Personally I'm utterly livid the bivalent boosters haven't been offered to healthy adults under 50 (I'm 39). I wouldn't mind paying for it if that's the problem (as I have already done with a flu jab). How closely do they check if I turn up and say I'm a carer for my decrepit 60 something year old mother (who's really as fit as a fiddle)?
No check at all in my experience. Got an email saying get boosted cos you are 60, website disagreed because I am under 65, so ticked box saying I care for someone with weakened immune system. If the website accepts that, you are in. There is no huge competition for the things
Almost everyone in the US uses an Apple phone. It has monopoly power and practices. So there are plenty of people who use them yet are price sensitive.
That's not quite true. Apple has a majority position, but Android isn't far behind:
The concerns that have been expressed, by regulators (including EU regulators), of the power of the App Store are definitely about Apple's imposed monopoly of access to phone apps. Yes, you can install an app yourself, as a developer, but it is a fairly involved process.
The texting thing is a good symbol for Apple's exploitative practices. Not only do they put texts from an Android phone in a different color, they refuse to integrate functionality and also deliberately reduce the contrast for Android texts to make them harder to read.
If there's a Labour strategist reading this afternoon - Starmer needs to go on petrol price gouging and lack of government action to ensure consumers are getting value for money, pretty sure the Issa brothers are Tory donors as well and they've been milking the nation with their forecourts.
Starmer gets a triple win, he attacks the Tories, proposes real action to bring inflation down and he attacks vulture capitalists and improperly functioning markets putting him on the natural side of the party. It also puts him on the same side as voters who are fed up of high petrol prices and price gouging by garages.
Don't know how prevalent it is in the UK Labour party but there's a colossal ideological opposition to cars in general on the left - well it's certainly the impression I get - in the USA. Again I don't know if this phenomenon is within the UK left too. Car ownership was (When the Tories were doing relatively OK) a massive difference maker between Tory and Labour voters. I too think he should park his tanks on the Tory lawn here.
Agreed. Labour isn't noticeably anti-car, even the Corbynista side (no doubt with some exceptions), though the Greens tend that way.
Sadiq Khan announcement this week....
Ulez non-compliance is a tax. Labour like a tax. It doesn't mean they don't like the car.
Personally I'm utterly livid the bivalent boosters haven't been offered to healthy adults under 50 (I'm 39). I wouldn't mind paying for it if that's the problem (as I have already done with a flu jab). How closely do they check if I turn up and say I'm a carer for my decrepit 60 something year old mother (who's really as fit as a fiddle)?
I doubt they'll turn away anoyone claiming eligibility, it's not as if they're short on vaccines.
I'm under 50 and eligible through my wife, but meh. Three shots, two of which made us feel worse than Covid itself, was enough.
Did you have covid before vaccination or after? Big difference. I had huge reactions to the boosters I've had (both mRNA delivery vaccines). Truly nasty, very high fever, felt awful etc. Lasted 24-36 hours then over. Way better than some peoples covid illness, but as I've not knowingly had covid, I can't compare.
I find it interesting that back in the day Microsoft got dinged over pre-installation of IE on a system that was not a walled garden. Two clicks and you could get yourself a different browser. Now Android you can easily sideload and there are number other "app" stores you can use. But Apple unless you jailbreak your phone there is absolutely no option.
That's the whole Apple approach. It's like the Catholic church. Conception to resurrection. There is one way to salvation, and it is the Apple way. Generally, I find it safer to avoid them completely.
Almost everyone in the US uses an Apple phone. It has monopoly power and practices. So there are plenty of people who use them yet are price sensitive.
That's not quite true. Apple has a majority position, but Android isn't far behind:
What's slightly perplexing is that the Japs have v high vax rates - 80% of the country or more - AND they are still taking far more precautions than us: universal masking indoors and out, for a start. Yet still the case load surges
Could this be another, more infectious strain?
Of course, this must be expected, but it is also tedious as feck
The oldest country on Earth heading into Winter. Nothing more need be said.
Almost everyone in the US uses an Apple phone. It has monopoly power and practices. So there are plenty of people who use them yet are price sensitive.
That's not quite true. Apple has a majority position, but Android isn't far behind:
The concerns that have been expressed, by regulators (including EU regulators), of the power of the App Store are definitely about Apple's imposed monopoly of access to phone apps. Yes, you can install an app yourself, as a developer, but it is a fairly involved process.
If there's a Labour strategist reading this afternoon - Starmer needs to go on petrol price gouging and lack of government action to ensure consumers are getting value for money, pretty sure the Issa brothers are Tory donors as well and they've been milking the nation with their forecourts.
Starmer gets a triple win, he attacks the Tories, proposes real action to bring inflation down and he attacks vulture capitalists and improperly functioning markets putting him on the natural side of the party. It also puts him on the same side as voters who are fed up of high petrol prices and price gouging by garages.
Don't know how prevalent it is in the UK Labour party but there's a colossal ideological opposition to cars in general on the left - well it's certainly the impression I get - in the USA. Again I don't know if this phenomenon is within the UK left too. Car ownership was (When the Tories were doing relatively OK) a massive difference maker between Tory and Labour voters. I too think he should park his tanks on the Tory lawn here.
Agreed. Labour isn't noticeably anti-car, even the Corbynista side (no doubt with some exceptions), though the Greens tend that way.
Sadiq Khan announcement this week....
Ulez non-compliance is a tax. Labour like a tax. It doesn't mean they don't like the car.
A very rich person observed to me that, for him, the ideal congestion charge would be north of £100 a day. He would be able to drive his car on empty roads.
Almost everyone in the US uses an Apple phone. It has monopoly power and practices. So there are plenty of people who use them yet are price sensitive.
That's not quite true. Apple has a majority position, but Android isn't far behind:
The concerns that have been expressed, by regulators (including EU regulators), of the power of the App Store are definitely about Apple's imposed monopoly of access to phone apps. Yes, you can install an app yourself, as a developer, but it is a fairly involved process.
The texting thing is a good symbol for Apple's exploitative practices. Not only do they put texts from an Android phone in a different color, they refuse to integrate functionality and also deliberately reduce the contrast for Android texts to make them harder to read.
Personally I'm utterly livid the bivalent boosters haven't been offered to healthy adults under 50 (I'm 39). I wouldn't mind paying for it if that's the problem (as I have already done with a flu jab). How closely do they check if I turn up and say I'm a carer for my decrepit 60 something year old mother (who's really as fit as a fiddle)?
I doubt they'll turn away anoyone claiming eligibility, it's not as if they're short on vaccines.
I'm under 50 and eligible through my wife, but meh. Three shots, two of which made us feel worse than Covid itself, was enough.
Did you have covid before vaccination or after? Big difference. I had huge reactions to the boosters I've had (both mRNA delivery vaccines). Truly nasty, very high fever, felt awful etc. Lasted 24-36 hours then over. Way better than some peoples covid illness, but as I've not knowingly had covid, I can't compare.
After the three. The fact that shot 3 was worse than covid after 3 doesn't make me want to get shot 4.
Almost everyone in the US uses an Apple phone. It has monopoly power and practices. So there are plenty of people who use them yet are price sensitive.
That's not quite true. Apple has a majority position, but Android isn't far behind:
The concerns that have been expressed, by regulators (including EU regulators), of the power of the App Store are definitely about Apple's imposed monopoly of access to phone apps. Yes, you can install an app yourself, as a developer, but it is a fairly involved process.
The texting thing is a good symbol for Apple's exploitative practices. Not only do they put texts from an Android phone in a different color, they refuse to integrate functionality and also deliberately reduce the contrast for Android texts to make them harder to read.
They do what???
he is referring to the iMessage vs everyone else thing.
Almost everyone in the US uses an Apple phone. It has monopoly power and practices. So there are plenty of people who use them yet are price sensitive.
That's not quite true. Apple has a majority position, but Android isn't far behind:
The concerns that have been expressed, by regulators (including EU regulators), of the power of the App Store are definitely about Apple's imposed monopoly of access to phone apps. Yes, you can install an app yourself, as a developer, but it is a fairly involved process.
The texting thing is a good symbol for Apple's exploitative practices. Not only do they put texts from an Android phone in a different color, they refuse to integrate functionality and also deliberately reduce the contrast for Android texts to make them harder to read.
Personally I'm utterly livid the bivalent boosters haven't been offered to healthy adults under 50 (I'm 39). I wouldn't mind paying for it if that's the problem (as I have already done with a flu jab). How closely do they check if I turn up and say I'm a carer for my decrepit 60 something year old mother (who's really as fit as a fiddle)?
I doubt they'll turn away anoyone claiming eligibility, it's not as if they're short on vaccines.
I'm under 50 and eligible through my wife, but meh. Three shots, two of which made us feel worse than Covid itself, was enough.
Did you have covid before vaccination or after? Big difference. I had huge reactions to the boosters I've had (both mRNA delivery vaccines). Truly nasty, very high fever, felt awful etc. Lasted 24-36 hours then over. Way better than some peoples covid illness, but as I've not knowingly had covid, I can't compare.
After the three. The fact that shot 3 was worse than covid after 3 doesn't make me want to get shot 4.
I hear you, but I will still keep getting boosted when offered. Covid can be nasty, and not having had it yet makes me cautious.
Almost everyone in the US uses an Apple phone. It has monopoly power and practices. So there are plenty of people who use them yet are price sensitive.
That's not quite true. Apple has a majority position, but Android isn't far behind:
The concerns that have been expressed, by regulators (including EU regulators), of the power of the App Store are definitely about Apple's imposed monopoly of access to phone apps. Yes, you can install an app yourself, as a developer, but it is a fairly involved process.
