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Thread | Merry Christmas Everyone
at 10:38 22 Dec 2024
Or happy holidays if you prefer.
I am sure many are on holidays now and looking forward to an enjoyable festive period. This place can occasionally be fractious but in the end we are all Town fans (mostly!) and here's hoping that we can pick up enough points in the new year.
It's not a Christmas card but it'll have to do. Here is an image I took of the Christmas Tree Cluster, it felt appropriate given the time of year [1].
You can see a larger version if you click on the image.
SB
[1]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_2264 |
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Thread | Interesting new carbon capture technology
at 06:50 2 Dec 2024
So let's start with a big caveat: it's very early days for this type of technology and there are a lot of unknowns with regards to scale and effectiveness.
That being said, this looks very promising:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-new-yellow-powder-quickly-pulls-c
I've also added the Guardian article below if people prefer that [1].
It's known as a "covalent organic framework" but essentially it's a powder which at the atomic level can take carbon from the atmosphere and store it internally. This carbon can then be released by heating to 140F and used in industrial processes. This is good because the heat cycle is far cooler than existing technologies and the substance can be used up to 200 times to capture and release carbon.
Researchers state that 200g of the powder can absorb the same amount of CO2 in a year as a large tree and given we already require the CO2 for industrial processes this would be a good way to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and then use it in industrial processes.
This means it's more something to head towards carbon neutrality rather than absolute reduction in my mind but every little is going to help given we aren't going to stop using CO2 in industrial processes.
SB
[1]. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/29/covalent-organic-framework-c |
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Thread | Weldon nominated for CDC
at 12:30 1 Dec 2024
It's been a month or so now since I cited the possible appointment of RJK Jr as a horrible development for US healthcare.
Now we have Trump trying to appoint David Weldon as director of the CDC [1]. Weldon is well known to be against many vaccines even after his concerns have been scientifically disproven and will have full control to ignore recommendations from the board of advisors at the CDC. Weldon has also appeared an Anti-Vaccine film produced by Andrew Wakefield which promoted the disproven link between the MMR vaccine and autism.
Furthermore RJK Jr in his role as HHS secretary can just replace any advisor members of the CDC when he sees fit.
A real sorry state of affairs.
SB
[1]. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/01/antivaxxers-david-weldon-cdc-nom |
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Thread | What a save this was
at 18:40 24 Nov 2024
We played great today, really could have won it with the two Delap chances and the chance for Chaplin.
What a save this was though from the Delap back-flick.
Really promising, you can see the players getting more into the McKenna methods with every match. Post-Christmas I feel we are really going to push on.
SB |
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Thread | Dr Oz next on the list
at 22:11 19 Nov 2024
So not content with trying to appointment RFJ Jr to healthcare, Trump now wants to appoint Dr Oz to work with him.
For those of you not aware, he's well known for pushing pseudoscience and alternative treatments. Some examples include:
- Homeopathy.
- Reiki and energy medicine.
- Use of hydroxychloroquine to treat covid (ineffective) whilst holding a large stake in two companies that make hydroxychloroquine.
- Faith healing.
- On his TV show an independent analysis showed that 15% of the claims he made were contradicted by the evidence and another 40% of them had no evidence to support them at all.
It's a very sad state of affairs that if Trump gets his picks then people like Dr Oz and RJF Jr are going to be in charge of guiding healthcare policy over the next few years.
SB |
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Thread | Climate Doomism
at 21:50 19 Nov 2024
I was listening to an interview on a podcast with a climate scientist and I hadn't heard of this term before and his explanation was quite interesting.
Essentially, bad faith actors who represent vested interests against climate issues have gone through a few stages:
- Firstly, they denied anything was happening - Climate Change Denial.
- Then move on to it's just part of the planetary cycle - The Elephant Gambit.
- Now claim it's too late to do anything anyway so why change - Climate Doomism.
I think the change in narrative from deniers is quite interesting and the latest instalment even more so because it's so easily countered.
Take the analogy of a road trip. If you miss your junction to leave the motorway you don't carry on until the end of the motorway, you take the next junction which is the best thing you can do in that situation.
We've probably missed 1.5C warming, that doesn't mean we just follow the road to 4C warning, we take the 1.6C warming junction as it's the best we can do.
Hopefully climate doomism will be short-lived and easily countered.
