Post by thread:[EE]:: Global Warming - Neptune heating paralells

At first glance it appears that Neptune is experiencing Global Warming in a manner which is reasonably well correlated to the earth's. http://www.worldclimatereport.com/index.php/2007/05/08/neptune-news/ The following is a synopsis of part of the above referenced article with most of the (unhelpful) sarcasm removed. Russell An article in a recent issue of Geophysical Research Letters shows an apparent time offset correlation between the solar output, Neptune’s brightness, and the temperature of the Earth. Neptune’s cloud tops are extremely cold (-346°F) being so far from the Sun while the center of the planet has a temperature of 13,000°F due to high pressure generating extremely hot gases. Measurements of visible light from Neptune have been taken at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona since 1950. Light from Neptune can be related to seasons on the planet, small variations in Neptune’s orbit, the apparent tilt of the axis as viewed from the Earth, the varying distance from Neptune to Earth, and changes in the atmosphere near the Lowell Observatory. Astronomers adjust the measurements accordingly. Neptune has been getting brighter since around 1980; furthermore, infrared measurements of the planet since 1980 show that the planet has been warming steadily from 1980 to 2004. Hammel and Lockwood explored how variations in the output of the Sun might control variations in the brightness of Neptune. What would seem so simple statistically is complicated by the degrees the correlation coefficient between solar irradiance and Neptune’s brightness is near 0.90 (1.00 is perfect). The same relationship is found between the Earth’s temperature anomalies and the solar output. Hammel and Lockwood note “In other words, the Earth temperature values are as well correlated with solar irradiance (r = 0.89) as they are with Neptune’s blue brightness (|r| > 0.90), assuming a 10-year lag of the Neptune values.” The temporal lag is needed to account for the large mass of Neptune that would require years to adjust to any changes in solar output. Hammel and Lockwood conclude that “In summary, if Neptune’s atmosphere is indeed responding to some variation in solar activity in a manner similar to that of the Earth albeit with a temporal lag” then “Neptune may provide an independent (and extraterrestrial) locale for studies of solar effects on planetary atmospheres.”

Again, Global Warming or not, why spend so much time pitching a fit about the cause? Why not burn those cycles on how to live the best life while impacting the earth the least? Support telecommuting! How can I convince my boss? How can I transition to self employment? http://techref.massmind.org/techref/other/solar.htm How about painting your roof with silver paint to reduce heat load in the summer? Use a soaker hose at the roof peak adjusted to just keep the roof wet and avoid turning on the A/C? Earth tubes and solar chimneys? Solar cookers? But most of all, reduce our dependency on oil by growing your own food. Much more than half of all imported oil is used to provide fertilizer, pesticides, transport, cooling, packaging and distribution of food. Why isn't there a garden robot? They can fly a camera on three winches over a football field, why can't we rig up a hose, seed and rabbit pellet dispenser, micro weed eater, and camera? How about a social web site that shows an overhead picture of your garden and invites people to play a "game" of nuking your weeds, complete with CGI explosions of the targets. The aggregate result, less protected areas where you know there are plants, can direct the robot to weed the area. http://techref.massmind.org/techref/other/robogarden.htm --- James. > {Original Message removed}

James Newtons Massmind wrote: > How about painting your roof with silver paint to reduce heat load in the > summer? > Because of the homeowners associations and the loss of being able to do what you want to with your own property in much of the US! Groups who are empowered by attachment to one's deed dictate what would 'look nice' for the neighborhood. These little people have no interest doing anything with a useful purpose. > Use a soaker hose at the roof peak adjusted to just keep the roof wet and > avoid turning on the A/C? > Water restrictions prevent this in much of the south. Both are good ideas and ones I've wanted to do. In the past, black roofs made sense - when deciduous trees surrounded your house, nestled in a nice large lot. In the winter, the leaves fall and solar energy warmed the house. In summer, it would be in complete shade and color didn't matter. Now, large areas are cleared for 'developments', so no trees are left, but the old 'color scheme' never evolved with the trades... In some places, you don't even have enough space to plant trees big enough if you wanted to near the house... -Skip

