tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post1691586726284312448..comments2024-03-27T23:12:08.917-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Putin, Assange, Gandhi and Snowden: the weird logic of civil disobedienceDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-57200772461408407672019-05-16T04:43:12.049-07:002019-05-16T04:43:12.049-07:00Final thought on lift gas. I thought nothing at al...Final thought on lift gas. I thought nothing at all might replace hydrogen or helium, and then found Francesco di Lana (who knew of neither) agreed with me!<br />Of course, there's the little problem of maintaining a 100kPa pressure difference with something lighter than the air volume displaced, but spheres aren't the only solution. Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-81299532409833962982019-05-15T15:38:27.891-07:002019-05-15T15:38:27.891-07:00onward onwardonward onwardDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-20674876006711529862019-05-15T14:09:50.117-07:002019-05-15T14:09:50.117-07:00jim, it is wrong to only consider helium for airsh...jim, it is wrong to only consider helium for airships. In EXISTENCE I describe how you can alternate helium cells with large HYDROGEN ones that safely use a cheaper and more buoyant gas.<br /><br />Sociotard, I expect disagreement from you. But I posted this elsewhere: "Though it happens much less often, some liberals can be as dumb as their confed opponents. How is this supposed to work, when both hardware and software get better at exponential rates. And cameras get faster, cheaper, smaller, better and more mobile quicker than Moore's law? There are already face recognition apps! Nothing will keep all elites from having this, though by law you might prevent average folks, for a while. How is that supposed to help, again?<br /><br />https://news.google.com/…/CAIiEN0bJ8ZKerOe94EXicau-wsqGAgEK…<br /><br />I addressed this in ever detail in The Transparent Society: Will Technology Make Us Choose Between Privacy and Freedom?<br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-83892157862459199892019-05-15T13:58:29.042-07:002019-05-15T13:58:29.042-07:00@Alfred
Interesting, that Hydrogen is less hard t...@Alfred<br /><br />Interesting, that Hydrogen is less hard to contain than Helium. I'd have thought vice versa because H is even smaller than He. Is is because H is H2 in ordinary circumstances?<br /><br />I talked to someone a couple of years ago who was developing hydrogen powered cars. He said that the issue at that moment was getting or making a tank that would be tight enough, and useful in road driving conditions. I didn't think to ask what the chemical industry had and whether they could use a variant of small industrial tanks. A missed opportunity.Twomindshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03406691129776855720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-43846743074959484132019-05-15T13:52:42.704-07:002019-05-15T13:52:42.704-07:00Posting from places far afield
TW/TacitusPosting from places far afield<br /><br /><br />TW/TacitusTacitushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17007086196578740689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-89029372453029249562019-05-15T13:25:29.477-07:002019-05-15T13:25:29.477-07:00I worked at building airships. Nothing obviously a...I worked at building airships. Nothing obviously animal shaped, but they weren't the boring cigar shapes either. We wanted them for industrial purposes at altitudes around 30 kms.<br /><br /><br />Helium is a serious PITA. Lots of people think it is the go-to choice because it is not flammable, but it escapes damn near anything we can afford to use for containment. Houdini atoms. Wanna bring the airship down? Inflate a balonette to squeeze the helium volume and the stuff escapes even faster. Argh.<br /><br />Hydrogen is much easier to contain, generate, store in high density (relative to helium), and all around cheaper. The trick is to keep the oxygen out and the only smart way to do that is to plan for it getting in and then play chemistry games while you keep your lift gas flowing through conditioning systems.<br /><br />Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-87387104455279562962019-05-15T12:54:20.307-07:002019-05-15T12:54:20.307-07:00We should be storing helium in giant airships with...We should be storing helium in giant airships with graphene gas bags.<br /><br />The airships should be shaped like whales or koi fish and be solar powered.<br /><br />Because a world without giant robotic airships shaped like animals is world not worth living in ;-) <br /><br />jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07865068658069680309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-57496931344926997432019-05-15T12:37:02.494-07:002019-05-15T12:37:02.494-07:00Larry, (He contnd)
or is it a matter of the pric...Larry, (He contnd)<br /><br /><i> or is it a matter of the price having to reach a level at which it will be supplied again </i><br /><br />Mostly this.<br /><br />You'll find He mixed in with natural gas and there is a lot of that still in the Earth. Tap the gas wells and you get more He. Do that, though, and someone will probably want to burn the gas. 8)<br /><br />In the carbon neutral world we have to arrange ASAP, getting at helium will come at an even higher cost. By then, natural gas will not be as valuable.<br /><br />Personally, I think we need to get on with life and figure out how to use Hydrogen safely. There are specific uses for helium where it alone will do, but that does not include balloons. Helium is too damn good at escaping.<br /><br /><br />Excess methane in the atmosphere is one of the signals exobiologists examine for signs of life elsewhere. Excess helium in the upper atmosphere of an Earth-like world (I think) would be a sign for technological life if the methane signal is also present. Methane reacts and helium escapes, but methane is easier to detect for critters like us on a luke-warm world.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-70700762782687102312019-05-15T12:00:09.187-07:002019-05-15T12:00:09.187-07:00Larry Hart said...