SB |
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Thread | Interesting read on Tom Francis Bacon, UK based Apollo engineer
at 08:13 5 Nov 2024
I'd not heard of him before but he's a direct descendant of Francis Bacon and developed the back-up power systems for Apollo 11 whilst working in Cambridge.
The fuel cells he developed also created electricity for communications and air conditioning.
The efficiency and high energy density of the fuel cells played such an integral role in the success of the Apollo missions that President Richard Nixon told Bacon: “Without you, Tom, we wouldn’t have gotten to the moon.”
After they returned to Earth, astronauts Neil Armstong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins met Bacon at Downing Street and presented him with a signed photograph of Armstrong’s famous first “small step” on the moon.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/nov/02/recognition-at-last-for-tom-baco
A brilliant achievement from someone who believed in his ideas enough to start a company and progress from there.
SB [Post edited 5 Nov 2024 8:13]
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Thread | Impressive win for Raducanu
at 17:49 26 Jun 2024
She's currently ranked 168th in the world after all her injury issues but after the operations she seems to be getting back to her best and just beat the world number 5 after beating the world number 47 yesterday.
Wimbledon could be decent for the Brits this year with Boulter playing superbly on grass, Raducanu improving and then in the mens Draper playing really well and beating Alcaraz last week and Norrie always likely to do decently.
SB
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Thread | Self-medicating chimps could help research for new treatments
at 10:05 26 Jun 2024
Whilst not completely proven, it's now thought that chimps self-medicate with plants when they are ill or injured:
https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2024-06-21-study-shows-wild-chimpanzees-seek-out-medic
"Next, they collected plant extracts from 13 species of trees and herbs in the reserve that they suspected the chimpanzees might be using to self-medicate. These included plants that they observed sick or injured chimpanzees eating, but were not part of their normal diet, and plants that previous research has suggested chimpanzees might consume for their medicinal properties.
The extracts were then tested for their anti-inflammatory and antibiotic properties at Neubrandenburg University of Applied Sciences, led by Dr Fabien Schultz.
The researchers found that 88% of the plant extracts inhibited bacterial growth, while 33% had anti-inflammatory properties."
Further study of these behaviours may highlight plants which could then be used to develop treatments for humans and just adds to the long list of reasons why these ecosystems need to be protected:
"Dr Freymann added: ‘Our study highlights the medicinal knowledge that can be gained from observing other species in the wild and underscores the urgent need to preserve these forest pharmacies for future generations.’"
SB |
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Thread | More good environmental news
at 11:29 25 Jun 2024
Historically the sea level given by models after past ice ages has tended to be too low and thus it was thought by some researchers that some component was missing from the models.
It seems this possibly could have been identified as being seawater intrusion into the ice causing cavities which then expand causing a feedback loop increasing the speed and volume of the melting:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jun/25/newly-identified-tip
“[Seawater intrusion] could basically be the missing piece,” said Dr Alexander Bradley of the British Antarctic Survey, who led the research. “We don’t really have many other good ideas. And there’s a lot of evidence that when you do include it, the amount of sea level rise the models predict could be much, much higher.”
Previous research has shown that seawater intrusion could double the rate of ice loss from some Antarctic ice shelves. There is also real-world evidence that seawater intrusion is causing melting today, including satellite data that shows drops in the height of ice sheets near grounding zones.
It's quite possible that all the horrible looking maps showing the expected coastlines in 2100 are actually too conservative.
SB |
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Thread | New nuclear reactor prototype to be built by the peoples favourite lizard
at 09:38 25 Jun 2024
Given it's often cropped up in debates around future power generation I thought I would mention a project backed by Gates (microchips not compulsory) which sounds like it might be part of any possible solution.
Gates founded a company around 10 years ago called Terrapower [1] with the aim of making nuclear power cheaper, safer and more useful as a baseline source. They are now preparing to build their first power station using their new designs which has the following benefits:
- High pressure water has been replaced by molten salt which reduces the safety requirements a lot as many are around maintaining the high pressure water.
- Molten salt can maintain heat for a lot longer than water and thus you can ramp up quickly to supply baseline power when needed.
- The reactor is far less likely to meltdown as the molten salt used to cool the reactor doesn't require the high pressurisation of water or the continual pumping of water (which caused a lot of the issues at Fukushima).