> Why isn't there a garden robot? There is, but they're all too busy training for the Olympics Don't forget Futurama episode "Bend Her" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bend_Her

James Newtons Massmind wrote: > Support telecommuting! How can I convince my boss? <shamelessPlug> I've been working with locally distributed teams for almost ten years now, as member and lead, big teams and small ones, in software, firmware and hardware development. I probably can't help you with convincing your boss :), but maybe I can with some of the other issues if you need it. </shamelessPlug> Gerhard

Immediately this press release dropped into the news group here at work, I thought of this thread. ******************** Tuesday 22 May A new breakthrough in hydrogen storage technology could remove a key barrier to widespread uptake of non-polluting cars that produce no carbon dioxide emissions. UK scientists have developed a compound of the element lithium which may make it practical to store enough hydrogen on-board fuel-cell-powered cars to enable them to drive over 300 miles before refuelling. Achieving this driving range is considered essential if a mass market for fuel cell cars is to develop in future years, but has not been possible using current hydrogen storage technologies. The breakthrough has been achieved by a team from the Universities of Birmingham and Oxford and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, under the auspices of the UK Sustainable Hydrogen Energy Consortium (UK-SHEC). UK-SHEC is funded by the SUPERGEN (Sustainable Power Generation and Supply) initiative managed and led by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Fuel cells produce carbon-free electricity by harnessing electrochemical reactions between hydrogen and oxygen. However, today's prototype and demonstration fuel-cell-powered cars only have a range of around 200 miles. To achieve a 300 mile driving range, an on-board space the size of a double-decker bus would be needed to store hydrogen gas at standard temperature and pressure, while storing it as a compressed gas in cylinders or as a liquid in storage tanks would not be practical due to the weight and size implications. The UK-SHEC research has therefore focused on a different approach which could enable hydrogen to be stored at a much higher density and within acceptable weight limits. The option involves a well-established process called 'chemisorption', in which atoms of a gas are absorbed into the crystal structure of a solid-state material and then released when needed. The team has tested thousands of solid-state compounds in search of a light, cheap, readily available material which would enable the absorption/desorption process to take place rapidly and safely at typical fuel cell operating temperatures. They have now produced a variety of lithium hydride (specifically Li4BN3H10) that could offer the right blend of properties. Development work is now needed to further investigate the potential of this powder. "This could be a major step towards the breakthrough that the fuel cell industry and the transport sector have waited for," says UK-SHEC's Project Co-ordinator Professor Peter Edwards of the University of Oxford. "It's due to SUPERGEN's vision of combining many of the leading groups in the UK to tackle this, arguably the biggest challenge for the development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. This work could make a key contribution to helping fuel cell cars become viable for mass-manufacture within around 10 years." Notes for Editors Fuel cells are a key technology which could assist the emergence of a 'hydrogen energy economy' that uses hydrogen, rather than carbon-based fossil fuels, as its main energy carrier. They offer particular potential in the transport sector, which is a major source of the carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion that are the main contributor to climate change. An average new petrol-fuelled car currently produces over 3 tonnes of CO2 a year. Professor Bill David from the