Notes From All Over, Part 1 -- February 1, 2021

So out of touch. The school year is coming to an end by April. But I love the attempts to change the narrative. If we're still wearing masks in August, 2022 -- which is very, very likely [I think Dr Fauci said wearing masks is the near normal] -- the midterm elections will be a debacle for the incumbents, of either party.

Robbin' the hood, lol:

Reality sucks; what happened to wind, solar?

Silver, going higher, regardless: link here. Price of silver, real time, here. But LOL -- silver accounts for less than 5% of the cost of a panel. Talk about clickbait. Biden's anti-business stance will raise costs across the board for a lot more than solar panels. The latter will actually come down in price with Biden incentives. Silver, solar panels? At worst, it's a wash. At best, it's a non-story.

The surging price of silver threatens to boost costs for solar-panel producers, which account for about 10% of global demand for the metal.

Silver prices have surged to an eight-year high since Wednesday. Exactly what kinds of investors are behind the run-up is unclear, but it began with threads on Reddit that were responsible for propelling shares of GameStop Corp. to stratospheric heights.

That’s going to add to costs for solar manufacturers, which use a silver paste for electrical contacts on photovoltaic panels. At current prices, the metal accounts for about 4.7% of the cost of a panel. It doesn’t help that Chinese manufacturers are trying to boost inventory now ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday that starts next week.

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The Science Page

The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos is Designed for Discovery, Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay W. Richards, c. 2004

Guillermo Gonzalez describing the fourth total solar eclipse visible from India in the twentieth century, p. 3:

I was surprised at the Indians' interest in this eclipse [1995]. National television covered the event, with crews set up at three or four locations spread across the eclipse path. One of them shared our site. 

Prior to departing India, I received a videotaped copy of the TV coverage from a colleague. 

A number of scholars were interviewed on the scientific aspects of solar eclipses; others discussed Indian eclipse mythology and superstitions. 

The TV producers, it seemed, were trying to show the world that India had finally discarded religious superstition and entered the era of scientific enlightenment. But the widespread superstitious practices in evidence during this eclipse, such as people -- especially pregnant women remaining indoors, suggest they were not quite successful. 

Sort of reminded me of highly educated Americans wearing masks on their solitary walks through parks devoid of other humans, or worse, those driving their automobiles with no passengers.