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davieG

Technology, Science and the Environment.

By davieG, in General Chat

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leicsmac

leicsmac

Posted
Posted

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56739896

 

"The US wants China to cease building coal-fired power stations and to stop financing coal ventures abroad.

China wants the US to give more cash to developing countries to obtain clean technology and adapt to climate change.

It also wants Washington to announce deep cuts in emissions."

 

I don't see what is controversial about any of that and why it can't be agreed upon by both parties.

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leicsmac

leicsmac

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, nnfox said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/56724785

 

Climate Check is a monthly 3 minute summary of what's going on with the weather around the world with frequent references to climate change.  Fascinating and scary.

I do hope there's more of a focus on this. The more the consequences of climate change are made apparent and "real" to add many folks as possible, the more possible it might be that it is addressed better.

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leicsmac

leicsmac

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

 

Shows how much the Chinese need to up their game, really - though I'd be interested to see the "per capita" figures there rather than just the gross amount. I actually think Korea would rank high there, which is disappointing.

 

Coal, of course, not being the only carbon emitter (though by far the dirtiest).

 

I will say that alternative energy/green policy is one area where the UK has done better than most of late - but that isn't going to mean much unless other nations can be convinced to follow suit in short order.

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The Bear

The Bear

Posted
Posted (edited)

The crazy thing that stood out reading that, is there has been no person of colour go to the moon yet. 

 

Edit - Though reading up on it, only 24 people have ever been to the moon, and only 12 have been on the surface. And that was all back in the early 70s. So you can see why. I hadn't actually realised it'd been that long since someone had been up there!

Edited by The Bear
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leicsmac

leicsmac

Posted
Posted
34 minutes ago, The Bear said:

The crazy thing that stood out reading that, is there has been no person of colour go to the moon yet. 

 

Edit - Though reading up on it, only 24 people have ever been to the moon, and only 12 have been on the surface. And that was all back in the early 70s. So you can see why. I hadn't actually realised it'd been that long since someone had been up there!

It's a historical tragedy that it's been almost 50 years since we set foot upon the Moon given that came only eight years after the first man went into space.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again: it's not only a matter of prestige, but of necessity, that we at least reach out into our Solar System. And do it soon.

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Buce

Buce

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, leicsmac said:

It's a historical tragedy that it's been almost 50 years since we set foot upon the Moon given that came only eight years after the first man went into space.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again: it's not only a matter of prestige, but of necessity, that we at least reach out into our Solar System. And do it soon.

 

A book I was (re)reading last night brought you to mind, Mac. Have you ever read The Seedling Stars by James Blish?

 

In case you haven't, a collection of short stories imagines a future where Mankind has begun to colonise the Galaxy, but due to an absence of Earth-type planets, the colonists are genetically engineered to be adapted to different environments.

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leicsmac

leicsmac

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, Buce said:

 

A book I was (re)reading last night brought you to mind, Mac. Have you ever read The Seedling Stars by James Blish?

 

In case you haven't, a collection of short stories imagines a future where Mankind has begun to colonise the Galaxy, but due to an absence of Earth-type planets, the colonists are genetically engineered to be adapted to different environments.

I have not! Thank you for the recommendation, it'll go on my reading list.

 

To be honest, finding a planet that is like Earth in every way required in the future is so unlikely to be nearly a fools errand, so when we get out there, we're going to have to be prepared to either change those environments to help us, or change ourselves to fit them.

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The Bear

The Bear

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There will almost certainly have to be some terraforming to be done. The atmospheric makeup is unlikely to be close enough to Earth's air to be breathable from the get go.

 

And we'll also need to find a planet with roughly the same gravity as that is key to our physiology. 

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Heathrow fox

Heathrow fox

Posted
Posted
On 15/04/2021 at 12:52, leicsmac said:

I do hope there's more of a focus on this. The more the consequences of climate change are made apparent and "real" to add many folks as possible, the more possible it might be that it is addressed better.

We have just come through yet another really wet,dank winter.Now the southern part of the UK seems to be having a dry spell again.This has been a recurring theme now for the past decade.It might just be how it goes and nothing to do with climate change.It’s definitely getting noticeable though.

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SpacedX

SpacedX

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, leicsmac said:

It's a historical tragedy that it's been almost 50 years since we set foot upon the Moon given that came only eight years after the first man went into space.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again: it's not only a matter of prestige, but of necessity, that we at least reach out into our Solar System. And do it soon.

