Weird News Compilation

[mfb]

Changes have been made to keep this from happening again.

These changes sound very promising.
If an emergency is too urgent to notify relatives then it's probably too urgent for the court as well, and you just call an ambulance and let doctors do their job.

 

[Astronuc]

According to a report from the Portland Press Herald, landing gear [a wheel] weighing about 100 pounds broke off a twin-engine Piper Navajo plane on Tuesday evening. The plane's wheel hurtled from the sky and landed on the seventh fairway at the Gorham Country Club's golf course in Maine.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/100-pound-piece-of-airplane-landing-gear-falls-from-sky-onto-country-club-golf-course/ar-AAMttIm

Photos posted of the incident reveal that the massive wheel left a large circular divot in the grass on the golf course.

 

[DaveE]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/100-pound-piece-of-airplane-landing-gear-falls-from-sky-onto-country-club-golf-course/ar-AAMttIm

That's why they always put golf courses next to airports! I learn that from playing Sim City back in the day.

 

[fresh_42]

I read today that hygiene inspectors found a crypto farm (around 50 computers) in a restaurant kitchen.

 

[mfb]

Photos posted of the incident reveal that the massive wheel left a large circular divot in the grass on the golf course.

The aircraft equipment was sub-par.

 

[fresh_42]

The aircraft equipment was sub-par.

I am not surprised. You cannot talk about birdies, eagles, albatrosses, and condors all the time and then complain if flying personal is attracted.

 

[mfb]

Normally aircraft try to stay away from birds...

 

[nsaspook]

 

[mfb]

Turns out astrology was right, you can't drive well if the Moon is in the wrong place!

 

[Astronuc]

TripAdvisor reviewer left a scathing one-star rating for a Marriott resort after witnessing a crocodile drag a guest into the ocean. The hotel apologized for an 'unpleasant experience.'
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/a-tripadvisor-reviewer-left-a-scathing-one-star-rating-for-a-marriott-resort-after-witnessing-a-crocodile-drag-a-guest-into-the-ocean-the-hotel-apologized-for-an-unpleasant-experience/ar-AAMHxPF

A guest wrote a scathing one-star TripAdvisor review of a Marriott resort in Mexico after witnessing a crocodile drag a fellow guest into the ocean.

Pay attention to the warning signs!

Kiana Hummel, an 18 year old from the Bay Area, told ABC7 News on Tuesday that she was sitting on the sand with a friend at the hotel's private beach, about to take a midnight swim, when she felt a crocodile bite her leg and drag her towards the ocean. She hit the crocodile, causing it to let go - but it then latched onto her other ankle, she said.

Natalie wrote in the review that "had my group not been sitting on the patio near the beach that poor girl would've DIED."

She said her group "pulled this girl and her friend from the crocodile's mouth" as it dragged the girl into the water.

 

[Keith_McClary]

Pay attention to the warning signs!

@morrobay https://www.physicsforums.com/attachments/img_20210726_100915-jpg.286716/

 

[Klystron]

TripAdvisor reviewer left a scathing one-star rating for a Marriott resort after witnessing a crocodile drag a guest into the ocean. The hotel apologized for an 'unpleasant experience.'
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/a-tripadvisor-reviewer-left-a-scathing-one-star-rating-for-a-marriott-resort-after-witnessing-a-crocodile-drag-a-guest-into-the-ocean-the-hotel-apologized-for-an-unpleasant-experience/ar-AAMHxPFPay attention to the warning signs!

I read the SFgate version from POV of the victim and her rescuers (may be behind paywall in California).

Though aware of crocodile danger in Thailand, I had thought Thomas Harris's depiction of saltwater crocodile attacks in Florida in novel "Cari Mora" dramatic hyperbole until reading this report.

Though famous for creating character Hannibal Lector, Harris originated the term "serial killer" in an early mystery novel. Warning: even seasoned mystery readers may be repulsed by the violence in "Cari Mora".

 

[Hornbein]

Photos posted of the incident reveal that the massive wheel left a large circular divot in the grass on the golf course.

Should your ball land in this divot it must be played as it lays until the divot is declared "ground under repair" by the authorities.

 

[Astronuc]

'HIGH VOLTAGE': Utah Police Crack Down on People Swinging from Hammocks on Power Lines
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/high-voltage-utah-police-crack-down-on-people-swinging-from-hammocks-on-power-lines/ar-AAMNnDQ

The Weber County sheriff's office said it has seen more people setting up their hammocks on local power lines and that law enforcement officers plan on cracking down on the potentially electrifying form of recreation.

"Over the past few years we have noticed an increase in people hammocking from the power lines on the bench of North Ogden and Pleasant View. As you can see in the picture below the hammockers are climbing up the tower and sometimes between power lines," the sheriff's office said, referring to an image it shared on Facebook.

"These lines carry 75,000 kilovolts and that power can jump from the lines. This activity is extremely risky," it added.

