost-effective than conventional tanker shipping, as a single small Arctic iceberg (10 million tons) would require 50-100 large tankers to transport an equivalent amount of freshwater.

• Creative applications for icebergs were proposed, including using them as luxury cruise destinations that combine tropical locations with skiing opportunities, and creating temporary land bridges between continents.

• Technical limitations of iceberg transport were analyzed, including slow transit speeds (25 km/day versus 1000 km/day for cargo ships) and rapid melting in warm waters, presenting significant engineering challenges.

• A separate technical conversation addressed constraint satisfaction algorithms, comparing deterministic approaches using heuristics against randomized search algorithms that modify constraint-violating values until finding a solution.

• One participant requested assistance with an engineering problem related to maintaining constant flow rates when controlling dual syringe pumps with stepper motors, specifically during transition phases when one pump decelerates while another accelerates.