- The power generation turbines are located away from the reactor reducing the complexity of the design as many of the safeguards now only need to be in the reactor building.
- The design is small enough to be build in the location of decommissioned coal plants and then connect up to their existing grid infrastructure and connections.
Obviously there is a very valid debate to be had around whether nuclear should be a part of ongoing power generation but if it is then something along the lines of the above distributed at locations of old power plants might be the way to go about it.
SB
[1]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TerraPower |
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Thread | PSR rules regarding swaps seem poorly thought out
at 15:44 24 Jun 2024
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c5111jg2r3yo
"Maguire lays out a hypothetical scenario in which 'Club A’ has a former academy player who it would normally look to sell for £8m, while 'Club B' has a former academy player it would usually value at £10m.
"However, if a swap deal is made there is nothing to stop the 'official' price to be £28m and £30m," explains Maguire.
"This way there is still a cash settlement of £2m, but the profits in the accounts are £28m and £30m - fantastic for PSR. The additional cost of signing both players is then spread using amortisation over the contract life of five years, so is effectively kicked down the road."
SB |
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Thread | RIP Bill Anders
at 10:07 16 Jun 2024
Possibly not a name familiar to many but as pilot on Apollo 8 he captured one of the most iconic images in history, the famous "Earthrise" photo.
Some have described it as the "most influential environmental photo ever taken":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthrise
One of the first people to leave Earths gravitational influence, dying in a plane crash whilst he was piloting at the age of 90 seems quite the way to go.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cw99wj5e5q8o
SB |
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Thread | Combined Flu+Covid vaccine passes advanced trials
at 13:56 10 Jun 2024
This is excellent news, especially for the elderly and vulnerable:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ck55l4rk8z1o
The combined flu and covid vaccine is based on mRNA technology which allows it to be quickly updated for new strains of both flu and covid. Because mRNA is essentially code which makes your body manufacture a specific protein associated with a virus they should be able to add protection for other viruses to the single shot over time.
The results of the combined vaccine were equal to or superior to the control results of people who took the separate existing vaccines.
SB |
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Thread | Cutting pollution contributed to the record temperatures of 2023
at 19:15 30 May 2024
This article really highlights what a total mess we are in with regards to the climate:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/30/termination-shock-cu
So essentially one of the main drivers for the warmest year in 100,000 years was us stopping the emission of highly polluting sulphur particles from shipping. These particles block the sunlight at a high level preventing it from reaching the ground and thus with less of them more energy got through and contributed to the warming.
We have basically been artificially cooling the globe by emitting a certain type of pollution whilst heating it by emitting another type of pollution. In a roundabout way it's proven that some form of geoengineering may be possible but that's really the last thing we will try.
It does highlight how complex the climate can be and also how we are messing it up in multiple different ways and some things we think might be beneficial in one aspect may not be in another aspect.
SB |
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Thread | Solar cell breakthrough that almost sounds too good
at 09:42 30 May 2024
A Swedish company has developed printable solar cells which are flexible and can charge from any light source (even a candle or moonlight):
https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/solar-power-battery-panels-exeger-powerfoyle-
"It works in any light condition, it’s more durable than any other solar cell in the world, it’s easy to manufacture, and it can imitate any surface – leather, carbon fibre, wood, brushed steel. It’s also beautiful,” Fili says. “So we can integrate into products that are already selling in the billions of units per year."
Looks like Logitech are already using it in products coming out soon and Apple are looking at it for all their products. Some products such as headphones are already available.
It's early days of course but if it works as well as they claim it could end up being massive in reducing the generated energy used to power devices.
SB |
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Thread | Farage up to his old tricks it seems
at 11:29 16 May 2024
Back to spreading lies and misinformation that a certain section of society want to hear:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/may/16/who-accuses-nigel-farag
"But populist figures including Farage and a number of Tory MPs are lobbying the UK government to block the deal, claiming that it will give the WHO power to enforce lockdowns on countries, dictate policy on mask wearing and control vaccine stocks."
When in reality:
"Claims that the draft agreement will cede sovereignty to WHO and will give the WHO secretariat power to impose lockdowns or vaccine mandates on countries are false and have never been requested nor proposed. This agreement will not, and cannot, grant sovereignty to WHO."
Not content with his lies that contributed towards Brexit he's now trying to get the UK excluded from something that will benefit everyone in the horrible event of the next pandemic.
SB
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