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Post by martiny on Jun 28, 2019 15:10:05 GMT
Related to the terrifying life of bomber crews in WWII, is anyone else watching Channel 4's Catch-22? I'm enjoying it so far, but for a show with pretty high production values and attention to authenticity (despite the surreal plot) they keep managing to drop the ball when we see Yossarian in the nose of his B-25.  Sometimes we see a .50 Cal machine gun filling the nose of the plane, but sometimes we just see a fake gun barrel sticking out of the nose, with no actual gun inside. Looks like they built a model thinking they'd CGI some parts in after but eventually just thought "you know what, Canoe it". Leaving the nose of the planes empty lets you see the actors better and maybe gives a greater sense of their vulnerability, but once you've noticed it, it does look kinda stupid. |
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Post by Zed. on Jun 28, 2019 15:33:29 GMT
Sometimes we see a .50 Cal machine gun filling the nose of the plane, but sometimes we just see a fake gun barrel sticking out of the nose, with no actual gun inside. spied that in the first episode, guessed the comedy-length .30 was missing something  EDIT. thought they were .30cal Brownings but maybe they were .50's  watched the first episode ladt week, will try to see the next tonight, love the books & the origonal film was ace  yossarianlived.com/^^ maybe? Rich. (everybody's Crazy!) |
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Post by dadbif on Jun 28, 2019 17:10:02 GMT
The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain he knew he was in love..,
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Post by dadbif on Jun 28, 2019 19:47:00 GMT
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Post by atlex on Jul 1, 2019 13:11:02 GMT
Some first-hand insight into Chernobyl from a Kiev resident.
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Post by martiny on Jul 1, 2019 17:16:52 GMT
Some first-hand insight into Chernobyl from a Kiev resident. Interesting insight. The radio switching to constant classical music without explanation would have been chilling, and would have been a good inclusion in the drama. I think I've heard the anecdote before about all the evacuation bus drivers dying, but I suspect it's a myth. After all, the population they evacuated from Pripyat mostly didn't fall sick. It was unnerving to hear him speak about talking with US Navy guys whose radiation alarms triggered at the Holy Loch submarine base. I was just a few miles away in Glasgow that day and, not having the bus fare, walked home in the pissing rain. It was only later that I learned the fallout cloud was passing over us that day so the rain was probably radioactive. Nice. Still, no known mutant superpowers revealed so far. |
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Post by atlex on Jul 2, 2019 9:57:13 GMT
Caterpillar sounds.. check the stroke on this big boy!
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Post by atlex on Jul 2, 2019 23:11:14 GMT
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Post by dadbif on Jul 3, 2019 5:22:59 GMT
I thought the Dutch and Greeks (and ourselves) had already mastered this, the vane on the rear of the windmill keeps the blades facing into the strongest part of the air pressure, I could be wrong, but this seems to be science trying to re create an already existing (simple and effective) principle.
Otherwise described as being like the rudder on a boat.
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Post by atlex on Jul 3, 2019 9:21:35 GMT
The 'tail' works for single small windmills, but in farms there tend to be grid patterns and the rotors are electronically rotated to face the wind direction ... but when you've got the wind direction lined up with the grid, the first rotor in the wind gets full strength but each rotor beyond experiences a relative decrease based on the in number in front - the article is about how they increase total farm efficiency by offsetting them by a few degrees so that the disturbed flow coming out the back of each rotor is directed away from the rotor that was behind. It's also an interesting think about how what people thought was a sunk cost and optimal already 'the wind is free' - can still be optimized for certain non-ideal situations.
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Post by martiny on Jul 3, 2019 11:27:17 GMT
Speaking of wind generation, this is a fascinating resource to see where our electricity is coming from at any moment: gridwatch.templar.co.uk/As I write, UK electricity is only about 5% wind generated (though it can get much higher) and solar is nearly 18%. PS I absolutely love the photo with that article, showing clouds condensing in the wake of the turbines in a Danish wind farm. |
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Post by wannabe on Jul 3, 2019 11:46:52 GMT
Speaking of wind generation, this is a fascinating resource to see where our electricity is coming from at any moment: gridwatch.templar.co.uk/As I write, UK electricity is only about 5% wind generated (though it can get much higher) and solar is nearly 18%. I am really surprised that solar is that high, I didn't think we had that level of generation capacity. Looks like coal is zero - have we closed down all the coal power stations now? Is Drax biomass?? |
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Post by martiny on Jul 3, 2019 12:06:27 GMT
Coal's been showing zero every time I've looked since a few months ago when they announced we'd had our first coal-free week in x years.
I wonder how many coal stations are still ticking over. I remember years ago my sister told me that stopping a coal furnace is not straightforward as there's the risk of brick linings collapsing as it cools down. This was when she was peripherally involved in researching "fluidised bed" furnaces which cut coal's sulphur emissions, back when we were all fretting about acid rain rather than climate change.
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Post by wannabe on Jul 3, 2019 21:29:38 GMT
Coal's been showing zero every time I've looked since a few months ago when they announced we'd had our first coal-free week in x years. I wonder how many coal stations are still ticking over. I remember years ago my sister told me that stopping a coal furnace is not straightforward as there's the risk of brick linings collapsing as it cools down. This was when she was peripherally involved in researching "fluidised bed" furnaces which cut coal's sulphur emissions, back when we were all fretting about acid rain rather than climate change. There's always another 'climate emergency' waiting in the wings to use to try to control us...  lol |
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Post by howardb66 on Jul 4, 2019 16:34:03 GMT
So is it Cattle, textiles, shipping, aircraft, cars in the right order as main polluters?  Opens worm can & runs away.... |
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EDIT. thought they were .30cal Brownings but maybe they were .50's 
lol
le sigh