Brainstormer: Is this thermo-acoustic laminar flow engine suggestive of solar processes?

As regular readers know, I’m interested in small devices for generating trickle charging solutions for batteries out in the cloudy mountains where the sun rarely shines. We’ve looked at potentially useful stirling engine designs before, but I just found this interesting video on Youtube which differs fundamentally from the stirling design, while retaining some of its thermodynamic features.

 

This type of very simple engine is known by various names such as laminar flow, thermo-acoustic, thermal lag etc, but no-on seems to have a fully developed thermodynamic theory of exactly how it works. Unlike classic stirling engines, there is no ‘displacer’ to shunt the working gas from the hot to the cold end in order to drive a cycle of expansion/contraction which then sucks and pushes a power piston which drives a flywheel (or a linear electric motor). It’s more reminiscent in a way of a pulse-jet engine, but with a closed cycle, rather than an open system generating thrust directly from the explosive expansion of combustible gases.

But besides thinking about the way this engine operates as a collection of glass and aluminium parts heated at one end, it put me in mind of the way the Sun ‘pulses’ every eleven years or so. So this is today’s brainstormer. If objects can be set into oscillation by the application of heat (and let’s not forget thermodynamic theory here, whereby atoms and molecules ‘vibrate’ more vigorously as heat is applied to them), then what if the heavy dense metallic hydrogen core of the Sun is set into oscillation by the heat generated in the fusion process? It wouldn’t oscillate so easily in the X-Y plane, because the Sun is rotating, but it is freer to move in the Z axis.

Douglas Carswell MP: The case for wind is running out of puff

Reposted from Douglas Carswell’s blog:

A Ten Minute Rule Bill to outlaw public subsidies for wind farms has just been voted through the House of Commons. It squeezed through with 59 MPs in favour, and 57 against, the support of UKIP’s two MPs proving decisive.

This wasn’t just a victory for UKIP in the Commons. It was a defeat for the subsdised scam otherwise known as the wind energy industry.

Generating electricity from wind is an inherently costly thing to do. Unlike solar energy, which thanks to technology is becoming vastly more efficient, wind is – and will remain – a far more costly way of producing power than the alternatives.

Nor is it reliable. The other day, as Allister Heath points out, as UK electicity demand hit 52.54 gigawatts (GW), wind contributed just 0.573GW. That is to say about 1pc of the total. It was left to good old gas and coal to contribute the lion’s share of 71 percent.

If wind is not an effective way to generate electricity, why have so many wind turbines been built? Because of the subsidy. Billions of pounds have been deliberately diverted away from more efficient ways of generating energy into wind farms.

Awe inspiring: Movie of the vastness of the Andomeda galaxy

This is a visual treat. Hubble has made a 4.3gigabyte image of Andromeda. The three minute youtube video below explores about a quarter of the rich detail. Cool music too. H/T to @karlos1705

Tony Thomas: The Settled Science of Ignoring Facts

Guest post from Tony Thomas originally posted at Quadrant online.

Australia’s Academy of Science is overdue to clarify its position on global warming, but don’t expect that much-delayed document to be written in the ink of rational objectivity. Despite doubts creeping into the pronouncements of overseas counterparts, local warmists remain determined to defend the faith.

The position of the Australian Academy of Science on global warming was last stated in August, 2010. It basically regurgitated the 2007 findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) with some Australian temperature trends thrown in – from 1910, thus eliding the inconvenient 19^thcentury heatwaves.

But the Academy has  had  problems with its promised update for 2014.   Kick-start funds for printing and production, undisclosed but modest, arrived from the Labor government in June, 2013.

By October, 2014, the text was finished  and the project moved to the design phase, in readiness for publication before the Lima climate fest, which started on December 1.  The booklet missed that bus and now the publication date has been put forward into 2015.  I gather that the delays reflect the usual problems of committee work, plus the illness of a key author.

