Random Questions - What I'd like to know is ......?

[Guest Anonymous]

Oh well,,,,

**it happens.

[KOYAANISQATSI]

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/797/240pxvftne1.jpg

 

What was the first plant to catch a fly?

 

Did it figure it would be good to eat before it set up a trapping mechanism and how did they click on to the fact that there were flys out there to catch anyway?

 

If no fly had ever died on a plant before they began catching them would fly catching plants ever have evolved?

 

And why didn't evolution take into account that humans may reach a level of Sentience where to much nostril hair would be annoying to the individual it is bestowed upon?

 

Is nostril hair here to help get me to this point of evolution or am I just here to help in the evolution of nostril hair?

[Fjool]

Any plant which makes insects die nearby will benefit from the nourishment via the soil so, in an evolutionary sense, the imperative is there to develop such systems.

 

And the closer an insect is when it dies, the more likely the plant is to benefit. Therefore plants which include hairs and other such mechanisms are encouraged.

 

Then you get plants which collapse defensively to avoid being eaten. ( http://s99.photobucket.com/albums/l309/mattzippyking/Hong%20Kong%202006/?action=view&current=HongKong_112.flv ) which, combined with the benefits of having dead insects nearby encourages more active digestive systems.

 

Or something...

[Sha]

For that question I can only recommend the book I am currently reading:

 

The selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins. I kind of sheds light on any similar questions.

[Sha]

I have some questions for you.

They might seem stupid or foolish or whatever but I've never been anywhere that remote.

Right now I'm stuck between Manchester and Leeds, before that I've always lived in cities with approx. 120 000 inhabitants so forgive my ignorance.

And especially concerning Shetland. I've tried to read loads but it's sort of hard to find the answers to such silly questions.

 

-Does it happen that the electricity/phones lines are off because of the bad weather? (and not just for a couple of minutes)

-How dangerous can the bad weather be?

-How many supermarkets are on the main island and what are their opening times?

-What about Fashion? How fashionable is Shetland? (not that I want to do Fashion Shopping but I wonder if there is a Topshop/New Look/Primark, etc)

-Is there a University/someplace to study or do you all have to go through the OU?

-Is it cheaper for you to take the ferry?

-How cold does it actually get in January?

-Might there be snow? (Please say yes )

-I've read that the northern lights are always there when the nights are clear. So the chances of seeing them should be good considering we're there for a whole week, no?

-Anything I should absolutely know? (anything you find worth telling me?)

 

 

I feel like a 5 year old child.

[MuckleJoannie]

I have some questions for you.

They might seem stupid or foolish or whatever but I've never been anywhere that remote.

Right now I'm stuck between Manchester and Leeds, before that I've always lived in cities with approx. 120 000 inhabitants so forgive my ignorance.

And especially concerning Shetland. I've tried to read loads but it's sort of hard to find the answers to such silly questions.

 

-Does it happen that the electricity/phones lines are off because of the bad weather? (and not just for a couple of minutes)

 

In the past few years I can recall about one power cut per winter, usually for an hour or so. Remote areas can be off longer. The phone lines are underground so there is no problem with them.

 

-How dangerous can the bad weather be?

 

Walking on exposed coasts is definietly not recommended in a gale! The abscence of trees means that you would be very unlikely to be hit by one blown over in a gale.

-How many supermarkets are on the main island and what are their opening times?

 

There are two supermarkets in Lerwick, open 8AM to 10PM

-What about Fashion? How fashionable is Shetland? (not that I want to do Fashion Shopping but I wonder if there is a Topshop/New Look/Primark, etc)

 

None of the shops you mention have branches in Shetland and I wouldn't venture any further comment on this personally

-Is there a University/someplace to study or do you all have to go through the OU?

 

There is the Shetland College which is part of the University of the Highlands and Islands

http://www.shetland.uhi.ac.uk/

-Is it cheaper for you to take the ferry?

