Wednesday, 31 January 2018
Ten Monkeys and a Beetle
Recently I saw a pavement board outside a cafe in a busy street in the city. The words chalked on it were: Do you think it's air you're breathing?
It has come to light that 10 Javanese monkeys spent 4 hours each in a sealed container during which time exhaust fumes from a new VW Beetle Diesel and for comparison an old Ford Pickup were pumped into it for them to breathe.
The monkeys were reported to be "stressed".
The experiment was part of the infamous VW emissions scandal project.
Ain't life a gas!
A senior official from VW has now been given leave of absence.
VW's diabolical experiment was hushed up and the result hidden away because the results didn't fit the script.
By the way, does anybody know what happened to the monkeys?
For the record, the German newspaper Bild reports that the emissions from the new VW Beetle even with its doctored emissions software exceeded those of the old Ford pickup.
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I hope you don't run in the city when you train Gwil; I see young adults of both sexes doing their training during peak hours! They look fit and well, just hope they're not compromising their dilated lungs!
ReplyDeleteWood fire dust and derivatives are three or four times higher than those from traffic so in Verona, just before Christmas, a ban to light chimneys, open fires, etc was introduced and had to stay so until it rained. The rain fell and the ban was lifted. Now the ban, as from yestetdy, has been reintroduced, and unless it rains, no wood fire heating allowed.
Greetings Maria x
Forgive me for smiling, Maria, but your little gem of information renders Rachel's hot tip (John's blog) of brushing your teeth with wood fire dust more or less useless; at least in Verona. Unless, of course, one could bottle it in advance.
DeleteU
Hello Maria, I try and stay away from traffic as much as possible. If I train in a park in the city it's normally on a weekend and mostly on a Sunday morning when there's less exhaust pollution. There's a website I check for air quality when there's any smog or fog. It's called 'plume'. I've no idea what might be in so called pellets but the smoke from chimneys sometimes looks yellow and has a strange smell. The future health of the many young cyclists riding through exhaust fumes and other pollutants in cities, mainly students, is I think something that needs to be considered. I've noticed in Turin that on bad air days diesel cars are banned from the city. I don't think any Austrian cities would care to do that. :-(
DeleteWood ash from the fire place is made into a paste for cleaning. Wood ash is used as a soap ingredient. This has nothing to do with the smoke from the fires that go out of the chimney. The maker of the comment about my cleaning tip is showing nothing but ignorance.
DeleteWhen I was a paper lad 50-odd years ago I used to read Exchange and Mart and I seem to remember reading something about black toothpaste.
DeleteHow about making some of the top management of VW take part in this experiment rather than those poor monkeys.
ReplyDeleteNow there's an idea.
DeleteIt would seem that once again we have one rule for Germany and one rule for the rest of the EU.
ReplyDeleteThe Austrian leaders guest at the State Ball next week include Irish PM (neutral country like Austria) and the Russian ambassador. Austria is against EU sanctions policy against Russia. Not every EU country will follow the "willing master". Over here in central/east EU word Czech-Out is being floated. It means Czechxit. And last week Victor Orban was in Vienna. It's not all going to plan in the EU.
DeleteThis is horrific, Gwil. Those poor animals. Shame on VW.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking exactly the same as Maria yesterday, about running through cities with pollution. London marathon coming up.... When I run at home and a car goes past me, if it's the bit of the lane with a tree tunnel the fumes are detectable for ages after the car has gone. The trees trap them. I worry about the birds that are often in that area. I run with my hand over my nose until I'm past it. Yuk. You don't realise when you're in the car how bad it is for those outside. How's your running going? Have you decided to race next weekend? Hope there was no lasting damage from the tumble.