h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Can you make electricity pylons less ugly by turning them them into art?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-13473408

I think they are as cool as a cool thing and I would love them to be considered for the Beauly to Denny line http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-12680776

200ft pylons running for over a hundred miles through some of the most beautiful scenery in Scotland is ridiculous.

Ho Yus! I like those!

Although, I think the ordinary ones look like sinister giants in an even cooler, creepier, abstract way.

I know it's not to everyone's taste - it's not always to mine, either - but I do dig the aesthetic of *some* brutal industrial-looking things.

As long as they don't collapse under windy or icy conditions I don't
see why not.

Environmentally I suppose it won't prevent birds flying into overhead
cables (birds of prey, swans, herons etc).

I think the people ones look silly. I also like the brutality of the look entirely dictated by function. I'm no fan of stuff just being done for 'decoration' reasons.

Art ones, ok, but a human-shaped is too creepy when driving down a road in a storm.

ah yes, I saw the original descriptions of the pylons .. must have it somewhere ..
There are two types male and female pylons.

pylons in the form of dread cthulhu with the wires for

Ia' Ia'

Also, how much more do they cost than the usual variety? I bit extra to improve the view is alright, but my elec bill is pretty high already!

On C4 news they said they can be buried in the ground but it would be 10X the cost.

Maybe they should have a referendum about which to choose?

I used to work for a company that made them. It was ages ago, so I'm not really much of an expert these days, but the safety regulations are horrendous - I hope those fancy ones aren't going to crash any time soon.

Good lord, there are people here who like this idea. Wow.

I thought it was April fools day again when I saw this the other day.

I'm all in favour of cheering the old pylons up a bit but making them look like praning nancies is not what I would have had in mind. I thought there were other options being considered than human looking ones. I think they would be horrendous like that personally.

Reading the article fully now I think a few humanoid ones in special sites of interest would be OK but miles and miles of the same prancing person...?

"Sites of interest" would be the last place I'd want to see them. Leave the sites of interest alone and put them in otherwise boring sites.

Post 2:
>200ft pylons running for over a hundred miles through some of the most beautiful scenery in Scotland is ridiculous.<

Post 10:
>On C4 news they said they can be buried in the ground but it would be 10X the cost.<

200ft underground, 10x the cost?
Cheap.

One of the things about current pylon is that they are fairly "transparent" - you can see through the spaces. As such yo can still see the countryside behind them. Those "people" ones stand out like sore thumbs, they become *THE* feature of the countryside.

Nice, occasionally, perhaps, but not for any distance...

Odd how people don't notice the road itself when it winds through beautiful countryside. One of the public debates here is road building through remote parks. I suppose the pylons will follow.

there is of course the choice to get them out of the landscape .. no more pylons .. no more overhead lines .. a perfectly clean countryside

no more electricity or electricity at really high prices

try to imagine living without electricity?

demolish roads .. no more cars, buses, trains? horse and carriage maybe ?

yes, fine with me in ten years from now

Not fine with me. No intensive care, and no way to get to what medical assistance remains, in an emergency.
I agree that there are trade-offs, though. It's all about how much convenience we're willing to pay the price for.

yes, it's a trade-off.

the same goes really for

Electricity generation (sure, wind energy is good, be prepare do sit in the dark for a few days)
Chemical Industry (sure, you don't need it, be prepared to live (or die) without plastics, medicines)

should I go on? there are trade-offs