17 November 2012

Adult science night at Questacon. A review.

| johnboy
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questacon

We popped along to the Beach Party promised at Questacon last night and can now share of the experience.

Perhaps as I should have expected; it’s a lot more Questacon without kids than it was beach party.

The slinky drop (pictured) will apparently be brilliant when the high speed video is published, but at the time was a lot of standing around for not much payoff.

If you haven’t had a chance to go to Questacon lately it’s a fun way to play with the exhibits without needing to elbow the little tackers out of the way.

The bar on the other hand wasn’t entirely up to the task. Although I can now safely say you haven’t lived if you haven’t drunk warm Corona out of a plastic cup.

The 360 degree swing on the other hand looked like absolutely mad fun.

360 swing

And getting up close and personal with liquid nitrogen never gets old.

boom

For $10 admission it’s certainly a novel way to spend a friday evening.

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dtc said :

maxblues said :

Diggety said :

maxblues said :

…the government could just legislate that if you want to produce electricity in this country, that by year ‘X’, an ‘X’ percentage must be produced by renewable energy. You could make it 100% of you wish, like seatbelts and catalytic converters.

We do, it’s called the RET, and the ‘20% by 2020’ target is looking like it will be dumped.

But we can do it without a tax that companies pass on to the people.

But how does legislating for companies to obtain electricity through more expensive means (more expensive at the moment) not equate to a tax? Using your seatbelt example, the cost of the seatbelt was part of the cost of the car, so effectively it was a tax (all safety and pollution related legislation is effectively a price increase).

I am not saying that your method is not as or more effective; but its a cost that companies will pass onto the people. So in that sense its exactly the same outcome.

I can see your point, to a degree, but will argue that any commercial enterprise that is forced to produce something such as seatbelts/catalytic converters/renewable energy will very quickly get off their backsides, invest in R&D, and come up with an economical model to compete. The problem with the power industry is that whilst there are many power companies, the bastards know they don’t really have to compete with each other.

maxblues said :

Diggety said :

maxblues said :

…the government could just legislate that if you want to produce electricity in this country, that by year ‘X’, an ‘X’ percentage must be produced by renewable energy. You could make it 100% of you wish, like seatbelts and catalytic converters.

We do, it’s called the RET, and the ‘20% by 2020’ target is looking like it will be dumped.

But we can do it without a tax that companies pass on to the people.

But how does legislating for companies to obtain electricity through more expensive means (more expensive at the moment) not equate to a tax? Using your seatbelt example, the cost of the seatbelt was part of the cost of the car, so effectively it was a tax (all safety and pollution related legislation is effectively a price increase).

I am not saying that your method is not as or more effective; but its a cost that companies will pass onto the people. So in that sense its exactly the same outcome.

maxblues said :

Diggety said :

maxblues said :

…the government could just legislate that if you want to produce electricity in this country, that by year ‘X’, an ‘X’ percentage must be produced by renewable energy. You could make it 100% of you wish, like seatbelts and catalytic converters.

We do, it’s called the RET, and the ‘20% by 2020’ target is looking like it will be dumped.

But we can do it without a tax that companies pass on to the people.

That proposition will be answered better after AEMO releases its 100% Renewable Supply Scenario report, and the RET Review is finalised, me thinks.

Diggety said :

maxblues said :

…the government could just legislate that if you want to produce electricity in this country, that by year ‘X’, an ‘X’ percentage must be produced by renewable energy. You could make it 100% of you wish, like seatbelts and catalytic converters.

We do, it’s called the RET, and the ‘20% by 2020’ target is looking like it will be dumped.

But we can do it without a tax that companies pass on to the people.

maxblues said :

…the government could just legislate that if you want to produce electricity in this country, that by year ‘X’, an ‘X’ percentage must be produced by renewable energy. You could make it 100% of you wish, like seatbelts and catalytic converters.

We do, it’s called the RET, and the ‘20% by 2020’ target is looking like it will be dumped.

Gungahlin Al said :

maxblues said :

Warm beer…that was the intention of the carbon tax wasn’t it?…to discourage us from using evil electricity to chill our frothys. By hiking up prices and serving tepid beer, Questacon are merely following government policy. If you support the carbon tax, do the right thing next time you go to your local and ask for a warm one.

The record’s stuck. The record’s stuck. The record’s…

We might not be stuck with it…..

Gungahlin Al10:33 am 19 Nov 12

maxblues said :

Warm beer…that was the intention of the carbon tax wasn’t it?…to discourage us from using evil electricity to chill our frothys. By hiking up prices and serving tepid beer, Questacon are merely following government policy. If you support the carbon tax, do the right thing next time you go to your local and ask for a warm one.

