Flywheel energy storage

Beacon Power has updated the old idea of short-term energy storage via flywheels:-

Continued at Broad Oak Magazine.

Snow on the pashminas

Asia Times reports:-

CHANGTHANG, India - The famed pashmina shawl that keeps the cold away - in style and at a price - could itself have become the victim of winter. Thousands of goats whose fine wool is woven into pashmina have perished in extreme cold being associated with climate change.

Continued at OoL.

Honey traps

I like honey, so I tend to notice honey-related stories and it is surprising how much skulduggery there is in the world of honey. Take these comments from the head of a Derbyshire supplier.

Continued at Broad Oak Magazine

Ends and means

Ambrose Bierce - from Wikipedia

While a man was trying with all his might to cross a fence, a bull ran to his assistance, and taking him upon his horns, tossed him over. Seeing the man walking away without making any remark, the bull said: “You are quite welcome, I am sure. I did no more than my duty.”

“I take a different view of it, very naturally,” replied the man, “and you may keep your polite acknowledgments of my gratitude until you receive it. I did not require your services.”

“You don’t mean to say,” answered the bull, “that you did not wish to cross that fence!”

“I mean to say,” was the rejoinder, “that I wished to cross it by my method, solely to avoid crossing it by yours.”

Fabula docet that while the end is everything, the means is something.

Ambrose Bierce - Cobwebs from an Empty Skull (1874)

Belief in experience

I’m not a close follower of Santayana’s philosophy, not making much use of his ideas on modes of being for example. Yet I greatly admire his wisdom, his elegant insights into the human situation.

Continued at Broad Oak Magazine

Unintended consequence

Our street leads onto a busier road heading out of town. There are no lights at the junction, so our exit is usually a case of patient waiting for a gap in the traffic. Not a big deal in a small town like ours, but sometimes parked cars and vans have tended to obscure the view of oncoming traffic from both left and right. Not a huge problem - until recently.

Recently double yellow lines were painted near the junction to prevent cars and vans parking too close to it. Good idea one might have though. 

Not so – human behaviour has stepped in.

It has become obvious that cars and vans now tend to park nearer to the junction than before, obscuring the view quite badly. The lines are taken as explicit permission to park right up to them.

Before the yellow lines, most people used their common sense and apart from a few niggles tended to park well away from the junction. Now the situation is noticeably worse.

What next I wonder? I bet the yellow lines are never erased.

Seen from the bus

Car tootles along with wardrobe roped to roof rack.

Pedestrian crossing lights turn red.

Car brakes sharply.

Wardrobe slithers down front of car onto road.

Car can't stop in time - runs over wardrobe.

Driver and passenger leap out - hastily pick up wardrobe fragments.

Driver and passenger notice car is parked on most of the fragments.

Much hilarity among bus passengers.

Spotted by DR