JoNova
A science presenter, writer, speaker & former TV host; author of The Skeptic's Handbook (over 200,000 copies distributed & available in 15 languages).
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Statistics
Insomnia gets the first post, unfortunately without much to say.
I notice on youtube the belief that the world is doomed by all sorts of things, ranging from prophesies from Saints, Church Leaders etc. (all of whom are unable to dispute what they might have said) to doomsayers about the economy, the real estate market and Biden and/or Trump being a candidate in the next election. They are crowding out the Climate nuts who think ‘carbon’ is causing the Earth to become as warm as it was 1,000 years ago. The only optimist is The Electric Viking who spruikes the electric cars taking over.
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This planet has been going for around 4.5 billion years and humans have only been around for a not very long time. Even if humans destroy themselves this planet will likely still keep going along. As long as the Sun keeps going that is.
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If you want to get more mail, and some with free stuff, give a small donation to a charity. Said charity will send you a thank you note, and then sell your name and address to a dozen other groups.
Many of those will send a solicitation with suggested amounts and a couple of ways to pay. Some send seasonal cards and envelopes, calendars, mailing labels, and/or book marks. You might get a poster-size (your name in CAPS) “acknowledgement” for a gift you have not yet given.
I recently received Christmas-decorated socks for a child;
now re-gifted.
Do your homework! Some charities use your donation unwisely. A few use 100% for the stated cause.
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Once, gave money to about a dozen charities on a regular basis. But no more. I don’t answer phone calls from unknown callers and certainly never reply to any emails from those charities. So now, they go back to sending me stuff in the mail, which I throw on a heap in my study without opening. That heap is now about 20 cm high. Once, I wrote ” Return to Sender” for about 6 months and sent them back, but can’t be bothered even doing that now. You would think eventually they might give up, just to save on postage, but I am not hopeful.
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Not forgetting the door to door mob.
A single donation isn’t enough these days. Oh no, they want recurring billing. I asked the last one why and he said it makes the accounting and forward planning easier. Uh huh…
Try hiring an accountant!
Or the ones that say “I’m not here to sell you anything”.
Thin-liners and lead generators. Heh, yeah.
Or the ones that can process an eftpos payment on the spot.
Provide c/card details to a total stranger on your property? Yeah, right.
Then there’s the ones that couldn’t sell water to a man dying of thirst. That’s most of the street and mall types.
Not the slightest clue of marketing and their head office sure didn’t give them any.
Then there’s..oh, that’s enough.
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My Mum was found to have 82 “charities” deducting monthly payments from her account when she died. Goodness knows how many were even genuine charities.
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Games of thrones was visualised after George R Martin visited Hadrians wall n Northern Britain.
It was Hadrian who defeated the people of Judea-Jews-expelled them and renamed the land Palestine.
There were four Caesars in Ad69 which heralded the start of Romes golden century.
It’s downfall was heralded by st John in revelations who wrote
“Alas alas for the great city
That was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet
Bedecked with gold,with jewels, and with pearls
In one hour all this wealth has been laid waste”
Which sounds uncomfortably like the West. In Romes time their empire was thought to be a great civilising influence. Pliny the elder wrote
“Truly, it is as though the Romans and the boundless majesty of their peace have been bestowed by the gods upon humanity to serve them as a second sun.”
The British of course believed much the same thing, something that would horrify the modern generation
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Folks with nothing much to do should look up
“in the purple” and learn a bit about rocks and dyes.
Porphyry is from Greek (porphyra), “purple”.
Tyrian (or royal) purple is secreted by several species of predatory sea snails.
Lots of info and images on the web.
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Global boiling will turn the earth into Venus according to our highly respected climate scientists who are experts in climate modelng.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12880279/A-terrifying-glimpse-Earths-future-Scientists-simulate-runaway-greenhouse-effect-say-turn-planet-uninhabitable-HELL-just-years.html
Surely this report should have come out before Cop28 not after it?
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It’s all about the spurious but dreaded “runaway greenhouse effect”!
