Is there anything this forum does like?

[Twister_Ken]

Quite fond of topless go-go dancers, myself.

 

[Seven Spades]

Mrs Thatcher

 

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

I may have to force myself to like:

Jetskiers
The Euro
Motor Boats going fast in 5 knot limit
The Bankers
Middle East leaders (and some European)
The Drachma
Deep Fin keels
Spinnakers
Seagulls landing on my boat

 

[Searush]

(snip)
Seagulls landing on my boat

TBH they can land on it as much as they like. Gulls are a part of shoreside atmosphere & largely appear to emulate forumites with their raucous argumentative squabbles over trifling tit-bits.

But I do wish they would tidy up after lunch & not stay to shit all over the canvas work & teak trim. Being a servant & cleaner after the gulls is rather irritating, it's not as if there isn't enough to do clearing up my own detritous.

 

[Elessar]

We don't appear to like:

1. Sea horses
2. Wind farms
3. The Olympics
4. Rocna

Etc

Could we perhaps make 2012 the year when we like something?

A Happy New Year to you all.

jet skis!

(have I missed the point )

OK on the like front,

Surely we all just like being on the water? Whatever type of vessel we choose.

 

[chewi]

Belgium?

 

[lustyd]

Care to produce any theories, factoids or references to back this extraordinary observation up?

- W

It's basic physics, if you remove energy from a system then that system will have less energy. The energy must come from somewhere since it can be neither created nor destroyed. The planet has no way of compensating for us removing energy from the wind and therefore something will change. Lots of people currently hold the opinion that the world is so big that we cannot make a difference by using windmills - but then most people used to think we couldn't affect such a large planet by burning oil.
I'm not saying that we shouldn't use windmills but the idea that nothing will change is absurd. Tidal power could have a quite dramatic effect on the channel too given the way our tides work. Tidal power has the potential to remove the predictability of our tides in the channel at the very least.

 

[photodog]

We are not removing energy... we are just converting it into something else... which then contains this potential energy until it is released.

 

[lustyd]

We are not removing energy... we are just converting it into something else... which then contains this potential energy until it is released.

It's no longer a part of the system so you are indeed removing the energy. There are pretty basic experiments to show this effect. For instance, when running a generator to charge a large bank of batteries, the generator will run harder when the batteries are being charged than if they are disconnected. The fact that you still have some of the energy is irrelevant because it's no longer in the original system. If there was something which relied upon that energy being there it would then be affected. For instance, when removing energy from the wind you could be affecting the weather ( wind speed, humidity, precipitation, cloud cover) which could have knock on effects for temperature where cloud cover changes, or for crops for a similar reason.

The simple fact is you don't know whether these things will be affected and neither do I but history tends to suggest that every time Man jumps head first into anything with the potential to affect nature, we tend to destroy the planet just a little bit more. Just because on a small scale it looks to have no effect, does not mean that there is none just that you cannot see that effect.

 

[jimi]

For instance, when removing energy from the wind you could be affecting the weather ( wind speed, humidity, precipitation, cloud cover) which could have knock on effects for temperature where cloud cover changes, or for crops for a similar reason.

Better stop growing trees, building houses ,other structures and sailing then.

 

[photodog]

Your view of the system is too short term. You need to realise that the planets system exists over millenia... versus mankinds which is decades. The planets system is a system of continual flux... with energy being exchanged and stored and released over millions of years... and that system embraces the impact made by external influences.. such as meteorites impact, solar events, and life.

So we think that a change made from our viewpoint is catastrophic and is essentially changing the world around us... whereas Gaia just thinks of it as another normal event in the never ending millenia of events that drives the evolution of the planet.

 

[Blueboatman]

Surely if we build enough windmills and tall buildings-indeed the Spinnaker tower comes to mind-then we can actually get the world to spin faster and faster?
Now that would be something.

I always thought 365 was an odd number in a metricated world order

 

[CreakyDecks]

For instance, when running a generator to charge a large bank of batteries, the generator will run harder when the batteries are being charged than if they are disconnected. The fact that you still have some of the energy is irrelevant because it's no longer in the original system.

