How Would The Scottish Diaspora Vote On Independence?
I ask this question as the BBC has a story about five famous Scots, who live outside Scotland would vote.
I can’t find a poll of Scots outside Scotland asking how they would vote, but I can add an anecdote.
I used to play real tennis with an American, who was an academic at Cambridge. His research area was the relationship of the diaspora, with their original country. He had found that a lot of the troubles in the Indian sub-continent had been funded by donations from abroad. As a Bostonian, he did add that he didn’t think that the Irish in his home city, had helped find a solution in Northern Ireland.
I also think, that we all like places where we grew up or to which we have a strong connection, to do well and have control of their destiny.
For this reason, it could be that if Scots living outside Scotland had the vote, then the referendum would more likely be a vote for independence.
So could Alex Salmond have got it wrong, on not allowing Scots abroad to vote, if he wants the vote to go his way?
A Cool Place For Lunch
It was hot yesterday and I met an old friend for lunch.
As I’m a Friend of the British Museum, for myself and a guest, we went to the Members Room at the British Museum.
My old friend had a wrap and I had a salmon salad. We washed them down with cold lemonade.
The Members Room is air-conditioned and it was a very pleasant way to spend lunchtime on such a hot day.
The Scotties Steal The Show
It is generally reported in the media, that the Scotties stole the Opening Ceremony of Glasgow 2014. Look at what the Aussies said for example.
But it would appear, that finding enough dogs might have been a problem, as according to this article, they had to bring in Archie from Ringwood in England.
Perhaps they should have shared the duties around and perhaps got in a corgi for the Welsh team to add a touch of humour near the end.
Queen Elizabeth would have been amused!
It will be interesting to see if sales of Black and White whisky increase.
A Scot Gives His Reason To Say No!
On BBC Television this morning, a proud Scot said that he enjoyed the ceremony last night. For him, one of the uplifting moments was the Red Arrows.
He stated that if the Scots vote Yes, then there could be no more displays north of the border. See where their displays for 2014 are here. Two and last night’s performance are in Scotland.
Redesigning The Ugly
There are lots of everyday common blots on the landscape, that are just downright ugly.
Take the electricity pylon. In all my years of travelling, I’ve never seen any that could be described as beautiful. If we didn’t want them to spoil the landscape, we’d bury them, as happens in most towns and cities.
However, there was a competition a few years ago with a £5,000 prize to find a better pylon. It’s all described in this report.
I’ve not seen any better ones yet!
So now it is time for the designers to look at the overhead lines used on railway lines. The thoughts and ideas are detailed here.
How many everyday objects can be improved by better design and materials?
Liverpool Gets The Puppets Out Again
In 2012, Liverpool staged the Sea Odyssey: Giant Spectacular to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.
On Friday, they’re staging another giant puppet show to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Great War. It’s reported here in the Liverpool Echo.
I wish I could go, but I’ve got to be here for my builders on Friday, which would be the best day.
You may question, if a free show like this is a good idea, as surely it costs a lot to setup. This is what Wikipedia said about the financial benefits of the Sea Odyssey.
An independent report into the impact of Sea Odyssey concluded it was the most successful event in Liverpool’s history. The report showed that 800,000 people took part in the event, which resulted in an economic impact of £32 million.
So it would appear that spectacular events are a good idea financially.
How much did Leeds, Cambridge and London benefit from the Tour de France? And after the Commonwealth Games, how many people having a holiday in Edinburgh, will now take the trip across to Glasgow?
What odds will I get on the French puppeteers turning up in Liverpool again in a few years time. Perhaps they’ll bring a puppet of Red Rum to the Grand National!
A 3D Map Of London
This 3D map of London is at the Building Centre close to Tottenham Court Road station.
Unfortunately, dalston is just off the map, But it was good nevertheless.
Africa’s Great Green Wall
The Sunday Times has an article today about the Great Green Wall. Wikipedia describes the project like this.
