Post something Weird or Random

[maycontainthunder]

 

[Shevek]

I was on a volunteer crew building a driveway through the woods and we found a 50 year old truck transmission that another volunteer needed.

 

[tree]

 

[Jumpinbare]

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

I found this article announcing the discovery of a new ecosystem under the ice in Antarctica. And it's not just little bitty creatures either, but huge jelly fish and octopus. The pictures and descriptions of the arctic research vessels and the ice sheets and calving are spectacular.

New Antarctic Ecosystem

The body of the jelly fish is as big as a tire and the tentacles are several meters long.

 

[Outdated]

I found this article announcing the discovery of a new ecosystem under the ice in Antarctica.

I've been watching a lot of this too and find it pretty fascinating, roughly 1/3 of Antarctica is Australian Territory and we have a large scientific presence there.

Australian Antarctic Program

The next frontier I think will be the volcanic region in the middle of the continent, where centrifugal force is slowly pulling the continent apart. Although it's under many kilometres of ice there has to be zones in there where life has evolved.

 

[Shevek]

I've been watching a lot of this too and find it pretty fascinating, roughly 1/3 of Antarctica is Australian Territory and we have a large scientific presence there.

Australian Antarctic Program

The next frontier I think will be the volcanic region in the middle of the continent, where centrifugal force is slowly pulling the continent apart. Although it's under many kilometres of ice there has to be zones in there where life has evolved.

Is centrifugal force geologically significant? I'd expect it to make land distribution more equal on both sides of the equator. I can't figure out just what it would do about the differing densities of rocks and water, though.
There is some very amazing biology around hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor, as well as enormous opportunities for gathering energy.

 

[Outdated]

Is centrifugal force geologically significant?

It's a lot slower and more gentle around the poles but it's constant and never ending and it has the same effect as happens around the equator with the ring of Fire.

In some places mountains get pushed up while at the same time continents on their edges slowly erode away back in to the oceans. In a geological time frame the earth is a very active and violent place and nothing sits still for very long. My mother once likened it to the skin on a pot full of boiling soup and I think it's a fairly apt analogy, we're all living on the hardened skin of a molten ball of rock.

There is some very amazing biology around hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor, as well as enormous opportunities for gathering energy.

This is what makes me think that there'll be some unusual discoveries under the ice, it would be very much out of the ordinary if we didn't find new and unique ecosystems.

 

[tlc]

My mother once likened it to the skin on a pot full of boiling soup and I think it's a fairly apt analogy, we're all living on the hardened skin of a molten ball of rock.

I would have never thought of the earth as that fragile, but doing the math, it works out to be right in the ballpark. Smart woman.

 

[Mary Terry]

I would have never thought of the earth as that fragile, but doing the math, it works out to be right in the ballpark. Smart woman.

The atmosphere of earth is comparable to the thickness of the skin (?) on a basketball, too. Earth is indeed fragile.

 

[Shevek]

It's a lot slower and more gentle around the poles but it's constant and never ending and it has the same effect as happens around the equator with the ring of Fire.

The "ring of fire" does track along the Equator for the section north of Australia, but from the west end of that, it goes north, and then outlines most of the Pacific Ocean, re-crossing the Equator.

 

[Outdated]

Latest amusement - watching frustrated owners of ridiculously oversized "american trucks" tearing their hair out now that more and more businesses are installing width restrictors in their carparks. (bollards) You don't see many of them on our roads but the ones you do see create havoc in carparks, they're now being blocked for public health and safety reasons as well as insurance considerations. Half the people that own them wouldn't be able to drive between two bollards even if they did fit, they only seem to get bought by incompetent drivers.

 

[Shevek]

Latest amusement - watching frustrated owners of ridiculously oversized "american trucks" tearing their hair out now that more and more businesses are installing width restrictors in their carparks. (bollards) You don't see many of them on our roads but the ones you do see create havoc in carparks, they're now being blocked for public health and safety reasons as well as insurance considerations. Half the people that own them wouldn't be able to drive between two bollards even if they did fit, they only seem to get bought by incompetent drivers.

View attachment 141450

That's the kind of transportation my neighbours use to go for coffee two blocks away. The daily drivers are generally chosen to be undaunted by a long trip in the worst weather in a decade, as if sheltering in place is always impossible. I have the lightest car in town, and I still think it is absurd. There's no good excuse why, with modern materials, a land vehicle should weigh more than it carries. I sometimes point out that it only took John Wayne one horsepower to haul his manhood around.

