I love watching robots learn to walk. Clumsy at first, but in the end probably a lot more efficient than coding from the start. And self-taught robots can adapt to unfamiliar environments better.
Tuesday, January 30, 2024
Combating desertification
Terrible amateurish video, misquotes the facts at 2:03; the correct percentages should be "More than 70 percent of the Earth's land has been altered by human activity, and up to 40 percent is degraded, meaning that it has become less biologically or economically productive over a sustained period of time. - Global Land Outlook 2, a new report from the UN's Council to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)." 2022
Mossy earth is a non-profit aiming to reforest sustainably.
1:18 China's efforts may ultimately be detrimental - decades of reforestation may be in vain because of planting a monoculture of fast-growing trees that are fragile and unsustainable. 2:28 only 15% of planted trees have survived 2:03 the planted monocultures overshadow and kill native species that were well-adapted and rooted, ultimately worsening soil conditions. Frustratingly, 3:42 people were cutting down existing trees in order to plant non-native species, because of a government incentive to do so.
Canary islands' circular hollows protect plants
5:07 after lava flows devastated the landscape, someone noticed that a shallow wall of porous picon rock sheltered plants, extracted moisture from the winds, and absorbed heat.
Sunday, January 28, 2024
Schizoaffective disorder and the cycle of homelessness and incarceration
The Man in Room 117
A disheartening and in-depth portrait of a man bouncing between his delusions and a family desperately trying to coax him into treatment.
He, like many homeless people, cycles through incarceration, treatment, and release. "A 1975 Supreme Court decision set the bar for involuntary treatment high, ruling that people who pose no danger and are "capable of surviving safely in freedom" cannot be confined to a psychiatric hospital against their will."
Saturday, January 27, 2024
Recycle aluminum
Recycling aluminum saves about 90 percent of the energy it takes to make new aluminum, which is great since mining bauxite ore and turning it into aluminum is pretty environmentally destructive and energy-intensive. It takes about twice as much energy to produce new aluminum as it does to produce new plastic. - theverge
using recycled aluminum cans to make new aluminum cans uses 95% less energy than using bauxite ore, the raw material aluminum is made from.
Thursday, January 25, 2024
How to introduce yourself
These pointers are so simple and self-evident, but I think having a mental checklist of how you introduce yourself to people could be very effective.
Robots and cobots
WSJ the robot revolution - meteoric rise of robot adoption by manufacturers, especially in Asia
https://youtu.be/HX6M4QunVmA?si=nVqF7o3zMWH0TGx0
3:34 When humans and robots ("cobots" = safe to work next to, through "passive compliance") work as a team together, human-machine groups are more efficient, and human "idle time" is reduced by 85%.
Microbiome TED talk
How much do the bacteria that flourish in your intestines affect your brain?
The extent of microbiome association with disease is more advanced than I thought!
1:03 mice raised in a sterile "bubble" lack gut microbes and lack curiosity, forget quickly, and have no separation anxiety
2:21 gut bacteria from an overweight twin, when transferred to such "bubble" mice, increase their weight vs the thin twin's bacteria
2:40 gut bacteria from a depressed person, when transferred to guts in mice, induce depressed behavior (e.g. early fatigue of struggling when drowning) in mice.
3:13 gut bacteria produce neurotransmitters (3:52 80% of neural traffic in the vagus nerve is afferent instead of efferent)
5:51 hypothesis that altering the microbiome could treat ADHD, OCD, PTSD. (6:16 there's a specific bacterium linked to autism)
8:41 Parkinson's - a bacterial protein similar to a human one, but mis-folded, travels up the vagus nerve and infiltrates the host brain
Why TED talks are so unique
TED talks are ideas...propose an original proposition, insight, or punchline...a revelation more than simply a topic.
TED talks need to be something closer to a performance; sculpted for entertainment, emotional, with a narrative ebb-and-flow; a "journey" [not] simply impart[ing] information
speakers [are] extremely good talkers... extremely passionate about their subjects
you have to learn a TED talk off by heart – no teleprompter, no flash cards, and very limited slides.
If a piece of your talk was well written, logical, and had a good flow, you would be able to remember it... If something's hard to memorise, don't even try; just rewrite it. This is a sign that it's a weak section of the talk
https://basicarts.org/what-you-need-to-know-about-doing-a-tedx/
Wednesday, January 24, 2024
Win-win to make bricks
1:35 he gets paid to remove the seaweed, and he makes bricks he can sell. Nice! I can't believe he can make durable bricks out of seaweed.