The record’s stuck. The record’s stuck. The record’s…

downindowner said :

maxblues said :

Warm beer…that was the intention of the carbon tax wasn’t it?…to discourage us from using evil electricity to chill our frothys. By hiking up prices and serving tepid beer, Questacon are merely following government policy. If you support the carbon tax, do the right thing next time you go to your local and ask for a warm one.

Two words. Renewable energy. Sound it out a few times, you’ll soon get the hang of it.

Two words. Classic mistake. You have made the classic mistake of assuming that just because someone thinks the carbon tax stinks, that they are also against renewable energy. I’ve been banging on about solar and wind energy for 30 years, I just think a tax is a lazy and misdirected way of achieving a change in power production.
The answer is not a tax, but simple legislation.
For example, I can remember a time when it was not compulsory to have seatbelts fitted in cars. Instead of doing the stupid thing and putting a tax on non-seatbelted vehicles, the government did the wise thing and legislated that seatbelts would be compulsory. Similarly when governments around the world decided that combustion engines were doing too much damage to the environment, legislation was used to make it compulsory for vehicles to be produced with catalytic converters fitted. Not an inefficient tax, just legislation. In a similar way the government could just legislate that if you want to produce electricity in this country, that by year ‘X’, an ‘X’ percentage must be produced by renewable energy. You could make it 100% of you wish, like seatbelts and catalytic converters.
Again please don’t make incorrect assumptions about those who think the carbon tax sucks, because (to comply with the request by Poetix to keep the unsatisfactory beer theme going) …what made Budweiser, will make a fool out of you.

eyeLikeCarrots8:37 am 19 Nov 12

So it kinda sucked then ?

I wouldn’t say it sucked.

And for $10 admission it was pretty good value.

But all things being equal a bit more structure could take it to amazing places.

downindowner7:26 am 19 Nov 12

maxblues said :

Warm beer…that was the intention of the carbon tax wasn’t it?…to discourage us from using evil electricity to chill our frothys. By hiking up prices and serving tepid beer, Questacon are merely following government policy. If you support the carbon tax, do the right thing next time you go to your local and ask for a warm one.

Two words. Renewable energy. Sound it out a few times, you’ll soon get the hang of it.

How on earth was there warm beer at a night that involved liquid nitrogen?

Warm beer…that was the intention of the carbon tax wasn’t it?…to discourage us from using evil electricity to chill our frothys. By hiking up prices and serving tepid beer, Questacon are merely following government policy. If you support the carbon tax, do the right thing next time you go to your local and ask for a warm one.

bundah said :

maxblues said :

m_ratt said :

For my $7 I had a choice of warm Beck’s or warm light beer (except I didn’t know it was warm until I received it in the plastic cup). Other choices were unavailable (presumably awaiting the arrival of more stock from a storeroom rather than a coolroom).

You don’t have to be Posh to suck Becks.

If anyone else was sucking Beck’s that would make Victoria bitter.

Boom Tish! 10 out 10 for that one. 🙂

Please keep this unsatisfactory beer thing going. It”s making the memory of the cocktails I had of Friday just that bit sweeter. Although they weren’t sweet at all. There’s a lot to be said for an Amaretto sour. Or a vodka martini.

If only I could remember what it was I said.

maxblues said :

m_ratt said :

For my $7 I had a choice of warm Beck’s or warm light beer (except I didn’t know it was warm until I received it in the plastic cup). Other choices were unavailable (presumably awaiting the arrival of more stock from a storeroom rather than a coolroom).

You don’t have to be Posh to suck Becks.

If anyone else was sucking Beck’s that would make Victoria bitter.

m_ratt said :

For my $7 I had a choice of warm Beck’s or warm light beer (except I didn’t know it was warm until I received it in the plastic cup). Other choices were unavailable (presumably awaiting the arrival of more stock from a storeroom rather than a coolroom).

You don’t have to be Posh to suck Becks.

For my $7 I had a choice of warm Beck’s or warm light beer (except I didn’t know it was warm until I received it in the plastic cup). Other choices were unavailable (presumably awaiting the arrival of more stock from a storeroom rather than a coolroom).

TheDancingDjinn1:39 pm 18 Nov 12

poetix said :

I do hope they floated a warm lime in your warm Corona. That combination always reeks of class.

Warm beer makes me want to stop dancing.. that’s a sad Djinn.

I do hope they floated a warm lime in your warm Corona. That combination always reeks of class.

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