What could happen?

 

[fresh_42]

The Belarusian sprinter Kristina Timanowskaja found protection at a police station at the airport in Tokyo after criticizing her coaches at the Olympics. "I am safe", the athlete is quoted by the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Foundation (BSSF). Earlier it became known that the Belarusian Association wanted to bring her to Belarus against her will.

 

[Astronuc]

I hope Kristina Timanowskaja gets asylum.

 

[Astronuc]

https://www.kptv.com/news/crazy-chaos-corvallis-residents-react-after-tesla-crash-sent-batteries-car-parts-flying-into-nearby/article_a7e0b04a-2a1a-11eb-9ea1-273ab7e02bb6.html
'Crazy chaos': Corvallis residents react after Tesla crash sent batteries, car parts flying into nearby homes

Not quite the same, but battery fires do seem to be a problem.

Editor OilPrice.com
Fri, July 30, 2021, 10:30 AM
In this article:

Tesla's Giant Australian Battery Bursts Into Flames
https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-...nt-Australian-Battery-Bursts-Into-Flames.html

The giant Tesla lithium-ion battery that French Neoen is building in the Australian province of Victoria is burning, according to the fire and rescue service of the province.

"A 13 tonne lithium battery in a shipping container is fully involved with crews wearing breathing apparatus working to contain the fire and stop it spreading to nearby batteries," Fire and Rescue Victoria reported earlier today, adding that there was no threat to local residents or drivers despite the release of smoke at the sight.

The battery installation, with a capacity of 300 MW/450 MWh, is due to be completed later this year and is expected to provide about half of the storage capacity Victoria needs to replace the Lorne power plant, which is due for retirement. The megabattery was also planned to reduce electricity bills for Victorians and increase grid reliability.

Truck Hauling Tesla’s Catches Fire (Sep 26, 2019) - 22 months ago
https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Truck-Hauling-Teslas-Catches-Fire.html

 

[fresh_42]

I hope Kristina Timanowskaja gets asylum.

From one of our main tv channels:

After criticism of association officials, Kristina Timanowskaja from Belarus is no longer allowed to participate in the Olympic Games in Tokyo. The Belarusian Olympic Committee justified the decision with a medical examination. Meanwhile, the other side speaks of an attempt to "violently" leave the country.

The Belarusian athlete Kristina Timanovskaya will no longer participate in the Olympic Games in Tokyo, according to the Belarusian Olympic Committee. According to pictures and reports from independent Belarusian media, the 24-year-old was brought to the airport in Tokyo after criticizing Belarusian sports officials.

Timanovskaya asks the IOC for help
The opposition Belarusian athletes' association Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation (BSSF) published a video on Telegram on Sunday (01.08.2021) with a statement by Timanovskaya: "I am under pressure and they are trying to get me out of the country without my consent. I ask that IOC about getting involved. " According to the BSSF, the video is said to have been made on Sunday evening (local time) in Tokyo.

You can currently watch the qualification in the hammer throw competition. My favorite reporter refuses to comment on one athlete from Belarus. He has been repeatedly caught doping, strange CAS decisions included. He is now the president of the Belarussian athletic organisation, 45 years old, and surely not tested.

 

[berkeman]

Truck Hauling Tesla’s Catches Fire (Sep 26, 2019) - 22 months ago
https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Truck-Hauling-Teslas-Catches-Fire.html

LOL. I like how the article (which is critical of Teslas and EVs) is in the oilprice.com website news.

 

[fresh_42]

Farmer refuses to sell his land and now he works his field surrounded by houses and buildings

 

[Keith_McClary]

Farmer refuses to sell his land

In China they build the road around the house. The owner finally sold after the government upped the offer.


Here, they would just expropriate for whatever they consider "fair market value".

 

[Astronuc]

LOL. I like how the article (which is critical of Teslas and EVs) is in the oilprice.com website news.

Well, it's about energy although fossil vs battery/electric.

Nuclear claims to be green and clean unlike coal, oil and gas. Gas claims to be cleaner than coal or oil, and coal and oil diss on nuclear, and they all diss on solar and wind.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Well, it's about energy although fossil vs battery/electric.

Nuclear claims to be green and clean unlike coal, oil and gas. Gas claims to be cleaner than coal or oil, and coal and oil diss on nuclear, and they all diss on solar and wind.

In the mean time, we could already be running the country on carbon-neutral fuels from algae. We could have been 10 years ago.

 

[jack action]

In the mean time, we could already be running the country on carbon-neutral fuels from algae. We could have been 10 years ago.

Yeah, what happened to that technology? It was probably the one that I found the most interesting and they stopped talking about it very quickly. What was the big downside of that technology?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Yeah, what happened to that technology? It was probably the one that I found the most interesting and they stopped talking about it very quickly. What was the big downside of that technology?

