Editing Talk:1119: Undoing

I've been sneaking out at night and installing lamps on the underside of every photovoltaic panel I can find. Sure, there are upwards of 80% losses, but I prefer to think of them as nearly 20% gains.

When?[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 17:35, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

Perhaps his motivation is to restore natural wind patterns to the environment. I remember reading about the ecological impact of wind power includes lessened wind currents. Some organisms rely on the wind to propagate the species, such as winds that blow seeds or how some spiders "parachute" on wind currents. Or it could be that he just likes to mess with people. --[[User:Joehammer79|Joehammer79]] ([[User talk:Joehammer79|talk]]) 13:46, 10 October 2012 (UTC)

:I always though that if you put a forest of windmills on top of hill the damage of ecosystem done by the building is enough. Adding the fact about wind used for propagating ... damn, windmills are almost as unecological as solar plants on fields ...
:Seriously, how can anyone who things ecologically be AGAINST nuclear power? -- [[Special:Contributions/89.177.52.2|89.177.52.2]] 08:19, 12 October 2012 (UTC)
::Ten thousand years of mutations from radioactivity? (Seriously, we should be using Liquid-fluoride thorium reactors, only 300 year half-life on the waste, rather than 10,000)--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.24|173.245.56.24]] 15:35, 8 June 2014 (UTC)

At first I thought this should be more of a Blackhat trick, but since he seems to think he is creating good in the world by restoring, it makes sense that it is Cueball--[[Special:Contributions/70.166.209.171|70.166.209.171]] 14:35, 10 October 2012 (UTC)


Am I the only one who is also entertaining the possibility that the fan setup in the picture is not acting with, but rather counteracting the wind, which is turning the windmill that supplies it power? I understand that the alt-text makes it seem like Munroe's thinking about 'making up' for our interference with insolation (and presumably wind, water etc.) patterns. But, if we're going to bring in logic here, EVERYTHING falls apart :D I had a little fun trying to model what kind of a dynamic equilibrium the hitherto described windmill-fan arrangement would settle into.  [[Special:Contributions/123.238.25.42|123.238.25.42]] 17:13, 10 October 2012 (UTC)

I believe you are... The fan's blowing to the right... The wind came from the left...  [[Special:Contributions/184.88.110.135|184.88.110.135]] 21:35, 18 October 2012 (UTC)Robert

:Indeed, the first thing that comes to mind is the "fan blowing into the sails" arrangement you sometimes see in cartoons, but I don't think that's what's going on here.[[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 17:58, 10 October 2012 (UTC)


It's even more fun to do to condoms.
--[[User:SuspendedPhan|SuspendedPhan]] ([[User talk:SuspendedPhan|talk]]) 18:50, 10 October 2012 (UTC)

:What the hell is "rotational" energy?!
::Although "rotational" energy exists (it is a verbal shorthand for kinetic energy that exists due to a rotating mass), what we actually have here is rotational power, another verbal shorthand for mechanical power transmitted by a rotating object working against a load. Also, Cueball has not disconnected the turbine from the generator but the generator from its electrical load (battery charger or electrical grid tie-in, perhaps).--[[Special:Contributions/174.138.205.139|174.138.205.139]] 13:20, 13 October 2012 (UTC)

As I understand it, he has disconnected the windmill that was supplying power to the grid and that windmill is now powering a fan which is creating suction which is pulling more wind through the windmill.[[Special:Contributions/38.104.209.10|38.104.209.10]] 16:04, 17 October 2012 (UTC)


Worth mentioning existence of ram air turbines. [[User:Pallas|Pallas]] ([[User talk:Pallas|talk]]) 08:53, 29 April 2014 (UTC)

Um, wind turbines have an electric motor which is computer-controlled, and which I think isn't completely powered by the blades rotating (if only that, when the wind is still, the turbine stops spinning, and needs a boost to start again when the wind picks up, similar to a car battery and starter motor). If the power was cut (which wouldn't happen, BTW. Wind farmers aren't stupid and they realise the problems with normal cables, so it's all underground), the turbine would slow down and stop, like a solar-powered pinwheel. {{unsigned ip|108.162.250.223}}