Technology, Science and the Environment.

[leicsmac]

The news about events in Spain keeps getting worse.

 

And it is likely just a preview of what's coming unless rapid and decisive action is taken.

[ajthefox]

On 29/10/2024 at 19:52, jgtuk said:

https://www-bbc-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2dp1l8wklo.amp?amp_js_v=0.1&amp_gsa=1#webview=1&cap=swipe 

Terrible weather we’re having lately… 

 

 

 

10 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

The news about events in Spain keeps getting worse.

 

And it is likely just a preview of what's coming unless rapid and decisive action is taken.

Nothing to see here, it's just weather. Where's my private jet at?

 

 

[Izzy]

1 hour ago, leicsmac said:

The news about events in Spain keeps getting worse.

 

And it is likely just a preview of what's coming unless rapid and decisive action is taken.

I can't believe some of the footage of cars floating down streets and piling up. 

 

Can you give an example of what type of rapid/decisive action could be taken to prevent this?

 

[leicsmac]

2 minutes ago, Izzy said:

I can't believe some of the footage of cars floating down streets and piling up. 

 

Can you give an example of what type of rapid/decisive action could be taken to prevent this?

 

In the immediate term: resilience projects to protect against storm/flood surges in areas around the world like this, because it is the most imminent threat.

 

In the short term: programs to harden food crops against both increased flood and drought, as well as more facilities for processing and treating potable water.

 

In the longer term: reducing anthropogenic carbon emissions to a degree that global average carbon dioxide/other greenhouse gas levels and therefore global average temperatures level out as soon as possible. Every single point of a degree further up will yield stronger and worse consequences and we can only do so much to brace ourselves for them.

[Izzy]

25 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

In the immediate term: resilience projects to protect against storm/flood surges in areas around the world like this, because it is the most imminent threat.

 

In the short term: programs to harden food crops against both increased flood and drought, as well as more facilities for processing and treating potable water.

 

In the longer term: reducing anthropogenic carbon emissions to a degree that global average carbon dioxide/other greenhouse gas levels and therefore global average temperatures level out as soon as possible. Every single point of a degree further up will yield stronger and worse consequences and we can only do so much to brace ourselves for them.

You're clearly well educated and passionate about this stuff mate.

 

Is it mainly a case of governments not prioritizing this or giving it adequate funding?

[leicsmac]

2 minutes ago, Izzy said:

You're clearly well educated and passionate about this stuff mate.

 

Is it mainly a case of governments not prioritizing this or giving it adequate funding?

That's pretty much exactly what it is, sadly.

 

Private money and market forces are doing at least some of the heavy lifting, but the evidence is rather stark that they alone are not enough.

 

One could also make the argument that democratic governments have a weakness when it comes to projects like this as they require more time to deliver than the average democratic term, so there's little to no political capital in it, unlike shorter term projects - anyone can see how far down the spending list it is. A rather significant flaw, given the consequences of not getting the job done.

[leicsmac]

3 hours ago, leicsmac said:

In the immediate term: resilience projects to protect against storm/flood surges in areas around the world like this, because it is the most imminent threat.

 

In the short term: programs to harden food crops against both increased flood and drought, as well as more facilities for processing and treating potable water.

 

In the longer term: reducing anthropogenic carbon emissions to a degree that global average carbon dioxide/other greenhouse gas levels and therefore global average temperatures level out as soon as possible. Every single point of a degree further up will yield stronger and worse consequences and we can only do so much to brace ourselves for them.

On this topic; another report tonight about farmers going nuts about a very poor potato harvest, caused by excessive rain.

 

These consequences are already becoming apparent. And we're not even in a corner of the world that it will hit hardest first.

[The Bear]

1 hour ago, leicsmac said:

On this topic; another report tonight about farmers going nuts about a very poor potato harvest, caused by excessive rain.

Does that mean the price of crisps is going to go up? 😲

[leicsmac]

17 hours ago, The Bear said:

Does that mean the price of crisps is going to go up? 😲

Hopefully not, I rather like my Smokey Bacon Walkers 6-pack.

[leicsmac]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy9jdpep4ydo

 

Scientists say there has been an alarming lack of progress in saving nature as the UN biodiversity summit, COP 16, draws to a close.

The scale of political ambition has not risen to the challenge of reducing the destruction of nature that costs the economy billions, said one leading expert.

 

Rise to this challenge or fail as a species.

[Izzy]

How incredible is that James Webb Space Telescope btw.

Bloody hell!

[The Bear]

13 minutes ago, Izzy said:

How incredible is that James Webb Space Telescope btw.

Bloody hell!

Hubble's Xtreme Deep Field image is still my favourite image of all time. Before JWST which has now replicated it but just staggering to think that that entire patch of sky in that image is only 1/10th of the width of the full moon, or the size of a grain of sand at arms length. 

 

Every dot of light is a different galaxy. 

 

Edited 2 November 2024 by The Bear

[Izzy]

1 minute ago, The Bear said:

Hubble's Xtreme Deep Field image is still my favourite image of all time. Before JWST which has now replicated it but just staggering to think that that entire patch of sky in that image is only 1/10th of the width of the full moon, or the size of a grain of sand at arms length. 

 

 

 

Wow 

[worth_the_wait]

29 minutes ago, The Bear said:

Hubble's Xtreme Deep Field image is still my favourite image of all time. Before JWST which has now replicated it but just staggering to think that that entire patch of sky in that image is only 1/10th of the width of the full moon, or the size of a grain of sand at arms length. 

 

Every dot of light is a different galaxy. 

 

One of my favourite pictures, too.