ISIS Facility at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory notes that: "The combination of rapid materials synthesis and the rapid structural characterisation capabilities at the ISIS neutron source and the ESRF and Diamond synchrotron sources is crucial to the UK playing a leading role in discovery and development of novel hydrogen storage materials." Dr Paul Anderson from the University of Birmingham adds: "Active collaborations through UKSHEC have been crucial in facilitating the rapid characterisation of new materials synthesised in labs such as ours in Birmingham." A major report in 2004 concluded that using hydrogen in vehicles could, on its own, enable the UK to meet its Kyoto targets for CO2 reductions ('A Strategic Framework for Hydrogen Energy', published by Etech, Element Energy and Eoin Lees Energy). Launched in 2003, SUPERGEN is a multidisciplinary research initiative that aims to help the UK meet its environmental emissions targets through a radical improvement in the sustainability of power generation and supply. SUPERGEN is managed and led by EPSRC in partnership with the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) and the Carbon Trust. A total of 13 research consortia are now at work or have been announced, in the following areas: Marine energy - energy from the seas around our coastline. Future network technologies - ensuring the continuance of a reliable supply of power to the UK. Hydrogen energy - producing, storing, distributing and using sustainable hydrogen as an energy carrier. Biomass, biofuels and energy crops - using fast-growing crops as a renewable fuel supply. Photovoltaic (solar cell) materials - generating electrical energy from sunlight using advanced wafer silicon and thin film devices. Conventional power plant lifetime extension - extending the useful lives of our existing power stations. Fuel cells - clean, highly efficient devices for producing power. Highly distributed power systems - assessing the impact of smaller generators and incorporating these into the grid. Energy storage - developing new materials to advance rechargeable lithium ion battery and supercapacitor technologies. Excitonic solar cells - exploring the potential for the next generation of photovoltaic devices, focusing on organic and dye sensitised photovoltaic systems. Wind energy - harnessing one of the UK's most abundant natural resources as a major source of renewable energy. Energy infrastructure - developing the UK transmission and distribution network to meet the challenges of decentralised and intermittent electricity generation and life extension. Biofuel cells - fuel cells that mimic, reproduce or use biological systems. The brochure "SUPERGEN - Powering the Future" can be downloaded at http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/Publications/Other/SUPERGEN The 'SUPERGEN 1' multidisciplinary research consortia have all been awarded a further four years of funding following peer review of both their past work and their proposed future programmes. The awards are: SUPERGEN Marine £5.5M SUPERGEN Biomass £6.4M UK Sustainable Hydrogen Energy Consortium £6M FlexNet: SUPERGEN consortium on future network technologies £7M These decisions ensure that the UK will continue to be at the forefront of sustainable power generation research. In the next quarter the SUPERGEN II consortia (Photovoltaic and Plant Lifetime Extension) will be invited to prepare renewal proposals. These will be peer reviewed and a panel will consider the proposals in the early autumn. UK-SHEC is led by the Universities of Oxford and Bath. UK-SHEC partners are as follows: University of Bath, University of Birmingham, University of Glamorgan, Greater London Authority, University of Nottingham, University of Oxford, Queen Mary, University of London, Policy Studies Institute and University of Salford. Collaborators include: BOC Group, BP, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Corus UK Ltd, DSTL, Johnson Matthey, Ilika Technologies Ltd, QinetiQ, Shell Global Solution UK and Tetronics Ltd.

