The Random thought thread

[facthunter]

 A lot of people lived in cold unpleasant places to escape from attackers. Nev.

[onetrack]

As in the highlands of Scotland?? That's where my ancestors came from - I couldn't live there, and I can't imagine what it must have been like living there, especially in the Middle Ages.

[facthunter]

They don't tell you about the Midges  either. Do you have a Clan Name?  Nev

[onetrack]

Nev, my ancestors on my mothers side were the McLeans and the McKenzies. They came from Ballachulish ("Balla-hoolish") in the highlands, alongside Loch Leven, and not far from Glencoe.

My Dad came from Portsmouth. Mum told us whenever her sisters would come home with a boy, her fathers interrogation would go like like this;

 

"I see ye ha' a new man. What's his name?". And if the girl said a surname that wasn't Scottish, her old man would go (in disgust), "Ach!! A Sassenach!!" 😄

 

Unfortunately my mother married a Sassenach, so that didn't meet with his approval, either.

[ClintonB]

Going to see some of Scotland next year, even booked a Loch Ness boat ride, going to find Nessie if I can.

[facthunter]

 Watch out for the Midges.  Nev

[red750]

IT’S OFFICIAL: VICTA IS BACK IN AUSTRALIAN HANDS 🇦🇺

 

This one matters.

 

After years overseas, Victa lawn mowers an iconic Australian brand is back in Australian ownership.

 

[red750]

https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/world-economy/it-is-time-millionaires-and-billionaires-condemn-extreme-wealth-in-open-letter/news-story/3de45672db3ff1029cee9d24b245657d

[onetrack]

That has to be an April 1st joke article, surely? Never seen a single millionaire who wants to pay more tax, they continually spent large amounts on finding ways to avoid any taxes at all.

Just look at Paul Hogan - he avoided millions in tax by sleazy means, and whinged like a baby when the ATO came after him.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-30/tax-war-over-as-paul-hogan-settles-with-ato/3981546

[old man emu]

Random thought:

 

The BOM is warning that this heatwave might lead to thunderstorms, but because it is so hot, any rain might evaporate before reaching the ground. This could lead to fires developing due to dry lightning.

 

Here's my thought. I've watched some videos of trees being struck by lightning. Those trees appeared to be live, healthy trees, obviously full of sap, making them good conductors of electricity. I can see a few dead, dried out trees along the road beside my place. I wonder if those dried out trees would not be conductors of lightning.

 

Another thing that I thought of in relation to this heatwave is that eucalyptus trees emit oil into the atmosphere. I wonder if that combustable oil in the air would ignite in the presence of a ligntning bolt and set off a bushfire.

[onetrack]

If lightning hits a dead tree, it will still travel down the tree to the ground (on the outside of the trunk), but it likely won't make the tree explode because of an inadequate level of sap in it.

The reason trees explode when struck by lightning, is because the sap is superheated to steam instantaneously.

 

The normal level of volatile eucalyptus oil naturally in the air, is at too low a level to be ignited by lightning. However, in a fire, heated trees close to the fire front can release large amounts of volatile oils that further exacerbates the fire strength. There is a known feature of bushfires, termed "a crown fire".

A crown fire occurs in front of the main fire front, and is driven by strong winds, which send the fire front through the treetops, aided by the high level of volatile oils at the treetop level.