Let’s just overlook the fact that Venus is 40 million kilometres closer to the sun than we are.
What a crock.
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Two minutes spent scanning that fish and chip wrapper tells me that Earth will become like Venus because the runaway greenhouse effect, caused by a 3 degree increase in temperature’ will simultaneously evaporate all of the planet’s oceans, and cause sea levels to rise by 200 meters. Amazing.
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By H2O, not CO2, I wonder 😀
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I think this confirms Jo’s blog yesterday about human breath contributing methane to the atmosphere. Because whoever is predicting that is talking out of their a**.
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Finger print checks and face scans will be required in future if you ntend to visit Europe, but not the UK
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12881719/fury-fingerprint-checks-facial-scans-holidays-europe.html
You can always evade it of course by arriving in Europe by a rubber dinghy as 320,000 unauthorised tourists have done during 2023
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Spaceweather.com from Dec. 19.2023
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No mention of the extra H2O from 160,000 Olympic sized swimming pools added after the Hunga-Tonga eruption.
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Ours is a different approach to reliability planning. Focus on the reasonably likely worst case — deadly cold windless nights.
https://delawarevalleyjournal.com/opinion-how-pa-can-prevent-deadly-blackouts/
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I have read, and recommend these two books:
Robert Bryce’s “A Question Of Power, electricity and the wealth of nations.”
Meredith Angwin’s “Shorting the Grid: the hidden fragility of our electric grid.”
Jo, what would you think of a blog post on sources of information on this topic?
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Don B:
when will the lights go out? book by Derek Birkett in 2011.
Mostly about the UK (with discussion of some German problems).
Very good and by an electrical engineer and former Grid Controller.
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Sadly, science, engineering and industry leaders only come out against unreliables after they retire.
They are terrified of being cancelled by the Left, as with anyone who doesn’t conform to the Official Narrative.
And I’m all for nuclear, but promoting only that to the exclusion of coal or gas, is an acceptance of the anthropogenic global warming fraud.
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Much more here. NOT PAYWALLED (I think you get a certain number of free views).
https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/leading-scientist-warns-australias-unstable-power-grid-will-spark-blackouts-and-forced-mass-outages/news-story/729b39331b2fc2b7778937a07e07d770
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I’m sort of looking forward to the forthcoming summer blackouts (in Australia).
I’m curious to see if the Sheeple will wake up and demand government allow power stations to be built.
And I have a generator plus a few solar panels to charge small devices like flashlights, an anateur radio transceiver, run a fridge etc..
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“I’m sort of looking forward to the forthcoming summer blackouts (in Australia).”
As I don’t wish others ill, I’m sort of looking forward to the absence of summer blackouts (in Australia).
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Won’t be just ‘others’, Ian. You’ll not be excluded.
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Supporting the current “renewables” stupidity is inherently wishing ill will to others. It’s built in.
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And just like that –
https://patriotpost.us/cartoons/32678
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Last night I was exposed to “The New Captcha” and so far it is ”winning”.
A suggestion for the “mystery loss” of that US F 35 recently –
The aircraft system likely blinked and the pilot got lost in “The New Captcha” trying to re-establish contact
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Funny video.
Trigger warning for O-Biden fans, or fans of “Big Mike”, LoL.
Watch before YT censors it.
https://youtu.be/y90f1kkXWGo
Only 40 sec.
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I saw an ad for (I think) Alliance Insurance in Australia.
They said they will insure EVs and they specifically mentioned it covers battery fires.
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Any mention of premiums?
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Or fine print?
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Anybody noticed the t.v. adverts for recall of L.G. home solar batteries? They actually state there is a risk of fire causing injury or death.
These are currently running in Melbourne. Can’t be clearer, but zero commentary.
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“A new kind of commercial nuclear reactor is a big step closer to becoming a reality in the U.S., and it’s being developed in Oak Ridge.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted Kairos Power a construction permit for Hermes, a demonstration reactor, on Dec. 12.