> Why not burn those cycles on how to live the best life while > impacting the earth the least? > > Support telecommuting! How can I convince my boss? How can I > transition to self employment? There's far too many cute girls at the office for that. Tony

> > Why not burn those cycles on how to live the best life > while impacting > > the earth the least? > > > > Support telecommuting! How can I convince my boss? How can I > > transition to self employment? > > > There's far too many cute girls at the office for that. There are far to many cute wives at my house... ...actually just one, but she colors her hair sometimes. --- James.

James, James Newtons Massmind wrote: > How about painting your roof with silver paint to reduce heat load in the > summer? > Because it would reduce my heat gain in the winter? > Much > more than half of all imported oil is used to provide fertilizer, > pesticides, transport, cooling, packaging and distribution of food. > Cite your source, please. > How about a social web site that shows an overhead picture of your garden > and invites people to play a "game" of nuking your weeds, complete with CGI > explosions of the targets. The aggregate result, less protected areas where > you know there are plants, can direct the robot to weed the area. Who needs games when there are herbicides and GMOs? Monsanto gave farmers have round-up ready crops, so now you just need round-up ready vegis. Spray it all but only the weeds die! Right, James? :) Aaron

On Wed, 2007-05-23 at 22:23 -0400, Aaron wrote: > James, > > James Newtons Massmind wrote: > > How about painting your roof with silver paint to reduce heat load in the > > summer? > > > > > Because it would reduce my heat gain in the winter? True. In fact, on a recent re-roof I choose black shingles instead of the grey ones that were there before. While it gets quite warm here in the summer, our winters are quite long, so the benefits of the heat gain in the winter FAR outweighs the additional AC I need in the summer (which isn't much during sunlight hours anyways since I'm away at work during the day). TTYL

>> Much >> more than half of all imported oil is used to provide fertilizer, >> pesticides, transport, cooling, packaging and distribution of food. > Cite your source, please. If true, it will be in here somewhere for sure :-) http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/ Use 'basic search' for locating citations. http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/basicsearch.jsp Searching for "monthly energy review" produces links to whole documents which may relate. (perhaps) I'm downloading a 16MB one now - it's slow or dead. They seemed to stop about 1992 :-(. Russell

> > Much > > more than half of all imported oil is used to provide fertilizer, > > pesticides, transport, cooling, packaging and distribution of food. > > > > > Cite your source, please. > Harpers magazine... Some months ago. Google finds: http://www.energybulletin.net/5045.html http://www.harpers.org/archive/2004/02/0079915 "The Oil We Eat: Following the food chain back to Iraq" http://www.blog.thesietch.org/2006/03/28/oil-we-eat/ The government web site appears to contradict me... Either my source was exaggerating (possible) or Monsanto, et all, have some influence in the government. Nah... That's crazy talk. www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=monsanto+executives+EPA+OR+FDA http://members.aye.net/~hippie/monsanto.htm www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/analysis_publications/oil_marke t_basics/dem_image_us_cons_prod.htm is a good example of a graph that could be misleading. Stack the "Other" (could it be fertilizer and pesticides?) on top of "Distallite" (Diesel fuels used to transport food) and you are higher than "Motor Gasoline" Then consider the Motor Gasoline used to go pickup food at the store rather than walking into your back yard like they do at http://www.pathtofreedom.com Please allow me to change tack here... Even if I'm wrong about the percentage of oil used in food production, and oil is actually used almost entirely in transportation instead, planting a garden is STILL something we CAN do to help. Most of us MUST commute to feed (grin) our families so cutting out the car is a no-go (grin again). But growing some food at home is something we CAN and SHOULD do. More plants, more O2 less CO2, less trips to the store (we have about one meal a week entirely from the back yard), less plastic packaging, less storage of food at the store, less fuel used to transport food to the store, less pesticide and fertilizer (of whatever sort) transported to the farm AND... Less money required to purchase the food in the first place. Not to mention how much better real eggs, herbs, spices, spinach, saturn peaches and many others taste compared to the "plastic" crap you get at the store. {Quote hidden}> > How about a social web site that shows an overhead picture of your > > garden and invites people to play a "game" of nuking your weeds, > > complete with CGI explosions of the targets. The aggregate result, > > less protected areas where you know there are plants, can > direct the robot to weed the area. > > Who needs games when there are herbicides and GMOs? Monsanto > gave farmers have round-up ready crops, so now you just need > round-up ready > vegis. Spray it all but only the weeds die! Right, James? :) ARRRGGGHHH!! Gag, choke.... Your just pulling my chain right? Please just Google for "farmer percy" and I'll bite my tongue otherwise... http://www.percyschmeiser.com/ Follow the cycle: Farm must buy Monsanto seeds and pesticide, farm makes less money, farm applies for federal bailout, your tax dollars went via farm to Monsanto. Perfect example of hidden corporate welfare. --- James.

