Energy problem solved?

I was checking into the fluorescant, solar-power producing dyes that fudgeman posted a link to on his blog. They are very super cool. Basically they imitate chlorophyll, among other things. Less efficient than regular silicon-based solar panels, but are way cheaper, way more environmentally friendly and less energy-expensive to produce and can operate in relatively low light conditions. Also they plan to incorporate it into building materials, so all your windows can be solar panels.
So if we can all afford these things we can have cover our rooves in the stuff and mix it with our windows, and bam, energy problems of the world are solved. Should be able to store it for use in cars and trucks, someone will invent a car you can plug into the mains to recharge or something. Aircraft may have more problems, but if we don't use petrol for cars then there will be shiteloads of it for use in aircraft, should last a very long time, at least until we can build some kind of electric plane.
Hopefully that works out, might take a while to implement to a serious level though.

“The energy that reaches earth from sunlight in one hour is more than that used by all human activities in one year”
-some guy in some article.

Shadows

It's so strange. You do the same kinds of things every day, hoping that one day it will help you do something else, which you'll also do every day. Is it a perpetual cycle? Will you necessarily enjoy the things you'll be able to do tomorrow if you don't like the things you have to do now? Should we be doing things to make ourselves happy, or doing things to make the world a better place? Is living a simple life the way it was meant to be? Those who have it seem to say it's about the things that matter most, friends, family. But is it just selfish if you have the ability to actually make a difference? What matters anyway? Nothing external gives meaning to things, so it's only what we decide ourselves. Does that mean there is any point to the pursuit of greater things, greater knowledge? And there are so many paths, how do you pick one? It's like focusing on only one beautiful picture and knowing it's beauty so totally, but without knowing anything of the beauty of the rest of the pictures in the gallery. But if you try to look at them all, can you ever fully appreciate the beauty of any of them? What if you get so wrapped up looking at the pictures that you miss the excellent food served at the cafeteria? You did go there for the pictures though.
I miss the desert. It's so peaceful out there. Maybe it's the absence of souls around you. Maybe it's that there aren't all the background souls bombarding you all the time, so you can focus on the ones around you, understand them. After all, you don't want to be out there alone.

Bah

Ok, weird night.
So, I went out to Davies tonight. Went as usual, entertained me for a while, nice to catch up a little with people, got bored about 1am and decided to go for a wander. I've finally managed to end up at home, at 4.23am. It seems I thought it would be a good idea to climb on a bunch of rooves (I believe I slept for about an hour on the roof of a fairly large, under construction apartment block), and go running about the train lines and around junk yards and factories and all kinds of things. I think I nearly broke into a supermarket, though that wasn't where I was trying to get to. It took some pretty l33t ninja skills to get onto some of those rooves, if I do say so myself. In my wanderings it also turns out that I like a girl at orchestra, though I don't really know what I'm going to do about it. She has a boyfriend, but he's moving away someplace and she doesn't know if they'll stay together...maybe it's best to figure this stuff out when drunk, maybe not. Thus bah.
Till next time!

For once you have tasted flight
you will walk the earth
with your eyes turned skywards,
for there you have been
and there you will long to return.
-- Leonardo da Vinci

Life is Strange

Music: Suite From "Restless": Willow's Nightmare / First Rage / Chain Of Ancients
Close Your Eyes (Buffy-Angel Love Theme)
Overture - Going trough the Motions
Under Your Spell / Standing (reprise)
Sacrifice (from "The Gift")

Time: 004412APR07



Ahh, late night bloggage, it's been a while. None of you will know that music, it's good though. The first one I like the best at the current moment. It's so surreal. It's been a pretty strange day. Funeral in the morning, lots of washing during the day, some video games, learning about teamwork and killing people in the evening.
I don't if I really have all that much to say, except perhaps that life seems kind of surreal these days. I think it's because I've been at uni so long now and I will be for a while yet. I feel like I'm kind of just phasing out, kind of like when you find yourself zoning out during a lecture or conversation or something, except more long-term, and I won't really wake up until I've finished with uni and can go and do something else, if ever. Might also have something to do with this IPCC WGII Fourth Assessment Report which has been released and which paints a somewhat depressing picture of the future. Things like:
"Approximately 20-30% of plant and animal species assessed so far are likely to be at increased risk of
extinction if increases in global average temperature exceed 1.5-2.5oC."
"At lower latitudes, especially seasonally dry and tropical regions, crop productivity is projected to decrease
for even small local temperature increases (1-2°C), which would increase risk of hunger."
"Corals are vulnerable to thermal stress and have low adaptive capacity. Increases in sea surface temperature
of about 1 to 3°C are projected to result in more frequent coral bleaching events and widespread mortality,
unless there is thermal adaptation or acclimatisation by corals."
"Many millions more people are projected to be flooded every year due to sea-level rise by the 2080s. Those
densely-populated and low-lying areas where adaptive capacity is relatively low, and which already face
other challenges such as tropical storms or local coastal subsidence, are especially at risk. The numbers
affected will be largest in the mega-deltas of Asia and Africa while small islands are especially vulnerable."
"Health
Projected climate change-related exposures are likely to affect the health status of millions of people,
particularly those with low adaptive capacity, through:
• increases in malnutrition and consequent disorders, with implications for child growth and
development;
• increased deaths, disease and injury due to heat waves, floods, storms, fires and droughts;
• the increased burden of diarrhoeal disease;
• the increased frequency of cardio-respiratory diseases due to higher concentrations of ground level
ozone related to climate change; and,
• the altered spatial distribution of some infectious disease vectors."

Specifically for Australia:

"As a result of reduced precipitation and increased evaporation, water security problems are projected to
intensify by 2030 in southern and eastern Australia and, in New Zealand, in Northland and some eastern
regions. ** D [11.4]
Significant loss of biodiversity is projected to occur by 2020 in some ecologically-rich sites including the
Great Barrier Reef and Queensland Wet Tropics. Other sites at risk include Kakadu wetlands, south-west
Australia, sub-Antarctic islands and the alpine areas of both countries. *** D [11.4]
Ongoing coastal development and population growth in areas such as Cairns and Southeast Queensland
(Australia) and Northland to Bay of Plenty (New Zealand), are projected to exacerbate risks from sea-level
rise and increases in the severity and frequency of storms and coastal flooding by 2050. *** D [11.4, 11.6]
Production from agriculture and forestry by 2030 is projected to decline over much of southern and eastern
Australia, and over parts of eastern New Zealand, due to increased drought and fire. However, in New
Zealand, initial benefits to agriculture and forestry are projected in western and southern areas and close to
major rivers due to a longer growing season, less frost and increased rainfall. ** N [11.4]
The region has substantial adaptive capacity due to well-developed economies and scientific and technical
capabilities, but there are considerable constraints to implementation and major challenges from changes in
extreme events. Natural systems have limited adaptive capacity."

It's quite a long summary and goes on with similar things for quite a while. It might not be exactly apocalyptic like I'm pretty sure I've heard some people say, but it is a bit sad. 20-30% of species is rather a lot to wipe out, also "significant loss of biodiversity" in the Great Barrier Reef is pretty sad, means I have 13 years or less to go and see it before it's rather fucked. Also life will suck for a lot of people when they have food and water issues, or they get flooded or blasted by hurricances and other extreme weather. It talks a lot about financial costs of these things since it is for policymakers, but I didn't notice anything about the cost of millions of refugees running about. Maybe it was included in the totals.
Oh well.
Society is so wasteful.