Rowing machine and ancient naval warfare

I was at the gym the other day, and I decided to mount the rowing machine.  I managed to row 2000 meters in about 12 minutes (not my best time, by any means), but while I was huffing and puffing away, I couldn’t help but think that being a rower used to be an instrumental part of ancient naval warfare (I know, I am a real history geek). I had a good workout after this short 2000 meter rowing, but I can’t imagine how much it would take to actually push an ancient warship to ramming speeds!  The ancient Athenian warship, called a trireme, had 3 banks of rowers with a full compliment of 170 rowers.  I decided to look into ancient rowing a bit, and I found out that there are a few ancient  literary references to a cushion, which aided the Athenian rowers.   I fould an article that discussed the advantages of this simple device, and I can say that after rowing for just a few minutes, having a cushion would have helped me endure the grueling workout.  Perhaps one of the most important battles between East and West was the Battle of Salamis, which took place in the narrow straits between the Greek Mainland and the island of Salamis. The maneuverable triremes defeated the Persian (combined Persian, Egyptian and Phoenician ships) fleet, and led to the Greek victory over the Persian invaders.

So the next time you sweat and toil on the rowing machine,  think about this centuries-old tradition of naval warfare!

Because the world must know…

So my sister introduced me to this fantastic website. It’s internet radio, and you can create a free account, and then you choose the style of music by selecting a favorite artist or song.  It’s a great way to learn about new artists and other songs you may not have known about. I’ve been listening to it for a while now, and I decided to share it with you.

www.pandora.com

Climate change – Get out your mittens, not sunscreen

With any luck, maybe the pumping out of carbon dioxide emissions will protect us from global cooling. Believe it or not, the climate of the earth does change. Despite Al Gore’s attempts to sensationalize and put an end to the debate on global warming, we should, I think, continue to examine the evidence and look at all of the contributing factors. One of the things that the former VP doesn’t really discuss is that bright, fiery furnace in the sky. Don’t you think that the sun might have a bit of an impact on global temperatures? Recent studies of the sun show that we are probably in greater danger of a decrease in global temperatures than an increase due to solar activity, not carbon dioxide emissions.

In addition, the stark reality is that a decrease in temperatures is a much greater risk to humanity than warming. Take the medieval warm period, for example: the world saw increased temperatures between the years 800 and 1300. The results were good for the world, such as warmer temperatures, longer growing seasons, which reduces diseases and increases food production. The result of this was a flourish of human culture. Now tell me that isn’t a good thing. The increase in temperatures were due to solar activity, not human industry.

The sun operates on an 11-year cycle, more or less, but recently, astronomers have observed that the activity on the surface of the sun have been remarkably quiet (solar flares, sun spots, etc.). This could have a much bigger impact on our climate than emission of gasses into the atmosphere. I recommend this article. Food for thought, anyway.

New U.S. Navy Superweapon

There was a news report today that the United States Navy has been testing a new weapon. To anyone who has played any number of shooter-style videogames or a science fiction buff, the idea of a railgun is familiar, but this sci-fi weapon is becoming a reality for the U.S. military. The railgun uses electricity rather than gunpowder to hurl a projectile over 200 nautical miles at supersonic speeds (approx. 3,700 mph or mach 5), and the gun sucks a wopping 10 megajoules for power. One of the many benefits of such a gun is that it will no longer be necessary to store huge amounts of gunpowder on board the equipped vessels, thereby eliminating the threat of an explosion on board the ship. It is always fascinating to me how technology of someone’s imagination often becomes a reality.