The texting thing is a good symbol for Apple's exploitative practices. Not only do they put texts from an Android phone in a different color, they refuse to integrate functionality and also deliberately reduce the contrast for Android texts to make them harder to read.
They do what???
They treat SMS from non-Apple devices, as if they were bog-standard SMS.
Surprising little commentary at the news that London and Birmingham are now minority white cities.
I had to check Auckland (still over 54% white, and New York (just 31% white, and indeed likely to see Latino become the single largest ethnic group this decade).
Those are New World cities of course, London must be uniquely diverse as an Old World city.
Noticeable how Luton and Leicester stick out on that map...
When the churches are full - and quite a few Catholic churches are - they are full of people who recently came from the still very, very catholic countries. Like Peru.
9% of the English population is Catholic (IIRC) - something like 20% are CoE
But actual church attendance rates are double for Catholics, IIRC.
Which means that we are close to a point where there will be more practising Catholics than practising members of the CoE, since CoE is shrinking and Catholicism is growing.
The Monarch being Head of the CoE really is an anachronism.
Time to get rid.
Defender of the Faithless.
Charles wants to be Defender of Faith rather than just Defender of the Faith. He can comfortably still be that given well over 50% of the population of England and Wales still described themselves as belonging to the Abrahamic religions ie Christianity, Judaism and Islam. More still have faith adding in Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims
If not Charles, then almost certainly his successor will have to consider the faithless majority.
Still only 37% and depends on immigration too. The vast majority of switching to non religious are native British whites.
British Asians are overwhelmingly Muslim, Hindu or Sikh. Black British are mainly Christians, especially Pentecostal. Poles in the UK tend to be Roman Catholic.
London and Birmingham already now majority non white British born and more religious than the rest of the UK.
So the more we get continued high immigration, the more the boats from Africa continue to come etc, the more religious we will continue to be
Something like two thirds of teenagers are estimated to be irreligious, so I think your confidence misplaced.
White British native teenagers mainly, who will have fewer children than immigrants growing up.
The more immigrants we get the more religious we get
And yet birth rates in highly religious countries - like Romania or Malta - are no better than in irreligious places.
And yet birth rates in highly religious countries - like Pakistan or the UAE - are way higher than in irreligious places.
Personally I'm utterly livid the bivalent boosters haven't been offered to healthy adults under 50 (I'm 39). I wouldn't mind paying for it if that's the problem (as I have already done with a flu jab). How closely do they check if I turn up and say I'm a carer for my decrepit 60 something year old mother (who's really as fit as a fiddle)?
No check at all in my experience. Got an email saying get boosted cos you are 60, website disagreed because I am under 65, so ticked box saying I care for someone with weakened immune system. If the website accepts that, you are in. There is no huge competition for the things
I think that's correct. I'm genuinely entitled to the booster as someone who lives with an immunocompromised person, but I don't recall there being any particularly stringent checks involved. Just go on the relevant booking website, answer the questions in such a way as one of them qualifies you for the booster, and you can get an appointment easily. I actually had to wait longer for a flu jab slot to become available at the local Boots than I did for an appointment at the local Covid vaccination centre.
When I went to get mine done there was a steady trickle of punters rather than a flood, so I very much doubt you'll be doing an octogenarian out of their entitlement. If you want one, just go for it.
If there's a Labour strategist reading this afternoon - Starmer needs to go on petrol price gouging and lack of government action to ensure consumers are getting value for money, pretty sure the Issa brothers are Tory donors as well and they've been milking the nation with their forecourts.
Starmer gets a triple win, he attacks the Tories, proposes real action to bring inflation down and he attacks vulture capitalists and improperly functioning markets putting him on the natural side of the party. It also puts him on the same side as voters who are fed up of high petrol prices and price gouging by garages.
Don't know how prevalent it is in the UK Labour party but there's a colossal ideological opposition to cars in general on the left - well it's certainly the impression I get - in the USA. Again I don't know if this phenomenon is within the UK left too. Car ownership was (When the Tories were doing relatively OK) a massive difference maker between Tory and Labour voters. I too think he should park his tanks on the Tory lawn here.
Mondeo man has a car and votes. Blair realised that early.
It's an easy win for Labour. It's clear that up to last year Asda was the firm that kept petrol and diesel prices low (given any chance to cut the price they publicly announced it with a fanfare).
Since the Issa's bought Asda that simply hasn't been the case and both Morrisons and Asda now have prices that are way higher than elsewhere. Competition within the market has failed its job of keeping prices low and being blunt it's costing the Treasury millions because based on current market prices £1.52 at Jet, £1.60 at Asda) over half of the profits being made by Asda and co are coming from the 5p cut in fuel duty that Rishi announced earlier this year.
It's going to cost them the 12p increase next year as well which is billions in taxes lost. It's time to break them up and an example where better regulation is needed, rather than just the box ticking exercises the CMA seem to be content with.
Almost everyone in the US uses an Apple phone. It has monopoly power and practices. So there are plenty of people who use them yet are price sensitive.
That's not quite true. Apple has a majority position, but Android isn't far behind:
The concerns that have been expressed, by regulators (including EU regulators), of the power of the App Store are definitely about Apple's imposed monopoly of access to phone apps. Yes, you can install an app yourself, as a developer, but it is a fairly involved process.
The texting thing is a good symbol for Apple's exploitative practices. Not only do they put texts from an Android phone in a different color, they refuse to integrate functionality and also deliberately reduce the contrast for Android texts to make them harder to read.
Surprising little commentary at the news that London and Birmingham are now minority white cities.
I had to check Auckland (still over 54% white, and New York (just 31% white, and indeed likely to see Latino become the single largest ethnic group this decade).
Those are New World cities of course, London must be uniquely diverse as an Old World city.
Probably because it doesn't really come as any real surprise to people who live or visit those two cities often. I think it was probably already a given that was probably the case or very close to it.
Almost everyone in the US uses an Apple phone. It has monopoly power and practices. So there are plenty of people who use them yet are price sensitive.
That's not quite true. Apple has a majority position, but Android isn't far behind:
The concerns that have been expressed, by regulators (including EU regulators), of the power of the App Store are definitely about Apple's imposed monopoly of access to phone apps. Yes, you can install an app yourself, as a developer, but it is a fairly involved process.
The texting thing is a good symbol for Apple's exploitative practices. Not only do they put texts from an Android phone in a different color, they refuse to integrate functionality and also deliberately reduce the contrast for Android texts to make them harder to read.
Support. You’ll have to once the Scots stop supplying free electricity.
And by the way, Scotland leads the world in offshore wind. England doesn’t.
There are 29 offshore wind farms in England, generating about 9.7 GW of electricity.
There are seven in Scotland generating around 2GW of electricity.
The balance is in Wales.
If you’re going to tell lies to support your obsessive xenophobia at least try to make them intelligent ones.
TBF, that does give Scotland (360kW) over twice as much per capita as England (175kW)
oooft, a kick in the teeth for the xenophobes right enough
Why? It's about the only way his inane witterings would make sense.
Although I'm pretty sure he was just repeating the dishonest drivel the Scottish Greens keep coming out with that Scotland has 25% of all Europe's offshore wind potential (which it doesn't).
Almost everyone in the US uses an Apple phone. It has monopoly power and practices. So there are plenty of people who use them yet are price sensitive.
That's not quite true. Apple has a majority position, but Android isn't far behind:
The concerns that have been expressed, by regulators (including EU regulators), of the power of the App Store are definitely about Apple's imposed monopoly of access to phone apps. Yes, you can install an app yourself, as a developer, but it is a fairly involved process.
The texting thing is a good symbol for Apple's exploitative practices. Not only do they put texts from an Android phone in a different color, they refuse to integrate functionality and also deliberately reduce the contrast for Android texts to make them harder to read.
Noticeable how Luton and Leicester stick out on that map...
When the churches are full - and quite a few Catholic churches are - they are full of people who recently came from the still very, very catholic countries. Like Peru.
9% of the English population is Catholic (IIRC) - something like 20% are CoE
But actual church attendance rates are double for Catholics, IIRC.
Which means that we are close to a point where there will be more practising Catholics than practising members of the CoE, since CoE is shrinking and Catholicism is growing.
The Monarch being Head of the CoE really is an anachronism.
Time to get rid.
Defender of the Faithless.
Charles wants to be Defender of Faith rather than just Defender of the Faith. He can comfortably still be that given well over 50% of the population of England and Wales still described themselves as belonging to the Abrahamic religions ie Christianity, Judaism and Islam. More still have faith adding in Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims
If not Charles, then almost certainly his successor will have to consider the faithless majority.
Still only 37% and depends on immigration too. The vast majority of switching to non religious are native British whites.
British Asians are overwhelmingly Muslim, Hindu or Sikh. Black British are mainly Christians, especially Pentecostal. Poles in the UK tend to be Roman Catholic.
London and Birmingham already now majority non white British born and more religious than the rest of the UK.
So the more we get continued high immigration, the more the boats from Africa continue to come etc, the more religious we will continue to be
Something like two thirds of teenagers are estimated to be irreligious, so I think your confidence misplaced.
White British native teenagers mainly, who will have fewer children than immigrants growing up.
The more immigrants we get the more religious we get
And yet birth rates in highly religious countries - like Romania or Malta - are no better than in irreligious places.
And yet birth rates in highly religious countries - like Pakistan or the UAE - are way higher than in irreligious places.
My point is that there's no simple correlation. You can't just say - religious therefore lots of babies born. Hence Malta (where only 2% of the population are irreligious) has one of the lowest birthrates in the world.
Indeed, if you want to look at causation, I think it probably goes more like this:
Poor country -> more likely to have a high birthrate Poor country -> more likely to be religious
Surprising little commentary at the news that London and Birmingham are now minority white cities.
