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Category Archives: What to do
From Horsepower to Horse Power. When Trucks stop, Horses start.
Preface. Before the industrial revolution there were only four sources of mechanical power of any economic significance. They were human labor, animal labor, water power (near flowing streams) and wind power. Work done by animals, especially on farms, was still … Continue reading
Muscle Power
Preface. Before fossil fuels, the energy to do work came from muscle power and the heat from burning biomass, mainly wood. When I visited the Deutsches museum in Munich in 2017, I saw two animal treadmills: The first picture shows … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Energy, Life Before Oil, Muscle Power, What to do
Tagged muscle power, treadmill
3 Comments
Vaclav Smil. Making the modern world: materials and dematerialization
Preface. I can’t believe I read this book, it is just a long litany of the gigantic amounts of materials we exploit, with no analysis, implications, or the meaning of what impact this will have on the planet. I certainly … Continue reading
Posted in Infrastructure, Life Before Oil, Limits To Growth, Peak Resources, Vaclav Smil
Tagged materials, recycling, vaclav smil
10 Comments
Rex Weyler on “what to do” about limits to growth, peak energy
Preface. Professor Nate Hagens is teaching a class at the University of Minnesota about the state of the world that may be expanded to all incoming freshmen. Many despair when they learn about limits to growth and finite fossil fuels. … Continue reading
Escape to Mars after we’ve trashed the Earth?
The idea that we can go to Mars is touted by NASA, Elon Musk, and so many others that this dream seems just around the corner. If we destroy our planet with climate change, pollution, and so on, no problem, … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, Extinction, Far Out, Human Nature, Planetary Boundaries, Where to Be or Not to Be
Tagged biosphere, colonize, Earth, Mars, radiation, space
5 Comments
Book: John Perlin’s “A Forest Journey: The Story of Wood and Civilization”
Preface. This contains excerpts from John Perlin’s “A Forest Journey: The Story of Wood and Civilization”. It’s one of my favorite books about natural resources, exploring the role wood has played in the rise and fall of civilizations since they … Continue reading
Posted in Collapse of Civilizations, Collapsed, Deforestation, Life Before Oil, Limits To Growth, Peak Resources, Soil, Wood
Tagged civilization, collapse, deforestation, peak wood, wood
1 Comment
Part 4 Raven Rock. The government abandons plans to aid the public, only the government to survive
Preface. This is the fourth part of my book review of: Graff, G.M. 2018. Raven Rock. The Story of the U.S. Governments Secret Plan to Save Itself–While the Rest of Us Die. Simon and Schuster. Clearly if the U.S. government … Continue reading
Posted in Nuclear, Nuclear, Politics, Where to Be or Not to Be
Tagged bomb shelter, continuation of government, nuclear war
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Part 3 Raven Rock. The government’s plans for after a nuclear holocaust
This is the third part of my book review of: Graff, G.M. 2018. Raven Rock. The Story of the U.S. Governments Secret Plan to Save Itself–While the Rest of Us Die. Simon and Schuster. This book stresses that a full … Continue reading
Part 2 Raven Rock. The U.S. government’s plans to save civilians from nuclear war
Graff, G.M. 2018. Raven Rock. The Story of the U.S. Governments Secret Plan to Save Itself–While the Rest of Us Die. At the outset of the cold war, scientists proposed that nationalism had to go away to prevent nuclear wars, … Continue reading
Posted in Nuclear, Nuclear, Politics, Refugee Camps
Tagged bomb shelter, emergency plans, evacuation, FEMA, homeland security
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What percent of Americans are rational?
Preface. Why does rationality matter — what’s the harm in believing there’s a fat old “Santa Claus” God in the sky noting down every time you’re naughty or nice on trillions of inhabited planets in the universe every second of … Continue reading