 

To think that every dot is maybe a 100,000,000,000 stars.   Mind boggling.

[Izzy]

And what about this Parker Solar Probe exploring the sun - unbelievable.

 

Apparently just before Xmas this year it will get it's closest approach to the Sun at 3.8 million miles away. So, so, close apparently! 

[leicsmac]

Our future should lie out there among the stars, not grubbing in the mud because of our own petty differences.

[Izzy]

23 hours ago, leicsmac said:

Our future should lie out there among the stars, not grubbing in the mud because of our own petty differences.

The world spent $2.44 trillion on defense/military last year.

 

If we could all just stop killing each other, some of that money could spent on way better stuff.

 

 

Edited 3 November 2024 by Izzy

[leicsmac]

5 minutes ago, Izzy said:

The world spent $2.44 trillion on defense/military last year.

 

I we could all just stop killing each other, some of that money could spent on way better stuff.

 

Around 1% of that spend (yearly), inflation-adjusted, got humanity to the Moon within eight years of a promise being made to do it (Apollo Program).

 

Imagine what we could do with 10% of it, or even just 2-3% of it.

[Izzy]

2 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

Around 1% of that spend (yearly), inflation-adjusted, got humanity to the Moon within eight years of a promise being made to do it (Apollo Program).

 

Imagine what we could do with 10% of it, or even just 2-3% of it.

It's bonkers really.

 

This Brian Cox Solar System series has really made an impact on me for some reason. Here we are, the only civilized world we know of, doing our best to destroy our own planet through wars and global warming.

 

We're supposed to be an intelligent species FFS.

 

Can't you and the other clever bods just sort out all the politicians and world leaders please? 

[Zear0]

19 minutes ago, Izzy said:

The world spent $2.44 trillion on defense/military last year.

 

I we could all just stop killing each other, some of that money could spent on way better stuff.

 

You spent more replacing lost golf balls...

[The Bear]

Another great stat is that the Sun is so big that it makes up 99.86% of the entire mass of the solar system. That includes all the planets, moons, asteroids, comets, gas, dust etc. Everything. 

 

And in that 0.14% that's left, Jupiter is over twice the mass of all the other planets combined as well. Another indication of our insignificance in not just the universe but just our own solar system. 

[leicsmac]

10 minutes ago, Izzy said:

It's bonkers really.

 

This Brian Cox Solar System series has really made an impact on me for some reason. Here we are, the only civilized world we know of, doing our best to destroy our own planet through wars and global warming.

 

We're supposed to be an intelligent species FFS.

 

Can't you and the other clever bods just sort out all the politicians and world leaders please? 

We're trying, mate.

 

Problem is that having (or appearing to have) enough power to make the bastards listen to us is itself dangerous.

 

But we can and will do better. Just need to keep at the persuasion. And quickly, too.

 

 

Just now, The Bear said:

Another great stat is that the Sun is so big that it makes up 99.86% of the entire mass of the solar system. That includes all the planets, moons, asteroids, comets, gas, dust etc. Everything. 

 

And in that 0.14% that's left, Jupiter is over twice the mass of all the other planets combined as well. Another indication of our insignificance in not just the universe but just our own solar system. 

And the Sun itself is a garden-variety star on the Main Sequence.

[The Bear]

Photons of light have zero mass and travel at the speed of light. That means according to Einstein that they also have zero time. Which means that they are essentially timeless, and travel across the universe instantaneously from the perspective of the photon itself. It's created, emitted, travels billion of light years across space and is absorbed by our eyes or telescopes, all in the same instant that it was born. 

 

How the hell does that work?!! 

 

 

Another frightening and mind blowing fact is just how fast light is. 186,000 miles per second. MILES! That means it can go round the surface of the Earth 7.5 times every second. A complete lap of our entire planet in 0.13 seconds. Yet the universe is so vast it still takes something that mind bogglingly fast billions and billions of years to travel the length of it. That's why fibre optic and sattelite communication is so fast. Communication with someone anywhere on the planet in only a few seconds or less. 

 

Another measure of it is one foot per nanosend which is a billionth of a second. So when you turn out your bedroom light which is 6 feet away from your head it takes 6 billions of a second for the darkness to hit your eyes. 

[The Bear]

7 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

We're trying, mate.

 

Problem is that having (or appearing to have) enough power to make the bastards listen to us is itself dangerous.

 

But we can and will do better. Just need to keep at the persuasion. And quickly, too.

 

 

And the Sun itself is a garden-variety star on the Main Sequence.

Yeah it's tiny in comparison with some of the giants out there. 

[Izzy]

3 minutes ago, The Bear said:

Photons of light have zero mass and travel at the speed of light. That means according to Einstein that they also have zero time. Which means that they are essentially timeless, and travel across the universe instantaneously from the perspective of the photon itself. It's created, emitted, travels billion of light years across space and is absorbed by our eyes or telescopes, all in the same instant that it was born. 

 

How the hell does that work?!! 

 

 

Another frightening and mind blowing fact is just how fast light is. 186,000 miles per second. MILES! That means it can go round the surface of the Earth 7.5 times every second. A complete lap of our entire planet in 0.13 seconds. Yet the universe is so vast it still takes something that mind bogglingly fast billions and billions of years to travel the length of it. That's why fibre optic and sattelite communication is so fast. Communication with someone anywhere on the planet in only a few seconds or less. 

 

Another measure of it is one foot per nanosend which is a billionth of a second. So when you turn out your bedroom light which is 6 feet away from your head it takes 6 billions of a second for the darkness to hit your eyes. 

I'm starting to wish I'd tried harder at school in Physics