LOL, I know my engineering stuff pops up in technical searches and are very popular posts, but then it seems many all over the world take an interest in my adventures and come back in growing numbers. Thanks for visiting my little corner of the net! Remember to think critically these days.
Lee
AML NLO JRO AND SEO AML
As energy becomes the obvious critical path in our world's economics, food production, and general survivability if you like, growth models like GDP and other growth fictions will necessarily fall away and we will have to address conservation of existing resources and alternative energy like hydrogen with alternative hydrogen carriers other than carbon. Like nitrogen for example. The time is late.
Truly alternative and renewable energetic chemistry requires an intelligent comprehension of energy balances that are sane and rational. Consuming millions of barrels of oil to mine millions of tons of lithium to manufacture batteries that then drain the existing energy feedstocks even more is not a sane or rational solution. Not to mention the knock on effects of electrification to charge and recharge these devices by way of a power grid infrastructure that requires re-engineering, will consume concomitant copper and critical minerals to manufacture magnets (for electric motors) - more energy in than what we will get out. Never mind the carbon hocus-pocus side show. We have an enormous problem that cooperation and rational policy is badly needed to bring the intellectual resources together to resolve. The world's historical habit of colonialism and projection of bully politics that empires traditionally attempt to enforce simply will not work, because they do not provide a solution - only a painful downward spiral towards a cold dark place. We need a solution and we together can create many. First through conservation, and then through innovation. This problem will prove to be a great inflection point in our development as a global community. Get it right and imagine how good this can be for all of us. Get this wrong and imagine how painful this will be for all of us. What I'm trying to say is, this is a global energy crises, if we can solve it, we can strive to be energy independent, what a gift for our children.
I agree with Alister that rapid decentralization and experimental development of a myriad of regionally supportable methods look to me to be the ultimate sustainable solution. This however requires a seismic shift in how we understand personal wealth creation, projection of influence and power, national political power projection and wasteful dedication of resources that do not solve this problem, the ideas of commerce and our quality of life. This effort will require a giant leap in compassion and trust (trust and truth telling seem to be at an all time low at the moment) which allows sharing resources rather than the private hoarding, legalistic games aimed at wealth generation such as pattenting ideas - they just bar access to innovation which has been the hallmark of economic wealth aggregation. The usual solutions invoked to acquire somebody else's resources won't work either - not a solution. The historical reactions to resource scarcity will only squander the time we have to soft land the world's population and reorient our thoughts around sustainable living in a very different future. Can we evolve, or will we revert to sticks and stones?
AML JRO, NLO and SEO AML
This is not the Franconia in Germany, but a little town in Minnesota with a weird art colony that I think is pretty cool. The exhibited sculptures are of the most strange and imaginative kind...
 |
| "Johnny Appleseed" Mark di Suvero (born in Shanghai) an abstract sculptor built this in France, spent some time in Millenium Park and finally landed here. It recalls the forms of industrial machinery used to build it. Yep. |
 |
| The Grief Truck, by Brett Douglas Hunter. Discard your grief and "Big Mama" will help you cart it off to somewhere... |
 |
| The Compact, by Eliza Evans. Cast concrete forms relates the "compression"of individual agency over millennia. Surveilled, digitized, measured and archived... |
 |
| If birds lived like humans in high rise buildings... Birds choose not to live this way and there are none nesting in this multi-story, multi nest contraption. |
 |
| Not sure what this is about, looks to be an evolution from wood hulls to fiberglass - sort of a boaters technology timeline... |
 |
| LOL, yeah I don't know much about this one. |
 |
| Reminded me of a WW1 battleship camouflage pattern. |
 |
| The augmented ear by Jordan Olsen. "The world has greater definition than we can possibly know..." I agree! |
 |
| Not holding up to the elements too well... |
 |
| What are you inspired to think about? |
 |
| I can plainly see this is a pine cone! |
 |
| No idea... bird? |
I happened upon this sculpture park maybe ten years ago. On a whim I drove through this part of the country the other day and decided to see what's new. There is a bunch of crazy cool stuff here!
LOL, hope you enjoy.
AML NLO, JRO and SEO AML
Gail T is spot on in my humble opinion! These realities highlighted in her most recent post are the basis of the seemingly chaotic policies we see being instituted around the world. Destroying demand for energy through policy rolled out by pseudo science represented by heretofore unknown entities as a sort of canard. A subtle way of achieving conservation without explaining why conservation is important.
Interesting times.
AML NLO, JRO ans SEO AML
I've got to yank the lift out another ten feet or so as the water level has dropped another foot or so.
 |
| Another beautiful day! |
AML NLO, JRO and SEO AML
Record cold temps were recorded on every continent...
We are in a solar minimum, some say it could end up being very much like the Dalton Minimum and anomalies like the year without a summer. Let's hope not. The consequences would be dire as the world currently carries about 8X the number of people. Just like in the early 1800's volcanic activity is on the rise. So theories abound about volcanism and solar cycles perhaps the correlation can be better understood. I wonder how much research - if any at all - has been done on cold tolerant crops... This is a fascinating time, with much to be learned about our world, the interaction of climate with our solar system as well as our thinking about these influences on sub surface and underwater volcanism. All have a profound effect on our climate.
This years El Niño gave those of us in the Mid-Western US a little break from what usually is a brutally cold winter, which has been much appreciated!