I had to check Auckland (still over 54% white, and New York (just 31% white, and indeed likely to see Latino become the single largest ethnic group this decade).
Those are New World cities of course, London must be uniquely diverse as an Old World city.
Probably because it doesn't really come as any real surprise to people who live or visit those two cities often. I think it was probably already a given that was probably the case or very close to it.
Almost everyone in the US uses an Apple phone. It has monopoly power and practices. So there are plenty of people who use them yet are price sensitive.
That's not quite true. Apple has a majority position, but Android isn't far behind:
The concerns that have been expressed, by regulators (including EU regulators), of the power of the App Store are definitely about Apple's imposed monopoly of access to phone apps. Yes, you can install an app yourself, as a developer, but it is a fairly involved process.
The texting thing is a good symbol for Apple's exploitative practices. Not only do they put texts from an Android phone in a different color, they refuse to integrate functionality and also deliberately reduce the contrast for Android texts to make them harder to read.
Why doesn't Elon just set the price at $11.42 from the apple store and $8 for an APK sideload ?
I mean people with Apple phones hardly tend to be price sensitive in the first place.
Funny how many supposedly hard-pressed-for-money people seem to own one.
Because by the very nature of the standard contracts for phones, its all effectively on the never never and so few think about what 3 years at £x / month actually means.
Only a small number of people actually fork out a significant amount upfront for a phone (to lower their monthly) and you often have to search out those deals.
Personally I'm utterly livid the bivalent boosters haven't been offered to healthy adults under 50 (I'm 39). I wouldn't mind paying for it if that's the problem (as I have already done with a flu jab). How closely do they check if I turn up and say I'm a carer for my decrepit 60 something year old mother (who's really as fit as a fiddle)?
Surprising little commentary at the news that London and Birmingham are now minority white cities.
I had to check Auckland (still over 54% white, and New York (just 31% white, and indeed likely to see Latino become the single largest ethnic group this decade).
Those are New World cities of course, London must be uniquely diverse as an Old World city.
Probably because it doesn't really come as any real surprise to people who live or visit those two cities often. I think it was probably already a given that was probably the case or very close to it.
Central London has been thus for a long time.
I question the New York numbers. Lots of Latinos are white.
Personally I'm utterly livid the bivalent boosters haven't been offered to healthy adults under 50 (I'm 39). I wouldn't mind paying for it if that's the problem (as I have already done with a flu jab). How closely do they check if I turn up and say I'm a carer for my decrepit 60 something year old mother (who's really as fit as a fiddle)?
All over the world, thieves drilling into vaults paused for a minutes silence.
Theo: [Over the CB, as the police SWAT team closes in] Alright, listen up guys. 'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring — except for the four assholes coming in the rear in standard two-by-two cover formation.
Hmm. Dick Stuartson posts a lie on pb, is refuted by lots of posters, disappears. Most odd. Do other Scottish Nationalists behave the same way? Or can they not recall?
If his point was that Scotland is leading, then, size-adjusted, arguably he has a point. But his implication that England was somehow lagging is mis-leading; I remember from when I had my PPL seeing the North Sea offshore fields from the air, and they are big.
His problem like so many nats - oddly not Malc G -
"People in China who attended weekend protests against Covid restrictions say they have been contacted by police, as authorities begin clamping down. (...) It is unclear how police might have discovered their identities."
Either that or people are carrying trackers, what they do on the internet is monitored, or - the most frighteningly unexpected possibility of all - both.
"people are carrying trackers" - AKA smart phones.
Or smart watches, these days.
John Reese: Never understood why people put all their information on those [social networking] sites. Used to make our job a lot easier in the CIA. Harold Finch: Of course. That's why I created them. John Reese: You're telling me you invented online social networking, Finch? Harold Finch: The Machine needed more information. People's social graph, their associations. The government had been trying to figure it out for years. Turns out most people were happy to volunteer it. Business wound up being quite profitable, too.
And of course it goes further, installing listening devices and cameras that upload to central servers in their own homes....
Talking about Alexa
I do love Alexa - mine responds to both English and Spanish commands with an equal around 60% success rate! Shiows my Spanish accent is as good as my English one.
While there has been some opposition to the offshore expansion of the Rampion wind farm off the Sussex coast, most of the debate has been about how the onshore bits get connected to the grid. This is the challenge with both offshore and onshore wind - ideally you want to build it as near to the people who will be using the power, and that’s where NIMBYs enter the frame. Personally I enjoy seeing the lights twinkling on the horizon - and marvel that Rampion 2 will be taller than the Eiffel Tower (though further out to sea). Try installing that on land!
One of the things I have always wondered in the case of wind farms is whether bigger is better. Does a 600ft tall turbine generate twice as much energy as 2x 300ft turbines?
I always blow the minds of people when I tell them you get more pizza with one 15 inch pizza than with 2 lots of 10 inch pizzas.
I always find it frustrating that people don't get the square and cube rules and are always amazed that some small things can jump relatively high distances, or that sparrows can have very thin legs or elephants can't jump or that cats can fall off windowsills unharmed yet we break bones, etc, etc and don't get that it is just an obvious function of mathematics/physics.
Dropping mammals down lift shafts: a mouse lives, a rat dies, a man breaks, a horse splashes.
JBS Haldane
Applies to money too, and talk of millions, billions and trillions - which get mixed up.
In a potential taxpaying population of 50 million (UK is about this):
£1m is 2p each
£1bn is £20 each
£1 tn is £20,000 each.
I think it was someone on here the other day who mentioned the difference between a million, a billion and a trillion in a way people can envisage.
1 million seconds is 11 days, 13 hours 46 minutes 1 billion seconds is 31 and a half years 1 trillion seconds is 31,688 years
Maybe I'm too much of a physicist, but what's so hard about 10^6 versus 10^9 versus 10^12? (Assuming short scale, of course)
Support. You’ll have to once the Scots stop supplying free electricity.
And by the way, Scotland leads the world in offshore wind. England doesn’t.
There are 29 offshore wind farms in England, generating about 9.7 GW of electricity.
There are seven in Scotland generating around 2GW of electricity.
The balance is in Wales.
If you’re going to tell lies to support your obsessive xenophobia at least try to make them intelligent ones.
TBF, that does give Scotland (360kW) over twice as much per capita as England (175kW)
oooft, a kick in the teeth for the xenophobes right enough
Which xenophobes? None here, just people calling out nonsense from a Swedish poster.
I dub him "The Swedish Poster"... TSP....
Bit like The Swedish Knight....
I prefer Dick Stuartson, mainly because he mis-uses HYFUD's name. I hope it vexes him, but it probably doesn't. Petty of me, but I have few worthwhile hobbies...
Covid testers at the site were filmed fighting, playing football, sleeping and throwing snowballs in January, while the country was frozen under lockdown.
Surprising little commentary at the news that London and Birmingham are now minority white cities.
I had to check Auckland (still over 54% white, and New York (just 31% white, and indeed likely to see Latino become the single largest ethnic group this decade).
Those are New World cities of course, London must be uniquely diverse as an Old World city.
Probably because it doesn't really come as any real surprise to people who live or visit those two cities often. I think it was probably already a given that was probably the case or very close to it.
Central London has been thus for a long time.
True I suppose, but I lived in Hackney until last year and I’m still a bit surprised.
Hmm. Dick Stuartson posts a lie on pb, is refuted by lots of posters, disappears. Most odd. Do other Scottish Nationalists behave the same way? Or can they not recall?
If his point was that Scotland is leading, then, size-adjusted, arguably he has a point. But his implication that England was somehow lagging is mis-leading; I remember from when I had my PPL seeing the North Sea offshore fields from the air, and they are big.
His problem like so many nats - oddly not Malc G -
"People in China who attended weekend protests against Covid restrictions say they have been contacted by police, as authorities begin clamping down. (...) It is unclear how police might have discovered their identities."
Either that or people are carrying trackers, what they do on the internet is monitored, or - the most frighteningly unexpected possibility of all - both.
"people are carrying trackers" - AKA smart phones.
Or smart watches, these days.
John Reese: Never understood why people put all their information on those [social networking] sites. Used to make our job a lot easier in the CIA. Harold Finch: Of course. That's why I created them. John Reese: You're telling me you invented online social networking, Finch? Harold Finch: The Machine needed more information. People's social graph, their associations. The government had been trying to figure it out for years. Turns out most people were happy to volunteer it. Business wound up being quite profitable, too.
And of course it goes further, installing listening devices and cameras that upload to central servers in their own homes....
Talking about Alexa
I do love Alexa - mine responds to both English and Spanish commands with an equal around 60% success rate! Shiows my Spanish accent is as good as my English one.
Some Dutch friends of ours have a daughter named Siri. They also have iPhones. Much hilarity ensues, obviously.
Why doesn't Elon just set the price at $11.42 from the apple store and $8 for an APK sideload ?
I mean people with Apple phones hardly tend to be price sensitive in the first place.
Funny how many supposedly hard-pressed-for-money people seem to own one.
Purchased on credit, just like the Range Rovers.
I have wondered for a while if the car financing system is going to be the next big financial blow up.
More likely that the new car market comes crashing down to Earth, because no-one can afford a £90k Range Rover with 8% APR. Probably a few hand-backs as redundancies tick up too, and the market for cheap used cars will stay strong.
Reverse mortgages, on the other hand, will be the likely next big financial blow-up.
must say I'm surprised by how completely limp our own Covid testing/vacc programme has been for this winter. Not expecting (or wanting) it to be headline stuff, but 12 months ago we were being told boosters would be needed, new jabs being developed, stockpiles secured etc. etc. etc.
This afternoon the official UK page will be updated to show what percentage of 50+ have had their autumn booster (replacing the 1/2/3rd numbers). Be interesting to see the uptake.