 

That depends. Promotions/ high season v low season can make the price difference not very big.

-How cold does it actually get in January?

It can vary. Shetland can be the warmest place in the UK at this time of year. It's not the air temparature that matters very often, but the wind chill

 

Weather reveiws going back to 2004 are at http://www.northisles-weather.co.uk/weather/Shetland_weather.html

 

-Might there be snow? (Please say yes )

 

More likely at this time of year but not guaranteed

-I've read that the northern lights are always there when the nights are clear. So the chances of seeing them should be good considering we're there for a whole week, no?

 

No. First getting a clear night is not guaranteed and I don't think they are as common as that.

-Anything I should absolutely know? (anything you find worth telling me?)

 

 

I feel like a 5 year old child.

 

Try http://www.shetland.org/

[Sha]

Thanks.

 

I have already been on shetland.org. Very interesting but I guess what I'm looking for are personal experiences, stories, etc.

 

I know the best way to find out is to come and see but it's still so long until January.

 

COncerning the northern lights: I hope we'll get lucky. My best friend has been going on about them for ages. Would be deceiving for him not to see them.

[Ghostrider]

^^

 

It all depends if you're planning to stay urban or get out in to the backwoods. Urban the worst the weather will throw at you is never more than a pain in the butt, power almost never goes off, most lines are underground. However choose to slum it out here in the backwoods with the rest of us can be a different story.

 

Join us in sticks and as has already been said, wind is our secret weapon, expect constant wind, and a lot of it Force 6 - 8 taking frequent visits up to Force 10 is normal. The power does go off for days on end once in blue moon (read once every 5-15 years for that length of time, last time there were issues around this end was 1995, before that about 1986, before that 1979), usually as a result of overhead wires icing over and breaking in the wind, or poles snapping for the same reason. If its out for 2 or more days, landlines can start going down (backup batteries running out) but that is extremely rare, has happened once that I can recall in the last 40 years. Mobiles are a different story, bits tend to go AWOL off masts in gales, so there's often someone somewhere without service for a few days after every gale, there's a thread about the woes of numerous users during last winter on here somewhere.

 

Snow in town is no issue, outside town it can be lethal in the wrong conditions, white outs are common due to the snow drifting across the road making up to a metre high look like a fog. A pain in daylight, but at night (which begins at 3pm in January) it makes driving near impossible as your lights only show within the drifting snow. If its snowing at the same time, forget it, you don't have a clue what's what.

 

The worst the weather can do to you is if you're caught unprepared or get lost, hypothermia will be your buddy before you know it. If going off the beaten track, take advice from locals who have the experience to know what they're talking about, and heed it, check the weather forceast, and believe that whatever they say we're getting may or may not arrive exactly when they say, something similar, but worse will arrive within 6-12 hours either side. Out of town, especially off the beaten track, try and only be there in daylight hours. Darkness, our weather, and not quite sure where you are, you don't wanna be that guy. Check out a thread somewhere on here titled something like "Walker on Ronas Hill" who seemed to think such rules shouldn't apply to him.

 

Whoever said that the northern lights can be seen when the nights are clear, probably wasn't wrong. However, the operative word is very much "when". We can go a month or more here in winter without having a clear sky, either day or night.... Even if the sky is clear enough, the vast majority of nights the aurora only shows as a lighter hue in the northern sky. It resembles a full moon rising just before the moon actually gets above the horizon.

 

Shows of colours etc will happen, but only a handful of times for the whole winter at most. Spectacular shows are nearer once in a lifetime events, and while pretty, aren't what we locals want to see. Rightly or wrongly they seem to be a harbinger of bad weather, usually snow, and a blizzard. The most extrensive and colourful display I've seen was two days before a very unpretty blizzard in 1979.

 

Oh, and if you want to see, or for that matter even know the aurora is visible, you'll need to get out in to the backwoods, with urban light pollution in line of sight, you will struggle to see them, and lose much of the show even if you do.

