sequestering carbon, several books at a time CXXXIX

The latest batch:

Erice back streets

Today was the workshop excursion.  It has been hot here all week so far up high in Erice, so I was not looking forward to an even hotter time down at sea level.  Then there was an Italian Severe Weather Warning alert.  Hmm.  So colleagues and I decided to spend the time talking shop in a nice café instead.  It was the right decision: apparently, a temperature of 42 degrees was recorded by the excursion bus!

Later, some of us went wandering to find a different restaurant for our evening meal, and ended exploring some of the picturesque backstreets.

narrow, and hot

steep and narrow, and hot

The workshop has been just as good as last time.  Final day tomorrow, with more great talks and discussions scheduled.

And a third one is planned for 2026.

view from conference accommodation window

I'm back in Erice for the second Workshop on Unconventional computing; the first was in 2022.  I'm staying in a different building this time, with a lovely view over a courtyard.

Last time I was here it was October, and nice weather.  Now it is July.  And a lot hotter: due to be 30 degrees plus all week.  But the buildings are designed for it: very thick stone walls.

There's a welcome reception this evening, then the workshop starts at 9am tomorrow (Sunday!)  At least I should get more sleep than last time, having arrived mid-afternoon rather than at 3am.

bang!

I heard a bang, and went to investigate.  It sounded a bit loud for a bird strike.  In the conservatory, I discovered an exploded pane of glass:

The inner pane of the double glazing on that panel is no more.  (The outer pane is intact, so at least we are weatherproof.)  Well, the pane does still exist, in a higher entropy form, some caught in the blind, some swept up into a bucket:

not diamonds, unfortunately

It wasn't that hot in the conservatory:

only 28 Celsius; not hot enough to shatter glass

I'm not sure how they go together

 Seen in Incheon (Seoul) Airport:

I appreciate the straightforward shop name

view from a hotel window

We are back in Seoul, ready to fly home tomorrow, having taken the "Eurostar" bullet train from Pohang this afternoon, after the conference finished.  We are in a different, smaller, cheaper hotel this time (we had tried to book this one on the way out too, but it had been full).  It is a perfectly nice adequate hotel, but the view from the window is somewhat ... stark.

The view out my window of a nearby wall, and a desperate weed.

temple excursion

The conference has been going really well.  Lots of excellent talks, and I've been learning a lot.  This afternoon, however, was the conference excursion, to some local historical temples.  This was preceded by a governmental extreme heat alert, so I took my umbrella to use as a parasol.  I needed to: the temperature hit 37.7 Celsius.  Fortunately, we were well-supplied with Pocari Sweat.

Our guide (far left) knew all the right places for group photos with great backgrounds.  He literally drew lines in the sand for us to stand behind.  Here is the entrance to the complex.

In front of the main temple entrance.

Beautiful carving detail in the roofs.  Our guide was careful to explain that the central swastika symbol is not the Nazi symbol, but an ancient religious symbol. (As in all such things, the full explanation is much more complex.)

One of several golden Buddhas

A welcome respite from the dusty heat of the temple compound

Another line to stand behind, this time in front of an amazing old bridge