Edit - Missed that info is already available on a different page,
Looks like ~70-80% for the high risk groups. Its 50-60 year olds who don't seem to have really taken it up.
Had my booster here about 2 weeks ago. No side effects at the time but now have an unpleasant anmd persistent sore arm. It could have been caused by gardening but I'm really not sure. I'm also increasingly ancient and everything takes an age to heal!
Personally I'm utterly livid the bivalent boosters haven't been offered to healthy adults under 50 (I'm 39). I wouldn't mind paying for it if that's the problem (as I have already done with a flu jab). How closely do they check if I turn up and say I'm a carer for my decrepit 60 something year old mother (who's really as fit as a fiddle)?
Noticeable how Luton and Leicester stick out on that map...
When the churches are full - and quite a few Catholic churches are - they are full of people who recently came from the still very, very catholic countries. Like Peru.
9% of the English population is Catholic (IIRC) - something like 20% are CoE
But actual church attendance rates are double for Catholics, IIRC.
Which means that we are close to a point where there will be more practising Catholics than practising members of the CoE, since CoE is shrinking and Catholicism is growing.
The Monarch being Head of the CoE really is an anachronism.
Time to get rid.
Defender of the Faithless.
Charles wants to be Defender of Faith rather than just Defender of the Faith. He can comfortably still be that given well over 50% of the population of England and Wales still described themselves as belonging to the Abrahamic religions ie Christianity, Judaism and Islam. More still have faith adding in Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims
If not Charles, then almost certainly his successor will have to consider the faithless majority.
Still only 37% and depends on immigration too. The vast majority of switching to non religious are native British whites.
British Asians are overwhelmingly Muslim, Hindu or Sikh. Black British are mainly Christians, especially Pentecostal. Poles in the UK tend to be Roman Catholic.
London and Birmingham already now majority non white British born and more religious than the rest of the UK.
So the more we get continued high immigration, the more the boats from Africa continue to come etc, the more religious we will continue to be
Something like two thirds of teenagers are estimated to be irreligious, so I think your confidence misplaced.
White British native teenagers mainly, who will have fewer children than immigrants growing up.
The more immigrants we get the more religious we get
And yet birth rates in highly religious countries - like Romania or Malta - are no better than in irreligious places.
And yet birth rates in highly religious countries - like Pakistan or the UAE - are way higher than in irreligious places.
My point is that there's no simple correlation. You can't just say - religious therefore lots of babies born. Hence Malta (where only 2% of the population are irreligious) has one of the lowest birthrates in the world.
Indeed, if you want to look at causation, I think it probably goes more like this:
Poor country -> more likely to have a high birthrate Poor country -> more likely to be religious
And the more the boats come from Africa and the more the migrants come from South Asia in turn the more religious we get again
While there has been some opposition to the offshore expansion of the Rampion wind farm off the Sussex coast, most of the debate has been about how the onshore bits get connected to the grid. This is the challenge with both offshore and onshore wind - ideally you want to build it as near to the people who will be using the power, and that’s where NIMBYs enter the frame. Personally I enjoy seeing the lights twinkling on the horizon - and marvel that Rampion 2 will be taller than the Eiffel Tower (though further out to sea). Try installing that on land!
One of the things I have always wondered in the case of wind farms is whether bigger is better. Does a 600ft tall turbine generate twice as much energy as 2x 300ft turbines?
I always blow the minds of people when I tell them you get more pizza with one 15 inch pizza than with 2 lots of 10 inch pizzas.
I always find it frustrating that people don't get the square and cube rules and are always amazed that some small things can jump relatively high distances, or that sparrows can have very thin legs or elephants can't jump or that cats can fall off windowsills unharmed yet we break bones, etc, etc and don't get that it is just an obvious function of mathematics/physics.
Dropping mammals down lift shafts: a mouse lives, a rat dies, a man breaks, a horse splashes.
JBS Haldane
Applies to money too, and talk of millions, billions and trillions - which get mixed up.
In a potential taxpaying population of 50 million (UK is about this):
£1m is 2p each
£1bn is £20 each
£1 tn is £20,000 each.
I think it was someone on here the other day who mentioned the difference between a million, a billion and a trillion in a way people can envisage.
1 million seconds is 11 days, 13 hours 46 minutes 1 billion seconds is 31 and a half years 1 trillion seconds is 31,688 years
Maybe I'm too much of a physicist, but what's so hard about 10^6 versus 10^9 versus 10^12? (Assuming short scale, of course)
Because people without a scientific way of thinking, are really, really bad at understanding large numbers.
Most people’s experience of money, for example, runs to no more than 10^4 or 10^5, an annual salary or the price of a house. This is important in politics, where talk of billions and trillions go straight over the heads of the majority of the population.
Surprising little commentary at the news that London and Birmingham are now minority white cities.
I had to check Auckland (still over 54% white, and New York (just 31% white, and indeed likely to see Latino become the single largest ethnic group this decade).
Those are New World cities of course, London must be uniquely diverse as an Old World city.
I would guess most people don't care either way and the people who get upset about it probably thought it happened twenty years ago. I've noticed it happening in my own household - used to be 50% white, now only 20%.
While there has been some opposition to the offshore expansion of the Rampion wind farm off the Sussex coast, most of the debate has been about how the onshore bits get connected to the grid. This is the challenge with both offshore and onshore wind - ideally you want to build it as near to the people who will be using the power, and that’s where NIMBYs enter the frame. Personally I enjoy seeing the lights twinkling on the horizon - and marvel that Rampion 2 will be taller than the Eiffel Tower (though further out to sea). Try installing that on land!
One of the things I have always wondered in the case of wind farms is whether bigger is better. Does a 600ft tall turbine generate twice as much energy as 2x 300ft turbines?
I always blow the minds of people when I tell them you get more pizza with one 15 inch pizza than with 2 lots of 10 inch pizzas.
I always find it frustrating that people don't get the square and cube rules and are always amazed that some small things can jump relatively high distances, or that sparrows can have very thin legs or elephants can't jump or that cats can fall off windowsills unharmed yet we break bones, etc, etc and don't get that it is just an obvious function of mathematics/physics.
Dropping mammals down lift shafts: a mouse lives, a rat dies, a man breaks, a horse splashes.
JBS Haldane
Applies to money too, and talk of millions, billions and trillions - which get mixed up.
In a potential taxpaying population of 50 million (UK is about this):
£1m is 2p each
£1bn is £20 each
£1 tn is £20,000 each.
I think it was someone on here the other day who mentioned the difference between a million, a billion and a trillion in a way people can envisage.
1 million seconds is 11 days, 13 hours 46 minutes 1 billion seconds is 31 and a half years 1 trillion seconds is 31,688 years
Maybe I'm too much of a physicist, but what's so hard about 10^6 versus 10^9 versus 10^12? (Assuming short scale, of course)
Billion is ambiguous anyway - certainly for anyone over perhaps 40 or 50. I don't like using it for that reason, as I am nevr quite sure it is correctly understood.
While there has been some opposition to the offshore expansion of the Rampion wind farm off the Sussex coast, most of the debate has been about how the onshore bits get connected to the grid. This is the challenge with both offshore and onshore wind - ideally you want to build it as near to the people who will be using the power, and that’s where NIMBYs enter the frame. Personally I enjoy seeing the lights twinkling on the horizon - and marvel that Rampion 2 will be taller than the Eiffel Tower (though further out to sea). Try installing that on land!
One of the things I have always wondered in the case of wind farms is whether bigger is better. Does a 600ft tall turbine generate twice as much energy as 2x 300ft turbines?
I always blow the minds of people when I tell them you get more pizza with one 15 inch pizza than with 2 lots of 10 inch pizzas.
I always find it frustrating that people don't get the square and cube rules and are always amazed that some small things can jump relatively high distances, or that sparrows can have very thin legs or elephants can't jump or that cats can fall off windowsills unharmed yet we break bones, etc, etc and don't get that it is just an obvious function of mathematics/physics.
Dropping mammals down lift shafts: a mouse lives, a rat dies, a man breaks, a horse splashes.
JBS Haldane
Applies to money too, and talk of millions, billions and trillions - which get mixed up.
In a potential taxpaying population of 50 million (UK is about this):
£1m is 2p each
£1bn is £20 each
£1 tn is £20,000 each.
I think it was someone on here the other day who mentioned the difference between a million, a billion and a trillion in a way people can envisage.
1 million seconds is 11 days, 13 hours 46 minutes 1 billion seconds is 31 and a half years 1 trillion seconds is 31,688 years
Maybe I'm too much of a physicist, but what's so hard about 10^6 versus 10^9 versus 10^12? (Assuming short scale, of course)
Because people without a scientific way of thinking, are really, really bad at understanding large numbers.
Most people’s experience of money, for example, runs to no more than 10^4 or 10^5, an annual salary or the price of a house. This is important in politics, where talk of billions and trillions go straight over the heads of the majority of the population.
Surprising little commentary at the news that London and Birmingham are now minority white cities.
I had to check Auckland (still over 54% white, and New York (just 31% white, and indeed likely to see Latino become the single largest ethnic group this decade).
Those are New World cities of course, London must be uniquely diverse as an Old World city.
Of course in this country and other European countries latinos would mostly be counted as white.
Had experience of Hinkley C to draw on since then....
Frankly the attitude of Green politicians to nuclear has always been poor, and ultimately misguided. Assuming we one day crack fusion (possible, but not guaranteed) or get enough renewables plus storage then we never need use fission again. Great. But until then we need energy now, can use fission (albeit with risks and legacy storage issues) and stop using fossil fuels (a finite resource and a threat through climate change). And yet the Greens hate it.