Unlike every commercial nuclear reactor in the country, Hermes will not be cooled by water, but by a molten salt mixture that captures heat produced by fission.”
More on this –
https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=250333
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“It’s not a “new kind of reactor.” ORNL ran a molten salt cooled reactor, in the 1950s and 60s. It operated for four years but, being that it used thorium as a fuel source was discarded because the fuel cycle is not amenable to the production of nuclear bombs…. thorium is found in coal — it is a naturally-occurring “contaminant” yet on average there is thirteen times as much energy in the coal in the form of said thorium as you get from burning the coal….Further, the liquid salt environment operates at a temperature highly-conducive to direct conversion of coal to liquid fuels — diesel and gasoline. The only problem with the new unit being designed at ORNL is that it is going to use TRISO fuel pellets, which means uranium cycle. ”
There’s been a lot of interest in thorium reactors in the last decade, but Govts are not interested as they don’t enrich uranium for bombs.
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Once upon a time on various blogs, you would count the number of comments before someone called someone else a Nazi and yell “bingo”. Now, if you read an article/ social media post regarding Nuclear Power ( Australia ) you count the comments before some muppet talks about Thorium.
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Molten salt has excellent properties for reactor design, but sadly terrible properties with regards to basic chemistry.
It’s highly corrosive, difficult to contain and tends to destroy everything it touches. Solve that problem and you are looking good … many people believe that thin film ceramics are the answer, but so far no one has a proven system. Problem is that a viable nuclear reactor needs a lifespan of at least 40 years, and replacement of ANY core components cannot be allowed because they all pick up some residual radioactivity while in service. Four years lifespan is an order of magnitude too brief.
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This has been discussed.
It is a “prototype”, that is, a small scale test.
Assuming all goes well, they will attempt an actual functioning commercial version in the early 2030s.
It is very likely I will have checked out before then.
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As we approach the end of 2023, I make a prediction that the word to emerge from the 2020s will be “quadrillion”.
I have seen quite significant changes in the evolution of the Australian currency. Some related to intrinsic value reflected in living standard and some related purely to inflation. In 1954/55, the Australian Federal budget tipped the billion mark at AUP1.1bn. In 1967/68 after decimal currency was introduced the Federal budget was AUD4.6bn.
After Whitlam in 1977/78 the Federal budget reached AUD26.6bn. After Keatings recession, the 1993/94 budget was AUD168bn. By 2013/14 the budget made it to AUD398bn. This year the Federal budget is around AUD653bn (I could not find an exact figure in the budget documents). So now not far off the trillion mark. A 1000-fold increase in a lifetime.
But Australia is small fry. The USA gross domestic product is now at USD27tr. And USA Federal debt is USD33tr.
So the word trillion is now well established in our vocabulary when referring to money. It is not much of a stretch to be thinking about quadrillions by the end of this decade. A single quadrillion dollars would enable a lot of tilting at windmills.
Thinking of different currencies, the JPY is already in the quadrillion range with Japaese public debt now exceeding JPY1qn.
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IMO a point that needs emphasising –
In quantities from 1 to “-illions” if it has a “-” in front it is bad news
IIRC back in Dickens’s day the worrying quantity was sixpence
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/90487-annual-income-twenty-pounds-annual-expenditure-nineteen-nineteen-and-six
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BoM forecast for Mid North Coast today 24 deg C – “low intensity heatwave”, apparently.
My mobile phone app is still showing [Severe Heatwave Watch].
This propaganda campaign is intolerable.
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Today, December 20th is described by BoM as “mild” in Adelaide. It is hovering around 19-20 with the brisk southerly making it feel more like 14. We are nearly 3 weeks into this blisteringly hot El Nino summer.
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My sister lives ‘south mid-coast’ if there’s such a thing, reading 18C at 3:30pm while SYD Airport scintillates on 17 with an 11C windchill – at 3:30pm? What’s happened!