 

Round here you're up in the hills half way to the Arctic compared to where you are now, treat that kind of change in the climate with the respect it deserves, and take advice from those who know the place on where and when to go and not go, and what precautions to take and you'll do fine. Good luck, and enjoy it.

[shetlandpeat]

Thanks.

 

 

 

COncerning the northern lights: I hope we'll get lucky. My best friend has been going on about them for ages. Would be deceiving for him not to see them.

 

You need to check out www.spaceweather.com

 

You can get reports and predictions on the "Northern Lights" from there, it seems to be due to solar activity, sadly none at the moment, but that in its self seems to have generated some interest...

[Sha]

@Ghostrider: Thanks for your answer.

I will definitely listen to recommendations of the locals.

And I'm far too scared of the weather and the dark to be running around at night.

 

I didn't an internship in austria once, just nest to Salzburg. about 10min drive from the next ski station.

The amounts of snow was incredible, as well as temperatures around -25ºC. I was so glad to have locals to advise me on how to behave/drive etc.

Surprising things like finding my landlord on the roof in the middle of the night because it had snowed too much and the roof would not be able to support much more.

 

But I find nature so fascinating, and the wilder it gets the more fascinating it becomes to me.

[Njugle]

I'm not sure I entirely agree with Ghostrider about the Northern Lights. If you follow the subject fairly closely they bear little factor as a harbinger of blizzards, it is perhaps more the case that you have more chance of seeing them when the temperature drops and the sky clears. We are currently at a solar minimum which has made for a fairly poor year for viewing last year, the year before was better and over the three years before that there were some fantastic displays.

 

While, at this latitude, they often manifest themselves as a green band across the northern sky, if you have the patience and the location to observe for longer periods you get 'flare-ups' in the band, when you get 'curtains,' 'jets' and the other mesmerising effects that they can generate. It is fairly rare to get the spectacular multi-coloured events more common in Iceland, Alaska and Northern Norway.

 

I'd post some pictures, if it were not for the abundance here:

 

http://www.ivanhawick.com/gallery.php?gid=43

 

That will give you some idea as to what has been seen in recent years.

But! In a week, you'd be very lucky to catch them during the solar minimum. To see them as in the photos takes dedication - near obsession - but is very rewarding!

 

(Look for his picture of a huge storm wave too, that was certainly an awe inspiring day!)

 

You really can't beat a good storm, viewed from indoors.

Our snow, if we get any, can be dramatic with accompanying winds but, while I respect GR's emphasis on caution, his description of the weather being lethal should be taken as a caution rather than an observation, as very few, if any, people have died as a consequence of a Shetland's severe weather onshore, as far as I can recall. More people come a cropper from falling trees and flimsy houses on the UK mainland, here without trees, and in solidly built houses, the chances of disaster are minimal. Just, as has been said, don't go cliff walking in a severe gale.

 

Now that I think on it, in the worst weather we have experienced in my recollection, hurricane force winds and the early nineties, there were two tourists lost on Unst as they had been hill-walking and their shelter blew away. The same storm destroyed a local, fully occupied, caravan site, but injuries were slight and the caravan site was replaced with modern housing. I suppose the lesson there is obvious, stick with the locals or listen to their advice. While many of us will be found out and about in the harshest of weather, the safety in doing so comes from years of respect for it.

[Sha]

So Dangerous if foolish, safe if brain is activated and follows local advice?

 

As long as it's awe inspiring I don't mind.

 

I'm just so looking forward to coming. It's been on my mind ever since I have found out about the existance of Shetland (I was a kid and loved Shetland Ponies). But it's never been possible, only ever made to John O'Groats.

 

So finally!

 

I'm sure I'll find some more questions.

 

I hope it is ok to ask no matter how stupid they are? http://www.cheesebuerger.de/images/smilie/konfus/a025.gif

[shetlandpeat]

Tis best to ask stuped questions sometimes, folk get hurt through stuped mistakes....