AML JRO, NLO and SEO AML
Drat, I really really like that show but as luck would have it, - couldn't get the timing to work. The artists are amazing and the activities are so enjoyable. I recommend SEWE if you have never been. This winters break was short and I did have to work most of it doing a ton of spreadsheets and product launch forecasts. Even so, the venue was so delightful I was often able to work outside under the shade of a pine with a gentle breeze rustling through the branches now and then. Kind of reminded me of my childhood home. We had tall pines that made that unmistakable sound when the summer breezes came through my open window.
 |
| On gator patrol, which looks a lot like bird patrol! |
 |
| We did manage to get to my favorite beach a few times! |
 |
| Best fresh catch around! |
Short break in a very busy year, but always a pleasure to visit the coast in the middle of winter.
AML NLO, JRO and SEO AML
Lets take a look at some "giants" of science. See if you recognize these names:
Lord Kelvin - A fine product of Cambridge, a "second wrangler" and you probably know the name from the temperature scale. Yep, did a lot of good stuff but couldn't help himself in passing out this wisdom; "X Rays are a hoax" and he didn't stop there, "Heavier than Air Flying Machines are Impossible."
The New York Times - "A Rocket will Never be able to Leave the Earth's Atmosphere." (modern journalism consulting "experts" haven't improved much)
Darryl Zanuck - "Television won't Last..."
Ken Olson President of DEC in 1977 - "There is no Reason for any Individual to have a Computer in his Home" With leadership like that it is easy to see how DEC went away while other competitors with less resources became enormous successes.
IBM execs to the founders of Xerox - "The World Potential Market for Copy Machines is 5000 at Most." Great financial advice, wouldn't you say? Yeah, IBM has got it wrong MANY times.
There are thousands of such pearls of wisdom spouted by the "experts" of the day. If we have learned anything let it be that the ability to contest the conventional wisdom of the day is how we make progress through the scientific method. When we suppress voices, deny evidence, and promote opinions over reproducible facts we simply stagnate under the weight of hubris, or worse, get lost in a confusing meaningless propaganda that serves an ideology which can't stand on it's own. The so called elite, often live in an echo chamber and like so many before them become convinced that they see further, know more, and are the only visionaries that can steer the boat. LOL, steer it onto the rocks that is. Good ideas, even great ideas come from everywhere. Ivy league and expert status - just like the scientific method - should never be a matter of blind trust. That is ridiculous.
The systems analysis folks think they have the answers, piffle. Good tool, know and admit it's limitations and you'll be a better analyst. With all do respect to the embryonic Limits to Growth work. A great start, but where are the decentralization and regional autonomy equations that examine localization, energy independence based on conservation and sustainable zero growth (not zero carbon by the way)? Perhaps those models exist there were a couple of other reports written that have yet to be published. Lord only knows what models with whatever errors they have, were all about. Models and analysis is great stuff. I have spent a few decades doing analysis and simulation of complex systems. I have never forgot that the real world is orders of magnitude more complicated than what Kelvin, Olson and a whole host of egg heads get funded to talk about. Models can say anything my friends. Real data, equations with explained variables, scrutiny and debate... that's what keeps those who live way high up in the towers from academic, egoistic, asphyxiation. One of my pet peeves is this topic. If you want to dodge the hard edge of truth, do a meta analysis. You can ALWAYS weasel your way out with a Meta Analysis. Right all you experts at the CDC? - Yeah... it's as good as a placebo but we can't rule it out.... gah,, this should drive any scientist bonkers if you care about what you do, publish and say. Then again, these days a lot of "situational ethics" seem to be in play and hey, what about those patent bennies? I gotta retire some day.
"Question everything" - Albert Einstein I might add, especially this stuff.
It's not that hard to think for yourself! Please do so.
AML NLO, JRO and SEO AML
So eons ago a bunch of plankton, biomass and the random dinosaur decomposed and left us our treasured hydrocarbon energy resources... so say our time tested experts who never get it wrong. (more often wrong than right - whenever you see an unnamed expert cited or the ever popular plural "experts" as if to insinuate there is consensus when parroted by your fav tv person with maybe a degree in liberal arts) you know you are reading an opinion piece with an agenda aimed at shaping your version of reality. Think critically. It's not that hard. The mass media interview style of contrived blubbering called "the news" rarely gets further than politically designed and carefully crafted hyperbole. A litany of curated questions that appear everywhere all at once and asked by one smiley face you see every day (if you watch this stuff) only to be answered by another smiley face (expert who you don't usually see) who somehow has the "facts".
Don't worry your pretty little head, we've just asked and answered the questions we think are important - now just sit there and gaze into the box... the whole situation covered - just for you, we've told you all you need to know, now let's pan the camera over to the latest exciting movie (which the network also owns) or some screwy salacious bit to lubricate your limbic system. LOL... Isn't not thinking great?
So completely tiring. So here is a little thought piece. Something to contemplate as you travel over your own version of reality.
Lol, by the way, we have the be$t expert$ money can buy.
AML NLO, JRO and SEO AML
Let us hope for the peace we pray for...
A great conversation with Ian Plimer on climate change. He is a bit stubborn on the depletion data, but again, reasonable discussion that is science based. A lot of things change when we think about energy depletion and various conservation strategies.
Common sense amidst the noise and spin. How energy plays into world events at an increasing tempo.
AML NLO, JRO and SEO AML
