11–20 of 59 posts
Forgive me if I missed it in the article, but what species of termite was it and where is it native to?
Devon is a nice area, otherwise I think a small subterranean fusion bomb would have been the tidiest solution.
With some luck you'd end up with radioactivity resistant termites owning the whole place.
For that long and "bloody-minded" an eradication effort, in so small an area (100m long, 30m deep) - it seems like it'd have been far quicker and cheaper to (say) saturate the ground with liquid nitrogen. (Assuming that the termites would all either freeze, or die for lack of oxygen.)
I facetiously recommended a tactical thermonuclear explosive in a comment below, but on a more serious note, this was an issue of national security and surely they should have just used eminent domain to oust these people from their homes and then used some radical scorched earth solution as you suggest to just destroy this menace without prejudice. The British government is normally very judicious with eminent domai…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I facetiously recommended a tactical thermonuclear explosive in a comment below, but on a more serious note, this was an issue of national security and surely they should have just used eminent domain to oust these people from their homes and then used some radical scorched earth solution as you suggest to just destroy this menace without prejudice. The British government is normally very judicious with eminent domai…
Destroying the homes was out of the question as the article states, the danger of spreading even a couple of reproduce-capable termites was too high.
For that long and "bloody-minded" an eradication effort, in so small an area (100m long, 30m deep) - it seems like it'd have been far quicker and cheaper to (say) saturate the ground with liquid nitrogen. (Assuming that the termites would all either freeze, or die for lack of oxygen.)
I facetiously recommended a tactical thermonuclear explosive in a comment below, but on a more serious note, this was an issue of national security and surely they should have just used eminent domain to oust these people from their homes and then used some radical scorched earth solution as you suggest to just destroy this menace without prejudice. The British government is normally very judicious with eminent domai…
Oh no they won't! Could you provide some more details please.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Destroying the homes was out of the question as the article states, the danger of spreading even a couple of reproduce-capable termites was too high.
I didn't understand that part. Sure, a conventional demolition, where debris is carted off to the landfill wouldn't work in this case. But surely onsite burning would do the trick?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
With some luck you'd end up with radioactivity resistant termites owning the whole place.
Hmm, yes, perhaps I didn't put enough thought into my 15-second idea. That about summarized my life.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I didn't understand that part. Sure, a conventional demolition, where debris is carted off to the landfill wouldn't work in this case. But surely onsite burning would do the trick?
Termites can dig very deep. The final inspection went 30 meters down. Burning down 30m into the earth would require something far beyond what "onsite burning" usually involves. (Hence the "small subterranean fusion bomb" comment from kingcharles.)
Thirty meters, though ... whew.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I facetiously recommended a tactical thermonuclear explosive in a comment below, but on a more serious note, this was an issue of national security and surely they should have just used eminent domain to oust these people from their homes and then used some radical scorched earth solution as you suggest to just destroy this menace without prejudice. The British government is normally very judicious with eminent domai…
"The British government is normally very judicious with eminent domain and will destroy your home if it is causing an unpleasant wind diversion for some species of rare seagull." Oh no they won't! Could you provide some more details please.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Termites can dig very deep. The final inspection went 30 meters down. Burning down 30m into the earth would require something far beyond what "onsite burning" usually involves. (Hence the "small subterranean fusion bomb" comment from kingcharles.)
I sometimes have very weird and destructive thoughts, but I have often wondered if it were possible to take thermite and pack it, make it stable and rigid somehow, enough that it could be made into a long rod, like rebar, suitable for pounding into the earth. Then you surround your nest or whatever with a bunch of rods, run one through the middle, set them alight and let them just burn down however many yards. Thirty…
I guess by the time you got enough thermite in the ground it wouldn't be very efficient.