The Great Green Wall is a planned project to plant a wall of trees across Africa at the southern edge of the Sahara desert as a means to prevent desertification. It was developed by the African Union to address the detrimental social, economic and environmental impacts of land degradation and desertification in the Sahel and the Sahara.
The aims are wider than this according to the Sunday Times, with hopes that trees can be planted that provide useful crops and income, so that the men aren’t drawn to terrorism and general mayhem.
The article also talks about how Kew Gardens is being drawn into the project, because it has the expertise to make sure the trees germinate and thrive.
By the end of this year they hope to have planted 162,000 trees in 2,500 acres. The forty species include gum arabic, tamarind and desert date.
This project is one of the ways to help stop poverty in the poorer areas of the world, whereas the article is the reason to buy the Sunday Times today.
Putin sends a missile battery, whereas Kew sends in and trains botanists and gardeners.
Could This Be The Key To Hydrogen Power?
Jerry Woodall has form as a scientist and inventor as he developed the first commercially-viable red LEDs that we see in car brake lights and traffic signals.
Last night I was searching for something else and came across this video on YouTube. This is the description to go with the video.
The actual process: gallium and aluminum combining, add water. stir – bubbles of hydrogen with only white aluminum oxide. as demonstrated by John Woodall – Jerry M. Woodall, National Medal of Technology Laureate, Distinguished Professor of School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette.
To put it simply, you add water to aluminium doped with gallium and the aluminium combines with the oxygen in the water and the hydrogen is released. The hydrogen can then be used to power a small engine.
There’s more description here on phys.org.
It’s early days yet, but could this simple process be the key to hydrogen power?
I always remember in the Electrical Engineering Department at Liverpool University in the 1960s, we were shown one of the first lasers. In some ways then, it was just a scientific curiosity and people were speculating about how they could be used. Now everybody has at least one, if they have a CD player. Many people reading this will be navigating the Internet using a laser mouse, as in fact I am with a Logitech M525.
It may not use Jerry Woodall’s invention, but at some time in the future, you’ll just put water in the fuel tank of your car and just drive away, emitting nothing more than water vapour.
There are many problems to solve, but the internal combustion engine will be here hundreds of years from now.
Is Iceland Part Of The Solution To The Problem Of Russia?
Putin’s Russia is increasingly becoming a problem to the rest of the world, as the events in Ukraine show. I’ve also been to Poland recently and talking to Poles, some are getting quite worried about Russian intentions.
We may impose sanctions on the Russians, but the real problem with our relationship, is that many countries in Europe are highly dependent on Russian gas. Germany is especially dependent and has the direct Nord Stream link through the Baltic.
But how do we replace all of that gas?
We already have a Langeled pipeline from the UK to Norway, the Interconector to Belgium and the RBL pipeline to the Netherlands. We are also importing compressed natural gas from the Middle East. We may also see the benefits of fracking in the next few years. So as far as the UK and our near Continental neighbours are concerned, it’s probably a case of “I’m Alright, Jack”
Gas may be a cleaner fuel, than the coal the Germans are rushing to use, but it still is a fossil fuel, although it only generates about forty percent of the CO2, that coal does when you burn it.
On my trip to Iceland, I saw how you could use geothermal and hydro-electric power to create heat and electricity to power a country and energy consumptive industries like aluminium production and data centres.
But they could generate a lot more and that zero-carbon electricity could be plugged into the European electricity grid. A project called Icelink has been proposed that would link Iceland to the UK and onward to Europe.
There is even plans on the drawing board in other parts of the world, where electricity is used to convert aluminium oxide or bauxite to aluminium in a smelter. The aluminium is then transported to where you need more electricity and then burned in a conventional power station to generate that power. After burning the aluminium is turned into oxide, which is then shipped back to be re-smelted into metal. It sounds crazy, but get the designs right and it might well be financially feasible and considerably cheaper than laying an undersea cable.
Connecting all of Western Europe’s gas and electricity systems together will allow everybody to share resources to mutual advantage.
If we do bring Iceland into this network, it will all help to make Russia’s abundant energy unnecessary and give Putin the cold shoulder, he deserves.
The Anonymous Widower 