"I don't think these ...Larry Hart said...<br /><br /><i>"I don't think these points are unrelated. The wealthy and powerful who have their own sources of knowledge and information are also a large part of the Republican base, especially their donor class. The policy actions of these people are consistent with a belief that the short term is all that matters because the long term is f***ed anyway."</i><br /><br />I think that could be the case for a small number of them but I think a much larger majority simply don't think very much about how climate change might affect them. Meanwhile the business of lying cheating and stealing as best they can to maintain and grow their wealth and power is more like an autonomic reflex.Darrell Ehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14054311762477388637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-40248046161584721812019-05-15T10:18:31.153-07:002019-05-15T10:18:31.153-07:00Larry,
The shortage is about the reserves. Earth ...Larry,<br /><br />The shortage is about the reserves. Earth has more helium, but it's rarely worth getting it into storage. Warehousing anything comes at a price. Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-77569108709443084322019-05-15T08:16:53.686-07:002019-05-15T08:16:53.686-07:00San Francisco cracks down on facial recognition
T...<a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/5/14/18623897/san-francisco-facial-recognition-ban-explained" rel="nofollow">San Francisco cracks down on facial recognition</a> <br /><i>The “Stop Secret Surveillance” ordinance passed 8-1 in a vote by the city’s board of supervisors Tuesday. The ordinance will implement an all-out ban on San Francisco city agencies’ use of facial surveillance. The ban is just one part of San Francisco’s surveillance oversight ordinance, which will also require city agencies to get city approval before purchasing other kinds of surveillance technologies, such as automatic license plate readers and camera-enabled drones. It won’t stop private citizens or businesses, however, from using these facial recognition systems. </i>sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-82339142774629362432019-05-15T07:49:20.603-07:002019-05-15T07:49:20.603-07:00Darrell E:
Though I can't help but think that...Darrell E:<br /><i><br />Though I can't help but think that Trump and the Republicans are committing suicide. But even if that turns out to be the case they are wreaking some serious havoc in the process.<br /></i><br /><br />jim:<br /><i><br />It is pretty clear to me that climate patterns in the northern hemisphere are moving through a tipping point and I don’t think there is anything we can do to stop this process now.<br /></i><br /><br />I don't think these points are unrelated. The wealthy and powerful who have their own sources of knowledge and information are also a large part of the Republican base, especially their donor class. The policy actions of these people are consistent with a belief that the short term is all that matters because the long term is f***ed anyway.Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-30072532970480110142019-05-15T07:47:05.729-07:002019-05-15T07:47:05.729-07:00Anonymous commenting has been the bane of social m...Anonymous commenting has been the bane of social media. My preference is to know who I'm talking to.Dennis M Davidsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13861850532281473798noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-51398171252240106712019-05-15T07:03:13.150-07:002019-05-15T07:03:13.150-07:00In other news, the arctic weather nerds are starti...In other news, the arctic weather nerds are starting to freak out. Sometimes weather patterns emerge that are persistent and that makes it possible to occasionally have more confidence in longer range weather forecasts. The arctic weather nerds think that a weather pattern is emerging that will create sunny skies over much of the arctic seas for the next two months. The next two months are when the arctic gets the vast majority of its direct solar input. <br /><br />If we get two months of sun fallowed by an Odin Storm (40 days and 40 nights of at least gale force winds over some part of the arctic) we may get our first blue arctic event. (we will have a better idea if this is possible for this year by the summer solstice.)<br /><br />It is pretty clear to me that climate patterns in the northern hemisphere are moving through a tipping point and I don’t think there is anything we can do to stop this process now. We need to get a much better idea of how the loss of arctic sea ice will effect the weather patterns in the northern hemisphere.<br />jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07865068658069680309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-54407016344179049032019-05-15T04:49:56.046-07:002019-05-15T04:49:56.046-07:00Well, well, well. What a surprise. Putin agrees 10...Well, well, well. What a surprise. Putin agrees 100% with Trump regarding the Mueller investigation. <i>No Collusion!</i><br /><br />How about them Alabamians? If you have any friends or family living in Alabama, or any number of red states, you might want to get them relocated. It will be interesting (in the Chinese sense of the term) to see how seriously Alabama and other red states that may pass legislation outlawing abortion will enforce there anti-abortion laws. And to see if this tactic is successful in getting the issue to the Supreme Court, and what happens there. Can RBG hang on? Will Roberts flinch?