The movie set is " a series of subliminal whispers to thematic elements" in the movie
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/22/podcasts/the-daily/fisk-killers-of-the-flower-moon.html
Monday, October 30, 2023
Sunday, October 29, 2023
Diarization - identifying individual speakers in audio recordings
"Identifying speakers in audio recordings When applying the Speaker Diarization model, the transcription not only contains the text but also includes speaker labels..."
Contact Sports as a Risk Factor for ALS or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
"Our review suggests that increased susceptibility to ALS is significantly and independently associated with 2 factors: professional sports and sports prone to repetitive concussive head and cervical spinal trauma. Their combination resulted in an additive effect, further increasing this association to ALS."
Wells turbine bidirectional generates power either direction
0:44 symmetric blade cross-section deflects air behind trailing edge with flow coming from either direction
Saturday, October 28, 2023
Sap Dripping From Trees: How Do I Stop It?
"What most homeowners will be surprised to learn is that this sticky liquid from trees isn't sap at all. The sticky liquid oozing from the trees is Honeydew, and despite the name it has no relation to the fruit. Honeydew is the excrement of plant-sucking insects such as aphids, lace bugs, cicadas, and certain types of scale. Deciduous trees do not drip sap from their leaves. If you have "sap" dripping from your deciduous tree it is honeydew and is a telltale sign of an insect infestation.
Trees That Drip Sap:
Insect infestations that lead to honeydew are frequently found on rose, ash, oak, elm, maple, willow, and fruit trees."
Friday, October 27, 2023
Cow burps are a climate problem. Can seaweed help?
2:22 adding red seaweed to cow feed can reduce methane emission by 90%
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
Dede Allen - pioneering film editor who invented "pre-lapping"
"She was the first editor to receive a solo title card in the opening credits to a film, for Bonnie and Clyde (1967)..."
"Dede was the first to obtain "points" for the film editor in profit distribution..."
"She pioneered the "L cut," also known as pre-lapping, which is when the dialog of the incoming scene begins before the picture transitions into that scene."
How birds achieve lift.
Here are some cool videos about how a bird achieves lift. My favorite is the owl flying through helium bubbles.
Effective altruism
This certainly sounded commendable at first blush, but a deeper dive exposes just how difficult a problem this is.
Effective altruism has its pitfalls, since it's hard to define what you're optimizing for in creating the "greatest good." That is, if you optimize for preventing malaria, you don't help starvation, and vice versa.
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23564571/effective-altruism-sam-bankman-fried-holden-karnofsky-ai
Perhaps "voluntary associations" are better.
For instance, "Choice Humanitarian" aims to find and train good local leaders first, who are free from corruption, and then implement projects that improve quality of life. They "assess the context of the situation, identify the resources needed, execute the work, and monitor and evaluate progress."
Lifetime greenhouse gas emissions of electric vs ICE vehicle
- It takes a typical EV about one year in operation to achieve "carbon parity" with an ICE vehicle.
- If the EV draws electricity from a coal/fired grid, however, the catchup period stretches to more than five years.
- If the grid is powered by carbon/free hydroelectricity, the catchup period is about six months.
Lifetime emissions have to factor in the source of electricity used for (both making and running) the electric vehicle; if coal-fired plants are used, it takes longer for the electric vehicle to reach parity with internal combustion vehicles. But eventually, the high environmental cost of producing electric vehicles is outweighed by the lower environmental cost of running the vehicle.
A big contributor to the energy needs in lithium battery production is reducing the humidity to <1% because lithium is so very reactive with water.
Graphics and quotation from https://www.cotes.com/blog/greenhouse-gas-emissions-from-ev-vs-ice-vehicles
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-27/comparing-electric-cars-and-petrol-cars/103746132
Tuesday, October 24, 2023
A fair shake for honey bees
This reminds me of spy vs spy - escalating countermeasures. How unusual that you can count mites infecting bees by shaking powdered sugar onto them!
Sunday, October 22, 2023
Nuclear is greener to build
Interesting graphic of materials needed to manage energy generation from various sources.
More than you ever wanted to know about foam
I found this a lot more interesting than I expected.
Lots of definitions, innovations, and variations.
Saturday, October 21, 2023
Make rice crispies at home
https://youtu.be/Jq_zFo2v_XQ?si=q23rmZwpWicHK_mN
Cool! - make healthier rice crispies yourself at home. Cook them with black salt, and use a sieve to retrieve the salt and catch the rice crispies before they burn. Start watching at 5:48 (he's very talkative.)
Friday, October 20, 2023
Thursday, October 19, 2023
How platinum deposits form - sinker vs floater
1:27 there are two theories of how deposits are fomred - sinkers and floaters
2:13 these mines have 15 to 20 g of platinum per ton of ore
2:36 "cumulate" rocks form by density sorting
2:47 Or, crystals may form at the outer edges of a magma intrusion as the boundary layers cool
Does a passing jet increase rainfall?
