Why Anchors Don't Work


From earliest times to today, from boat safety pamphlet to engineering treatise on marine architecture: all are agreed that the anchor does the work of keeping a boat or ship from moving.

It doesn't.  It can't.

Machines can do work, but an anchor is not a machine.


A vessel on any body of water is subjected to wind and water forces tending to move it.  In order for it to remain in a well defined geographical area the vessel must in some way oppose those forces.  The notion that any anchor, however designed, can somehow cancel those forces is false according to the laws of thermodynamics.

Glaciers, Drumlins and Ripple Moraine


A drumlin is an elongated, streamlined,  teardrop-shaped hill formed by glacial action. Its long axis is parallel with the presumed longitudinal flow of a former glacier, with the tail pointing away from the glacier foot.  Drumlins often occur in clusters - drumlin fields - with their long axes in approximate alignment.

Climate Change Debate Ends In Global Accord


I would so love to see that headline for real; wouldn't you?


I can just imagine some of the big names on both sides of the debate coming together for a meeting in a Berlin beer cellar, perhaps the famous Kuhfurz Klimakeller.  After a few beers, a heated debate and a modicum of fisticuffs they conclude their cordial get-together with a joint news release.  The news release spells out the scientific points on which both sides are agreed.  It is issued at 03:00 am local time.  It is picked up rapidly by the British hapless haploid tabloids and misreported at 05:00 gmt to an eagerly awaiting world:

IPCC Seeks Independent Review Committee For 5th Report



The IPCC has started work on the preparation of its Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). 

They are currently looking for experts who can act as authors: http://www.ipcc.ch/


The IPCC is also seeking to establish an independent review committee:

While embarking on the preparation of its Fifth Assessment Report it was the intention of the IPCC that an independent committee of distinguished experts evaluate means by which IPCC procedures must be implemented fully and that they should also examine any changes in procedure that may be required.