Hope our Prime Muppet Luck-son doesn’t bring your cold wet climate back with him: Alexandra in the South Island hit 31C today thanks to a roaring nor’west foehn off the hills, and sure enough, the climate clowns issued the country’s first ‘Heat Alert’: HOT. We had a lovely sunny 27. Maybe summer has finally, hopefully, arrived?
[WARNING: Wait 20 minutes…]
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Psychiatrist From Gender Clinic Warns: ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ Will Lead To Mass Sterilization
A London psychiatrist who spent 12 years working with children at the United Kingdom’s government-funded Tavistock gender clinic is warning that “transitioning” patients to a new gender identity isn’t the answer to gender dysphoria.
Countries embracing “gender-affirming care” risk needless mass sterilization, Dr. Az Hakeem told The Epoch Times. He is the author of the new book “Detrans: When Transition is Not the Solution.”
“I say affirmation therapy is not therapy—it’s grooming” them to accept the idea they were born in the wrong body, said Dr. Hakeem, a fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and honorary associate clinical professor at University College London Medical School.
He predicts in the next 5-10 years, society will see a massive number of so-called detransitoners, people who try to reverse steps they took in an attempt to medically change their gender. That’s because of an expected 8,000-fold increase in patients undergoing procedures and taking medications meant to try to alter their gender.
When a person is feeling confused about his or her identity, he or she may assume that it has to do with gender, especially with the current climate of affirmation of that kind of thinking, he said.
“It’s a false solution to a different problem,” Dr. Hakeem said.
The causes of gender dysphoria—or unhappiness with one’s gender—often are linked to autism, underlying trauma, or internalized homophobia, he said.
In many cases, vulnerable children are “groomed” to transition, often by parents, teachers, doctors, governments, or social media influencers, who plant the idea they might be transgender.
“It’s the only medical intervention that I know of for which there was no evidence,” Dr. Hakeem said. “There are no outcome studies for this.”
To medically castrate children with hormones or surgery is akin to the use of lobotomies or thalidomide in the 1950s and 1960s, he said.
https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/psychiatrist-gender-clinic-warns-gender-affirming-care-will-lead-mass-sterilization
They’re all too swept up in the trans-fad/craze to realise that no-one really cares. They’re just being used as useful idiots to destabilise society, just like BLM, climate loons, renewables, LGBTQPB+-×÷, equality & inclusion, vaxtards, and all the others.
As Frank Zappa said, soon the illusions will end, the curtains pulled back and the brick wall revealed.
Reality and brick walls are never a good combination.
Let me guess – it’ll be our fault for not warning them enough.
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Lest We Forget:
Frank, George, and Robin.
How they survived as long as they did I’ll never know… the Three Wise Men. RIP
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Wednesday funny: the religion of peace talks science
https://64.media.tumblr.com/b03847c049ab7542000a5e200c460b39/37331cb71e8d90e5-ca/s640x960/9bd7d247acc03dcbc60d095a091a1f0afbc1c624.jpg
😆
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My goodness!
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Unprecedented cold snap in China.
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2023/12/18/emergency-in-china-as-temperatures-hit-lowest-levels-ever/
There has also been a large earthquake, these natural omens indicate the CCP is on the ropes.
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But… but… all that excess CO2 they’re generating over there – China should be MELTING by now!
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The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that Donald Trump is disqualified from serving as president under the 14th Amendment Section 3, which bars officials from seeking future office should they have ‘engaged in insurrection’.
Needless to say, this is not the end of the matter but it does raise tensions still higher, showing that the Democrats will go to ANY lengths to stop a non-establishment globalist from spoiling their plans. This will of course drive more votes Trump’s way.
perhaps the worst thing about this latest escalation of the war against democracy is the fact that it weakens America even more and hastens her demise. Xi will be laughing his socks off.
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Colorado cannot dictate who can / cannot be President of the USA.
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If I recall correctly each state has control of how the electors for President are determined.
As someone said about lotteries – You need to have a ticket to be able to win – same applies to a place on the ballot
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That’s incorrect.