As you know, budget cuts, lack of political will and the shuttle programme meant Apollo was put to pasture and the technology left to lie fallow. It was inevitable one day that our return would be galvanised by private sector initiative. 

 

Saying that, the beast that's to replace the Saturn V, NASAs SLS is due for its maiden test flight this year. Would love to get out to Florida to see that. 

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leicsmac

leicsmac

Posted
Posted
37 minutes ago, The Bear said:

There will almost certainly have to be some terraforming to be done. The atmospheric makeup is unlikely to be close enough to Earth's air to be breathable from the get go.

 

And we'll also need to find a planet with roughly the same gravity as that is key to our physiology. 

It could as well be something as simple as a native species of flora releasing a pollen that causes fatal allergic reactions in humans, or some native bacterium discovered by chance being lethal.

 

There's so many things that need to be just right; technology, both biological and otherwise, is going to have to be a part of that.

 

4 minutes ago, Heathrow fox said:

We have just come through yet another really wet,dank winter.Now the southern part of the UK seems to be having a dry spell again.This has been a recurring theme now for the past decade.It might just be how it goes and nothing to do with climate change.It’s definitely getting noticeable though.

Yeah, correlation isn't always going to link to causation, but I would lay good money on seeing more of these "extreme" or "unusual" weather events as Earth's average temperature increases.

 

The real kicker would be if and when it starts causing consistent droughts in places with large populations, most likely in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa to begin with.

 

1 minute ago, Line-X said:

As you know, budget cuts, lack of political will and the shuttle programme meant Apollo was put to pasture and the technology left to lie fallow. It was inevitable one day that our return would be galvanised by private sector initiative. 

 

Saying that, the beast that's to replace the Saturn V, NASAs SLS is due for its maiden test flight this year. Would love to get out to Florida to see that. 

Yep, Artemis I flies on the 4th November, all being well. I'd love to be there too.

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Buce

Buce

Posted
Posted
11 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

It could as well be something as simple as a native species of flora releasing a pollen that causes fatal allergic reactions in humans, or some native bacterium discovered by chance being lethal.

 

There's so many things that need to be just right; technology, both biological and otherwise, is going to have to be a part of that.

 

Yeah, correlation isn't always going to link to causation, but I would lay good money on seeing more of these "extreme" or "unusual" weather events as Earth's average temperature increases.

 

The real kicker would be if and when it starts causing consistent droughts in places with large populations, most likely in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa to begin with.

 

Yep, Artemis I flies on the 4th November, all being well. I'd love to be there too.

 

That's rather a bold asumption, Mac.

 

Believing in the possibility of extraterrestrial life is one thing, but that it would it would mirror life on Earth with Earth-type flora and fauna is very unlikely, surely?

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leicsmac

leicsmac

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Posted
6 minutes ago, Buce said:

 

That's rather a bold asumption, Mac.

 

Believing in the possibility of extraterrestrial life is one thing, but that it would it would mirror life on Earth with Earth-type flora and fauna is very unlikely, surely?

Well, I'm making the assumption that life elsewhere (particularly simple life) are made of chemicals from the existing table of elements that we have, yeah. You're right in approximating it too closely to what we have on Earth is likely an error given evolution will in all likelihood be nowhere near parallel, but if we do find life elsewhere and we do spectroscopic analysis, we should see at least some chemical similarity.

 

In any case, I was picking that particular example just to make the point that it could be one very small, very simple thing that makes a prospective planet impossible for humans to inhabit without serious technological effort - even if everything else is "just right".

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leicsmac

leicsmac

Posted
Posted
On 14/04/2021 at 09:45, leicsmac said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56739896

 

"The US wants China to cease building coal-fired power stations and to stop financing coal ventures abroad.

China wants the US to give more cash to developing countries to obtain clean technology and adapt to climate change.

It also wants Washington to announce deep cuts in emissions."

 

I don't see what is controversial about any of that and why it can't be agreed upon by both parties.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-56790077

 

Thankfully, it seems that the US and Chinese representatives didn't see any controversy about agreement either. Promising stuff.

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Parafox

Parafox

Posted
Posted
On 17/04/2021 at 14:27, The Bear said:

Some excellent time-lapse footage here. A feature now available on Google Earth. 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-56760060.amp

I love Google Earth just for what it does. It can be fascinating looking down in pretty good detail at more or less anywhere in the world. I can't the time-lapse feature though?

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