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Saturday, January 26, 2013

Long EZ Ridge Runner

I was out at the airport today doing some maintenance on my airplane, when I ran into a flying buddy.  I hadn't seen him in a while and I asked him what he has been up to.  He explained to me that he mounted a HD camera to his plane and went flying.  

Here is the video he made.


And here another video he made flying around Northern Utah.  It's called a beautiful day. 
 

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

The Infernal Inversion and "Alternative" Energy

The extended winter inversion that is gripping Utah provides an excellent backdrop to explain why "alternative" energy isn't viableIt isn't really an alternative to anything.

The State of Utah had an energy summit last week at the Salt Palace Convention Center.  The photo below (from the Salt Lake Tribune) shows some protesters/attendees/alt energy boosters outside the summit.

This alt energy booster has a poster that declares that sunlight is free.  Good for him/her!  How much "free" energy would a solar installation be producing at my location right now, under 18 inches of snow?  By the way, the temperature has not risen above 2F for a month and overnight temperatures have typically been -10°F. 


What about windmills, you ask?  The inversion is caused by a high pressure system that is parked over the area.  There is very little wind, hence the inversion. So, again, we're out of luck.

Precisely when the demand for energy is the greatest, is when the "alternative" energies produce the least.  This is really just a tautological explanation.  Why is it cold?  Because the sun shines for only a few hours a day at a very low angle in the winter.  Why do we need a lot of energy in the winter? Because it is cold.  Why is it cold?  Because there isn't very much sunlight in the winter.  Get the point?

Next, can you imagine an electric car in the freezing weather that we have had for the last month? I doubt the batteries could even defrost the windows at -15°F.  Do electric cars even have defrosters?

The internal combustion engine isn't very efficient, but the waste heat it produces is an absolute life saver in the evil, cold winters we have in most of North America.

And, how about this? It snowed in Jerusalem last week. Notice the palm tree covered in snow.  This is why the warmers had to change their story to "global climate change", because it hasn't been warming since about 2000.
 


I am not fighting something with nothing.  I am proposing molten salt reactors as the real alternative energy, (the alternative to coal) able to power our industrial society without condemning us to freezing, dark cold winters, like the one currently in progress.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Wisdom from Sulu

I stole this from George Takei's FB.  (Plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery.)

And this from a fan (of George)

And when they split up, there's all this drama. (speaking of atoms, not celebrities)