 

[Outdated]

I sometimes point out that it only took John Wayne one horsepower to haul his manhood around.

Yep, the only people in Australia that buy these things are trying too hard to compensate for having a small penis. They are completely impractical and we never had the concept here of owning a "little truck" which is why we don't call them trucks.

Ute is short for Utility Vehicle and it's Australia's workhorse, owned mostly by farmers and tradesmen. It is most definitely not a truck, the front half is a standard sedan. It's as comfortable and as easy to drive and park as a regular sedan, the tray at the back is low enough for people to easily lift tools and heavy goods in and out of them and the sides of the tray drop down to help facilitate this.

Australia lost it's car manufacturers a decade ago but Japan still makes utes for us. Those stupid "trucks" have no real place here except for young idiots and drug dealers trying too hard to look cool.

 

[Shevek]

"Crew cabs" are popular here, with integrated bed styling. There are quite a few working trucks, rigged with tanks to re-fuel farm machinery, tool boxes, and with the 'roo bars used for moving heavy objects, but they get used for minor errands a lot. There are far more trucks just chosen to look like the owner can work hard, but they only keep the guys broke. I've heard of repair bills on recent models that are higher than my lifetime car budget. I'm still getting used to not having to brake when a farm truck pulls out in front of me on the highway.
I wonder why your example keeps their flood air intake on all the time. I'd expect it to be easy to rig as water rose. There's one of those around here too. Maybe next we'll see heavy rain gear clumping around at the mall.

 

[Outdated]

I wonder why your example keeps their flood air intake on all the time. I'd expect it to be easy to rig as water rose.

We call that a snorkel, and it's not for flood waters. It's to stop your air intake from sucking up dust on country dirt roads. Trucks have them too.

And whenever we use the word Truck we mean something like this:

 

[Shevek]

I see that a forward air intake would get clean air ahead of a road train, but a snorkel would not get clean air behind it. Have you tried cyclone dust separators, as found on Dyson vacuum cleaners and various industrial machines?
We get dust too. One time, a guy took a brand-new car up the Alaska Highway. At his destination, he opened the trunk and found a layer of dust on his suitcase. He opened his well-sealed suitcase and found dust on his clothes. He dug down through layers of cloth to his shaving kit, which was dusty. He opened the kit and found dust on his razor.

 

[Outdated]

Have you tried cyclone dust separators, as found on Dyson vacuum cleaners and various industrial machines?

Trucks use these, if you look closer at the pictures you'll see the large cylinder at the bottom, just before the pipe enters the engine bay. They can just open the bottom of that cylinder and dump the dirt out. Many of these trucks spend the majority of their lives on dirt roads and they're quite expensive pieces of equipment so preventative maintenance is very important.

Less care and less expense is spared on people's private cars though, the snorkel is high enough to escape the majority of the dust that is thrown up by the car's own front wheels but what sort of air filter that runs in to is entirely up to the independent owners, most will be just a simple filter box with a large paper filter inside.

We get dust too.

Some large regions of Australia don't get rain every year, and when they do get rain the roads become impassable for a few weeks.

One time, a guy took a brand-new car up the Alaska Highway. At his destination, he opened the trunk and found a layer of dust on his suitcase. He opened his well-sealed suitcase and found dust on his clothes. He dug down through layers of cloth to his shaving kit, which was dusty. He opened the kit and found dust on his razor.

We call that Bull Dust and we get it big time here, dust so fine that it gets in to absolutely everything. Ours is bright red and it's also acidic so if it gets a little bit of moisture as well and is left sitting there it can cause pretty bad corrosion.

In some places you get deep "puddles" of bull dust, it's so fine that to walk through it is like walking through water and it's not much fun to drive through either.

 

[Shevek]

Around here, we get "gumbo" - mud that builds up on shoes and tires. Where it is worst, there are cars with the fenders removed so the mud can just fling off and not pack the fenders. Boots need frequent hard scraping.

 

[Outdated]

Around here, we get "gumbo" - mud that builds up on shoes and tires. Where it is worst, there are cars with the fenders removed so the mud can just fling off and not pack the fenders. Boots need frequent hard scraping.

I've seen pictures and videos of mud like that but have never experienced it.