PBS Forum

Quote from: Bern on June 29, 2023, 08:32:15 AMWill Prigozhin encounter a similar fate?

There's been some joking in the UK press about staying away from open windows or stopping in a hotel with no windows (a string of Putin enemies have fallen from grace). UK spies have supposedly said that the mutiny only stopped because Prigozhin's family was threatened.

Today they seem to have misplaced General Armageddon - Russian general staff engaged in a scene from 'Reservoir Dogs'.

Two cliches seem appropriate "crossing the Rubicon" and Russia is "A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma".

For all the bandwidth the media devoted to it, I'm not so sure we know what has gone on, never mind why or what will happen next.

Prigozhin may have just been doing his master's bidding to flush out enemies of the state.

Quote from: Bern on June 21, 2023, 08:56:56 AMI get house for sale listings from a realtor in Sarasota, Florida on a regular basis. Look at what showed up in a recent post. That's one ugly house.  What a bargain at only $445K!

Well, cheap housing in Florida wouldn't surprise me - I'd consider leaving there as long as I can, if I lived there - It's already obvious that deSantis' witch-hunt does not stop at the T, the rest of the alphabet soup ist packing, too.

I'd like to vist the Florida keys, so beautiful.

I've had a private communication:

"You would want to stop in at: https://fairchildgarden.org/ in Coral Gables on the way down to the keys."

Looks like it would appeal to a gardener.

Other things on my fantasy list are driving over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and along Pacific Coast Highway 1.

Happy Independence Day.

Hi David.  All of your choices are excellent.  I live near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and it is a nice drive from Virginia's tidewater area to the Eastern Shore and back. The Pacific Coast Highway on a clear day is simply spectacular.  I visited the Fairchild Botanical Garden for an Aroid Show and Sale last September.  It's a very nice place and specializes in tropical plants as you would expect given the climate there.

The Florida Keys Highway is another great drive from the upper keys to Key West.  And don't forget to take a day trip to the Everglades National Park to see this amazing ecosystem.  I took an ecotour boat ride while I was there and saw lots of wildlife, including on of my favorite animals, the West Indian Manatee.

 

Alligators abound there, but the American Crocodile is making a comeback.  I was fortunate to see one and it was wicked looking and huge. 

Finally, a boat trip from Key West to the Dry Tortugas National Park would be an excellent outing also.  This one I have not done, but I would like to make the trip if I get down that way again.  The sea water is a beautiful color and it would be a great excursion.

https://www.drytortugas.com/

There's much to see, do, and enjoy!

It's going to be quite hot in Phoenix for the next few days!

Phew! Glad I am not in Phoenix. Perspiring in Blackpool at 80F.

It is supposedly the World's hottest day ever (OK since records began).

Quote from: David Pilling on July 07, 2023, 09:31:30 AMGlad I am not in Phoenix.

I wonder how Leo Martin and his plants are doing in Phoenix in this heat?  Perhaps we'll hear from him and get an update.

We need a new topic:   Cooling Your Greenhouse

Quote from: Diane Whitehead on July 08, 2023, 11:19:11 AMWe need a new topic:  Cooling Your Greenhouse

Very good point.  Phoenix is setting a record for consecutive days above 110 F.

Phoenix hits 110 degrees for the 19th day in a row, setting national record

"Phoenix has broken the record for most consecutive days at 110 degrees or higher. Now at 19 straight days with temperatures at or above 110 degrees, this breaks the previous record set in 1974. The forecast high of 116 degrees on Tuesday would also break the record high for the date set in 1989, according to the National Weather Service.  Temperatures are not expected to let up in Phoenix, with temperatures forecast to be above 110 degrees for the remainder of the week."

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix-weather/2023/07/18/phoenix-hits-110-degrees-for-record-19th-day-in-a-row/70426475007/

Lots of great photos in this article.

Greenhouses in the areas of the US experiencing the current heat wave will probably need to have shade cloth, mechanical ventilation, and perhaps some type of evaporative cooling to help their plants survive. 

Here is a post from the National Weather Service about the heat wave and what to expect today.

"A dangerous, long-lived, and record breaking heat wave will continue over
the Southwest through this weekend, particularly in the low desert areas,
with triple digit high temperatures also extending northward into the
Central Great Basin this weekend. Oppressive heat and humidity are
forecast to create widespread 105-110 degree heat indices across the
Mid-South, Southeast and Gulf Coast through early this weekend. Take the
heat seriously and avoid extended time outdoors. Temperatures and heat
indices will reach levels that would pose a health risk, and be
potentially deadly to anyone without effective cooling and/or adequate
hydration. Nighttime temperatures will provide very little relief. Heat is
the leading weather-related killer in the U.S."

https://www.weather.gov/

Bad news, I am sorry for those in the places suffering.

Here on the little island in the middle of the Atlantic, it is unseasonably cool. Mid-afternoon and it is 61.5 F, that's the easy one to convert 16C (along with 82F/28C swop the digits).

Quote from: Bern on June 12, 2023, 08:39:42 AM

Quote from: David Pilling on June 11, 2023, 06:42:18 PMeven if Putin's army is forced from Ukraine what is left may not be usable.

It appears that both Ukraine and Russia are using land mines in this conflict.  These will be a danger to people and livestock for years after the war is over.  Demining will be a huge undertaking without assurance of complete success.

The danger is far greater from deeply seated munitions that have not detonated. The great majority of mines have been laid in agricultural land and the Ukrainian farmers have teamed with Heath Robinson to demine lots of that already.
Cluster munitions are another problem - they are meant to detonate on landing - the ones that don't are the problem. The US reckons it has very few duds, but boith parties have been using them, even before the US sent any to Ukraine.

Quote from: David Pilling on June 12, 2023, 05:21:15 AMA lot of hope is focused on small nuclear power plants, the type of thing they put in submarines or aircraft carriers - quicker to build in a factory - and you could move them around depending on what the energy policy of the day happens to be.

Dream on. They are absolutely not even remotely portable outside of a vast sub' or ship.
Nor are they "quick" to build, except in comparison to a conventional nuclear power plant.
I work for RR 

Quote from: CG100 on July 21, 2023, 12:50:49 PMI work for RR

Yep, our hopes depend on you.

This week it seems we're investing in a backup strategy:

"Great British Nuclear: Government unveils competition to fund small reactors
More than £150m of grant funding has been announced for innovators in the UK's nuclear power sector, who are now being encouraged to bid for new grants under Great British Nuclear's first competition."

Where's Rube Goldberg...

Quote from: David Pilling on July 21, 2023, 01:42:53 PMYep, our hopes depend on you.

LLLOL - I retire in 4 months.

It is no secret that RR is extending one if its Derby sites, but that is to enable them to fill certain orders from Australia. Where it is proposed to build any SMR, I have no idea, but the current plan is that they would be installed on existing nuclear power plant sites - an "odd" decision in many ways.

I have no idea on relative sizes, but Russia does have mobile nuclear plants (I believe that there is more than one) for civilian use, or at least not part of any defence installation. They are (each) on some kind of gigantic barge/pontoon, so far as I am aware.

There would be many problems associated with moving a working SMR via anything but sea, but size/weight alone would be a major one. The pressure vessels are large and very thick and each plant uses more than one. Dismantling anything after start-up, to move it disassembled, would not be an option.
RR talk about 10 acre sites, but I suspect that a lot of this would be security measures - any building would be a "long" way from the perimeter. The claim is, though, that the "modular" part of the name refers to the fact that all parts could be transported as per shipping containers, albeit rather a large number. In all probability, the vessels will be built to something like maximum dimensions for a shipping container.

I do not work for/with the SMR team.