Saturday, September 30, 2023
NYT investigate war crimes
Chinese auto brands take over in Russia
The war in Ukraine squeezed many car brands out of Russia, quickly changing their top brands to mostly Chinese manufacturers.
Wind turbine design
Friday, September 29, 2023
Chris Hadfield critiques Hollywood's depictions of space
A surprisingly good episode, probably because Hadfield is so engaging and brilliant.
14:02 When I returned to Earth from my third space flight, I'd been in space for almost half a year.
Getting used to gravity again, even for someone who was born and raised on earth was really hard. My heart had shrunk. My balance system had completely adapted to not having gravity. So suddenly I was super dizzy and, and couldn't focus. And if I tipped my head back, I could have sworn I was doing back flips, just because I had adapted to a different gravity field than the one we have on Earth. I'd forgotten that your lips and your tongue have weight. It was so weird when I started talking [I wondered] what the heck is going on? My tongue is being pushed to the bottom of my mouth. You know, even the little subtle things were different.
Thursday, September 28, 2023
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
Hacking cars keyless entry - need 2 factor authentication
Systems like the following one require a secondary authentication from the dashboard as an anti-theft measure https://www.carsystemsinstallation.ca/what-we-do/igla-anti-theft-systems/
Monday, September 25, 2023
If a photo is taken in the forest, and no one ever sees it...
Do you take photos for the pure joy of creating an image, or are you only interested in the audience and their reaction.
I resonated with the photographer he showcases in this video - I take many photos that no one ever sees, but I just enjoy the idea of capturing a good photo.
Defending American marine economics
Why are new buildings so boring?
Interesting (and humorous) video essay about why buildings have become so bland and boring.
If you aren't familiar with the term "5+1" building, it comes from the 2 material types (wood over concrete)
Friday, September 22, 2023
Efficient desert water generators
Design and implementation of a new portable hybrid solar atmospheric water-generation system.
The challenge is finding less energy-intensive technologies than cooling and condensing to extract water from low-humidity air.
Testing 3 types of solar water generators - TEC uses the Peltier effect with no moving parts to generate a cold surface that condenses atmospheric water. Another uses hygroscopic materials to trap water, subsequently released by heating the material.
Wednesday, September 20, 2023
Seabed mineral mining
Tuesday, September 19, 2023
Oh naur! Australian accent word quiz
Ok this guy takes a very dry subject and makes it funny and interesting as he dives very deep describing how people speak. The answer to the quiz at the beginning is really surprising!
The answer to his initial quiz comes at 8:28 in the video.
100 random food processing facts with video links
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ArVvrhhnyI
A hundred random food processing facts in this video.
Banana - 2:20 careful decontamination of boots and truck tires to avoid spreading the devastating TR4 fungus of this monoculture.
Ben & Jerry's - 6:35 founder Ben had a poor sense of smell, so texture was important to him, and large chunks were his hallmark. They only sell in pints, to make sure leftovers don't go bad in the freezer.
Gorgonzola - 9:40 the 40-pound wheels decrease to 26 pounds during curing, as whey is released over 2 to 3 months
Caviar - 10:56 it takes 8 to 20 years to grow to maturity - longest for Beluga.
Sardines - 14:38 steaming them outside the can makes for a better product. Nuri brand does almost all of the steps laboriously by hand. 15:50 quality control is assessed by sound of tapping the cans
Kombucha - 18:12 a "scoby" (a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) digests the sugars into alcohol and CO2. 18:54 when first brewed, kombucha has almost as much alcohol as beer, at 3% vs 4.2%
19:24 an expensive million-dollar machine sprays the liquid at low temperature to evaporate the (more volatile) alcohol
Cranberries - 23:14 are frozen to break down cells and release the juice, concentrated, then rehydrated 24:43 about 4400 cranberries go into making a jar of juice 25:54 Ocean spray make 250 different products
Salt from brine in the desert - 28:00 a rake to turn over the salt crystals to encourage crystallization costs $22, which is so expensive for the farmers they repair them and use them daily for several years. 28:56 Farmers suffer fatal skin infections and 29:17 blindness from the sun's rejection of the white salt.
31:11 The middleman washes, grinds and iodizes it - and sells it for 60 x what he bought it for.
Tofu - 36:53 soybeans soak for 10 hours, get cooked to 100 Celsius. 37:40 Okara is the leftover used to feed cattle.
Coffee - 39:53 every bean picked by hand. 40:14 the washed beans have their protective "parchment" removed 40:34 emerge from the wet mill at 46% humidity dried down to 9-11%. 41:12 Dry milling: beans hulled, polished, classified, optically sorted
Vanilla - 41:54 blooms for just one day a year, has to be hand pollinated; takes 9 months for the pod to grow. 43:51 Farmers in Madagascar lose 10% of their harvest to theft 45:25 they carry 40 pounds bags on their shoulders for miles 47:44 it's a 3 month's process of sorting, washing, cooking for a minute (to release vanillin), sun-drying for 15-30 days under tight security, (and covered with tarps if it rains) and massaged and then packaged. A farmers' cooperative has brought a larger share of the profits to the farmers.