Sometimes its hard not to think they would prefer us all to either (A) die or (B) regress back to the 16th century rather than use nuclear to help the current situation.
There are three fundamental issues with nuclear:
(1) It's expensive. (2) It's not particularly reliable. (3) It's not flexible.
Against that, it's another form of generation that is uncorrelated with sun, wind, fossil fuel prices. It probably has a place in the generating mix, if only to add resiliency. But it's no coincidence that the number of merchant nuclear power stations in the world is zero.
There's no shortage of fuel, and supplies are available from non-petro states. so it provides a hedge.
If we crack fusion, though, we'll be laughing. And soon shuttering the fission plants.
Surprising little commentary at the news that London and Birmingham are now minority white cities.
I had to check Auckland (still over 54% white, and New York (just 31% white, and indeed likely to see Latino become the single largest ethnic group this decade).
Those are New World cities of course, London must be uniquely diverse as an Old World city.
I would guess most people don't care either way and the people who get upset about it probably thought it happened twenty years ago. I've noticed it happening in my own household - used to be 50% white, now only 20%.
The rise of Trump, Meloni, Le Pen, Farage etc though linked to white nationalism
Had experience of Hinkley C to draw on since then....
Frankly the attitude of Green politicians to nuclear has always been poor, and ultimately misguided. Assuming we one day crack fusion (possible, but not guaranteed) or get enough renewables plus storage then we never need use fission again. Great. But until then we need energy now, can use fission (albeit with risks and legacy storage issues) and stop using fossil fuels (a finite resource and a threat through climate change). And yet the Greens hate it.
Sometimes its hard not to think they would prefer us all to either (A) die or (B) regress back to the 16th century rather than use nuclear to help the current situation.
There are three fundamental issues with nuclear:
(1) It's expensive. (2) It's not particularly reliable. (3) It's not flexible.
Against that, it's another form of generation that is uncorrelated with sun, wind, fossil fuel prices. It probably has a place in the generating mix, if only to add resiliency. But it's no coincidence that the number of merchant nuclear power stations in the world is zero.
There's no shortage of fuel, and supplies are available from non-petro states. so it provides a hedge.
If we crack fusion, though, we'll be laughing. And soon shuttering the fission plants.
{Giggles, evilly, at the thought of free neutrons....}
Why doesn't Elon just set the price at $11.42 from the apple store and $8 for an APK sideload ?
I mean people with Apple phones hardly tend to be price sensitive in the first place.
Funny how many supposedly hard-pressed-for-money people seem to own one.
Purchased on credit, just like the Range Rovers.
I have wondered for a while if the car financing system is going to be the next big financial blow up.
More likely that the new car market comes crashing down to Earth, because no-one can afford a £90k Range Rover with 8% APR. Probably a few hand-backs as redundancies tick up too, and the market for cheap used cars will stay strong.
Reverse mortgages, on the other hand, will be the likely next big financial blow-up.
Are those the same as equity release? I think they are capped here at the value of the property.
While there has been some opposition to the offshore expansion of the Rampion wind farm off the Sussex coast, most of the debate has been about how the onshore bits get connected to the grid. This is the challenge with both offshore and onshore wind - ideally you want to build it as near to the people who will be using the power, and that’s where NIMBYs enter the frame. Personally I enjoy seeing the lights twinkling on the horizon - and marvel that Rampion 2 will be taller than the Eiffel Tower (though further out to sea). Try installing that on land!
One of the things I have always wondered in the case of wind farms is whether bigger is better. Does a 600ft tall turbine generate twice as much energy as 2x 300ft turbines?
I always blow the minds of people when I tell them you get more pizza with one 15 inch pizza than with 2 lots of 10 inch pizzas.
I always find it frustrating that people don't get the square and cube rules and are always amazed that some small things can jump relatively high distances, or that sparrows can have very thin legs or elephants can't jump or that cats can fall off windowsills unharmed yet we break bones, etc, etc and don't get that it is just an obvious function of mathematics/physics.
Dropping mammals down lift shafts: a mouse lives, a rat dies, a man breaks, a horse splashes.
JBS Haldane
Applies to money too, and talk of millions, billions and trillions - which get mixed up.
In a potential taxpaying population of 50 million (UK is about this):
£1m is 2p each
£1bn is £20 each
£1 tn is £20,000 each.
I think it was someone on here the other day who mentioned the difference between a million, a billion and a trillion in a way people can envisage.
1 million seconds is 11 days, 13 hours 46 minutes 1 billion seconds is 31 and a half years 1 trillion seconds is 31,688 years
Maybe I'm too much of a physicist, but what's so hard about 10^6 versus 10^9 versus 10^12? (Assuming short scale, of course)
Because people without a scientific way of thinking, are really, really bad at understanding large numbers.
Most people’s experience of money, for example, runs to no more than 10^4 or 10^5, an annual salary or the price of a house. This is important in politics, where talk of billions and trillions go straight over the heads of the majority of the population.
Yeah, I wasn't being serious I remember a nice video with a guy walking, driving etc distances of various amounts of cash if you laid it end to end.
Another thing people struggle with is distances and relative sizes in space. I remember the first time I saw a scale model of the solar system, it was pretty mind blowing how big the sun is and how big the distances are.
While there has been some opposition to the offshore expansion of the Rampion wind farm off the Sussex coast, most of the debate has been about how the onshore bits get connected to the grid. This is the challenge with both offshore and onshore wind - ideally you want to build it as near to the people who will be using the power, and that’s where NIMBYs enter the frame. Personally I enjoy seeing the lights twinkling on the horizon - and marvel that Rampion 2 will be taller than the Eiffel Tower (though further out to sea). Try installing that on land!
One of the things I have always wondered in the case of wind farms is whether bigger is better. Does a 600ft tall turbine generate twice as much energy as 2x 300ft turbines?
I always blow the minds of people when I tell them you get more pizza with one 15 inch pizza than with 2 lots of 10 inch pizzas.
I always find it frustrating that people don't get the square and cube rules and are always amazed that some small things can jump relatively high distances, or that sparrows can have very thin legs or elephants can't jump or that cats can fall off windowsills unharmed yet we break bones, etc, etc and don't get that it is just an obvious function of mathematics/physics.
Dropping mammals down lift shafts: a mouse lives, a rat dies, a man breaks, a horse splashes.
JBS Haldane
Applies to money too, and talk of millions, billions and trillions - which get mixed up.
In a potential taxpaying population of 50 million (UK is about this):
£1m is 2p each
£1bn is £20 each
£1 tn is £20,000 each.
I think it was someone on here the other day who mentioned the difference between a million, a billion and a trillion in a way people can envisage.
1 million seconds is 11 days, 13 hours 46 minutes 1 billion seconds is 31 and a half years 1 trillion seconds is 31,688 years
Maybe I'm too much of a physicist, but what's so hard about 10^6 versus 10^9 versus 10^12? (Assuming short scale, of course)
It's more that most people are too little of a physicist (or mathematician).
Intuitively, 10^9 feels like half as much again as 10^6 to most people. We all know better of course, but sadly there are a lot of intelligent people (Mrs P. is one of them) whop just don't know what 10^9 means.
Had experience of Hinkley C to draw on since then....
Frankly the attitude of Green politicians to nuclear has always been poor, and ultimately misguided. Assuming we one day crack fusion (possible, but not guaranteed) or get enough renewables plus storage then we never need use fission again. Great. But until then we need energy now, can use fission (albeit with risks and legacy storage issues) and stop using fossil fuels (a finite resource and a threat through climate change). And yet the Greens hate it.
Sometimes its hard not to think they would prefer us all to either (A) die or (B) regress back to the 16th century rather than use nuclear to help the current situation.
There are three fundamental issues with nuclear:
(1) It's expensive. (2) It's not particularly reliable. (3) It's not flexible.
Against that, it's another form of generation that is uncorrelated with sun, wind, fossil fuel prices. It probably has a place in the generating mix, if only to add resiliency. But it's no coincidence that the number of merchant nuclear power stations in the world is zero.
Had experience of Hinkley C to draw on since then....
Frankly the attitude of Green politicians to nuclear has always been poor, and ultimately misguided. Assuming we one day crack fusion (possible, but not guaranteed) or get enough renewables plus storage then we never need use fission again. Great. But until then we need energy now, can use fission (albeit with risks and legacy storage issues) and stop using fossil fuels (a finite resource and a threat through climate change). And yet the Greens hate it.
Sometimes its hard not to think they would prefer us all to either (A) die or (B) regress back to the 16th century rather than use nuclear to help the current situation.
There are three fundamental issues with nuclear:
(1) It's expensive. (2) It's not particularly reliable. (3) It's not flexible.
Against that, it's another form of generation that is uncorrelated with sun, wind, fossil fuel prices. It probably has a place in the generating mix, if only to add resiliency. But it's no coincidence that the number of merchant nuclear power stations in the world is zero.
There's no shortage of fuel, and supplies are available from non-petro states. so it provides a hedge.
If we crack fusion, though, we'll be laughing. And soon shuttering the fission plants.
{Giggles, evilly, at the thought of free neutrons....}
Really? I thought everyone knew they had no charge.
Had experience of Hinkley C to draw on since then....
Frankly the attitude of Green politicians to nuclear has always been poor, and ultimately misguided. Assuming we one day crack fusion (possible, but not guaranteed) or get enough renewables plus storage then we never need use fission again. Great. But until then we need energy now, can use fission (albeit with risks and legacy storage issues) and stop using fossil fuels (a finite resource and a threat through climate change). And yet the Greens hate it.
Sometimes its hard not to think they would prefer us all to either (A) die or (B) regress back to the 16th century rather than use nuclear to help the current situation.