Of course it's not irrelevant. You could use the energy stored in the batteries to run the generator as a motor. It's complete nonsense to say that using a wind turbine takes energy out of "the system" whatever that might be. Energy cannot be destroyed. Eventually it will all end up being transferred back into "the system" as heat. The amount of energy taken out by wind turbines is a drop in the ocean compared to the amount added to "the system" by burning fossil fuels and generating nuclear power.
When I am next stealing mother nature's energy by sailing my boat, I am not going to worry about the earth's rotation grinding to a halt or whatever armageddon scenario you envisage.

 

[Twister_Ken]

What drives the wind is pressure differential (innit?). Can't see how turning a windmill is going to affect the atmospheric pressure uphill or downhill. I could accept some local (hundreds of metres) skewing and turbulence, but nothing deleterious on a macro scale. After all, waterwheels don't stop rivers flowing.

Quite happy to accept several million quid as a research grant to think about this further, though.

 

[Searush]

It's basic physics, if you remove energy from a system then that system will have less energy. The energy must come from somewhere since it can be neither created nor destroyed. The planet has no way of compensating for us removing energy from the wind and therefore something will change. Lots of people currently hold the opinion that the world is so big that we cannot make a difference by using windmills - but then most people used to think we couldn't affect such a large planet by burning oil.
I'm not saying that we shouldn't use windmills but the idea that nothing will change is absurd. Tidal power could have a quite dramatic effect on the channel too given the way our tides work. Tidal power has the potential to remove the predictability of our tides in the channel at the very least.

So if you are right the tide generators at Strangford & the Rance will have reduced the tides at those locations? I see no evidence of that. Perhaps the effect you postulate is so insignificant it cannot be measured?

 

[Sandy]

Hang on, we love seahorses; it's the people who harrass them & us in order to feather their own nest by gaining grants for bothering them. Seahorses, residents, holidaymakers & boaters would all be better off without the seahorse botherers.

There are some very virulent & noisy people on here who are anti-windfarms, but some of us think they are delightful & I love to see them "striding across the landscape" gracefully waving their arms & generating power without pollution.

The Olympics, well I might watch some on the telly but I can understand why the locals whose lives will be totally disrupted are a bit upset, but some of the smarter locals will make a fortune by renting out their houses & going away until it's all over.

ROCNA, well it's not the anchor they dislike, it's the lies & disinformation wilfully spread by a member of the designer's family that upset people on here.

BTW we like people to post in the correct forum too, shouldn't this be in the lounge?

+1

 

[webcraft]

So if you are right the tide generators at Strangford & the Rance will have reduced the tides at those locations? I see no evidence of that. Perhaps the effect you postulate is so insignificant it cannot be measured?

TO be fair the Rance is a barrage, and it does (like any major barrage) have significant local tidal effects. However, the future of tidal is standalone generators (think wind turbines underwater) and these will have no significant effect on the tide (or, as some doom-mongers have suggested, on the orbit of the moon!)

- W

 

[Pleiades]

Whiskers on kittens and warm wollen mittens

Bravo Conachair and Longjohnsilver, I like that.

Robin
Pleiades of Birdham
MXWQ5

 

[lustyd]

TO be fair the Rance is a barrage, and it does (like any major barrage) have significant local tidal effects. However, the future of tidal is standalone generators (think wind turbines underwater) and these will have no significant effect on the tide (or, as some doom-mongers have suggested, on the orbit of the moon!)

- W

Once again can you provide evidence or a link to research backing this up? As I said the fact that you don't think there will be a problem is not really good enough for me.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

I like ...

Bacon sandwiches made with butter on soft white fluffy bread,
A hot mug of strong tea,
Having a beautiful anchorage all to myself,
Putting down the first track of the day in fresh powder on my snowboard,
Watching the sunrise and the sky brighten from dark grey to a deep azure blue,
Spring flowers and the promise of longer warmer days,
Steady F4 in the right direction,
Warm clear spray thrown up over the foredeck,
The company of good friends,