I was thinking that a coalescing raindrop might absorb energy from the noise of a passing jet and drop from the sky. I don't think it can make it rain in a desert, though.
"planes flying above clouds during precipitation events can cause far more rain or snow to fall from those clouds – totaling up to 14 times more precipitation, under the right conditions."
And I would think there would be a lull in rainfall after this phenomenon had "shaken loose" a few extra raindrops, so that hourly rainfall would maintain its average. But then, rainfall is higher on the windward side of mountains, so maybe the jet passing would elicit rainfall that wouldn't otherwise fall.
Wednesday, October 18, 2023
US monthly cellular/Wi-Fi data usage by age 2018
I thought kids would use way more data because they're constantly scrolling through videos on social media... Maybe adults are too.
Hybrid efficiency
1:25 in order for this engine to achieve it's 40% thermal efficiency of converting thermal to mechanical energy, it has to operate within right RPM and load ranges
Sunday, October 15, 2023
Saturday, October 14, 2023
Autoimmune diseases, evolution, reproduction and women
"So the pregnant person's immune system has to say, OK, sure. You know what? We're going to downregulate components of that. That's fine. But you know what? If I downregulate everything, I don't have sanitation. I don't have antibiotics. This is over most of evolutionary history. If I downregulate everything, I will die, right? And so the pregnant person's body has to do this kind of tightrope walk. It has to take those signals from the placenta to downregulate components of it. But it also needs to say - you know what? No, I can't downregulate everything. I have to upregulate some things to be able to not die of parasites and pathogens.
Wednesday, October 11, 2023
Tuesday, October 10, 2023
Doug Glant's observations
Doug Glant first wrote this in 2002
As we surf into the 21st century on the crest of a tsunami of information and misinformation, instantly communicated and received, one of our oldest, most cherished forms of communication, conversation, is being debased with impressive dispatch.
Not to suggest that we aren't talking as much—in fact, with the proliferation of cell phones, we are talking more than ever but saying far less.
Robert Bork and Norman Podhoretz, two quite estimable
conservatives, disagree as to whether we are “slouching toward Gomorrah.” Judge
Bork thinks “yes,” Norman, “no.” I tend to agree with the good judge’s view,
but that’s merely tangential to today’s subject. My lament has to do
with a cultural casualty that has more than merely “slouched.” As we surf into
the 21st century on the crest of a tsunami of information and
misinformation, instantly communicated and received, one of our oldest, most
cherished forms of communication, conversation, is being debased with
impressive dispatch.
As with much that we complacently enjoy for years
and years, with nary a moment’s reflection, there is a sense of panic, perhaps
even exaggerated appreciation, as these pleasures disappear. For those of us
who delight in civilized talk, even as kibitzers, it is deeply disturbing to
realize that few of its surviving practitioners are under 60. Come on, name
someone under 50, under 60, who can charm with style and wit as did Peter
Ustinov or William F. Buckley Jr. did in their youth…or as did Henry Kissinger,
for whom English is a second language? [That would
be under 70 or 80 in 2023. Sigh.]
Not to suggest that we aren’t talking as much—in
fact, with the proliferation of cell phones, we are talking more than ever but
saying far less. If the sheer volume of inanity that passes for standard
discourse these days weren’t enough, we also feel the need to embellish our
conversation with superfluities stolen from children and teens, such as “like,”
“totally,” “awesome,” (sometimes used together, as “like, she was totally
awesome.” We also have “you know,” “I mean,” “so he goes, then I go, then she
goes,” (this often goes on like a verbal tennis rally from hell) and my own
personal bugaboo, the ubiquitous and ungrammatical use of “hopefully”---which
is an adverb and does not mean “one hopes” or “I hope.” In case you have
been in Bhutan, here is another example: “So, she goes, ‘Like, hopefully we’ll
be at the airport soon,’ and I’m like, ‘Didn’t we pass it, you know, like 10 minutes
ago?’” It’s not just Valley Girls who are using these abominations. In the
1950s, we had juvenile argot too—remember “cool,” “you dig?”, “all shook up,”
“square,” “I’m hip,” “daddio.” Our parents decidedly did not parrot us.
They patronizingly patted our little heads and suggested we would “outgrow it.”
And most of us did.
Now, I know we are in the Age of the Clintons (aka
the Age of the Baby Boomers), when any attempt to prolong adolescence is
respectable, even the adoption of juvenile jargon…but can you imagine Harry
Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Judy Garland, Joe DiMaggio, Gary Cooper, Jack Benny,
or JFK stooping so low? Or Ronald Reagan, Maggie Thatcher, or Jimmy Carter? And
as for the “good English is racism” mob, Martin Luther King Jr., Nat King Cole,
Ella Fitzgerald, Sidney Poitier, and even Malcolm X spoke in clear, vibrant,
flawless English. Is there a current leader or pop star whom you can’t imagine
butchering the language? Or one whose use of English is exalting? We are back
to the nub of our subject. Before I name names, let me elaborate just a bit
further. I bristle at the notion that I’m a snob but am not upset at being
called a cultural elitist. I also genuflect in the direction of Dr. Samuel
Johnson and the Oscars (Wilde and Levant), but I don’t insist we aim that high.
