https://youtu.be/vaG5tVnpkwc?si=lEqOjvNF40NYJn-c
This seems like the most awkward way to control a synthesizer sound. But I guess it's all about showmanship, and it's interesting to watch.
Sunday, August 24, 2025
One-man remote firefighting
https://youtu.be/g340ryGMAzc?si=2caeFk1bjW9j7cxZ
The Fawcett cannon takes on water in a few minutes and fires a cannon of water from the all-terrain vehicle as a one-man operation to battle remote forest fires.
Thursday, August 21, 2025
Monday, August 18, 2025
Saltwater evaporation with solar and a polymer
"created nickel foam and coated it with a conductive polymer and pollen particles that respond to heat. It draws up a thin layer of seawater with an action similar to that of a tree's capillaries, separates the water from the salt, and cycles the salt back down into the mixture. All of this is purely powered by solar energy, which is generated by the material that the researchers created. It is able to harvest solar energy with about 93% efficiency."
Robotaxi challenged and reviewed in detail
31:46 Robotaxi doesn't have to be anywhere near perfect to be much safer than the average human driver.
Sunday, August 17, 2025
NYTimes: U.S. Pauses Visitor Visas for Gazans After Right-Wing Outcry
"Ms. Loomer, who wields extraordinary power in shaping Trump administration decisions over personnel and policy despite not having an official role in government..."
Saturday, August 16, 2025
Remove nanoplastics by boiling
If your water is hard (i.e. it contains low of calcium carbonate) then when you boil the water, the lime crust that normally forms on the inside of kettles is caked onto the plastic particles instead, allowing them to fall to the bottom.
Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Older people are happier
The epiphany that elderly people are time-constrained. They want to spend time on things that matter because they're very aware that time is limited.
This podcast explores the idea that happiness increases in old age. Not because of attrition or forgetting the reasons to be sad, but because an older person is more present in the now and thinking less about their future, they are more likely to recall good memories than bad ones, and they spend time with more "emotionally dense" long-standing friendships than making new friends.
Electric truck charging in Europe
His daily schedule is really constrained by charging, especially if the charging station has limited output.
Odd insects
Wasps induce galls to form as nurseries for their larvae, which don't seem to harm the host oak tree.
https://youtu.be/lOgP5NzcTuA?si=eBbmbwTfLWM9qZtl
Sea slugs or nudibranchs steal poisonous nematocysts from hydroids (a jellyfish relative) that mature in their spiky cerata to be released in self defense.
These bizarre tree-hoppers vibrate their bodies to make mysterious groaning sounds. When assassin bugs threaten, they attract protective bees and treat them with sweet liquid.
Great diving beetles trap air under their wings
Giant water bug males carry eggs on their back.
Monday, August 11, 2025
Amazon delivered faster
OCD antidote - art with intentional mistakes
The perfect antidote for OCD. @3:35 My favorite comment - "I hate this. Please do more."
Saturday, August 9, 2025
Costco's seminal idea of Kirkland House Brands
https://youtu.be/042pDj9FJ7Y?si=aQ0juBsRwWNp0FuD
Their winning strategy was only having 3% of the range of items in a store compared to other stores, and negotiating with suppliers to make their house brand, or private label products.
No "Ta-da!" sudden changes - Executives need to bring people along on their journey of change
https://youtu.be/38u5yGNq9K8?si=l9cjrTN7ThZfBja5
1:24 "We had this insight, we're thinking about it, we're not sure what to do about it but it's interesting."
1:46 you bring people along on the journey, you include all the uncertainty...allowing you the flexibility to abandon the idea...
2:05 resistance to [sudden] change comes from uncertainty about how the change will affect the individual
2:47 people at the top have all the authority and none of the information, while people at the front lines have all the info and no authority
But does this suggestion make people distrust executive who can't make up their mind and abandon plans?
Friday, August 8, 2025
Airlines profit from first class
WSJ takes a look at the razor-thin profit margins of airlines, netting just $7 per passenger. And how their expanded luxury first-class cabins (as large as 40 ft²) can earn better profits.
City-wide surveillance tracks in detail where your vehicle goes.
Municipal camerass that track every vehicle by license plate cover much of this city.
3:06 The extensive possibilities for misuse of this technology are described. Pickup animation
I thought you'd enjoy this animation of half a century of pick-up design, with clever transitions.
Thursday, August 7, 2025
Agricultural drones and tech
(Vertical farming will greatly improve this already remarkable statistic.)
Agricultural drones will really help farms increase yield - they can now provide precise imaging on crop growth:
And can now carry payloads up to 100kg:
This one doesn't involve drones, but is towed behind a tractor with an AI-assisted robot that targets individual weeds with pesticide instead of spraying the entire crop field.
This video reviews several avenues of agricultural tech that's going to be needed to increase yields to feed the world's using much less land.
Wednesday, August 6, 2025
The future of pharmaceuticals
Pharmaceutical companies spend a much larger portion of their revenue on research and development.
Insects remember through pupal stages
Marie infect remembers a scheme it was taught to avoid in it's early stages. And in-between stages the insect is reduced to a liquid, yet still somehow remembers to avoid a particular scent. And, the experiment to prove it was proposed and discovered by a child prodigy. https://radiolab.org/podcast/signal-hill-caterpillar-roadshow/transcript
What's stopping companies from bringing manufacturing to the US?
Not only does China have massive manufacturing capacity and 75% cheaper labor, but the government subsidies and tax breaks dwarf spending in other countries.
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