Bill Angel

So then you want to store the ice in the tropics?

Actually, where the ice is stored is of secondary importance, as the technology exists to move huge amounts of cold materials about the globe via ocean going tankers.

For example, in recent years the size and capacity of LNG ( liquified natural gas ) carriers has increased greatly. Modern LNG carriers have a cargo capacity of between 210,000 and 266,000 cubic meters and are equipped with re-liquefaction plants. So ships could be used to move the ice to sites of probable hurricane formation, where the ice would then be reloaded onto the airborne drones.

Have you bothered to calculate how much ice we're talking about yet?

 

 

 

 

edit: OK, I'm bored....

 

A quick google tells me that the average hurricane releases 52*10^18 J of energy per day (most of which is released as heat when water condenses). If I say that the hurricane lasts 7 days, that's 364*10^18 J of energy that we need to absorb. Ah, heck... We'll be nice and assume that you only need to absorb HALF of that to prevent the hurricane (let it just stay a tropical storm). OK, so we need to absorb 182*10^18 J of heat energy.

 

Another quick google tells me that it takes 333.6 kJ to melt a kg of ice.

 

182*10^18 / 333.6*10^3 = 545*10^12 kg of ice required. Or would you prefer to see it written as 545,000,000,000 metric tons of ice?

 

A cubic meter of ice weighs in at roughly 900 kg. Thus, we're talking about 606*10^9 cubic meters of ice.

 

For comparisons sake, that's only 242,000 times the volume of the Great Pyramid at Giza. Or if you prefer, a slab of ice 10 meters thick and 278 km in diameter.

 

All that to stop ONE hurricane. What do we have... half a dozen hurricanes per year?

 

 

So tell me.... Who's back yard did you want to put this ice house in?

I was thinking more along the lines of using the ice to disrupt the formation of the hurricane.

This article discusses how hurricanes form

In the beginning, a disturbance forms in the atmosphere, developing into an area of low atmospheric pressure. Winds begin to move into the center of the storm seedling from surrounding areas of higher air pressure. Warm water heats the air, and it rises as it nears the center. The ocean feeds warmth and moisture into the developing storm, providing energy that causes the warm air in the center to rise faster. It condenses high in the atmosphere, creating thunderstorms. If conditions are favorable, a tropical depression develops into a tropical storm, then finally into a hurricane, which is not unlike a giant swirling mass of thunderstorms. As rising air in the storm's center condenses, it produces heat, forcing it to rise even faster. The air is pushed out the top -- much like smoke out the chimney of a fire -- and more air has to rush in at the surface to take its place. This kicks the ocean up more and, well, you can see that the storm essentially feeds on itself.

See Article :How & Where Hurricanes Form

So the idea is to utilize the ice to keep the storm from feeding upon itself by supressing the "chimney effect".

Not only that, but to create all that ice, you've to release a crapload of heat somewhere else... Which is no doubt going to come with it's own "unintended consequences."

Perhaps. Ice could be stockpiled in the winter in ice houses, having been created naturally by the cold weather. That way there would not be any heat dumped into the atmosphere by creating the ice via some artificial refrigeration process.

Hurricanes are very large cyclones of hot and cold air (high and low pressures) spinning in a circle pulling water up where it's heat is then dispersed, adding to the problem. If so, stabilizing the pressures would prevent the storm from starting. It isn't that far fetched to propose a small army of drones carry liquid oxygen to the high heat (thus high pressure) region and releasing it, is it? After all, if the storms are natural heat dispersion, don't we have the option to balance the heat manually?

I should think that drones carrying ice crystals to disperse in areas of warm air would do a better job cooling those areas than would be accomplished by drones carrying liquid oxygen.

The fact that pumpkin pie is an aphrodisiac may offer an explanation for General Petraeus' behavior.

As a Commanding General I bet he ate quite a few Thanksgiving dinners with the troops.

The drones together transport a huge sheet of plastic or plywood in the middle of the hurricane, is it possible?

I don't understand how a huge sheet of plastic or plywood would dissipate the power of a hurricane. But I like your idea about using drones.

