August 30, 2023
All-renewable microgrids as a way of preparing for natural disasters
As natural disasters loom, these towns are taking control of their power by building microgrids. Two communities that went without power during Black Summer are getting a microgrid to keep the lights on during network outages. As another dangerous fire season looms, is this technology the way forward? [more inside]
Finally a killer AI
“There are hundreds of poisonous fungi in North America and several that are deadly, They can look similar to popular edible species. A poor description in a book can mislead someone to eat a poisonous mushroom.” - AI generated mushroom foraging books are spreading on Amazon, placing the public at risk.
To edify and amuse the hive: The worst medical study I've seen in years
Courtesy of a British radiologist: Sword Swallowing And Its Side Effects
This is a solar-powered website, which means it sometimes goes offline
Low-tech Magazine (many previouslies) created a solar-powered version of their website a few years ago (previously). Since then they've realized that most of the financial and carbon cost of their solar website comes from using batteries to keep it on all the time. They explore the implications of using the sun's energy when it's available, including experience from the Living Energy Farm, in Direct Solar Power: Off-Grid Without Batteries.
We are not in the Eighth dimension, we are over New Jersey
My criticism of the empty atom picture isn’t meant to shame people’s previous attempts to describe atoms and molecules to the public. On the contrary, I applaud their effort in this challenging enterprise. Our common language, intuitions and even basic reasoning processes are not adapted to face quantum theory, this alien world of strangeness surrounded by quirky landscapes we mostly cannot make sense of. And there is so much we do not understand. from We are not empty by Mario Barbatti
You Deserve to Feel Fine About Your Pelvic Floor
Vagina Rehab Doctor aka Dr. Janelle Howell (Instagram, Twitter and podcast) dresses up as your pesky bladder, suggests exercises for incontinence, cringes at "good coochie" brags and gives a rundown on possible signs of pelvic floor dysfunction. Content note: profane humor and lots of illustrations of vulvas on Dr. Howell's IG. Title taken from the recent Double Shift post on pelvic floors. Interview on Dr. Streicher's menopause podcast. [more inside]
Hoop-La: Ode to an archaic ride at Coney Island
The Hoopla was a Razzle-Dazzle ride in the Pavilion of Fun at Coney Island's Steeplechase Park. Several dozen people sat on a ring suspended from a central pole, rather like a sit-down
giant stride. It is documented in a newsreel, a painting and a postcard. The Pavilion of Fun was a vast, glass box, an ocean-front Crystal Palace erected by George Tilyou in 1909 and demolished by TFG's father in 1966 (although the Hoopla had been deleted twenty tears previously). See what it was like in this British Pathé Let's Go Coney! (Island) newsreel, which also has the Human Roulette Wheel and the Human Pool Table, but the Hoopla is shown at the very beginning. [more inside]
Adam And Kevin Ruin Theme Parks
As part of his Factually podcast, comedian and WGA representative Adam Conover interviews Defunctland's Kevin Perjurer about what drew him to theme parks and their history, how such parks factor into our culture, and how services like YouTube are enabling a new breed of fandom documentarian. (SLYT) [more inside]
Recycling and other myths about tackling climate change
You're doing it wrong. People tend to overestimate the climate benefits of recycling. One study led by a researcher at the University of Leeds placed recycling second-to-last among more than 50 actions people can take to reduce their carbon footprint.
"You should decide what you want out of such matters..."
Dating Roundup #1 - This is Why You're Still Single is a long commentary that mixes surveys on dating and relationship attitudes, common strategies and their pitfalls along with crossfire commentary from other viewpoints. Some of the language is absolutist so ymmv. (20-30 minute read) [more inside]
The plan to save Italy's dying olive trees with dogs
On a sunny winter morning, dog trainer Mario Fortebraccio slowly bends toward a line of potted olive trees and indicates it with his hand. Waiting for that signal, Paco, a three-year-old white Labrador, rushes through the row of plants with his head tilted, sniffing each pot at the root, the rhythm of his inhaling echoing through the greenhouse. The dog is carefully scouting for something humans can't sense: Xylella fastidiosa, a type of bacterium that has been ravaging southern Italy's olive fields for the past decade. Paco and a few other four-legged colleagues make up the highly trained Xylella Detection Dogs team.
The Future of Design Is Designing for Disability
Accessibility should not be a grudging afterthought. With planning, it can lead to elegant, beautiful, and engaging art. (archive.today link)
Beato + Saliers = Great Interview
Rick Beato sat down with the Emily Saliers half of Indigo Girls for a conversation about her decades of making and recording music: In the Room with Indigo Girls’ Emily Saliers [50m]. It's a free-wheeling talk that I, as a long-time IG fan, felt was revelatory and insightful. And there's a lot of joy happening here, too! Includes solo performance of song Look Long.
"Of course, nostalgia is history without moral reckoning."
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