In a discussion post about the topic, they add
"[Ancient] Egyptians [made] bricks from mud and straw," [so this is nothing new.]
"You need thicker walls (about triple) than what you might see in a lightweight modern home made by 2x4s and drywall, but the lower cost of materials (and much lower cost of labor) offsets this." "Studies carried out by the Secretariat of Ecology and Environment of Quintana Roo state, Mexico, found that the resistance of the bricks is 75–120 kgf/cm2, while its durability can be up to 120 years, regardless of the region or climate type where they are used (Desrochers et al., 2020)."
What if no sargassum washes up? "it's probably smart he's doing this as a non-profit rather than a business. A business might go under if the sargassum stops [washing up on shore]"
" First-class brick has a compressive strength of 105 kg/cm².
- The compressive strength of a second-rate brick is 70 kg/cm².
- Common building bricks have a compressive strength of 35 kg/cm²
- The compressive strength of sun-dried brick is between 15 and 25 kg/cm²."
Tuesday, January 23, 2024
Monday, January 22, 2024
Replacing an airplane wheel assembly
I found this interesting. He explains a little about how the brakes work, how the wheel is held together, what can fail, how the brakes are cooled, built-in redundancy, and how is tested before being returned to service.
Sunday, January 21, 2024
Veritasium on luck and survivor bias
This is the video, well worth watching, where he candidly explains the story of how he wanted to become a filmmaker, then an engineer, then a tutor. At 7:45 the heartwarming story of meeting his wife, and at 9:14 a very insightful look at the survivor bias. https://youtu.be/S1tFT4smd6E?si=JzTsii5vJaaALri2
And this video looks at inequality in the world and how we should and shouldn't view our success. At 5:00 he starts to get very philosophical about his own success and how he met his wife by chance. And at 9:34 he talks about how luck figured into his own success.
Saturday, January 20, 2024
Deep dive - how Pop-up tents work
Steve Mould takes a deep dive into how a pop-up tent folds. I love his videos because he really goes into depth and gives visual examples that are remarkable clear.
Lava flows
Lava flows vary widely in viscosity depending on silica content.
2:16 but the least viscous lava is still 10 times more viscous than honey.
Here's a lab that melts rocks and studies how lava flows. https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/the-geologists-who-control-lava/
Friday, January 19, 2024
Why so cold?
Unstable polar temperature fronts are the explanation for our unusually cold temperatures recently.
Wednesday, January 17, 2024
What Heart Rate Variability Means on Your Fitness Tracker HRV
"normal HRV for people in their teens and 20s averages between 55 and 105 milliseconds, but most folks aged 60 years and up have lower heart rate variability, averaging between 25 to 45 milliseconds."
"Your HRV may increase when you start managing stress and improving your food choices, getting regular exercise, staying hydrated, drinking less alcohol, and sleeping for a solid seven to nine hours each night."
Denver airport
Some pretty impressive facts about Denver airport.
1:29 6th busiest airport in the world, by seats flown per day, 0:22 edging towards 100 million passengers per year.
0:39 450 flights a day to 175 destinations
3:01 40,000 employees
3:42 largest airport in US at 53 mi²
Saturday, January 13, 2024
Python trading bot
Discusses in detail how the bot works to search for engulfing candle trading pattern and executes trades automatically.
Here he experiments with a VWAP Bollinger band algorithm.
7 tips for making the PERFECT pancakes!
Here's the sales pitch for a new, fluffier flour made from popcorn.
Here are some tips for making perfect pancakes with this unusual flour.
Friday, January 12, 2024
Where Do Feelings Come From? | Hidden Brain
The brain is constantly predicting. Predicting is metabolically more efficient than reacting.
Sunday, January 7, 2024
Concrete strengthened with leftover coffee grounds
The coffee grounds are pyrolyzed at 500 degrees and then incorporated into the concrete mix. Awaiting longevity tests before going to market.https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-discover-an-amazing-practical-use-for-leftover-coffee-grounds
That's a good thing, because (remarkably) we're running out of sand - at least, 3:21 the rough-edged sand that's good for binding concrete together.
Getting computers a sense of smell
5:06 How did they do it? They gave AI molecular structures and the associated aromas, then asked it to guess what aroma a different molecule had.
Wednesday, January 3, 2024
Is red dye used in food products a health hazard?
"effects in experimental animals were observed at doses at least 60-fold higher than the levels of no effect observed in the human study."
Monday, January 1, 2024
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