[Cryptography] Two physics experiment questions

[Joachim Strömbergson]

On 25 May 2026, at 23:38, Jon Callas wrote:
> Napoleon was sitting around with his military command, planning ahead. While they were undisputed leaders with armies in Europe, they'd had their whole navy sunk. That means they needed new ships. That means they needed wood. And there was, alas, a shortage of wood. Napoleon said that well, that means they needed to plant forests, pretty obvious if you think about it. One of the high command said, "but Emperor, that will take thirty years!" Napoleon stood up, leaned over the table, and replied, "then we haven't a moment to lose."

A bit OT, but this is actually what the enemy to Napoleon did.

After the Franco - Swedish war, there was basically no mature oak trees left in the Swedish kingdom, which included part of the huge forest in Pommern, nowadays part of Germany. The Swedish crown therefore in the 1830s ordered a forest of some 300 000 oak trees to be planted on the island of Visingsö, to provide timber for the navy. This forest was then cultured and cared for through the decades. In 1975 the head of the Swedish Navy was informed that their trees was now ready to be used. The trees are still cared for by the Swedish government and are to some degree used, but not for the Navy’sfleet. Highly recommended to visit.

Not sure what the security related wisdom is here - play the long game, but prepared to switch strategy and ignore the sunk cost. Unless it becomes something of value in itself?

Also. Interestingly Sweden, just after the war adopted one of Napoleon’s officers as the new King. So, become friends, family with your enemy?


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Swedish_War
https://jkpg.com/en/experiences/visingsos-oak-forest


/JS
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