Submitted by Captain Qahn on
A Change is as Good as the Rest?
Did the flapping of a butterfly's wings in Brazil (or elsewhere) cause a heatwave in Texas? Yes, and climate change made it worse. That's the simple explanation.
The atmosphere is unstable, so little disturbances grow exponentially into large-scale weather phenomena...
https://metamodel.blog/posts/texas-heat-wave/
Oh, Go on Then...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOoKzw3JSCM
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/jun/04/men-blonde-women-attractive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQWDeAsi0AY&list=RDGQWDeAsi0AY&start_rad...
The Amused.
"The Twenty-first Amendment ended Prohibition, though it continued in some states. To date, this is the only time in American history in which a constitutional amendment was passed for the purpose of repealing another."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1CYKDoYCIM&list=RDo1CYKDoYCIM&start_rad...
4 Comments
'Northern Olympics'
Submitted by Captain Qahn on
"Occam’s razor, the well-worn rule of thumb for scientific inquiry, applies well here: the simplest explanation is usually the best. As critical thinkers sometimes say, “if you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not unicorns.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cv98z92ekg9zo
"That it was navy pilots who encountered these objects would seemingly enhance the credibility of these reports. Pilots inarguably have more experience looking at things in the sky than the average person, but that doesn’t mean they’re immune to error. For example, in 2011 an Air Canada first officer reportedly put a plane in a nosedive because he saw Venus. I’ve seen countless reports of UFOs that for real and for sure turned out to be Venus, Jupiter, the moon, airplanes, satellites, meteors, rocket launches, floating paper bag lanterns or, in one very famous case, military flares."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/18yFM790crZcwPxjLxMJS10/unders...
"The fact is, everyone can make mistakes—even experts. There’s a reason the term “argument from authority” is considered a logical fallacy."
https://www.theguardian.com/global/2026/oct/24/lime-bike-jousts-why-yout...
"Astronomers are no exception; we’ve sometimes been fooled—or at least momentarily baffled—by unexpected observations. Not that long ago some of us got excited by what seemed to be a radio observatory’s detection of a new type of astrophysical signal; further investigation showed, however, that the signal was electromagnetic interference from a nearby microwave oven. A different time, an astronomer accidentally discovered Mars. Another discovered the sun."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrwRAjCr_lA&list=RDFpPn5O17teA&index=2
"The important part of all these stories is that the scientists involved didn’t immediately run to the media claiming they had found little green men. Skepticism and careful analysis won the day."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpPn5O17teA&list=RDFpPn5O17teA&index=1
"They’re not, she adds, “saying: ‘This is what I actually think the medieval world was like.’”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l02eW7xoXGg&list=RDl02eW7xoXGg&start_rad...
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/who-we-are/our-history/lessons-and...
Wotdoyamean I was hiding under a duvet...
All homeless people are Stargazers... ;-0
Rather fortunately I found shelter in a Golf, when the doors had been left open... but that was way back then.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPFAYIr8z2I&list=RDTPFAYIr8z2I&start_rad...
Ello John, got a new motor?
The safest place to be in a Thunder Storm, is in a Motor, somin to do with Conduction.
https://www.britannica.com/science/electrical-conduction
The Fact Checked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8JEm4d6Wu4&list=RDTPFAYIr8z2I&index=2
Not that you needed to know that, but Hey Ho...
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/oct/24/burnham-badenoch-f...
Off we Go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA6lqTu0ByA&list=RDovFZ4zXov5E&index=2
'Essentials'
Submitted by Captain Qahn on
"At a time of acute global instability, it makes sense to responsibly use our resources here at home. Gas from this field will begin heating our homes and powering our businesses this winter. In the longer term, it will significantly strengthen our energy security by increasing domestic gas production by about 6% and support the UK’s energy supply for more than a decade. Wednesday’s decision will also protect hundreds of jobs in Scotland and add almost £3bn to the UK economy over the lifetime of the project."
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/oct/22/net-zero-transitio...
"There has been much speculation about what this announcement means for Britain’s commitment to addressing the climate crisis. I want to be clear that our determination is unwavering."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqy8ljkle97ro
"He points out that Rosebank contains not just oil but gas which would be piped to Shetland and on to the St Fergus terminal in Aberdeenshire, with the potential to heat 500,000 British homes at peak production."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUuVOW7XogA&list=PLQgxXDg4sS68
"Appropriately, the theme suggested by readers was what can the public actually do in the face of what feels like paralysing climate doom?"
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/oct/24/france-demonstrations...
"Rosebank is bigger than Jackdaw, it would generate higher greenhouse gas emissions, and it could be far more lucrative for its owners, Adura and Ithaca."
Let them Eat Cake.
'Urban Exploring'
Submitted by Captain Qahn on
"If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Rudyard Kipling.
One of the best known stories in English history is that of King Alfred and the cakes. Children are taught the story where Alfred is on the run from the Vikings, taking refuge in the home of a peasant woman. She asks him to watch her cakes – small loaves of bread – baking by the fire, but distracted by his problems, he lets the cakes burn and is roundly scolded by the woman.
When and where was this supposed to have taken place?
By 870 AD, all the independent Anglo-Saxon kingdoms except Wessex had been overrun by the Vikings. East Anglia, Northumbria, and Mercia had all fallen and now the Vikings were preparing to attack Wessex."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6dxwklr409eo
"He said Alfred was not just a warrior king, but a "philosopher and a thinking king"."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHuebHTD-lY&list=RDeHuebHTD-lY&start_rad...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr15jpxdxyn7o
The Hunters Moon.
It will soon be Tuesday...
"This was a ferocious battle with no quarter asked or given. Alfred destroyed the Danish army and pursued the survivors as they fled to Chippenham where they surrendered."
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/oct/25/stephen-fry-sherlock-holme...
'Moon, Light, Shadows'
Submitted by Captain Qahn on
"As some mourned the "end of an era", many waited nervously to see if he could stick the landing second time around."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ck87z4ng2l03o
"The chancellor's aides are using intelligence-style security measures to guard its secrets: the Budget has been split into "compartments" with very few given access to all of them. There are codenames. The IT has been locked down and ministers viewing the plans have to sign a digital promise not to brief media."
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/oct/26/harry-styles-says-...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYgJZ79FmBo&list=RDnrIPxlFzDi0&index=3
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/26/california-sunlight-spac...
"One of the reasons they've been so excited to see the new, animated finale is due to the fact Kubo and animation house Pierrot Films have made changes to the original storyline."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnGDK9Ja4GA&list=RDnnGDK9Ja4GA&start_rad...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8p3g73ep520o
"Opting out means delegating digital drudgery to other people... I’m filled with dread and confusion at the thought of replacing it (what model, how many GBs, must I engage with the Cloud?) and my life isn’t too busy or demanding; I can’t imagine what it’s like when you are a global icon on a world tour."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls8pFrJKaFs