Random Picture Thread

God bless Judge Kavanaugh and his family. Your face would look like that if you went through what he is going through.

 

Digital cameras have been a boon to coming up with the least attractive images of someone that you possibly can. In the old days you could cover expressions up to a point but film and fast motor drives weren't cheap and unless you had a special back.39-40 images a roll with very careful loading was it.

 

Not just that but some scientists are now saying that large wind farms, likely because they help stir up the air, contribute to warming.

 

Without bats we would have lost the war of 1812. God bless those little critters too.
History Underground: Historic Mammoth Cave - Discover Historic Travel http://discoverhistorictravel.com/history-underground-historic-mammoth-cave/

 

It says during the War of 1812 there was saltpeter* mining in Mammoth Cave, what does that have to do with the blessed bats . . ?

* Nitratine (originated from salt deposits) from which Niter is made​

‘‘ 1812 saltpeter works in Mammoth Cave ’’ - (big pic)​

 

I see, it can also originate from bat excrements which can be produced to gunpowder in a nitrary.

 

Historical photos colorized Dutch link​

 

5 January 1911​

‘‘ Taylor and Wright of the Terra Nova Expedition at the entrance of an ice grotto near Cape Evans. The ship Terra Nova is anchored in the background. ’’

 

These are some of the original wooden pipes used to transport the saltpeter slurry. Note the conical shape of the male pipe fitting.

 

This is one of the mixing tubs.

 

Thanks Hoyt , I didn't realize those were wooden pipes, is there is source to the mixing tub, or is that a own picture ?

Did you live near Mammoth Cave when growing up in Kentucky ?

I would love to have such a boat tour in the Cave . . .


‘‘ River Styx cave boat tour ’’


‘‘ River Styx, one of the Mammoth Cave's semi-subterranean waterways, emerges onto the surface in Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky. ’’

(bigger pic of the map)​

 

I'd originally thought it was a cut out of this pic*, but it has different shadows, so it's clearly a different picture.

* in post #8304​

 

I've recently read 'the Worst Journey in the World' - Apsley Cherry-Garrard's extraordinary account of the extraordinary Terra Nova Antarctic expedition.
So much of it is astonishing - unloading the ship across the bay ice, being watched -hunted?- by orcas, the Polar expedition itself - Scott, having done the sums, understanding that they were likely to perish, unlikely to be able to reach the next depot given supplies, conditions and health, yet continuing in unbelievably tough circumstances, for weeks more before they finally reached the end, just a few miles short. And the Winter Expedition to collect penguin eggs. 3 men needing two sleds, so going forward 1 mile, and then back to findand fetch the second sled. in the Antarctic winter. So in the dark. By candlelight. Falling into crevasses again and again. An hour to get into frozen sleeping bags. An hour to get out. Perhaps 2 or 3 miles a day. Cherry-Garrard getting frostbite In his teeth. Wilson, iirc, blinded in one eye by spitting penguin blubber they were boiling for lamps. Their tent blowing away in a storm. Somehow finding it again. And when Cherry-Garrard, years later, finally delivered the penguin eggs containing embryos to the Natural History Museum repository (at the time, early penguin embryos were thought to hold the key to understanding evolution, though subsequently it became apparent that this was a mistaken belief), He was so incensed by the off hand, dismissive response of the desk clerk, that in his fury at the lack of respect for the sacrifices that had been made to obtain them, he lost his temper and DEMANDED A RECEIPT.

I have in mind a particular passage which I will share. Bear with me.

 

Wind power makes the ground warmer even as it cools the planet | ARS Technica

A computer simulation was done in which all US power was supplied by wind turbines. It showed that the US would get about 0.2°C warmer with the turbines in place.

The temperature change is small during the day, because surface warming and convection driven by the Sun overwhelm the influence of the turbines.

At night, when the air is calmer, the turbines mix warmer air down toward the cooling surface.

Turbines don’t add energy to the atmosphere—they just move some air around.

 

I took the pictures when I visited a few years ago. Here is another.
People used to write on the ceiling with candle soot.