There are three fundamental issues with nuclear:
(1) It's expensive. (2) It's not particularly reliable. (3) It's not flexible.
Against that, it's another form of generation that is uncorrelated with sun, wind, fossil fuel prices. It probably has a place in the generating mix, if only to add resiliency. But it's no coincidence that the number of merchant nuclear power stations in the world is zero.
There's no shortage of fuel, and supplies are available from non-petro states. so it provides a hedge.
If we crack fusion, though, we'll be laughing. And soon shuttering the fission plants.
{Giggles, evilly, at the thought of free neutrons....}
Cheap, not free. And captured by the liquid lithium heat exchange system, conveniently producing a bit of tritium into the bargain. https://firstlightfusion.com/technology/power-plant ...The thick liquid lithium also blocks the neutrons from reaching the vessel, meaning that it will last for the lifetime of the plant. The liquid first wall also addresses the issue of very high heat flux. Some of the lithium will be vapourised by the energy release, but it simply recondenses.
There is a large amount of existing engineering that can be reused to realise this plant design. Fast breeder reactors, a type of nuclear plant, use liquid metal as the coolant, typically sodium or sodium-potassium mixture. The engineering from these plants can be ported over to lithium. After the lithium heat exchanger, the plant is identical to many other already working facilities...
Why doesn't Elon just set the price at $11.42 from the apple store and $8 for an APK sideload ?
I mean people with Apple phones hardly tend to be price sensitive in the first place.
Funny how many supposedly hard-pressed-for-money people seem to own one.
Purchased on credit, just like the Range Rovers.
I have wondered for a while if the car financing system is going to be the next big financial blow up.
More likely that the new car market comes crashing down to Earth, because no-one can afford a £90k Range Rover with 8% APR. Probably a few hand-backs as redundancies tick up too, and the market for cheap used cars will stay strong.
Reverse mortgages, on the other hand, will be the likely next big financial blow-up.
Are those the same as equity release? I think they are capped here at the value of the property.
Yes, and they are indeed capped way, way below the value of the property, to allow for depreciation in the asset and an actuarial estimate of the interest to accrue in future.
All that stops them being a massive scandal, is that those who are getting ripped off, are usually dead when it becomes apparent.
Had experience of Hinkley C to draw on since then....
Frankly the attitude of Green politicians to nuclear has always been poor, and ultimately misguided. Assuming we one day crack fusion (possible, but not guaranteed) or get enough renewables plus storage then we never need use fission again. Great. But until then we need energy now, can use fission (albeit with risks and legacy storage issues) and stop using fossil fuels (a finite resource and a threat through climate change). And yet the Greens hate it.
Sometimes its hard not to think they would prefer us all to either (A) die or (B) regress back to the 16th century rather than use nuclear to help the current situation.
There are three fundamental issues with nuclear:
(1) It's expensive. (2) It's not particularly reliable. (3) It's not flexible.
Against that, it's another form of generation that is uncorrelated with sun, wind, fossil fuel prices. It probably has a place in the generating mix, if only to add resiliency. But it's no coincidence that the number of merchant nuclear power stations in the world is zero.
In the UK, it seems to you can add
(4) The French (5) If not 4, the Chinese
4 and especially 5 is the reason why we should be doing everything we can to help Rolls Royce build their mini-nuclear stations.
Ah, so it's essentially using Imessage instead of SMS.
Doesn't everyone just use either Whatsapp or Facebook messenger anyway? Can't remember the last time I sent or received an actual SMS.
The US is one of the very few countries where a third party over-the-top messaging app does not dominate. So whilst everyone else manages with cross-platform apps like WhatsApp, WeChat, Messenger, Telegram and so on, so that essentially everyone can have all the rich instant messaging features, in the US you get about half the country using iMessage and everyone else having to put up with some broken SMS/MMS garbage as a result.
An upset in prospect in a Thursday by-election in my patch - the Tories have suspended their candidate in the (hitherto comfortably Tory-held) Chiddingford and Dunsfold Waverley Borough Council by-election on Thursday having discovered that he made a social media post that "could be considered to be inappropriate" - they have halted their campaign. The LibDems have targeted the seat, and Labour are standing as well.
The seat is classic Blue Wall and noted for some extremely expensive large houses - I've done a bit of (frankly not very fruitful) phone canvassing there and lots of homes have 5 or more voters. Ironically, the seat will disappear due to redistricting in May, so LibDems and Labour didn't try to trigger it when one of the current councillors sadly died, but the Tories went ahead and called it anyway.
Surprising little commentary at the news that London and Birmingham are now minority white cities.
I had to check Auckland (still over 54% white, and New York (just 31% white, and indeed likely to see Latino become the single largest ethnic group this decade).
Those are New World cities of course, London must be uniquely diverse as an Old World city.
Of course in this country and other European countries latinos would mostly be counted as white.
Maybe. I don’t know.
But if so, London is probably the Western world’s first majority non-white large metro.
In the context of “uncontrolled” European migration, that’s quite something.
Had experience of Hinkley C to draw on since then....
Frankly the attitude of Green politicians to nuclear has always been poor, and ultimately misguided. Assuming we one day crack fusion (possible, but not guaranteed) or get enough renewables plus storage then we never need use fission again. Great. But until then we need energy now, can use fission (albeit with risks and legacy storage issues) and stop using fossil fuels (a finite resource and a threat through climate change). And yet the Greens hate it.
Sometimes its hard not to think they would prefer us all to either (A) die or (B) regress back to the 16th century rather than use nuclear to help the current situation.
There are three fundamental issues with nuclear:
(1) It's expensive. (2) It's not particularly reliable. (3) It's not flexible.
Against that, it's another form of generation that is uncorrelated with sun, wind, fossil fuel prices. It probably has a place in the generating mix, if only to add resiliency. But it's no coincidence that the number of merchant nuclear power stations in the world is zero.
There's no shortage of fuel, and supplies are available from non-petro states. so it provides a hedge.
If we crack fusion, though, we'll be laughing. And soon shuttering the fission plants.
{Giggles, evilly, at the thought of free neutrons....}
Cheap, not free. And captured by the liquid lithium heat exchange system, conveniently producing a bit of tritium into the bargain. https://firstlightfusion.com/technology/power-plant ...The thick liquid lithium also blocks the neutrons from reaching the vessel, meaning that it will last for the lifetime of the plant. The liquid first wall also addresses the issue of very high heat flux. Some of the lithium will be vapourised by the energy release, but it simply recondenses.
There is a large amount of existing engineering that can be reused to realise this plant design. Fast breeder reactors, a type of nuclear plant, use liquid metal as the coolant, typically sodium or sodium-potassium mixture. The engineering from these plants can be ported over to lithium. After the lithium heat exchanger, the plant is identical to many other already working facilities...
Or slabs of uranium if you are that kind of person.
The free neutrons thing is about the fact that you have a staggering amount of neutrons you don't want.
Turn them into nice nuclear weapons. It will make so many people, so so happy.
While there has been some opposition to the offshore expansion of the Rampion wind farm off the Sussex coast, most of the debate has been about how the onshore bits get connected to the grid. This is the challenge with both offshore and onshore wind - ideally you want to build it as near to the people who will be using the power, and that’s where NIMBYs enter the frame. Personally I enjoy seeing the lights twinkling on the horizon - and marvel that Rampion 2 will be taller than the Eiffel Tower (though further out to sea). Try installing that on land!
One of the things I have always wondered in the case of wind farms is whether bigger is better. Does a 600ft tall turbine generate twice as much energy as 2x 300ft turbines?
I always blow the minds of people when I tell them you get more pizza with one 15 inch pizza than with 2 lots of 10 inch pizzas.
I always find it frustrating that people don't get the square and cube rules and are always amazed that some small things can jump relatively high distances, or that sparrows can have very thin legs or elephants can't jump or that cats can fall off windowsills unharmed yet we break bones, etc, etc and don't get that it is just an obvious function of mathematics/physics.
Dropping mammals down lift shafts: a mouse lives, a rat dies, a man breaks, a horse splashes.
JBS Haldane
Applies to money too, and talk of millions, billions and trillions - which get mixed up.
In a potential taxpaying population of 50 million (UK is about this):
£1m is 2p each
£1bn is £20 each
£1 tn is £20,000 each.
I think it was someone on here the other day who mentioned the difference between a million, a billion and a trillion in a way people can envisage.
1 million seconds is 11 days, 13 hours 46 minutes 1 billion seconds is 31 and a half years 1 trillion seconds is 31,688 years
Maybe I'm too much of a physicist, but what's so hard about 10^6 versus 10^9 versus 10^12? (Assuming short scale, of course)
Billion is ambiguous anyway - certainly for anyone over perhaps 40 or 50. I don't like using it for that reason, as I am nevr quite sure it is correctly understood.
While there has been some opposition to the offshore expansion of the Rampion wind farm off the Sussex coast, most of the debate has been about how the onshore bits get connected to the grid. This is the challenge with both offshore and onshore wind - ideally you want to build it as near to the people who will be using the power, and that’s where NIMBYs enter the frame. Personally I enjoy seeing the lights twinkling on the horizon - and marvel that Rampion 2 will be taller than the Eiffel Tower (though further out to sea). Try installing that on land!
One of the things I have always wondered in the case of wind farms is whether bigger is better. Does a 600ft tall turbine generate twice as much energy as 2x 300ft turbines?
I always blow the minds of people when I tell them you get more pizza with one 15 inch pizza than with 2 lots of 10 inch pizzas.
I always find it frustrating that people don't get the square and cube rules and are always amazed that some small things can jump relatively high distances, or that sparrows can have very thin legs or elephants can't jump or that cats can fall off windowsills unharmed yet we break bones, etc, etc and don't get that it is just an obvious function of mathematics/physics.
