The Last Post Game!!!!

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Living in FL it's a bit incredible how AC isn't a common occurrence in Europe or certain parts of the north.

Last _{back home in sea level cities AC is a minor marker of wealth} Post

[Swatopluk]

Maybe we will get to it too in the future, if it can be done in an environmentally sustainable way.
But 40 years ago such heatwaves were practically unknown around here.
It still seems unbelievable to wake up in the morning and find the room temperature to be 30°C (i.e. even hotter than when I went to sleep).
And I think this building is not particularly bad.
I have a suspicion though that the hot water lines are running below the floor of my room, so it seems the most afflicted one in the flat.

Last _{using a (handheld) folding fan during the day now} Post

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

You, being a master chemist, should be able to get the most efficient gas for an Einstein-Szilard pump and, using solar mirrors, it would be not only sustainable, but quite economic.

Last _{the original efficiency using ammonia wasn't that great. Also you would need a source of heat in the evenings though} Post

[Swatopluk]

Even as a commoner, ammonia solution is freely available at the hardware store.
The problem with all devices using ammonia is to keep the stuff from leaking not getting the NH₃.

Last _{Diesel started with an ammonia engine too and never got that problem solved} Post

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

I was thinking that you should know a better gas for that mechanism.

Last _{or better, formulate one} Post

[Swatopluk]

Unfortunately we are proabably talking about perfluorinated compounds then.
Those have their own problems.

Last _{all candidates seem to be flammable, toxic or persistent (usually two of those at the same time)} Post

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Being a closed system without moving parts wouldn't it be possible to enclose it in a fluid/gas that would make the active ingredient inert/innocuous?

Last _{If there is a leak in the inner system the outer system would neutralize it} Post

[Swatopluk]

The problem would then be the outer component. E.g. you'd need an acid to deal with ammonia (the alternative of a catalytic agent opens a different can of worms).
And for many other components the products of any reaction would carry their own problems as well.

Household appliances would imo also be more difficult to deal with than industrial ones.

Last _{the avarage idiot is surprisingly inventive as far as out-unsmarting safety features goes} Post

[Aphos]

Last _{anyone that thinks something is idiot proof has not met a sufficiently determined idiot} Post

[Swatopluk]

The trick is to assume that the user will be an idiot and plan accordingly.

Last _{https://libquotes.com/herman-wouk/quote/lbn1r6p} Post

[Aphos]

Last _{re-read my last post} Post

[Swatopluk]

The full qote takes that into account too

Last _{but I have the full version available only in German} Post

[Griffin]

Never mind quotes, what about quotas? We should have quotas - only so many people can get sick at one time quota would be good.

And vaccinations. If a vaccine is only 67% effective, lots of people will get ill. Even if less ill than if no vaccine, some will still die. Crowding out the hospitals means more people dying of other causes like heart and cancer. So that is still a lot of people dying.

Opening night clubs seems insane.

On a personal note, because I am high risk and had the AZ 60 odd % vaccine.... I am still basically not mixing with people. On a personal note being double vaccinated means not all that much.

Still, fewer people on earth may reduce greenhouse gases.

Last _{was it all meant to end like this? doomy post.} Post

[Swatopluk]

Well, that would mean that some of the sick would have to claim not to be with the well-known consequences.
The flu notoriously spreads when employers put pressure on employees to ignore their sickness and come to work unless they would like to risk getting fired under pretense (no pretense needed in the US, it's a free country after all).

Greenhouse gas emissions went down a bit during the height of the pandemic (or at least rose more slowly) but now seem to make up for it as if having missed a payment installment.
And the main culprits have high incentives: log those forests and extract and sell those fossil fuels before it becomes illegal (or the existing laws get enforced) and non-profitable. If you know that your stocks will fall and your company fail: get rid of them and it in time, so the losses will be someone else's.

Not to forget the cynicism of: 'it's too late to do something, so let's do nothing or keep doing what we already do!'

Last _{They see 'let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die' as a Biblically sanctioned recommendation} Post

[Griffin]

Everyone should stop doing what they are doing. A step beyond simple Lock Down.

Last _practical Post