I’d settle for a pop culture within my memory, when
a decidedly lowbrow song, country no less, had the lyric, “Another love before
my time made your heart sad and blue…” No, not Lord Byron, just Hank Williams
Sr., who wrote and sang “Cold, Cold Heart” in 1951. Tony Bennett covered it, so
its simple, coherent message was a hit with American “brows” from low to
middle, even high. For the highest brows of that era, we still had, among many
others, Irving Berlin, Frank Loesser, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Sammy Cahn, and
Cole Porter, whose 1956 movie hit “You’re Sensational” (from High Society)
included these words: “I’ve no proof when people say you’re more or less
aloof…” “Aloof”? Yes, Marge, in the bland, repressive ‘50s.
And how does what now passes for conversation on TV
compare to earlier times? Fuggeddabouddit. Steve Allen, Jack Paar, David
Susskind, Dick Cavett, Johnny Carson—they gloried in intelligent talk and
exalted wit and picked guests accordingly. Have you watched late-night TV
recently? [It is far worse now in 2023.] The
hosts are barely literate, and where do they find the dunderheads with whom
they attempt to communicate? So, who’s to blame? I believe it’s in large part
technology, but the elites who enthusiastically dumbed-down American schools in
the name of racial diversity during the dreadful 1960s deserve a lot of credit.
Television and the quickening pace of all forms of communication [I wrote this in 2002, before iPhones and social
media!] have done even more damage. That is why I am almost bereft of
hope.
At a time when money drives our every action, in a manner inconceivable even to capitalists such as Adam Smith, Ludwig von Mises, F.A. Hayek, Peter Drucker, and Milton Friedman, and when there is no premium for verbal elegance or style, these will continue to diminish. Hopefully, I’m wrong, but I, like, don’t think so. Curmudgeonly yours, a Mercer Island resident since 16 August 1977, Douglas Glant
Sunday, October 8, 2023
Teleology of goosebumps
Why do we get goosebumps? Here's a paper about it. The medical term is "emotion piloerection," and one theory states "the vigilance [theory of origin of goosebumps] is loosely based in an evolutionary explanation involving fight-or-flight and attention mechanisms. Essentially, the idea is that changes in the environment require attention due to the possibility of danger. For example, increased volume [in music] is associated with approaching [threats], and changes in tempo or the introduction of new sounds may signal some new danger in one's environment. Broadly, this would suggest that attention and aspects of knowledge (e.g., surprise, uncertainty) are the key experiences that would activate the SNS [sympathetic nervous system, or flight and fright response] and yield piloerection." You can read the whole paper at https://osf.io/8va9w/download
Staggered studs wall construction
Saturday, October 7, 2023
Mysterious windowless building NYC
"constructed in 1974, was designed to withstand atomic blasts and was initially intended to house vital telecommunications equipment... Evidence from documents obtained by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, along with architectural plans and interviews with former AT&T employees, suggests that 33 Thomas Street served as an NSA surveillance site... This covert surveillance program has targeted not only international organizations like the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank but also numerous countries, including U.S. allies."
Friday, October 6, 2023
Clever solar tracker
Thursday, October 5, 2023
Crowd dynamics
4:08 in a crowd, the greater the degree of shared identity, (we are the few suffering through this same situation) the greater the degree of cooperation."
8:02 but, "as competitiveness goes up, cooperation goes down."
Wednesday, October 4, 2023
Downward hedonic contrast
24:00 downward hedonic contrast is where you imagine a time when you're unable to do the thing you're not planning to do to heighten your awareness of what a privilege it is to be able to do it now
Tuesday, October 3, 2023
How Temu sells for cheap
-Sourcing from Uyghur (forced labor) regions despite trade embargoes, and then shifting blame to their suppliers
-using "de minimis" shipping to avoid tariffs
-but the Trojan horse is their plan to invade US markets with the "team shopping" model (discounts for multiple sales to you and your friends) that has been so successful in China
Perfect building envelope
Insulation outside the building frame, instead of the usual inside, reduces thermal stress and thermal-expansion movement across frame members. It also mitigates condensation within the wall which leads to mold.
Monday, October 2, 2023
Welding in slow motion
I finally understand the different kinds of welding - they're beautifully illustrated here. The action of the protective layer of flux from a stick-welding rod is particularly good at 7:15.
"Side fond," or, the sticky goo left on the sides of your cooking pot
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