Dropping mammals down lift shafts: a mouse lives, a rat dies, a man breaks, a horse splashes.
JBS Haldane
Applies to money too, and talk of millions, billions and trillions - which get mixed up.
In a potential taxpaying population of 50 million (UK is about this):
£1m is 2p each
£1bn is £20 each
£1 tn is £20,000 each.
I think it was someone on here the other day who mentioned the difference between a million, a billion and a trillion in a way people can envisage.
1 million seconds is 11 days, 13 hours 46 minutes 1 billion seconds is 31 and a half years 1 trillion seconds is 31,688 years
Maybe I'm too much of a physicist, but what's so hard about 10^6 versus 10^9 versus 10^12? (Assuming short scale, of course)
It's more that most people are too little of a physicist (or mathematician).
Intuitively, 10^9 feels like half as much again as 10^6 to most people. We all know better of course, but sadly there are a lot of intelligent people (Mrs P. is one of them) whop just don't know what 10^9 means.
I am appalled by the claim that there are only 10^80 particles in the observable universe. It seems pitifully few.
Surprising little commentary at the news that London and Birmingham are now minority white cities.
I had to check Auckland (still over 54% white, and New York (just 31% white, and indeed likely to see Latino become the single largest ethnic group this decade).
Those are New World cities of course, London must be uniquely diverse as an Old World city.
You should see the shocking number of Latinos in cities like Rome and Madrid. I don't know what the world's coming to.
An upset in prospect in a Thursday by-election in my patch - the Tories have suspended their candidate in the (hitherto comfortably Tory-held) Chiddingford and Dunsfold Waverley Borough Council by-election on Thursday having discovered that he made a social media post that "could be considered to be inappropriate" - they have halted their campaign. The LibDems have targeted the seat, and Labour are standing as well.
The seat is classic Blue Wall and noted for some extremely expensive large houses - I've done a bit of (frankly not very fruitful) phone canvassing there and lots of homes have 5 or more voters. Ironically, the seat will disappear due to redistricting in May, so LibDems and Labour didn't try to trigger it when one of the current councillors sadly died, but the Tories went ahead and called it anyway.
What is the status of the development of the airfield Nick. Is it going ahead because that must be a big voting issue. Lots and lots of houses and no more top gear. Went to watch top gear there once.
While there has been some opposition to the offshore expansion of the Rampion wind farm off the Sussex coast, most of the debate has been about how the onshore bits get connected to the grid. This is the challenge with both offshore and onshore wind - ideally you want to build it as near to the people who will be using the power, and that’s where NIMBYs enter the frame. Personally I enjoy seeing the lights twinkling on the horizon - and marvel that Rampion 2 will be taller than the Eiffel Tower (though further out to sea). Try installing that on land!
One of the things I have always wondered in the case of wind farms is whether bigger is better. Does a 600ft tall turbine generate twice as much energy as 2x 300ft turbines?
I always blow the minds of people when I tell them you get more pizza with one 15 inch pizza than with 2 lots of 10 inch pizzas.
I always find it frustrating that people don't get the square and cube rules and are always amazed that some small things can jump relatively high distances, or that sparrows can have very thin legs or elephants can't jump or that cats can fall off windowsills unharmed yet we break bones, etc, etc and don't get that it is just an obvious function of mathematics/physics.
Dropping mammals down lift shafts: a mouse lives, a rat dies, a man breaks, a horse splashes.
JBS Haldane
Applies to money too, and talk of millions, billions and trillions - which get mixed up.
In a potential taxpaying population of 50 million (UK is about this):
£1m is 2p each
£1bn is £20 each
£1 tn is £20,000 each.
I think it was someone on here the other day who mentioned the difference between a million, a billion and a trillion in a way people can envisage.
1 million seconds is 11 days, 13 hours 46 minutes 1 billion seconds is 31 and a half years 1 trillion seconds is 31,688 years
Maybe I'm too much of a physicist, but what's so hard about 10^6 versus 10^9 versus 10^12? (Assuming short scale, of course)
It's more that most people are too little of a physicist (or mathematician).
Intuitively, 10^9 feels like half as much again as 10^6 to most people. We all know better of course, but sadly there are a lot of intelligent people (Mrs P. is one of them) whop just don't know what 10^9 means.
I am appalled by the claim that there are only 10^80 particles in the observable universe. It seems pitifully few.
Yes, that’s the ‘grains of rice on a chessboard’ problem. It seems easy, until you realise that (2^64 -1), the number of grains on the last square, is many orders of magnitude higher than the world’s production of rice!
Weather or Not You Want It Report - It's snowing in Seattle!
Started to flurry couple of hours ago, snow is now accumulating on my humble front porch (temp just above freezing) so far NOT on roads.
We have a winter storm advisory for all of Western Washington, expecting a couple of inches in the lowlands, more in foothills, WAY more up in the mountains.
BTW, today is the day when counties in WA State certify their results for 2022 general election. Was planning on heading up to neighboring county, where there's a close legislative race heading for mandatory recount.
HOWEVER, am reconsidering based on the snow, as local roads are gonna be a mess. Plus fact that, even though there's a recount, the margin is simply too large for the result to be overturned.
Surprising little commentary at the news that London and Birmingham are now minority white cities.
I had to check Auckland (still over 54% white, and New York (just 31% white, and indeed likely to see Latino become the single largest ethnic group this decade).
Those are New World cities of course, London must be uniquely diverse as an Old World city.
You should see the shocking number of Latinos in cities like Rome and Madrid. I don't know what the world's coming to.
Latinos doesn’t mean “Italian” or even “Spanish”, though.
I've done some very rough numbers on onshore wind to power all domestic energy use
I chose Scout Moor wind farm pretty much at random. It's quite old; was started fifteen years ago. So some prices will have gone up a lot, but I'd guess some prices would come down if we did a huge program of making and building this stuff ourselves
Scout Moor cost £50m for 26 turbines, about £2m per turbine
It produces the current total energy use of 40,000 homes, or about 1,500 per turbine
When running at maximum capacity, a single turbine will provide peak electricity demand for about 1,000 homes
When we triple total electricity usage per household by turning to electric heating and cars, then one turbine will provide the annual energy for about 500 homes
This works out quite well with peak electricity demand probably doubling to take account of heating and lights in winter
But this assumes perfect energy storage
We're nowhere near that, so I think we need to nearly double the number of turbines to get to 300 homes per turbine
And everyone would need a battery room at home
How much would a 100kWh battery cost? That would power the average household for almost a fortnight on current demand
So, say price per turbine is now £3m, but with no increase in efficiency from 2007, it would cost about £10,000 per household to get their turbine built, and about the same for the battery room (I'm completely guessing there)
So about £20,000 per household for pretty much free energy (obviously will have to pay toward maintenance and replacements eventually)
Not much over half a trillion to make us totally onshore wind powered
Done over ten years that wouldn't be totally insane
And we obviously don't need to do it all with onshore wind. Or have every house with a battery room
All this talk of Latinos...I thought that was a bit like BAME, now deemed offensive...it had to be LatinX.
Our US division got mad push back when the local HR team tried to do that. Loads of reply all emails from Latino people telling them to get fucked in different ways. I think they just use "Latin American people" now.
Noticeable how Luton and Leicester stick out on that map...
When the churches are full - and quite a few Catholic churches are - they are full of people who recently came from the still very, very catholic countries. Like Peru.
9% of the English population is Catholic (IIRC) - something like 20% are CoE
But actual church attendance rates are double for Catholics, IIRC.
Which means that we are close to a point where there will be more practising Catholics than practising members of the CoE, since CoE is shrinking and Catholicism is growing.
The Monarch being Head of the CoE really is an anachronism.
Time to get rid.
Defender of the Faithless.
Charles wants to be Defender of Faith rather than just Defender of the Faith. He can comfortably still be that given well over 50% of the population of England and Wales still described themselves as belonging to the Abrahamic religions ie Christianity, Judaism and Islam. More still have faith adding in Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims
If not Charles, then almost certainly his successor will have to consider the faithless majority.
Still only 37% and depends on immigration too. The vast majority of switching to non religious are native British whites.
British Asians are overwhelmingly Muslim, Hindu or Sikh. Black British are mainly Christians, especially Pentecostal. Poles in the UK tend to be Roman Catholic.
London and Birmingham already now majority non white British born and more religious than the rest of the UK.
So the more we get continued high immigration, the more the boats from Africa continue to come etc, the more religious we will continue to be
Something like two thirds of teenagers are estimated to be irreligious, so I think your confidence misplaced.
White British native teenagers mainly, who will have fewer children than immigrants growing up.
The more immigrants we get the more religious we get
And yet birth rates in highly religious countries - like Romania or Malta - are no better than in irreligious places.
And yet birth rates in highly religious countries - like Pakistan or the UAE - are way higher than in irreligious places.
My point is that there's no simple correlation. You can't just say - religious therefore lots of babies born. Hence Malta (where only 2% of the population are irreligious) has one of the lowest birthrates in the world.
Indeed, if you want to look at causation, I think it probably goes more like this:
Poor country -> more likely to have a high birthrate Poor country -> more likely to be religious
And the more the boats come from Africa and the more the migrants come from South Asia in turn the more religious we get again
All this talk of Latinos...I thought that was a bit like BAME, now deemed offensive...it had to be LatinX.
Wasn’t that the term that rich white educated Americans decided should be used for people of South American origin, for reasons of gender ambiguity - without asking them first, and with a predictable backlash?
Noticeable how Luton and Leicester stick out on that map...
When the churches are full - and quite a few Catholic churches are - they are full of people who recently came from the still very, very catholic countries. Like Peru.
9% of the English population is Catholic (IIRC) - something like 20% are CoE
But actual church attendance rates are double for Catholics, IIRC.