The US Constitution gives each state legislature the relevant authority over elections in their state … no authority rests with any other parts of the state, including the courts.
It also explicitly says that the federal Congress may alter those regulations. For a simple document that’s easy to check, there are surprisingly many variations going about.
https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-1/section-4/
SCOTUS ends up being the final arbitration on the meaning of the US Constitution itself … up until the people of the US take the decision into their own hands … in this case they can write in Trump as their vote if they want to.
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A close second to lawfare to disqualify Trump comes assassination. Screaming that Trump will be a dictator and having every cable news anchor crying on camera can only be incitement to violence by some hater, and there are millions of them.
The logic that he did nothing of the sort during his first term is lost on them.
If Trump goes down, so too the west. He is the rock on which recovery to sanity will be built.
Besides, if Colorado doesn’t allow Trump on the ballot nothing is lost – “the state has voted with the Democrats in the last four presidential elections, including Joe Biden’s 13.5% margin in 2020.”
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Today’s SMH story (paywalled) includes this statement:
” The ruling applies only to Colorado’s March 5 Republican primary, but its conclusion could affect Trump’s status in the state for the November 5 general election. ”
The link:
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-disqualified-to-run-for-us-president-in-colorado-state-s-supreme-court-rules-20231220-p5esou.html?btis
The ABC’s “Just In” hasn’t published anything yet.
Cheers
Dave B
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The story has been covered in today’s The Australian.
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Viva Frei says that it is a BS order, that the judge has put a stay on the ruling until the day before “final nominations” AND if Trump appeals the order to SCOTUS the stay becomes permanent.
So it’s stirring the pot hoping for a reaction from the Trumpists or a bullet from a crazy. [Viva didn’t say that but I said the quiet bit]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9oCywrlUW4
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Joe Rogan: “I Wasn’t Afraid of AI Until I Learned This”
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I keep reading about how Australia “investing” in renewables, and according to the Greens and Labour, this investment will make Australia “A renewable superpower” just WTF does that even mean?
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” Renewable superpower” is one of those government slogans that gets trotted out to help a crazy policy. Up there with “smoothing the curve, we’re all in this together, abundance of caution, rings of steel, peak oil, unreliable coal, superspreader event, safe and effective”. The list is endless and gets added to everyday, by some new jingoistic saying. It’s all male cow dung.
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Don’t hear ‘punching above our weight’ much anymore – maybe this will be 2024’s “word” of the yeah nah?
RENEWABLE SUPERPOWER
by ActionCOP28™Inc.
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“Downward pressure on energy costs”
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A bigger pile of scrap?
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Light may cause water to evaporate (even without heat)
MIT researchers propose a new phenomenon they call the “photomolecular effect.”
While exploring solar evaporation, Yaodong Tu, an MIT postdoc, and Gang Chen, a professor of mechanical engineering, noticed some unexpected results in the experimental research. Certain experiments with hydrogels produced water evaporation that exceeded the thermal limit (the amount of evaporation expected given the amount of heat introduced). In some cases, the evaporation was even doubled.
They found that the light indeed produced evaporation beyond the thermal limit. The effect also varied by wavelength — with green light generating the most evaporation.
Because the wavelength difference bore no relation to heat, the researchers suggest, this supports the hypothesis that light was the cause. They also double-checked their results by repeating the experiments without light. Instead, they heated the hydrogel to the same temperature as the light-based experiments. Under these conditions, however, the amount of water evaporation was far less.
https://news.mit.edu/2023/surprising-finding-light-makes-water-evaporate-without-heat-1031
But, but, but, the science is settled (or our evil plans will fail).
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Is this similar to sublimation?
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FWIW
“Interesting… Will Enola Gay ride again?”
“I was interested to read that the US Air Force is restoring the huge World War II North Field air base on the island of Tinian, from which the atomic bomb missions were launched against Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Nikkei Asia reports:”
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2023/12/interesting-will-enola-gay-ride-again.html
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