Environment – Beasley's Place

It caught my eye… 5 -2025

February 20, 2025 MikeLeave a comment

I am in the process of clearing up the piles of papers in my study and came across an old article (2009) about Cinerama, a forerunner of today’s IMAX. Cinerama was a great idea at the time that sadly did not catch on, but not before it brought a travelling Cinema (in a tent – like a Circus) to the UK and a number of other European countries.

Making a new search on the web this week led me to find a few new links about Cinerama, including one about a young (at the time) Junior Projectionist who worked at the UK travelling Cinerama during the mid 1960’s in the UK.

I remember going to see a show when it was in Paignton (we lived in Plymouth), an amazing film experience. But sadly, no more. Though, you can still be able to see some Cinerama films at the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford.

Keeping on the theme of Cinema, it was great to Medicinema win an award at the 2025 BAFTA’s.

I had not heard of this organisation before seeing this year’s BAFTA’s awards. Good to see how Cinema can be used as part of recovery during a stay in Hospital.

In a new study from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) current has not declined in the last 60 years. Despite the fact that no one seems to still be able to predict if it will suddenly collapse or not.

It just goes to show how difficult it is to accurately predict climate change, and particularly how the impact of it will at some stage affect us all.

For me, the Ocean Currents hold the secret to what will happen, so it’s important that we pay attention to all the details that these studies contain.

Nuclear Fusion – The Holy Grail!

January 31, 2024January 31, 2024 MikeLeave a comment

The search for an endless supply of free energy has been around ever since humans have been around.

However, it now seems that we are approaching the moment when we may have access to a supply of endless environmentally friendly energy, although at some considerable development costs.

An experimental JT-60SA nuclear reactor in Japan’s Ibaraki Prefecture seems the best opportunity of far to be able to deliver a sustainable and near limitless power source, according to recent press reports.

The struggle to be able to produce limitless energy from a Fusion Reaction (the same energy that powers the Sun) rather than from a Fissile Reaction (the same produced in Nuclear Reactors and of course nuclear bombs) has been going on for many decades. Only recently has major progress been achieved, both in the JT-60A trials and at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California (LLNL) where scientists manage to get more energy out than the energy that was used to run the reaction.

Therein lies the ‘rub’; how to reduce the energy needed to sustain a fusion reaction so that it is possible to get long term access to this so called limitless ‘free’ energy. For example, the group at the LLNL had to use lasers to fuse two light atoms into a single one, releasing 3.15MJ (megajoules) of energy from 2.05MJ of input – roughly enough to boil a kettle!

It seems we are close, but there is still some way to go to having this type of energy at the flick of a switch.

*Click on the image for an explanation of the differences.*

It caught my eye… 5–2023

November 27, 2023 MikeLeave a comment

Freeview—Free-to-Air

Seems that something might be in the air for major changes to UK Freeview in the not too distant future.

It would appear that the World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC23) currently being held in Dubai will make a decision as to the future of Freeview in UK as we know it. In a battle that is going on between free-to-air broadcasters and mobile phone companies, everyone wants a slice of the Radio Frequency Spectrum.

Let’s hope common sense prevails and we don’t have to move to something else to watch free-to-air services after 2030.

Microplastics are everywhere, already discovered in the placentas of pregnant humans, they now appear to be being sucked up into clouds and distributed around the globe with a potential to affect weather patterns.

It seems that the human race still does not seem to understand the impact that our behaviours are having on the planet.

More has to be done to wake us all up!

Talking about pollution. I was amazed to see these series of comparison images of pollutions in Delhi this month.

Truly horrendous pictures that bring home just how much harm we are doing to the planets’ atmosphere.

Reminded me of the Smogs of the 1950’s in London.

It’s all about the recycling; isn’t it?

January 14, 2020March 21, 2020 MikeLeave a comment

With Christmas very much (and some might say ‘thank goodness’) over, I am sure like my house, the main room was covered in wrapping paper and empty plastic boxes/containers on the day.

We will also all have spent quite a bit of time diligently sorting through the ‘mess’ to make sure that we put the right items into the right recycling boxes ready for the ‘rescheduled’ holidays collections – how many of us still got the dates wrong!

But hang on a minute! Yes we are all encouraged to recycle our waste so that it does not end up making a bigger problem, but what about all the items that came ‘in‘ that mountain of paper and plastic in the first place?

This interesting article from the Guardian ‘The solution to the plastic waste crisis? It isn’t recycling’ caught my eye today. I was amazed to read that the latest Disney sponsored Arendelle Castle Village from Lego contains some 521 bits of plastic!

With many of the plastic based toys that now abound for our younger generation, one wonders if we need to approach recycling in a different way by simply buying less plastic in the first place, especially if much of the plastic around us is still not fully recyclable. I should point out that from my current understanding many of the latest Lego products are fully recyclable.

However; as we look around us, much plastic is still not fully recyclable and there; is the crux of the problem! Just how do we solve this dilemma, plastic is cheap and everywhere, we have got to think about not producing as much and really ramp up the use of other more sustainable & recyclable products.

Climate Change – It’s happening!

January 10, 2020January 8, 2024 MikeLeave a comment

With the news that grasses has been found growing on the lower slopes of Mount Everest and with the Aussie bush fires about to enter a new cycle with the return of increasing temperatures and winds; it’s pretty obvious to anyone with an ounce of intelligence that something is happening to our climate and at an increasingly fast pace.

Copyrights – Karen Anderson/University of Exeter (Mount Everest); Copernicus Sentinel 2 (31Dec2019), Getty Images (Burnt Forest)

I wonder how long it will be before Governments really start to take serious actions now and not by looking to reduce carbon commissions variously in the next 10/20/30 years.

I think it is time for action now.

Earley Reservoir – Engineering Works Proposals

May 3, 2012March 1, 2017 Mike1 Comment

Thames water is proposing an enlargement of the water storage tank (under the earth mound) at the Earley Reservoir on Elm Lane.

Although Planning permission has yet to be applied for, but it is understood that the plan is to extend the ‘back’ (when looking at the storage tank from Elm Lane) to the boundary line of the White Knights Primary School. It seems an odd shape extension to me! Does this mean that they will also extend to the right-hand side of the tank.

Thames Water are to hold a series of open Public Exhibitions to explain their proposals on:

Tuesday 15th May at Earley Crescent Resource Centre, Warbler Way, Lower Earley, RG6 4HB – 10am – 6pm
Friday 18th May at Lodden Valley Leisure Centre, Rushey Way, Lower Earley, RG6 4GD – 2pm – 9pm
Saturday 26th May at Lodden Valley Leisure Centre, Rushey Way, Lower Earley, RG6 4GD – 2pm – 9pm

Local residents should already be receiving letters about these dates and other information.

Will this be another ‘Sibley Hall’ planning debacle? We will have to see what is said at the meetings and see what Thames Water thinks about local residents reactions to their planned proposals.

In my one conversation with them, they have said they acknowledge that the open space is a very well used area by local residents and they are concerned that it is kept as open and accessible as possible both during the engineering works and afterwards. We will see.