Andrew Montford: Unintended Consequences Of Climate Policies Are Unethical

Via GWPF  – London, 19 January: A new paper by Andrew Montford AKA Bishop Hill published today by the Global Warming Policy Foundation examines the unintended consequences of climate change policy around the world.

Mitigation Policies Have Brought Pain & Chaos In Their Wake

We are constantly told about the risks of what climate change might bring in the distant future. In response, governments have adopted a series of policy measures that have been largely ineffective but have brought with them a bewildering array of unintended consequences.

From the destruction of the landscape wrought by windfarms, to the graft and corruption that has been introduced by the carbon markets, to the disastrous promotion of biofuels, carbon mitigation policies have brought chaos in their wake.

The new paper surveys some of the key policy measures, reviewing the unintended consequences for both the UK and the rest of the world. Mr Montford is a prominent writer on climate change and energy policy and has appeared many times in the media.

Biased Bob: Poundland Propagandist Peddles Permanently Pessimistic Predictions

“very strong probability of global average temperature rising by much more than 2°C above its preindustrial level by the end of this century.”

“unless the upward trend in annual emissions is reversed, the world will be all but condemned to global warming of more than 2°C, creating a prehistoric climate not seen since the Pliocene epoch 3 million years ago, when the polar icecaps were much smaller and global sea level was about 20 metres higher”

“Basic physics suggest that global warming should affect the occurrence of extreme weather.”

“Global sea level is also rising by more than 3mm per year, which means surges that are generated by storms over large bodies of water are also becoming higher.”

Green Party Mini Manifesto: Their Energy Policy Doesn’t Add Up

I’ve had a look at the Green party’s mini manifesto, and thought it might be useful to highlight parts of it in a series of articles. We’ll start with what they say about energy.

So, leaving aside the question of where the money will come from for now. Lets examine the claims and plans.

Photography corner: Walking in the White

I took time out this morning to go on a walk round (and over) Baildon moor, with some friends and aquaintances. The weather was a mixture of sunshine and snow showers, at the top o the moor, it was a bit of a blizzard:

We were caught in another snow shower as we descended Sconce lane.

Celestial light and earthshine

This paper is about adding a further layer of correction to earthshine measurements and therefore albedo determination by terrestrial based observations.

Influence of celestial light on lunar surface brightness determinations: Application to earthshine studies
P. Thejll, H. Gleisner, C. Flynn
A&A 573 A131 (2015)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201424824
(open access with registration)

ABSTRACT

Aims. We consider the influence of celestial-sphere brightness on determinations of terrestrial albedo from earthshine intensity
measurements. In particular, the contributions from zodiacal light and starlight are considered.

…

Results. We find that celestial-sphere surface brightness can be so large that a considerable and unacceptable error level would have
an impact on half of typical earthshine-based albedo-determinations if left unaccounted for. Considering the empirical uncertainty on
ZL, we show that almost all our earthshine data can be used if a sky correction is made. In real observations we find up to a 1% effect
on albedo results of correcting for the celestial brightness.
…

Two wrongs make a right

Christopher Booker has today sent us a timely reminder, as the General Election approaches, of the madness that has taken hold in this Sceptr’d Isle, this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

The solution to the variability of electricity generation from wind turbines, is of course, diesel. Not forgetting obscene amount of Tax payers money.

At least two undiscovered planets should exist well beyond Neptune say scientists

Solar system cartoon [NASA]

This is not a new idea but it seems to be gaining a bit more traction. Planetary bodies like Pluto-sized Sedna don’t seem to fit the accepted ‘rules’ of solar system dynamics.

Phys.org reports: There could be at least two unknown planets hidden well beyond Pluto, whose gravitational influence determines the orbits and strange distribution of objects observed beyond Neptune. This has been revealed by numerical calculations made by researchers at the Complutense University of Madrid and the University of Cambridge. If confirmed, this hypothesis would revolutionise solar system models.

