During Today's Swim There Was A Downpour. The Raindrops On The Water Made For A Fascinating Sight. #RWSABC

Today's highlight was Gullfoss Waterfall!

Swam with Stacey from Rosneath Slip (1st slip) bang on high tide. There was a south east breeze creating a reasonable swell. Swam to the yellow pole and then back towards the beach. Stacey exited the water at Rosneath Slip (1200m 42m) and I continued to the Boat Club (1675m 53:33) Water Temperature 13.5 degC #esplanade #inverclyde #greenock #rwsabc #openwaterswimming (at Royal West of Scotland Amateur Boat Club)

Give Nuclear Power Plants cool names

The list below shows the 16 Nuclear Reactors currently operating in the UK.  It was taken from the World Nuclear web site at

http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Country-Profiles/Countries-T-Z/United-Kingdom/

I would urge those naming Nuclear Power Plants in the future, pick cool names for Nuclear Power Plants instead of simply naming them after a location.  Names that come to mind are "Opportunity", "Hope", "Progress", "Our Children's Future", "Reliability" etc.  In fact you could have a competition and ask local children to name the plant. 

In the Iain M. Banks Science Fiction books there are ships capable of faster than light travel controlled by "Minds".  "Minds" are cognitive machine and because they are cognitive they get to name themselves.  There names introduce a bit of whimsy into what often is a very serious business.  A bit like Nuclear Power, a serious business that would benefit from a lighter and more fun image.

A list of the names of the "Minds" appearing in some of Iain M. Banks novels is available at Wikipedia at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ships_%28The_Culture%29

I think the favourite name there that could be applied to a good Nuclear Power Plant is "Vision Of Hope Surpassed".

In addition, it might be good to hear an opponent of a Nuclear Power Plant saying something along the lines of  "I don't want to see "Our Children's Future" built" or carrying placards the say "No Nukes ! Stop Hope!".  Quite often this is what they really are saying but without being explicit.

As I arrived at the Boat Club for a swim Colin and Gary were just coming back from a paddle to Helensburgh. I went for my swim which was 403m in 12:04. Highish tide going out. Calm. Water temperature 8 degC. A good swim 🏊😊 #openwaterswimming #kayaking #greenock #rwsabc (at The Royal West of Scotland Boat Club)

"The Martian" by Andy Weir

I'm just back from holiday. While away I read this really fun book titled "The Martian" written by Andy Weir. It is a great read, fast paced, full of action with suspense and light relief. For other Engineers like me it really brings home what we do which is to solve problems. I highly recommend this book!

Now that I am back from China I felt I needed an Open Water Swim. It was a lovely day. Stacey, Colin and I went in. Stacey and for a swim. Stacey and I did 1030m in 34m 22s . Water temperature was 11.3 degC. I was in too long and came out very chilled. #openwaterswimming #greenock #esplanade #rwsabc (at Royal West of Scotland Amateur Boat Club)

This is where I've done most of my Open Water Swimming this week. This is a lagoon in Costa Teguise which provides a sheltered place for a swim. At high tide it us over 200m long. Water temperature a balmy 19.5 degC. #lanzarote #openwaterswimming #costateguise (at Costa Teguise Lanzarote)

A Good Story

Do wolves save rivers? Are they saving Yellowstone? A popular YouTube video makes the case beautifully that they do, but things aren’t quite that simple. Have we all fallen spell to a good story?

In London with Helen for a long weekend! (at London)

Dome City Blog 5 - Churches, mosques, synagogues & temples

We are coming to the end of the Easter Weekend as I write this.  Therefore, it seems appropriate for me to comment on churches, mosques, synagogues and temples within the Dome City. 

I believe that on balance religion is a power for good.  As a practicing Christian I see the merit in having a set of beliefs and guides for living that encourage me to love my neighbour, to be honest and to be trustworthy.  

If a Dome City is going to be a success it will need to be the sort of place people want to live.  Having good neighbours is one of the factors that I would list as important to making a place somewhere that I want to live.  Religion can play a role in this is 2 ways.  The first is as a guide for peaceful living and the second is the way that religion brings people together for religious observations, celebrations and works.  

Therefore, I would suggest that space be set aside for churches in the Dome City.  In my mind, the obvious place for a Dome City in the UK would be near London.  In Britian as a whole according to the Office of National Statistics, based on the 2011 census data, 59.3% stated that they are Christian, 25.1% of the population state that they have no religion, 7.2% did not respond to the question, 4.8% stated they are Muslim, 1.5% stated they were Hindu, 0.8% were Sikh, 0.5% were Jewish, 0.4% were Buddhist and 0.4% were other religions. If this were an accurate reflection of the people who chose to live in the Dome City it is clear to me that around 75% of the population would have a religious affiliation.  Of course not all of them would be regular participants in their religious community but a reasonable number would be.

The data for the above paragraph was taken from http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_290510.pdf 

In the spirit of interfaith pluralism I would suggest that the churches, mosques, synagogues and temples be placed close to each other, probably on the same level of the Dome City.  

In Triumph of the City by Edward Glaeser it talks about a suburb of Houston called Woodlands.  One of the things that intrigued me about this suburb is how the developer, George Phydias Mitchell,  recognised the importance of religion for promoting social capital.  The paragraph that captures this best for me has been extracted and is shown below:

One of the most interesting, and almost urban, aspects of The Woodlands’ management is its focus on social capital. The Woodlands works precisely because it is not a collection of isolated individuals; its social infrastructure has been designed to foster interpersonal connections. In 1975, Mitchell hired a Wharton-trained Lutheran minister to run The Woodlands Religious Community Incorporated, now called Interfaith, which was meant to “plan the religious community and all the human services in this new town.” The minister bought a motor scooter and followed moving vans , meeting new residents as they arrived. Interfaith made sure that The Woodlands provided appropriate space for social, particularly religious, activities. Because nothing sours an area like religiously motivated hatred, Interfaith makes sure that religious messages are kept positive. In the aftermath of the 9/ 11 attacks, Interfaith managed to get rabbis to pray for Palestinians and Islamic leaders to pray for Jews.

Glaeser, Edward (2011-03-18). Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier and Happier (pp. 181-182). Macmillan Publishers UK. Kindle Edition. 

Aside - Those interested in energy matters like I am will recognise the name "George Phydias Mitchell", this is the man credited with developing the techniques to extract natural gas from tight shales using hydraulic fracturing (fracking). - end aside

I would hope that a UK Dome City would encourage the same sort of thing taking into account the differences between American and British religious views and practices.

Joe Heffernan 6-April-2015