When streets were lit by gas lights

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DDTJRAC
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Findlay OH gas lights.jpg
 
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Incidentally, the smells of society must have gone through some stages the last 100 years. From gas lamps and horse manure to petrol cars without particle filters and now electric vehicles. I guess it's getting better.

I've noticed though that when you drove on the highway when I was a child the windscreen would be splattered with bugs. Not so much anymore. That can't be a good sign.
 
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Scarily, they've been experimenting with extracting methane gas from clathrates, which trap methane in ice, for a long time. Should that go wrong forget about carbon dioxide. Temperatures are gonna soar! It's gonna be like "living" on Venus...
 
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Oops, sorry did I just hijack this thread. My sincerest apologies.
 
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sbrothy said:
Oops, sorry did I just hijack this thread.
Yes you did. And have you considered paring back your signature - I see 18 lines. This thread is mostly your signature!
 
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Vanadium 50 said:
Yes you did. And have you considered paring back your signature - I see 18 lines. This thread is mostly your signature!
Yeah. It actually adds a lot of noise now that you say it. Consider it done.

Edit: If I can find the place to do it... I wont make another post until I have it sorted out.
 
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There.

EDIT: Yes, that was a long time coming.... Dunno what I was thinking, or not thinking.
 
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sbrothy said:
Incidentally, the smells of society must have gone through some stages the last 100 years. From gas lamps and horse manure to petrol cars without particle filters and now electric vehicles. I guess it's getting better.

I've noticed though that when you drove on the highway when I was a child the windscreen would be splattered with bugs. Not so much anymore. That can't be a good sign.

Yes, that is true. I never thought about the bugs.

I was talking to a small-scale farmer. He said pawpaw fruit blooms smell terrible, like rotted meat. He told me flies pollinate them. Maybe if bees disappear, fruits will have to develop some stink to attract the flies.

How long do such changes take, 10,000 years or a lot less?
 
  • #9
DDTJRAC said:
Yes, that is true. I never thought about the bugs.

I was talking to a small-scale farmer. He said pawpaw fruit blooms smell terrible, like rotted meat. He told me flies pollinate them. Maybe if bees disappear, fruits will have to develop some stink to attract the flies.

How long do such changes take, 10,000 years or a lot less?

I have no idea. I’m not a biologist. I remember reading though, that there are specialized companies you can rent that will pollinate your fruit orchard manually if need bee (hahaaa see what I did there! o0) ).

Can’t remember their names off the top of my head but this link looks harmless and relevant though.

Trying to find such a company I was immediatetly swamped in instructions for making hemp, but they’re out there though, for anyone with a search engine.
 
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  • #10
sbrothy said:
I've noticed though that when you drove on the highway when I was a child the windscreen would be splattered with bugs. Not so much anymore. That can't be a good sign.
What you're noticing could be partially due to the change in the slope of the windows. As cars become more aerodynamic, bugs aren't encountering a rolling billboard like they did with the older designs that were more vertical. The angled pressure gradient would allow for more time for them to be forced over the car.
 
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Yes, good point. Also, just maybe I don't ride around in cars as much as I did as a child (My dad operated a small cab company, but he passed away years back.). Also it could be just my climate-angst speaking.
 
  • #12
BTW, to handle the thread back to the OP (again: sorry for the hijacking):

Where did you find this photo?
 
  • #13
DDTJRAC said:

I think it would have been very pretty, especially at Christmas with extra lights, Christmas trees etc.

We try to keep part of that era alive in Salford, all gas lit (or possibly no LED imitation gas lamp!)
https://salfordmuseum.com/explore/lark-hill-place/
A virtual tour in the link.

As Manchester and other cities were subject to heavy industrialization in the 19th up to the mid 20C the gas lit streets in combination with the pollution would have looked pretty spooky too.

Library image from google.
1725884989711.png
 

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