Yea, and Ohio (USA) state board of education requires local schools to move in the school campus (all grades on one site usually in separate buildings for elementary, middle and high schools) which requires nearly all students to be bussed as opposed to neighborhood schools with students walking. And then there is no money for the bussing and parents need to provide transportation with traffic jams. Was in Atlanta, Ga. over the weekend, local papers had front page article about cities providing extra traffic road lanes for jams at schools. :( James Newtons Massmind wrote: {Quote hidden}>>> Much >>> more than half of all imported oil is used to provide fertilizer, >>> pesticides, transport, cooling, packaging and distribution of food. >>> >>> >> Cite your source, please. >> >> > > Harpers magazine... Some months ago. Google finds: > http://www.energybulletin.net/5045.html > > http://www.harpers.org/archive/2004/02/0079915 "The Oil We Eat: Following > the food chain back to Iraq" > > http://www.blog.thesietch.org/2006/03/28/oil-we-eat/ > > The government web site appears to contradict me... Either my source was > exaggerating (possible) or Monsanto, et all, have some influence in the > government. Nah... That's crazy talk. > www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=monsanto+executives+EPA+OR+FDA > http://members.aye.net/~hippie/monsanto.htm > > www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/analysis_publications/oil_marke > t_basics/dem_image_us_cons_prod.htm is a good example of a graph that could > be misleading. Stack the "Other" (could it be fertilizer and pesticides?) on > top of "Distallite" (Diesel fuels used to transport food) and you are higher > than "Motor Gasoline" Then consider the Motor Gasoline used to go pickup > food at the store rather than walking into your back yard like they do at > http://www.pathtofreedom.com > > Please allow me to change tack here... Even if I'm wrong about the > percentage of oil used in food production, and oil is actually used almost > entirely in transportation instead, planting a garden is STILL something we > CAN do to help. Most of us MUST commute to feed (grin) our families so > cutting out the car is a no-go (grin again). > > But growing some food at home is something we CAN and SHOULD do. More > plants, more O2 less CO2, less trips to the store (we have about one meal a > week entirely from the back yard), less plastic packaging, less storage of > food at the store, less fuel used to transport food to the store, less > pesticide and fertilizer (of whatever sort) transported to the farm AND... > Less money required to purchase the food in the first place. > > Not to mention how much better real eggs, herbs, spices, spinach, saturn > peaches and many others taste compared to the "plastic" crap you get at the > store. > > >>> How about a social web site that shows an overhead picture of your >>> garden and invites people to play a "game" of nuking your weeds, >>> complete with CGI explosions of the targets. The aggregate result, >>> less protected areas where you know there are plants, can >>> >> direct the robot to weed the area. >> >> Who needs games when there are herbicides and GMOs? Monsanto >> gave farmers have round-up ready crops, so now you just need >> round-up ready >> vegis. Spray it all but only the weeds die! Right, James? :) >> > > ARRRGGGHHH!! Gag, choke.... Your just pulling my chain right? Please just > Google for "farmer percy" and I'll bite my tongue otherwise... > > http://www.percyschmeiser.com/ Follow the cycle: Farm must buy Monsanto > seeds and pesticide, farm makes less money, farm applies for federal > bailout, your tax dollars went via farm to Monsanto. Perfect example of > hidden corporate welfare. > > --- > James. > > >

James, On Thu, 24 May 2007 00:26:25 -0700, James Newtons Massmind wrote: >... > we have about one meal a week entirely from the back yard "Dad, this coffee tastes like mud" "Well, it was ground only this morning!" :-) I just regret I didn't get to taste an egg from "the girls" while I was there! Cheers, Howard Winter St.Albans, England

Beans & Cabbage are off the menu then? RP On 25/05/07, James Newtons Massmind <spam_OUTjamesnewtonTakeThisOuTmassmind.org> wrote: {Quote hidden}> > "Dad, this coffee tastes like mud" > > > > "Well, it was ground only this morning!" > > > > :-) > > Ack! > > > I just regret I didn't get to taste an egg from "the girls" > > while I was there! > > Come again. The girls are in full production right now. We are planning a > "no gas" dinner at our church to follow the "no gas" luch we did some time > ago: > http://www.massmind.org/techref/member/puuf/lunches.htm > > --- > James Newton, massmind.org Knowledge Archiver > .....jamesKILLspam@spam@massmind.org 1-619-652-0593 fax:1-208-279-8767 > http://www.massmind.org Saving what YOU know. > > -