[Sosfbay-discuss] Cellulose Reinforcement of Arctic Ice Proposed

[Brian Good]

   Wes,   summary rejection of promising ideas is unscientific.  The Mythbusters
TV show tested  ice v. sawdust Pykrete v. newspaper Pykrete, finding the last to 
be the most melt-resistant.  (Episode 116, April 15, 2009)
   
http://mythbustersresults.com/episode-116-alaska-special-2
  A Wikipedia writeup of the program claims the test was of model ice boats' 
"failure due to melting", but provides no details of the nature of the failure orif any imposed  stresses were involved.  I can't verify Wikipedia's claims thatice failed in one minute, Pykrete failed in five minutes, and the newspaperPykrete "maintained its integrity for almost 60 minutes."  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pykrete

  Certainly unforeseen drawbacks of the idea might exist but it   seems 
worth of  study and experimentation (and respect) to me.   That someSpock-induced fantasies are floating around in no way proves that all 
proposals are Spock-induced fantasies.

    




> Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:08:37 -0700
> From: wrolley at charter.net
> To: sosfbay-discuss at cagreens.org
> Subject: Re: [Sosfbay-discuss] Cellulose Reinforcement of Arctic Ice Proposed
> 
> Brian Good wrote:
> >
> > http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2009/10/global-warming-cannon-saves-world.html
> >
> > Pycrete is sawdust-fortified ice developed during WWII by Geoffrey 
> > Pyke, who proposed to build aircraft carriers out of it.  It's 5X more 
> > resistant to melting than natural ice is. 
> >
> > Ice reinforced with strips of newspaper is almost 60 times more 
> > resistant to melting than natural ice is.
> >
> Brian,
> 
> There are a hundred scatterd geo-engineering ideas floating around.  
> Most of them come from someone who heard Spock talk about terra-forming 
> a dead planet.
> 
> Many of them are simplistic solutions to parts of the problem and have 
> significant risks that far exceed their benefits if any benefits accrue 
> at all.  It is like Bill Gates suggesting that we tow icebergs into the 
> paths of developing hurricanes, cooling the oceans at just that point 
> and reducing the risks of disaster.  Declared to be not very feasible if 
> for no other reason that it is hard to find an iceberg that is close 
> enough to where you need it that you can get it there when you need it. 
> Just because Gates understood the PC market does not mean that he 
> understands science.
> 
> It is good that people think up these ideas and bring them forward.  It 
> is not very good to get too excited about them because the explanation 
> sounds good on the surface.  
> 
> In fact, I am increasingly convinced that the subtitle of Mooney - 
> Kirshenbaum's book is so apt:  "Unscientific America: *How Scientific 
> Illiteracy Threatens Our Future*. "
> 
> -- 
> "Anytime you have an opportunity to make things better and you don't, then you are wasting your time on this Earth" Roberto Clemente
> 
> Wes Rolley
> 17211 Quail Court, Morgan Hill, CA 95037
> http://www.refpub.com/ -- Tel: 408.778.3024
> 
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