Astronomers have spent decades debating whether some dark trans-Plutonian planet remains to be discovered within the solar system. According to the calculations of scientists at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM, Spain) and the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom) not only one, but at least two planets must exist to explain the orbital behaviour of extreme trans-Neptunian objects (ETNO).

The UK General Election battle ahead: An appeal for your help

The most important general election in my lifetime is just a few months away. At stake are weighty issues of national sovereignty, which is being rapidly eroded by EU legislation and an expanding EU membership. Issues around principles at the heart of our British culture, of tolerance, the rights of individuals to express themselves freely, the right to trial by jury and freedom from arbitrary arrest under EU warrants from overseas. Issues around our economic future, having home produced energy which can improve our national balance of trade, and improve our exporting industries’ competitiveness as well as the living conditions of people struggling to pay high gas and electricity bills.

I have been adopted as a parliamentary candidate by the only party with a sound energy policy. It’s also the only party which takes our sovereignty seriously. We will fight for everyone’s rights of equal treatment before our common-law, a time tested and developed system of case law and charter suited to our British temperament, with its innate sense of justice and fair play. A system which presumes innocence and places the burden of proof on accusers, unlike the continental system our leaders are stealthily trying to introduce..

Raif Badawi: On the efficacy of sharia Astronomy

Raif Badawi, the Saudi blogger being given weekly whippings, as an introduction to his ten year sentence, by the oppressive regime it is his misfortune to live under, wrote in praise of the religious scholasticism which characterises islamic science institutions. This from a longer article sampling his writings in the Guardian.

In September 2011 Badawi launched a witheringly sarcastic attack on Saudi clerics after a TV preacher called for astronomers to be punished on the grounds that they encouraged scepticism about sharia law.

Actually, this venerable preacher has drawn my attention to a truth that had been hidden from me and my dear readers – namely, the existence of the so-called “Sharia astronomer”. What a wonderful appellation! In my humble experience and in the course of my not inconsiderable research into the universe, its origins and the stars, I have never once come across this term. I advise NASA to abandon its telescopes and, instead, turn to our Sharia astronomers, whose keen vision and insight surpass the agency’s obsolete telescopes.

Indeed, I advise all other scholars the world over, of whatever discipline, to abandon their studies, laboratories, research centres, places of experimentation, universities, institutes etc. and head at once to the study groups of our magnificent preachers to learn from them all about modern medicine, engineering, chemistry, microbiology, geology, nuclear physics, the science of the atom, marine sciences, the science of explosives, pharmacology, anthropology etc. – alongside astronomy, of course.

Don’t be fooled as UK calls for ‘light touch’ on EU climate goals – guest blog

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Iain Mckie gives the lowdown on a new tax raising power the UK is negotiating with the EU. So much for Cameron “getting rid of this green crap”

Roger Helmer MEP

Guest Blog by Iain McKie, UKIP Parliamentary Candidate 2015 Isle of Wight

The UK and Czech Republic have suggested that they might depart from the standard formula on reducing greenhouse Gas Emissions, and use a ‘light touch‘ in order to reach their 2030 target.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that this lets the UK off the hook on the targets.  Far from it.  It is more likely to increase the UK’s environmental tax base.

The central revenue generator for emission taxes is the EU ETS which covers the following: power, ironsteel, ceramics, cement, refineries, pulp, glass, air travel, and from 2016 shipping.  It covers the following gases: sulphur hexafluoride, per fluorocarbons, hydro fluorocarbons, methane and nitrous oxide.  The methodologies are standardised by the EU and the system is inflexible.What the UK is proposing is called a Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA).  This means that the UK can effectively expand the…

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Climate predictions of the last 40 years made by scientists

Yet another wind turbine catastrophic failure: Germany this time – Video

Caught on video, the total collapse of yet another wind turbine. The original facebook video is here. I have saved a copy.