 

You probably are now feeling a little pensive about life on da rock in winter...

 

Tis funny tho how during this time, most folk venture out onto the streets for some guising fun..

 

Tis common sense that will prevail, if you do go out walking, let folk know.

 

I am sure you will have a great time, layers are best, dont just get a big coat....

 

And your annoying friend, let her come, she will enjoy it too, it may even change her outlook..

[Ghostrider]

I'm not sure I entirely agree with Ghostrider about the Northern Lights. If you follow the subject fairly closely they bear little factor as a harbinger of blizzards, it is perhaps more the case that you have more chance of seeing them when the temperature drops and the sky clears. We are currently at a solar minimum which has made for a fairly poor year for viewing last year, the year before was better and over the three years before that there were some fantastic displays.

 

You may well be right, the aurora is more commonly seen before snow, but that fact its already in a colder tract of weather, that becomes a blizzard in a day or so, makes their visibility more likely, is very possible. I'm not in to astronomy or whatever the study of what's going on above us is called. So long as whats up stays up and doesn't fall on my head, I'm happy to let be for let be.

 

One way to help the debate in either direction would be to find out what solar activity was like in early '79, as the aurora show a couple of days before the blizzard we had then was the most brilliant I've ever seen. It filled the entire north half of the sky, plus down in to the upper approx 20% of the southern half, with enormous "curtains", with a lot of movement in them, mainly reds and mauves. The one overhead went from E to W horizons, was a deep rich red, and as bright that it was casting as red hue over everything.

 

Just a little eerie when you're walking along in the pitch dark, and all of a sudden the whole world takes on a very pronounced red hue.

 

Our snow, if we get any, can be dramatic with accompanying winds but, while I respect GR's emphasis on caution, his description of the weather being lethal should be taken as a caution rather than an observation, as very few, if any, people have died as a consequence of a Shetland's severe weather onshore, as far as I can recall. More people come a cropper from falling trees and flimsy houses on the UK mainland, here without trees, and in solidly built houses, the chances of disaster are minimal. Just, as has been said, don't go cliff walking in a severe gale.

 

Now that I think on it, in the worst weather we have experienced in my recollection, hurricane force winds and the early nineties, there were two tourists lost on Unst as they had been hill-walking and their shelter blew away. The same storm destroyed a local, fully occupied, caravan site, but injuries were slight and the caravan site was replaced with modern housing. I suppose the lesson there is obvious, stick with the locals or listen to their advice. While many of us will be found out and about in the harshest of weather, the safety in doing so comes from years of respect for it.

 

Agreed, reading back over mine, it comes off a bit strong to what I intended, and should be taken as a worst case scenario,

 

Actual casualties have been few in living memory, and have involved alcohol. There have been a few near misses, which for the most part were resolved with minimum risk of harm, but there have also been the one or two idiots a la walker on Ronas.

[Njugle]

One way to help the debate in either direction would be to find out what solar activity was like in early '79, as the aurora show a couple of days before the blizzard we had then was the most brilliant I've ever seen. It filled the entire north half of the sky, plus down in to the upper approx 20% of the southern half, with enormous "curtains", with a lot of movement in them, mainly reds and mauves. The one overhead went from E to W horizons, was a deep rich red, and as bright that it was casting as red hue over everything.

 

Known as "full corona", we had that in the mid nineties and again in 2004 if I recall correctly. If I also mind right, it has happened at other times but was not visible. The time in 2003/2004 was in November and on more than one occasion lit the sky south of east and the west and, on one particularly memorable occasion, the west was absolutely scarlet with pink and green to the east, amazing! Both that one and the one in the nineties were visible south of here and the latter was visible even in Edinburgh.

 

One thing folk, including me, don't really acknowledge is that we also get Northern Lights in the Summer and in the daylight, it's just that you can't see them!