Dave the grave Hunter - Hunter Geophysics

I'm an archaeological geophysicist specialising in finding unmarked graves in cemeteries using ground-penetrating radar. I also teach GPR and sell GPR-SLICE.

[Dave the grave Hunter - Hunter Geophysics @huntergeofizz]

@launtel seems to be an outage in Ballarat, Victoria… nothing mentioned on your website though.

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Starship weighs 5000 tons on liftoff

[SpaceX @SpaceX]

Watch Starship’s fourth flight test → https://t.co/bJFjLCiTbK https://t.co/SjpjscHoUB

[Ryan Buikema @prolificinvent]

@sentdefender Reminded me

[Dave the grave Hunter - Hunter Geophysics @huntergeofizz]

@deltaIV9250 SpaceX isn’t just one dude. There’s literally thousands of them working on this. They don’t all need to be working on the one thing. They can do other things.

[Dave the grave Hunter - Hunter Geophysics @huntergeofizz]

@SteinsG59247290 @SciGuySpace Tall poppy syndrome.

[Rod Adams @Atomicrod]

Fascinating brouhaha in Australia regarding a "fact check" about countries running on 100% renewables.

Dick Smith told ABC that it was impossible to run a country on 100% renewables. He continued with "This claim by the CSIRO that you can run a whole country on solar and wind is simply a lie."

ABC fact checkers disagreed and claimed that "Albania, Bhutan, Nepal and Paraguay - have been running 100 per cent on wind, solar and water since 2021."

Of course, the fact checkers made the common error of focusing on just electricity sources, neglecting the fact that electricity is only about 25% of the energy consumption of most countries.

But even if you just look at electricity, it is misleading to claim that the four countries listed ran on "wind, solar and water." It would be far more accurate to state that they ran on water (hydro).

Paraguay has 7000 MWe of hydro, which is 86% of the country's generating capacity and nearly 100% of its production.
Bhutan's electricity is 0.03% wind, 0.01% solar and 360% hydro (it's a major regional exporter)
In 2021, Albania produced 5.3 TWh of hydroelectricity and imported 1.2 TWh from its neighbors. Its solar was 0.5% and wind was not yet available.
Nepal also produces essentially all of its electricity from hydroelectric dams. It uses wood and dung for much of its cooking and heating needs.

No matter what Australians think of Dick Smith, he is correct in his statements. It's not possible to run a whole country on wind and solar.

That is especially true if the residents of the country want to live a modern lifestyle and if the country has more than a few widely distributed residents.

With the right geography, economic conditions and population density, it's long been possible to run a country's ELECTRICITY system on hydro in non drought years.

In an amusing footnote to the story, an ABC spokesperson defended its contracted fact checkers – RMIT FactLab.

But ABC has also announced that it will not be renewing its contract with the organization once it expires at the end of the year.

[Dave the grave Hunter - Hunter Geophysics @huntergeofizz]

@34davidparsons @SciGuySpace This has always seemed like the most obvious solution.
Agreement was broken, so things should go back to how they were before the agreement was signed. <shrug>

[Dave the grave Hunter - Hunter Geophysics @huntergeofizz]

@UncleJessy4Real Wait, what?
Why not just make it that bit bigger before milling it down to actual 2x4"?

[Rod Adams @Atomicrod]

Nuclear energy opponents hate acknowledging the technology's impressive performance in producing electricity and heat without producing CO2 or criteria air pollutants like SOX, NOX, or fine particulates.

They say nuclear isn't clean because the plants use steel and concrete.

So do all other energy sources.

Here is one of many graphs that quantify the material inputs to the structures and equipment associated with energy sources.

[Aaron Dodd, Curmudgeon @AaronDodd]

Congratulations #BrettSutton. Very well deserved! #auspol
https://t.co/giFK58gt4z

[Dave the grave Hunter - Hunter Geophysics @huntergeofizz]

@DJSnM Flamey end pointing up. That's never a good sign.

[Dave the grave Hunter - Hunter Geophysics @huntergeofizz]

@tweethue @jamesamatthews I was this close <gestures with fingers> to throwing out a Hue plug (after stuffing about with it for a week) and then I found this tweet by chance and it solved my problem. :)

[Rod Adams @Atomicrod]

Important fact about Hinkley Point C - most of the breathless news reports about its rising costs are just noise.

The discussions about cost and the potential risk that customers would pay for overruns should have been put to rest when the strike price was set.

That arrangement means that the project developers won't be able to charge customers or taxpayers for excess costs.

It means that more of the revenue from selling electricity at the previously agreed price will be used to pay off the increased capital investment.

IOW, their profits will be reduced, but that is the deal that was made. The selling price of the electricity has a risk premium baked in. The government sought to eliminate its own risk and responsibility; the contract for difference does that quite well.

Aside: The UK government should be held partly responsible for the cost and schedule overruns. The government's regulator imposed requirements that resulted in about 7,000 design changes on a plant design that was good enough to meet IAEA, Finnish, French and Chinese requirements.

It takes time and money to make changes, especially when those changes add a considerable amount of additional concrete and steel, presumably in additional structures and systems.Changes that streamlined the construction would have been less burdensom. End Aside

Regulators are investing time into harmonizing nuclear regulations so that designs acceptable under credible regulatory frameworks are more acceptable in other competent systems. But the effort holds the risk that they will choose to harmonize around the most burdensome common denominator.

Hinkley C investors and developers were right to stand firm in their negotiations before the project construction started. "Western" government regulators still haven't absorbed reality; nuclear energy no longer carries the burden of unknown risks that it had in the 1950s - 1970s. We KNOW it's safe and reliable. We also KNOW its primary competitors (fossil fuels) impose far more harm, even when they are working as designed, than was known way back then.

Nuclear power should be regulated with those facts clearly at the forefront.

[Gwynne Shotwell @Gwynne_Shotwell]

Satellite connectivity direct to cell phones will have a tremendous impact around the world, helping people communicate wherever and whenever they want or need to.

[Greg R. Hill @greghill]

Footage from the local Shinkansen station in Ishikawa prefecture, extremely powerful shaking! #japan #earthquake

[Dave the grave Hunter - Hunter Geophysics @huntergeofizz]

@joeltelling @Prusa3D @ChuckHellebuyck Ok, but how did you manage to get it to print anything?
I’m still struggling to get anything to print on mine. :/

[Dave the grave Hunter - Hunter Geophysics @huntergeofizz]

@13cabs What number should we use in Ballarat? The Ballarat number (03 5329 0000) isn't working either...

[Owen Humphreys @owenhumphreys1]

Nature putting on its own fireworks last night filling the sky’s with greens, reds and purple and even a white know as a “STEVE” first one I’ve seen in the UK #weather #northernlights #aurora @StormHour see @PA for more pictures @ChronicleLive @TamithaSkov

[Owen Humphreys @owenhumphreys1]

First one of these I’ve ever captured in the UK called a “STEVE” Nature at its very best last night putting on its own fireworks https://t.co/qjUIiJ7xew 📸📸📸 @TamithaSkov more pictures @PA @ChronicleLive @StormHour #northernlights #aurora