SpaceBit

New York City is Leaking

From the NYT:

New York City is leaking some 20 million gallons a day. To fix it, the city has enlisted six deep-sea divers who are living for more than a month in a sealed 24-foot tubular pressurized tank complete with showers, a television and a Nerf basketball hoop, breathing air that is 97.5 percent helium and 2.5 percent oxygen, so their high-pitched squeals are all but unintelligible.

In the 1820s, New Yorkers used an average of 12 gallons of water a day. Individual water use peaked in the 1980s, at more than 200 gallons. Through conservation, technology like low-flush toilets and repairs to the city’s leaky pipes, consumption is now about 150 gallons a day per person.

Thanks to Apollo18 for linking to the article.

How do I use less water? Take shorter showers. Low flow shower head. Don’t flush urine. Brick or two in the back of the toilet. I haven’t timed it but it takes about 200 to 300 seconds to get hot water up 6 flights. I capture some of the cold water to give the plants. Do dishes soon after showering so that the water is already hot.

An Early Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

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Bye-bye Nexus of the Universe

Bye-bye wonderful home at 1st and 1st!

I've rented out my home for a year (bye-bye neighbors, bye-bye evil restuarant, hello tenant). I've canceled all the snail mail I can possibly cancel, set up e-bills where possible, and forwarded the rest (thank you Mom and Dad). I've canceled my phone (bye-bye evil phone company). I've moved out.

Now I need to pack…

Solstice is Almost Here

Solstice is almost here. This year it occurs at 18:06 UTC on June 21. That means the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere and the shortest in the Southern, which is also the maximum tilt by the poles toward and away from the Sun.

In McMurdo right now it is quite cold, and although todays forecast shows a Sun icon, I don't think the sun shines there at all. Maybe they get a few hours of dawn and dusk light. The degrees are in Celsius, so it is actually a bit warmer (around -20) in degrees Fahrenheit.

For those of you in New York City, solstice is nice, but July 12th and May 28th are more special. Those dates are symmetric around Solstice and they are the days that the Sun lines up perfectly with the NYC street grid just as it sets.