One wonders if it would be possible to use cloud seeding techniques out at sea to dissipate or at least reduce the destructive power of a hurricane. One source of information on cloud seeding is this article:

http://www.lightwatcher.com/chemtrails/cloud_seeding.html

If the clouds were seeded early enough over the ocean, would the hurricane even form? One could use drones to perform the seeding.

Haha! if this is the case, good for men!

i just steam fresh pumpkin. pumpkin pie? what the difference ?

The primary ingredient in pumpkin pie spice is cinnamon. Historically, cinnamon oil was used as a mood elevator, treatment for impotence and fatigue fighter.

If you are consuming pumpkin in the form of pie, it can reputedly have side effects.

See my blog post Why Dorks Love Pumpkin Pie

Here is one article on how physicists know that quarks are real:

http://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/documents/PUS/dis/DIS.htm

In NZ there was a case some time ago where a farmer's fence passed under a direct current overhead line. He was running his house from his wire fence generated by the wireless electricity from the overhead direct current line. n NZ there was a case some time ago where a farmer's fence passed under a direct current overhead line. He was running his house from his wire fence generated by the wireless electricity from the overhead direct current line.

I can understand how it might be possible to draw power if the high tension lines were carrying AC via induction, i.e. the way a transformer couples power from one set of coils to another. But it is difficult to see how he might draw power from the high tension lines if the lines were carrying DC.

“I think that there is just such a toxic atmosphere right now, specifically in the Republican party. I would love to say that it’s going to be all about ideas and solutions, but unfortunately a lot of it is about just being able to say, ‘I’m more angry at the Obama administration than somebody else.’ That’s not what motivates me politically or governmentally. I believe it ought to be about solutions.” --Mike Huckabee, former Gov of Arkansas

" The best way to stop people being killed by storms is to move the people out of the way."

You are quite right. But in terms of protecting property, the same issue of tradeoffs has come up in the area of flood control. See: http://m.npr.org/story/136056393?url=/2011/05/09/136056393/army-corps-makes-tough-calls-with-floods

We have enough trouble just predicting the weather. I shudder to think what might happen if we start actively tampering with it.

I'm still optimistic on this issue. I was involved in writing programs for supercomputers 25 years ago, and I still remain optimistic that super computers will become powerful enough, and meteorological models sophisticated enough to make control of the weather a reality. I hate to think that the best man can do, as far as the weather is concerned, is depicted in this image

Perhaps pagan religious rituals might help keep the hurricane away?

I understand that if a private company did it, they would be liable for damages. But if the US Government does it, it's a different situation, as the US Government is going to,be involved in cleaning up the damage and helping the victims recover, wherever the Hurricane strikes.

One wonders if it would be possible to use cloud seeding techniques out at sea to dissipate or at least reduce the destructive power of a hurricane. One source of information on cloud seeding is this article:

http://www.lightwatcher.com/chemtrails/cloud_seeding.html

If the clouds were seeded early enough over the ocean, would the hurricane even form?

I'm certain others remember the "hanging chad" controversy in the Bush Gore Presidential election of 2000. Hopefully no more states are still using paper ballots.

How some politicians are like pigeons.

Presidential Debates...

Historical accuracy aside, this attire would have made a great Halloween costume for Nixon!

In the DVD edition of Star Wars III "Revenge of the Sith", George Lucas and his associates provide a running commentary to the movie as a separate audio track. On that track he explains the philosophy and motivation behind the Star Wars motion picture saga. He makes a statement that Richard Nixon, when he was President, wanted to get the Constitution amended so that he could serve a third term. This was evidence of a power grab on Nixon's part similar to what Lucas believes is embodied in the Star Wars Republic Chancellor's plot to become Emperor. The problem is that I am not familiar with any documentation that Nixon ever entertained the notion of getting the Constitution amended and consequently then serving a third term. So does George Lucas have a bogus grasp of certain aspects of American History?

