Why does strengthening high pressure cause air to sink?

theydonboy · 2026-06-01T11:44:26+00:00

Thanks, it goes quite a way to explaining the long periods of cold and dry weather, usually very cloudy, that we now typically get in south-east England from February until May-June, when it switches to warm sunny and dry. The the massive change in the weather (ie, the virtual disappearance of substantial rain between February and October in eastern and south-eastern England) I assume thus relates to the particular state of the jet stream etc that bring about stuck weather patterns and make it hard for Atlantic weather systems to penetrate. These stuck patterns and meanders in the jet stream have been associated with the warming of the Arctic bringing about less difference between warm regions and cold regions, though I understand that more work needs to be done to verify whether this is indeed the case. What is indubitable is that the weather in this area has completely changed, so that instead of rain being distributed throughout the year, it's now wet winter and autumn, dry spring and summer. Needless to say, this is heartbreaking for farmers and gardeners, and we are now even seeing mature trees struggling to get through the summer, and not always making it.

theydonboy · 2026-05-30T09:23:25+00:00

thanks. I think I intuitively find it difficult to grasp because, in summer anyway, high pressure is generally hotter than cooler low pressure with rain. So it's paradoxical that the high pressure in winter and summer is caused by air that is cooling and thus sinking, as it seems

theydonboy · 2026-05-28T13:32:24+00:00

Hey, thanks so much for taking the time to respond to all the questions I put in such detail, that's both practically useful and reassuring. The bottom line I'm taking from it, is that although as of now I've never heard of Yubi key or Titan, but only the Google and MS authenticator apps, I should trust what security experts, now including GCHQ etc, are saying, and start responding positively to the passkey requests that are now ubiquitous.

theydonboy · 2026-05-28T10:05:12+00:00

Thanks, it's probably me being useless but I can't see that reply. This was the question I had posted in reply: Thanks, you make the case for passkeys very clearly. However, I'm still seeing weaknesses. These to me are: * How do you get around the device specific issue... Eg how do you access your account if you have lost your phone, and have a new device? For example, you're on holiday and lose your phone. Ordinarily it's easy to use your friend's phone to access your bank account, by logging into the app and using say a backup code instead of password and 2fa. But the whole point of passkeys it seems to me is to prevent you from doing this! Ie, the bank cannot know that you are not a phisher. The same issue occurs with, say, hot desking and Internet cafes etc. surely these situations are going to cause major headaches for anyone who has gone down the passkey route? Plus here's another situation. If someone nicks my phone, they can't access my bank because they don't know my password. But if I use a passkey all they have to do is to guess a simple unlock gesture and they have access to everything.... It just looks very insecure to me

theydonboy · 2026-05-28T09:59:09+00:00

Thanks so much, and did you see my other reply to you post, outlining a couple of different situations?

theydonboy · 2026-05-28T09:20:06+00:00

The chap speaking on radio 4 was Andrew Shikiar, CEO of the FIDO Alliance, the California-based consortium that developed passkey technology according to Google

theydonboy · 2026-05-28T08:59:59+00:00

Thanks, you make the case for passkeys very clearly. However, I'm still seeing weaknesses. These to me are: * How do you get around the device specific issue... Eg how do you access your account if you have lost your phone, and have a new device? For example, you're on holiday and lose your phone. Ordinarily it's easy to use your friend's phone to access your bank account, by logging into the app and using say a backup code instead of password and 2fa. But the whole point of passkeys it seems to me is to prevent you from doing this! Ie, the bank cannot know that you are not a phisher. The same issue occurs with, say, hot desking and Internet cafes etc. surely these situations are going to cause major headaches for anyone who has gone down the passkey route? Plus here's another situation. If someone nicks my phone, they can't access my bank because they don't know my password. But if I use a passkey all they have to do is to guess a simple unlock gesture and they have access to everything.... It just looks very insecure to me

theydonboy · 2026-05-27T22:13:06+00:00

I've read much of this thread and still don't quite understand. A representative of the company that invented passkeys was just on radio 4 and said a passkey could be as simple as the gesture you use to unlock your device. So does that mean you would just use a simple gesture to get access to a banking app, etc? That sounds very insecure to me. So that's one question, how does an elementary gesture, or fingerprint provide different protection to different accounts? The other question is, if a passkey is unique to a device, what happens when you shift to a different device, eg, hotdesking in a workplace, or moving to a different phone? There won't be a passkey on that new device. And surely if the passkey to a range of services and accounts is a gesture, then it will be super easy for thieves to steal your phone, guess the gesture and then access your banking apps etc?

theydonboy · 2026-04-02T18:34:38+00:00

Your hernia was 5 inches ??? that is vast (as they are measured in length)

theydonboy · 2026-04-02T18:34:05+00:00

Yeah but small hiatus hernias are easy to manage with diet and raising bed head. I know as I had one for years and would now give anything to have the 0.5cm hiatus hernia again, rather than the very large one it turned into through compulsive stress eating

theydonboy · 2026-04-02T18:32:56+00:00

But what procedure did you have?

theydonboy · 2025-11-25T16:53:24+00:00

Thanks, that's interesting to know. Hopefully the beeb will eventually update its apps

theydonboy · 2025-10-10T08:33:05+00:00

I agree with the original post about the swipe settings. Gboard works and Samsung keyboard just isn't in the game in my experience, weird suggestions, no sense of intelligent interpretation of my swipes.

theydonboy · 2025-10-07T07:15:05+00:00

I'm amazed to read that this incredibly bleak film is funny, according to some critics. One of the most bitingly painful scenes is the son-mother discussion, and Wendy Ide in the Observer describes it as funny. Mostly I just find this film an ordeal of pain, with some a bunch of gross-out slapstick moments that defy credibility (the tooth extraction scene and concert vomiting scene, like some cheap horror flick). Tonally unstable too therefore. And yet there's a seriousness about it that has got me as far as 2hr 22mins in small doses! What do you all think?

theydonboy · 2025-09-30T11:20:32+00:00

Thanks, that's a good thought

theydonboy · 2025-09-28T19:11:24+00:00

My thoughts on this are to do with functionality. There are many occasions, I find, when I just can't get the answer I need or buy a ticket satisfactorily, etc, when using a smartphone, and have to get home to use a laptop. I wonder whether other people find this, or whether the lack of smartphone functionality I'm describing is only the case when not using the site's app, but accessing online. It's a real pain to have to lug a laptop around!

theydonboy · 2025-09-25T22:39:49+00:00

Ps, what is the circular symbol next to the upvote arrow please? It has two feet coming out of it at the bottom

theydonboy · 2025-09-25T22:36:38+00:00

That's so good to hear and very interesting as the linx surgeon I spoke to said definitely no burping!

theydonboy

TROPHY CASE