Oranges - 53:40 90% of Florida's citrus trees are infected with a bacterium that chokes its vascular system and starves the tree, reducing its brix or sugar content. 55:15 Plastic mesh covers protect from the psyllid (citrus leaf miner) insect that carries the bacteria.
Oysters 1:02:15 this producer grows a billion larvae a year. 1:03:47 outside grow best from 60- to 80-degree F water. 1:04:30 have to be harvested, processed, and packaged within 2 hours to meet FDA guidelines
Limes - 1:08:41 demand for limes doubled from 2010 to 2020, spurred by the NAFTA free trade agreement
Olives - 1:16:17 EVVO extracts the oil by malaxation (kneading) and centrifugation (https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/64271 ) which is more expensive than the more efficient solvent extraction (https://extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets/oil-and-oilseed-processing-ii.html)
Brazil nuts - 1:22:12 trees can live to 500 years. 1:24:24 launching a farmers' cooperative increased their profit 30-fold
Cheesecakes - 1:27:56 baked atop a rotating water bath pan
Monday, September 18, 2023
Water from thin air
Reminds me of these nets to catch fog: https://youtu.be/zhgRWFBdqj8?si=JxzPgg2TPGFH6JNv
Before and after taking Land Rover through deep water
Ran across an interesting thread about all the things you can damage by taking a vehicle through deep water, even with precautions taken.
When planning to go through deep water - what needs to be prepared before and checked afterward:
Raised air-intake (snorkel - check the effectiveness of your snorkel/raised air intake: block the top with the engine ticking over , if it doesn't stop instantly (1-2sec max) then you have more to do)
Sealing off the 'Valve-air cleaner dump' in the air filter box
Raised breathers for both axles, the gearbox and the transfer box (would be obvious to extend to top of snorkel)
Wading plugs: plug bell housing and bottom of the engine front cover (timing belt cover)
All grease nipples should be serviced before wading and after. All oil levels should be checked after wading for contamination. If wading after a long run esp. when hot, allow some cooling time, as "cooling suction" could add to risk of contamination. Water/mud in the heater will total it, sooner rather than later.
Remove drum of transmission brake to clean out, otherwise shoes/ friction face will get damaged, also could lead to juddering, or jamming. It is also possible to contaminate battery electrolyte if immersing.
Also, consider things like the breather on the back of the fuel injection pump, the PAS reservoir, top of gearbox, fuse box on bulkhead, interior carpet/trim damage.
Also, corroded fuse boxes, corroded inertia reel internals
And, condensation can do damage well after you think everything is dry (wheel bearings, transmission etc.)
Sealed fuel filler cap, oil filler cap, etc., oversized breathers, some way of disabling the engine fan so it doesn't thrash itself to death or propel itself into the radiator & eat it, make sure anything that floats is tied down, anything you don't want full of water (e.g. toolbox, laptop, camera, stereo, co-driver) above the waterline, or completely unpowered when dunked, and open the vehicle doors during immersion to allow water to get in (so you sink & get traction)
Sunday, September 17, 2023
Beaver hydrology and water management
"As long as you have enough beaver ponds for a complex, you will start to see broad patches of fire-resistant landscape…They will move into an ordinary stream and through dam-building, groundwater-raising, channel-digging, and spreading; they take that stream ecosystem and turn it into a big wetland patch"
Saturday, September 16, 2023
Friday, September 15, 2023
Thursday, September 14, 2023
Rabies and abnormal fear of water.
"Hydrophobia is a clinical sign characteristic of human rabies. This sign occurs following paroxysmal contractions of pharynx..."
The virus thrives in saliva. Swallowing reduces the spread. Therefore, it immediately acts to make its victim produce more saliva and spread that saliva on its surroundings rather than swallowing it.
Tuesday, September 12, 2023
Limnic CO2 eruptions
Sunday, September 10, 2023
Backstory of a painting
Saturday, September 9, 2023
Respect existence or expect resistance.
Quote by Joanne Macgregor: "Respect existence or expect resistance."
Friday, September 8, 2023
Don't save the wrong bees
2:18 is the wild species, not the common domesticated honeybee, that's at risk
Thursday, September 7, 2023
Loneliness
One of the Best Things We Can Do for Our Health Is Free — and Fun https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/06/opinion/loneliness-epidemic-solutions.html?smid=nytcore-android-share
"Loneliness is as deadly as smoking 15 cigarettes a day and more lethal than consuming six alcoholic drinks a day"
Bladeless turbines safe for fish in small rivers
9:32 the levelized cost of energy, taking into account circadian variation and battery storage for off-peak generation, cost is lowest for small hydropower.
Sunday, September 3, 2023
Saturday, September 2, 2023
I've had solar for ten years - here's the thing
Friday, September 1, 2023
2023 will be remembered for this drug release
J&J released this TB drug from patent, instead of slightly modifying it to extend its patent, partly under pressure from this YouTuber.
Tuberculosis. Johnson & Johnson.
Even with this drug off patent, the realtors of properly diagnosing and treating TB in the 3rd world are truly challenging.
Ending TB Is Within Reach — So Why Are Millions Still Dying? https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/06/health/tuberculosis-tb-treatment-vaccine-diagnosis.html?smid=nytcore-android-share
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