Video of Earth

Watch this excellent video of the Earth as seen from the International Space Station earlier this year. The thinness of the atmosphere can be seen in many of the sequences. The northern lights, lightening and urban centres are also stunning.

Defrosted Pigeon

Spotted this pigeon resting at the top of a mobile phone mast near Waterlooville. Then thought, well that's a warm spot!

I think the output of these masts is up to 100 watts right next to the aerial, about a sixth of a microwave cooker at max power. Probably enough to defrost a frozen pigeon :-)

The power reduces dramatically the further away from them you are.

Hope the pigeon doesn't make a habit of it. I think antenna workers turn the power off or turn the signal off before working on them.

Wellington Park

Had a look around Taylor Wimpeys Wellington Park and took some photos. This photo looks back towards Hambledon Road along Coulter Road. Fortunately the Oak trees on the right of the photo have been retained from the fields that the housing estate is built on. One thing the is lacking on the site is trees, the building work isn't complete yet but as can be seen on the left of the photo, there aren't a lot of trees planted near the homes. We'll have to see how things develop.

Some flats at the rear of the development. They will have a good view of Portsdown Hill, currently there are still earth works at the rear. I can't remember from the plan how far the site is supposed to extend back from Hambledon Road, possibly further than this point. In the background you can see the pylon cables.

On the other side of the completed estate looking back towards Hambledon road again. In the distance can be seen the strange flats with the chimney/vent in the centre of each building.

  

What is interesting is that some of the homes have Solar PV panels on the roof. Can't help thinking that 3 panels is a bit pathetic. Many houses now are having most of the roof covered in them. Not only that, why don't they also have solar heating panels as well?? It all seems like Taylor Wimpey aren't sure about what they are doing.

In the centre there is a small public green which is probably the best part. The houses on the left have solar heating panels and those next to them on the right have solar PV panels (electric). There are benches to sit on that don't appear in the photo.
One good aspect is that bollards are used to block off some roads from traffic, which means they would be safe for kids to use.

You can see from these photos that trees are largely sparsely planted and ornamental. Yes they are obviously very young, but I don't get the impression any big trees have been planted.