Richard Heath & Robin Heath: Synchronicity of the Earth’s Rotation with the Moon’s Orbital Cycles and Solar Year

Following up the post on eclipse prediction and Stonehenge yesterday, Stuart ‘oldbrew’ flagged up this unpublished paper by Richard Heath and Robin Heath he found on the wayback machine. This raises very interesting questions about the precession of the equinox and the rate of Earth’s rotation.

This document was prepared by Richard Heath as a letter for Nature magazine and submitted on 14th April 1994 but remained unpublished. For readers of the Matrix of Creation (2nd ed, Inner Traditions Press, 2004) it marks the discovery of a unit of time proposed and named the Chronon, as being 1/10000th of the Moon’s orbit and also the difference between the sidereal and tropical day of the Earth. The paper also documents a discovery made, with Robin Heath, later to be documented in his books: that one can divide up the solar year by its excess over the eclipse year to reveal an 18.618:19.618 ratio between these years, and many other interesting numerical facts not mentioned in this place. The puzzle here is a connection between the rotation of the Earth, the solar year and the precession of the Moon’s orbit which (a) may be explainable by science (b) appears to have puzzled Megalithic astronomers and (c) should puzzle us today.

Synchronicity of the Earth’s Rotation with the Moon’s Orbital Cycles and Solar Year
by Richard Heath and Robin Heath

We find that the Earth’s rotational day divides the year according to the 18.62 year cycle of the Lunar Nodes. From this we conclude that the Earth’s orbit, the Moon’s orbital precession and the Earth’s rotational velocity are most probably interconnected. The tropical solar year in days is factorised almost exactly by 18.618 times 19.618 and the Moon travels one ten thousandth of its orbit in the time difference between sidereal and tropical days.

UAH Confirms 2014 Was Not Hottest Year

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Paul Homewood with analysis of the UAH dataset yearly update.

NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

UAH have now released their global temperature data for December and, as with RSS, they confirm that 2014 was a long way from being the “hottest ever year”, much touted recently.

http://vortex.nsstc.uah.edu/data/msu/t2lt/uahncdc_lt_5.6.txt

Whereas RSS have last year ranked only the 6th warmest, according to UAH it is 3rd. However, as Dr John Christy points out:

http://nsstc.uah.edu/climate/2014/december2014/dec2014GTR.pdf

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Robin Heath: Stonehenge – The Marriage of the Sun and Moon

Reblogged from Ishtar’s Gate, a blog covering diverse subjects relating to antiquity, myth, culture, legend and ancient arts. Although the idea that the Aubrey holes around the outside of the stone complex have an astronomical observation and eclipse prediction purpose has been dismissed because later cremations were found in them, their number, spacing and mathematical relationship to the station stones indicates otherwise. Ishtar’s introduction follows:

This is from the book of the same title by the highly regarded Robin Heath, and it is a deeply researched and expert interpretation of the sacred geometrical azimuths and alignments of Stonehenge.

It is well established that the axis of Stonehenge aligns approximately to the midsummer rising sun azimuth. In addition, the station stone rectangle is constructed perpendicular to the axis and has a ratio of 5:12. In Megalithic yards, this is 40:96, i.e. the units of the rectangle’s ratio are expressed in 8 MY ‘quanta’.

JE SUIS CHARLIE? IT’S A BIT LATE

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Excellent article from Kenan Malik which adresses the vacillation of the PC mainstream media and the fundamental error of social thinking underlying it.

Pandaemonium

‘Je suis Charlie’. It’s a phrase in every newspaper, in every Twitter feed, on demonstrations in cities across Europe. The expressions of solidarity with those slain in the attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices are impressive. They are also too late. Had journalists and artists and political  activists taken a more robust view on free speech over the past 20 years then we may never have come to this.

Instead, they have helped create a new culture of self-censorship. Partly, it is a question of fear, an unwillingness to take the kind of risks that the editors of Charlie Hebdo courted, and for which they have paid such a heavy price. But fear is only part of the explanation. There has also developed over the past two decades a moral commitment to censorship, a belief that because we live in a plural society, so we must police public discourse about different…

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