It is all about the price at the pump. From what I gather, they can't get much below $5 a gallon. When I first started looking at this around 2006, the real cost of producing algae fuels was between $30 and $50 a gallon. So it has come a long way but the price of fuel dropped significantly again in recent years. There is also a big push for electric with no regard for what ultimately powers those cars.

The way I see it, they are just moving the goalposts. And the last time I checked, there was real concern about the grid having the capacity to carry so many electric cars.

 

[Hornbein]

It is all about the price at the pump. From what I gather, they can't get much below $5 a gallon. When I first started looking at this around 2006, the real cost of producing algae fuels was between $30 and $50 a gallon. So it has come a long way but the price of fuel dropped significantly again in recent years. There is also a big push for electric with no regard for what ultimately powers those cars.

The way I see it, they are just moving the goalposts. And the last time I checked, there was real concern about the grid having the capacity to carry so many electric cars.

In 1993 we learned that all the US was willing to do was put a 4.3 cent per gallon tax on gasoline. This "victory" by one vote was so costly politically that there has been nothing done since then. Read all about it in Woodward's "The Agenda."

On the other hand, the son of the woman who cast the deciding vote got to marry Chelsea Clinton.

The Democrats were defeated so badly in the subsequent 1994 election that they gave up and morphed into a right wing party. Read about that in Robert Reich's "Locked In The Cabinet." In 1997 Reich resigned. As Secretary of Labor he had no support from his party so it was a futile pursuit.

 

[Astronuc]

I'm putting this here because of "Hundreds of pneumatic pistons are then used to compress the plasma until the atoms fuse, generating massive amounts of heat."

Backed by Jeff Bezos for over a decade, the company raised $100m in its last round of funding and is preparing to go back to investors for more cash to show that the firm’s technology can be successfully scaled up.

https://pcma.news/nuclear-energy-fusion-plant-backed-by-jeff-bezos-to-be-built-in-uk/

 

[Jarvis323]

I'm putting this here because of "Hundreds of pneumatic pistons are then used to compress the plasma until the atoms fuse, generating massive amounts of heat."https://pcma.news/nuclear-energy-fusion-plant-backed-by-jeff-bezos-to-be-built-in-uk/

Here's a video from the company and a video about the technique.

 

[mfb]

and is preparing to go back to investors for more cash to show that the firm’s technology can be successfully scaled up.

Before you try scaling things up, maybe show that you can achieve fusion at all? Maybe they did that in private, but I haven't seen anything yet. It looks like a milestone you would want to promote everywhere.

The first video says they reached "higher than 5 million degrees" at 1:10. That's ~3 MK or ~5.5 MK depending on which degrees he meant. That's far away from fusion. At ~50 MK you get 1% the fusion a 150 MK machine (e.g. ITER) gets at the same volume and pressure.

 

[Jarvis323]

Before you try scaling things up, maybe show that you can achieve fusion at all? Maybe they did that in private, but I haven't seen anything yet. It looks like a milestone you would want to promote everywhere.

The first video says they reached "higher than 5 million degrees" at 1:10. That's ~3 MK or ~5.5 MK depending on which degrees he meant. That's far away from fusion. At ~50 MK you get 1% the fusion a 150 MK machine (e.g. ITER) gets at the same volume and pressure.

There is a paper they published in 2017 where they say,

If near adiabatic compression is achieved, volumetric compression of 350X or more of a 500 eV target plasma would achieve a final plasma temperature exceeding 10 keV.

https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2017APS..DPPU11136L/abstract

So is 500 eV the temperature of the injected plasma before compression with the pistons, and what they talk about in the video? I guess it's the piston compression system that has not actually been demonstrated sucessfully yet and this is what they hope to demonstrate in the new facility? But in the Ted Talk he seems to suggest that making and injecting hot enough plasma (and keeping it hot until it is compressed) was the challenge?

 

[Astronuc]

I'm putting this here because of "Hundreds of pneumatic pistons are then used to compress the plasma until the atoms fuse, generating massive amounts of heat."

If I had a hammer . . . . .

 

[Twigg]

I'm putting this here because of "Hundreds of pneumatic pistons are then used to compress the plasma until the atoms fuse, generating massive amounts of heat."

Thanks for sharing this astronuc, this really made my day!

When I try to visualize what the reactor would look like, I can't help but think of a v8 engine with "plasma injectors" instead of fuel injectors. I know the compression ratios wouldn't even compare, but I can't help imagine it that way.

Also, I know the mass defect is huge and the math will work out, but I think it's ironic and hilarious they're using compressed air to compress a piston to generate heat to drive a (presumably) vapor power cycle. If you didn't have the fusion, it would be like the silliest perpetual motion proposal you'd ever seen!

 

[Keith_McClary]

video about the technique

Apr 22, 2014

 

[mfb]

The upper video is from June 2021.

 

[Astronuc]

Vanished hikers/campers in the Wonnangatta Valley
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/04/world/asia/wonnangatta-valley-disappearances.html