Which means that we are close to a point where there will be more practising Catholics than practising members of the CoE, since CoE is shrinking and Catholicism is growing.
The Monarch being Head of the CoE really is an anachronism.
Time to get rid.
Defender of the Faithless.
Charles wants to be Defender of Faith rather than just Defender of the Faith. He can comfortably still be that given well over 50% of the population of England and Wales still described themselves as belonging to the Abrahamic religions ie Christianity, Judaism and Islam. More still have faith adding in Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims
If not Charles, then almost certainly his successor will have to consider the faithless majority.
Still only 37% and depends on immigration too. The vast majority of switching to non religious are native British whites.
British Asians are overwhelmingly Muslim, Hindu or Sikh. Black British are mainly Christians, especially Pentecostal. Poles in the UK tend to be Roman Catholic.
London and Birmingham already now majority non white British born and more religious than the rest of the UK.
So the more we get continued high immigration, the more the boats from Africa continue to come etc, the more religious we will continue to be
Something like two thirds of teenagers are estimated to be irreligious, so I think your confidence misplaced.
White British native teenagers mainly, who will have fewer children than immigrants growing up.
The more immigrants we get the more religious we get
And yet birth rates in highly religious countries - like Romania or Malta - are no better than in irreligious places.
And yet birth rates in highly religious countries - like Pakistan or the UAE - are way higher than in irreligious places.
My point is that there's no simple correlation. You can't just say - religious therefore lots of babies born. Hence Malta (where only 2% of the population are irreligious) has one of the lowest birthrates in the world.
Indeed, if you want to look at causation, I think it probably goes more like this:
Poor country -> more likely to have a high birthrate Poor country -> more likely to be religious
And the more the boats come from Africa and the more the migrants come from South Asia in turn the more religious we get again
All this talk of Latinos...I thought that was a bit like BAME, now deemed offensive...it had to be LatinX.
Wasn’t that the term that rich white educated Americans decided should be used for people of South American origin, for reasons of gender ambiguity - without asking them first, and with a predictable backlash?
Yeap......I mean I think Latino doesn't always go down in itself. People from Cuba don't exactly like being lumped in with say Mexicans, in the same way as some on here wouldn't like to be lumped interchangbly with the French.
It's curious the events that pundits have proclaimed to be 'great news for Nigel Farage' over the years. Cameron sacking Owen Paterson, Grant Shapps mentioning 'Bingo' in a budget tweet are two that spring to mind. Yet still the man's career never rises above right-wing shock jock and Trump groupie. Why is this?
“Dr. Fauci: "Almost certain" we didn't fund the Wuhan virus that became Covid-19”
They are going from “lab leak is a baseless racist conspiracy theory” to “ok maybe it came from the lab but at least America didn’t fund the gain of function research. Probably”
Comments
I had huge reactions to the boosters I've had (both mRNA delivery vaccines). Truly nasty, very high fever, felt awful etc. Lasted 24-36 hours then over. Way better than some peoples covid illness, but as I've not knowingly had covid, I can't compare.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-63797896
I had to check Auckland (still over 54% white, and New York (just 31% white, and indeed likely to see Latino become the single largest ethnic group this decade).
Those are New World cities of course, London must be uniquely diverse as an Old World city.
Bit like The Swedish Knight....
When I went to get mine done there was a steady trickle of punters rather than a flood, so I very much doubt you'll be doing an octogenarian out of their entitlement. If you want one, just go for it.
Doesn't everyone just use either Whatsapp or Facebook messenger anyway? Can't remember the last time I sent or received an actual SMS.
Although I'm pretty sure he was just repeating the dishonest drivel the Scottish Greens keep coming out with that Scotland has 25% of all Europe's offshore wind potential (which it doesn't).
Indeed, if you want to look at causation, I think it probably goes more like this:
Poor country -> more likely to have a high birthrate
Poor country -> more likely to be religious
Use Signal instead.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/nov/29/clarence-gilyard-death-top-gun-actor-texas-ranger
Only a small number of people actually fork out a significant amount upfront for a phone (to lower their monthly) and you often have to search out those deals.
Theo: [Over the CB, as the police SWAT team closes in] Alright, listen up guys. 'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring — except for the four assholes coming in the rear in standard two-by-two cover formation.
(Assuming short scale, of course)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11481771/Blunder-COVID-lab-linked-deaths-20-people-investigators-say.html
Reverse mortgages, on the other hand, will be the likely next big financial blow-up.
Most people’s experience of money, for example, runs to no more than 10^4 or 10^5, an annual salary or the price of a house. This is important in politics, where talk of billions and trillions go straight over the heads of the majority of the population.
I've noticed it happening in my own household - used to be 50% white, now only 20%.
https://youtu.be/cKKHSAE1gIs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_United_Kingdom_general_election
Where recently labour had a tiny uptick on end of graph it has now vanished. Who was arguing with me such a thing is impossible?
If we crack fusion, though, we'll be laughing. And soon shuttering the fission plants.
Another thing people struggle with is distances and relative sizes in space. I remember the first time I saw a scale model of the solar system, it was pretty mind blowing how big the sun is and how big the distances are.
Intuitively, 10^9 feels like half as much again as 10^6 to most people. We all know better of course, but sadly there are a lot of intelligent people (Mrs P. is one of them) whop just don't know what 10^9 means.
(4) The French
(5) If not 4, the Chinese
And captured by the liquid lithium heat exchange system, conveniently producing a bit of tritium into the bargain.
https://firstlightfusion.com/technology/power-plant
...The thick liquid lithium also blocks the neutrons from reaching the vessel, meaning that it will last for the lifetime of the plant. The liquid first wall also addresses the issue of very high heat flux. Some of the lithium will be vapourised by the energy release, but it simply recondenses.
There is a large amount of existing engineering that can be reused to realise this plant design. Fast breeder reactors, a type of nuclear plant, use liquid metal as the coolant, typically sodium or sodium-potassium mixture. The engineering from these plants can be ported over to lithium. After the lithium heat exchanger, the plant is identical to many other already working facilities...
All that stops them being a massive scandal, is that those who are getting ripped off, are usually dead when it becomes apparent.
Maybe one day they will figure it out.
The seat is classic Blue Wall and noted for some extremely expensive large houses - I've done a bit of (frankly not very fruitful) phone canvassing there and lots of homes have 5 or more voters. Ironically, the seat will disappear due to redistricting in May, so LibDems and Labour didn't try to trigger it when one of the current councillors sadly died, but the Tories went ahead and called it anyway.
But if so, London is probably the Western world’s first majority non-white large metro.
In the context of “uncontrolled” European migration, that’s quite something.
Sydney (just checking) is 60% white.
The free neutrons thing is about the fact that you have a staggering amount of neutrons you don't want.
Turn them into nice nuclear weapons. It will make so many people, so so happy.
https://www.mathscareers.org.uk/the-rice-and-chessboard-legend/
If the average person gets really confused by millions and trillions, they get impossibly confused by exponential powers.
Started to flurry couple of hours ago, snow is now accumulating on my humble front porch (temp just above freezing) so far NOT on roads.
We have a winter storm advisory for all of Western Washington, expecting a couple of inches in the lowlands, more in foothills, WAY more up in the mountains.
BTW, today is the day when counties in WA State certify their results for 2022 general election. Was planning on heading up to neighboring county, where there's a close legislative race heading for mandatory recount.
HOWEVER, am reconsidering based on the snow, as local roads are gonna be a mess. Plus fact that, even though there's a recount, the margin is simply too large for the result to be overturned.
A Nigel Farage insurgency is the inevitable result
BY MATTHEW GOODWIN"
https://unherd.com/2022/11/the-tory-immigration-failure/
Not noticeably better in A&E
“Here’s what it’s like when your kids get sick in Québec right now – a long thread.”
https://twitter.com/emer_otoole/status/1595973235073585152?s=46&t=fDY6h9wP5ctAuSTbGsWVFA
I chose Scout Moor wind farm pretty much at random. It's quite old; was started fifteen years ago. So some prices will have gone up a lot, but I'd guess some prices would come down if we did a huge program of making and building this stuff ourselves
Scout Moor cost £50m for 26 turbines, about £2m per turbine
It produces the current total energy use of 40,000 homes, or about 1,500 per turbine
When running at maximum capacity, a single turbine will provide peak electricity demand for about 1,000 homes
When we triple total electricity usage per household by turning to electric heating and cars, then one turbine will provide the annual energy for about 500 homes
This works out quite well with peak electricity demand probably doubling to take account of heating and lights in winter
But this assumes perfect energy storage
We're nowhere near that, so I think we need to nearly double the number of turbines to get to 300 homes per turbine
And everyone would need a battery room at home
How much would a 100kWh battery cost? That would power the average household for almost a fortnight on current demand
So, say price per turbine is now £3m, but with no increase in efficiency from 2007, it would cost about £10,000 per household to get their turbine built, and about the same for the battery room (I'm completely guessing there)
So about £20,000 per household for pretty much free energy (obviously will have to pay toward maintenance and replacements eventually)
Not much over half a trillion to make us totally onshore wind powered
Done over ten years that wouldn't be totally insane
And we obviously don't need to do it all with onshore wind. Or have every house with a battery room
“Dr. Fauci: "Almost certain" we didn't fund the Wuhan virus that became Covid-19”
They are going from “lab leak is a baseless racist conspiracy theory” to “ok maybe it came from the lab but at least America didn’t fund the gain of function research. Probably”
https://twitter.com/tomselliott/status/1597346624086343681?s=46&t=fDY6h9wP5ctAuSTbGsWVFA
So that’s cool then. America “almost certainly” didn’t pay to kill 20 million people