Three years ago, a question was posed to two
Internet forums. Could you build a wind powered vehicle that could travel downwind, faster than the wind? The lines were quickly drawn and the battle was on, including
here on the blue. It took nearly two years for the debate to be settled, and on July 2, 2010, what seemed impossible was
achieved. The answer is
yes,
you can.
posted by smoothvirus
on Oct 11, 2011 -
96 comments
Winded - a journey to find out the real truth behind Wind Turbines [SLVimeo].
posted by scruss
on Apr 5, 2011 -
63 comments
Apparently, ducklings do not do well waddling in wild winds.
SLYT.
posted by maryr
on Dec 3, 2010 -
42 comments
California's calm before the storm. It's just rain, right? Well, the meteorologists are publicly talking about a
potentially epic storm that could trigger major flooding and
mudslides, especially in areas effected by the state's widespread fires of the past few years. More ominously, though, is
this internal email from CAL FIRE Division Chief Bob Wallen, which talks of the potential for "multiple large and powerful storm systems" with "a tremendous amount of precipitation . . . Much of NorCal is likely to see 5-10 inches in the lowlands, with 10-20 inches in orographically-favored areas. Most of SoCal will see 3-6 inches at lower elevations, with perhaps triple that amount in favored areas", with the potential for a massive snowfall, gusts in the 100-200 mph range in the high Sierras, possibly followed by plentiful warm rains that could melt the snow and cause massive flooding statewide. "The next 2-3 weeks (at least) are likely to be more active across California than any other 2-3 week period in recent memory."
posted by markkraft
on Jan 16, 2010 -
176 comments
Forecast calls for cold and warm. On January 22, 1943 in Spearfish, SD: The temperature rose 49 degrees in two minutes, from – 4 to 45; later the same morning, it dropped 60 degrees in 27 minutes, from 56° to - 4°. Plate glass windows cracked as a result of the wild fluctuation in temperatures caused by Chinook winds. The greatest 24- hour U.S. temperature difference in one place was set January 23- 24, 1916, in Browning, MT, at 100 degrees when it went from a low of -56° to a high of 44°.*
Snow eating is one way it's been described,
old tales too.. It's a seasonal wind, like the Mistral.
There is some overlap in the definitions but the Chinook can safely be labeled a Foehn wind. A Foehn wind is "a generic term for warm strong and often very dry downslope wind(s) that descend in the lee of a mountain barrier". That is the one illustrated above. My favorite wind though, is the katabatic. A downhill wind.
Cold and dense it blows here on
Earth especially in the
Antarctic, and there on
Mars too. (page 9 of 14.)
[more inside]
posted by vapidave
on Dec 5, 2009 -
33 comments
Meta-efficiency is the analysis of efficiency at a more comprehensive level.
Metaefficient Review assesses products considering not only their energy efficiency but also the embodied energy, toxicity, affordability, and usability.
[more inside]
posted by netbros
on Feb 28, 2009 -
4 comments
Pickens Plan -- oilman T. Boone Pickens has a plan to reduce America's oil dependency problem: exploit the country's massive windpower potential for domestic energy, replacing natural gas, and then use natural gas to power cars instead of foreign oil. Some
problems with the plan.
posted by Laugh_track
on Jul 10, 2008 -
41 comments
Badgirs (Farsi) or
barjeels (Arabic) are
windcatchers that work as low-tech air conditioners. The city of
Yazd, Iran is probably best known for them. Badgirs are built so that they can be opened to catch the wind from different directions, the air is then cooled as it travels down the tower, and in turn cools the rooms below. When there is no wind, air in the tower is heated and rises, which draws cooler air from the courtyard into the house. (There is no URL to link to for the search result for “badgir” on
Encyclopaedia Iranica, but I recommend checking out their definition and diagrams even though you’ll have to go through three different PDF pages.) Badgirs have been around in some form “since the New Kingdom (1500- 300 BC) in Egypt”, but global warming might make them ineffective.
(scroll down to #16-#18) Variations, such as
malqafs, can be found from
Egypt to
Pakistan. You can get
a modern one for your own house. You can win an
award shaped like one
for advancements in sustainable development. Or you could just stay in the Fairmont Dubai Hotel which is shaped like a
huge badgir. So even after all this, I still don't know what those sticks sticking out of the sides are for.
posted by lobakgo
on Jul 10, 2003 -
28 comments