As a supporter of "Obamacare" you can guess how I'm going to vote in the election. But I was somewhat put off to get this "personal" message from Joe Biden at 1:30 AM today:

Bill, I did my best to make you proud tonight. But I hope you remember one thing: This debate wasn't about me, or Congressman Ryan. It was about you, and what we're fighting for together. So if you're standing with Barack and me, like we're standing with you, please chip in $5 or more to show it: https://donate.barackobama.com/Our-Team Thanks, Joe

I do a lot of photography of street performers in Baltimore. These are situations where if you find their act entertaining, they hope that you will drop some money in their pail ($5 would be very much appreciated)   It's like Biden was putting on a performance for his Democratic supporters, who if they found it entertaining should drop $5 in his pail.

I'm still voting for him, however.

interested readers may wish to check out the following article

Quantum Computing with Ions [Re-Post]

One of the authors of this article was the recipient of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Assuming that building such a quantum supercomputer is doable, it sounds like the kind of machine that the National Security Agency would be very much interested in acquiring to break codes and to do very extensive database searches extremely quickly. For them the cost to build and operate such a machine is no cause for concern. I don't know if a quantum supercomputer will help, but it would be great if scientists could utilize it to do a better job at earthquake prediction and weather forecasting.

Startling choice of ad displayed by the Christian Science Monitor

Startling choice of ad displayed in the online edition of the Christian Science Monitor

I went to read an article on my cellphone this morning titled "Israel strikes Gaza after exchange of air strikes Sunday". This article appeared in the online edition of the Christian Science Monitor. The Google program that selects ads to display along with this article picked one supplying information to individuals interested in carrying a concealed firearm. If I were so interested, and clicked on the advertisement, then some revenue would go to the Christian Science Monitor.

Is the idea here that as an American living in Baltimore (and I have an Android phone, so Google has collected a lot of information about me) who is interested in reading about violence in the Middle East, I would also be interested in purchasing and carrying a concealed firearm?

Bill - I think your photo and caption is insulting to the students pictured, you have no knowledge of their cares, interests and vocations and yet you choose to portray them as uncaring merely because they are having a good time at college. When I was at medical school in the 80/90s I can guarantee that there were numerous scenes of drunken debauchery - it's practically on the syllabus - and yet all of my year spent at least some time working in a universal health care system with free provision at the point of use and I believe about 80% are still working in the NHS (this is despite much higher rewards available in private health and/or abroad).

I see your point, and if any of those students have become physicians they are likely contributing more to alleviating America's health care problems than are most other people (including myself). Keep in mind though that there is no NHS in the USA, so there is no assurance that their medical practice is necessarily benefiting the less affulent. And if the Republican challenger wins the Presidential election he has promised to repeal Obamacare, which attempts to get everyone enrolled in the health insurance system. In my opinion these students look like the type of people who would support the repeal of Obamacare. ;-)

^Yes. One can have a good time socially with friends on occasions like new year's eve and still care about broader social issues like healthcare for the poor. If the intent is to argue otherwise with that photo, then the argument being made is intensely weak.

I would first point out that the phrase "intensely weak" is problematical

Here are some meanings of the word intense:

1. Possessing or displaying a distinctive feature to an extreme degree: the intense sun of the tropics.

2. Extreme in degree, strength, or size: intense heat.

3. Involving or showing strain or extreme effort: intense concentration.

4 (a) Deeply felt; profound: intense emotion.

4 (b) Tending to feel deeply: an intense writer..

By weak I assume you mean "lacking persuasiveness; unconvincing".

I would suggest that "the argument being made is totally unconvincing" is a better choice of phrase than "the argument being made is intensely weak".

But to address the substance of your criticism:

A recent study (March 2010) posed the following question to college students:

"THINKING ABOUT NATIONAL ISSUES FOR THE MOMENT, WHICH ISSUE CONCERNS YOU THE MOST?"

The responses were the following:

Economy: (46%)

Health Care: (21%)

National Security (8%)

Education (3%)

Energy and the environment (2%)

During the interviewing period, the health care debate was the major political issue covered in the media.

I would expect that the students' major concern being about the economy reflects their worries about their ability to find employment upon graduation.

The fact that there is no longer a military draft makes the issue of national security of much less interest to them than it was to me and my fellow students back when I was in college during the era of the Vietnam War.