<br /><br />The pressure continues to build. We are in a serious crisis folks. Though I can't help but think that Trump and the Republicans are committing suicide. But even if that turns out to be the case they are wreaking some serious havoc in the process.Darrell Ehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14054311762477388637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-72838262944772244762019-05-15T04:46:16.530-07:002019-05-15T04:46:16.530-07:00Unknowns that cross Brinosseros do what the panthe...Unknowns that cross Brinosseros do what the panther dare not.Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-47661893574377982842019-05-15T00:22:36.685-07:002019-05-15T00:22:36.685-07:00Well it doesn't seem to deter the spammers! I ...Well it doesn't seem to deter the spammers! I rarely post here because usually by the time I can make time to write up my thoughts on anything under discussion, the blog has already moved on to other things. But I sympathize with the difficulty in maintaining a public forum of any type- I gave up on the ones I used to maintain long ago, as it's far too much work to keep them clean of spammers, abusers and the like. I wish David the best of luck with his challenges of late here!<br />Cari Bursteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05812444306433659243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-42789149068970687202019-05-14T23:56:54.372-07:002019-05-14T23:56:54.372-07:00Testing - I'm not keen on anonymity - I like t...Testing - I'm not keen on anonymity - I like to know who I'm talking to<br /><br />BUT if I lived in the USA I could feel differently duncan cairncrosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14153725128216947145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-88381701332314745602019-05-14T22:38:19.831-07:002019-05-14T22:38:19.831-07:00Heyoooo, I've been logging in under my Google ...Heyoooo, I've been logging in under my Google ID for quite some time.<br /><br />Now, on paper, I actually am a strong advocate for real anonymous commentary, and my go-to reference is Silence Dogood, better known as Benjamin Franklin. Alas, most people, given anonymity, will not use it remotely as well.TCBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08153506222271955110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-89360798656020371862019-05-14T22:32:12.743-07:002019-05-14T22:32:12.743-07:00Testing, testing, one, two, three--*tap* *tap* *ta...Testing, testing, one, two, three--*tap* *tap* *tap* Is this thing on?A.F. Reyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08102355714883828348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-85864769840961686382019-05-14T17:40:23.386-07:002019-05-14T17:40:23.386-07:00Checking in - I appear to be able to communicate.Checking in - I appear to be able to communicate.Jon S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13585842845661267920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-87094169834019478572019-05-14T14:27:15.552-07:002019-05-14T14:27:15.552-07:00Let's see if my google account still works.
...Let's see if my google account still works. <br /><br />I hope comments with just monikers will be possible again in a while. We had an interesting anon, the one that called him/herself Nerdsniped after a while, who was interesting and could become a regular. Without first commenting as an anon he/she may not have come here.<br /><br />Just like I started as an anon at first, to get a feel for the place.Twomindshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03406691129776855720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-26504024326140214072019-05-14T12:32:34.515-07:002019-05-14T12:32:34.515-07:00Krugman is good when he channels Asimov. He's ...Krugman is good when he channels Asimov. He's better when he defends American ideals. But he's best when he defends Canada. I raise a jug of tree sauce to him. scidatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07152319593457629592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-40214792875463221142019-05-14T12:17:04.186-07:002019-05-14T12:17:04.186-07:00Paul Krugman understands why I'm not sure Penc...Paul Krugman understands why I'm not sure Pence is worse:<br /><br />https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/11/opinion/killing-the-pax-americana.html<br /><i><br />...<br />But where the Europeans are weak, Trump is malign. He’s working actively to make the world a more dangerous, less democratic place, with trade war just one manifestation of that drive. And the eventual negative consequences for America and the world will be much bigger than anything we can capture with economic modeling of the effects of tariffs.<br /></i><br />Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-44400864732436974382019-05-14T12:13:48.947-07:002019-05-14T12:13:48.947-07:00A.F. Rey:
If you were in someone's living roo...A.F. Rey:<br /><i><br />If you were in someone's living room, would you call it a sh*thole? (BTW, are you Donald Trump? He likes that word. :) ). Would you call your host a hypocrite? Would you bully and bombast and browbeat the person who lived there and invited you in? What would you expect a guest to do, even if he was annoyed at the owner?<br /></i><br /><br />Exactly. Even if our host were guilty of all the offenses p-b accuses him of, the only reasonable thing to do if you find the owner of the living room you're visiting to be deplorable is to get up and leave. Telling the owner of the house, "No, why don't YOU leave?" is juvenile. And saying that is an insult to kids and teenagers.Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.com