Eventful ride last night
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Elizabethsdad
- Posts: 1158
- Joined: 15 Jan 2011, 7:09pm
Eventful ride last night
About 9pm cycling along Northey road between Peterborough and Whittlesey I was dazzled by some idiot play with one those stupidly bright lasers. In order to avoid the laser light I was looking away from the side of road and consequently nearly ran into two joggers dressed entirely in black - I missed them because I typically ride tow or three feet from the edge of the road. Then later on I was cycling along a bridle path and saw a group of rabbits on the path ahead. I slowed and tried to go to one side of them, but they ran in all directions - normal prey behaviour - including one that went straight under my front wheel. I stayed upright and went to check but there was no sign of the rabbit so I don't know how badly hurt it was.
Re: Eventful ride last night
Those green lasers ... I sympathise with your nasty experience and hope the idiots get caught! Putting on my 'astronomy' hat for a moment: I don't own one myself , though I have used them at star parties - they can be a real godsend if used responsibly and carefully, creating a visible green line pointing direct at the star or other object that you're trying to draw other people's attention to.
But ... I live quite close to Gatwick, and we are always careful to check whether there are any aircraft overhead before using them. Sadly, other people have been less responsible. There has been a lively debate, amongst the astro community, as to whether those things should be banned, for this very reason. After all, before lasers were invented, astronomers got on very well without them (better, in fact, since there was less light pollution
).
I do have a laser, but it's a low-power (<5mW) red laser used to collimate the telescope. It wouldn't hurt a fly (though I wouldn't advise anyone to look direct along the beam). It's useless as a sky pointer, because it doesn't cast a visible beam.
As to your rabbits, I reckon that even if you did injure one, it probably did make good its escape perhaps on its three remaining good legs. I'm afraid you'll probably never know what its fate was.
But ... I live quite close to Gatwick, and we are always careful to check whether there are any aircraft overhead before using them. Sadly, other people have been less responsible. There has been a lively debate, amongst the astro community, as to whether those things should be banned, for this very reason. After all, before lasers were invented, astronomers got on very well without them (better, in fact, since there was less light pollution
).I do have a laser, but it's a low-power (<5mW) red laser used to collimate the telescope. It wouldn't hurt a fly (though I wouldn't advise anyone to look direct along the beam). It's useless as a sky pointer, because it doesn't cast a visible beam.
As to your rabbits, I reckon that even if you did injure one, it probably did make good its escape perhaps on its three remaining good legs. I'm afraid you'll probably never know what its fate was.
Suppose that this room is a lift. The support breaks and down we go with ever-increasing velocity.
Let us pass the time by performing physical experiments...
--- Arthur Eddington (creator of the Eddington Number).
Let us pass the time by performing physical experiments...
--- Arthur Eddington (creator of the Eddington Number).
Re: Eventful ride last night
Dont worry about the rabbit. They're a hardy animal. And anyway they're vermin to a lot of land owners, farmers and gardeners.
Re: Eventful ride last night
Those lasers can be quite lethal.
I was down in Plymouth last week watching the national firework championships and a couple of people had them on the hills opposite to us, they were easily able to shine them onto buildings behind us, must have been half a mile distance between us and them.
I was down in Plymouth last week watching the national firework championships and a couple of people had them on the hills opposite to us, they were easily able to shine them onto buildings behind us, must have been half a mile distance between us and them.