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CraigD

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Post and discuss interesting articles & videos about science and technology.

You don't need to be an expert - just interested in the wonders of modern science, technology, and the history of these fields.

Please keep it rational, and post articles from reputable sources.
Try not to editorialise headlines and keep the copy to just a paragraph with a link to the original source. When quoting excerpts from articles, I think the best method is to italicise the copy, and include a link to the source.

Have some fun with your comments and discussions... just keep the sources legitimate.

Other threads:
The Break Room has a number of other popular threads, so there is no need to post material here that is better suited to these other threads:

- Covid19-Coronavirus updates and news
- Conspiracy Thread Free For All
- The *religious* discussion thread


Please enjoy!
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
An interesting read!

At the end of the article, Gaya states “We’re totally capable of making huge changes, and we’ve seen with the pandemic, but we have to act now if we’re to avoid costs much greater than we’re seeing”.

The problem here will be getting everyone on board to achieve one goal, and to be quite frank, what I have learnt during this pandemic is that we will divide ourselves and only act begrudgingly at the eleventh hour, while some will simply ignore the science and pray for the problem to go away.

That mindset needs to change if we have any chance.

Sorry to go bleak again ;)

If I haven't mentioned it before, I have a favourite saying: What changes behaviour? Pain and suffering. So let the pain and suffering begin.

To that I might add 'before it's too late'.
 
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The problem here will be getting everyone on board to achieve one goal, and to be quite frank, what I have learnt during this pandemic is that we will divide ourselves and only act begrudgingly at the eleventh hour, while some will simply ignore the science and pray for the problem to go away.

To underscore your point:

Our leaders look climate change in the eyes, and shrug

If you have cultivated an Edgar Allen Poe-like appreciation for the macabre, there is a certain sort of amusement to be had in watching the developed world deal with the insistent onslaught of climate change. Like many horror stories, this one features a main character full of futile determination to maintain a sense of normalcy even as the ominous signs of doom become ever more impossible to ignore. We can chuckle knowing that the monster is going to come for our designated protectors. We stop chuckling knowing that it’s coming for all of us next.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/04/climate-change-crisis-environment-politics
 
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Tesla driver presses the wrong button and it cost his son $19,000

Tesla owner charged an absurd amount after lending his Model 3 out to father-in-law.

Google’s Director of Product Management, Dominic Preuss, took to Twitter outraged that he had been charged more than US$14,000 (AU$19,000) after his father-in-law borrowed his car and accidentally signed up for Tesla’s advanced driver aids.

"FYI. If you double click the shift panel twice and accidentally engage the auto-pilot in Model 3, @tesla will automatically charge you $14,100 if you didn't previously purchase auto-pilot. No password prompt. No CC challenge. Just $14K on the CC on file," Preuss wrote.

Read on...

https://www.drive.com.au/news/tesla-driver-presses-the-wrong-button-and-it-cost-him-19000/
 
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We have now seen our sense of smell in action

The nose is, at its most basic level, a tool for filtering through the chemicals of the outside world, sorting, weighing, and categorizing the trillions of molecules of all shapes and sizes that waft over us. In a study out this week, scientists opened a window into a basic step in the sensation. Reporting Wednesday in Nature, researchers documented the first images of an odor receptor at work—providing clues on how animals have evolved to sort through that endless variety.

https://www.popsci.com/science/noses-sense-of-smell-mystery/
 
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If I haven't mentioned it before, I have a favourite saying: What changes behaviour? Pain and suffering. So let the pain and suffering begin.

To that I might add 'before it's too late'.

Adding further to this, something in a blog post I read today:

culture changes when a combination of two things happens:
  1. Lived experiences help people actually learn the truth about what they’ve been resisting.
  2. The culture shifts and now it’s scarier to stay still than it is to join in with what is clearly working.
 
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Microbes anyone? Study outlines huge potential of solar-powered protein

But is it practical? For the new study, a team led by scientists at Göttingen University modeled large-scale microbial food production facilities, analyzing energy requirements for each step along the way, and investigating different setups and types of microbes.

The modeled facilities would make use of renewable energy sources. Carbon dioxide is captured from the air outside and, using electricity supplied from solar cells, converted into food for microbes in a bioreactor. They in turn produce the biomass that can be processed into food.

The team found that per kilogram, producing microbial protein only required 10 percent of the land of soybeans, the most efficient plant crop. Water use is also reduced, and the need for fertilizer is removed entirely.

Microbial farms could also make use of areas that aren’t suited for traditional agriculture, such as deserts. The models even showed that the system was still efficient enough at higher latitudes where there isn’t as much sunlight available.

https://newatlas.com/science/microb...ail&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-1f467564a5-90628689

 
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President Joe Biden promises Pacific Islands Forum US will 'dramatically' cut emissions

US President Joe Biden has told Pacific Island leaders that the United States will "dramatically" cut emissions this decade to help stave off the worst impacts of climate change.

Pacific leaders have also agreed to ask the UN to effectively freeze existing maritime boundaries in the region as sea level rises threaten to swamp the small features used to mark out borders.

Mr Biden's address marked the first time a sitting US president has attended or addressed a Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders meeting.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08...forum-emissions-cuts-cliamte-change/100357094
 
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7494d8aca6a59743e6128c8c94ea4420


Where will the bones of Mungo Man and other ancestors go and who will decide?

When skeletal remains were unearthed from the windswept, moon-like landscape of Lake Mungo in 1974, they rewrote a western understanding of time and human occupation in Australia.

The 42,000-year-old bones belonged to Mungo Man, named after his resting place in the dry lake bed, and the use of ochre recorded in his burial became the oldest known ritual burial recorded in human history.

The removal of Mungo Man, and more than 100 others, from their ancient graves by anthropologists caused pain and anger for some traditional owners.

In 2017, traditional owners rejoiced when the remains were returned to their ancestral home.

Read on...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07...-mungo-divides-aboriginal-community/100320344
 
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Cannuck will probably sell you on cannabis being cool for 'medicinal purposes'. :)

On the covid containment and lockdown, not much to say, other than I hope things come through okay enough for you folks.

Herb is the healing ...even if you don't consume, growing indoors is a healthy hobby (especially under lockdown). GLWT :xf.grin:
 
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Password of three random words better than complex variation, experts say

It is much better to concoct passwords for online accounts that are made up of three random words as opposed to creating complex variations of letters, numbers and symbols, government experts have said.

In a blogpost, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) – which is part of Government Communications Headquarters – said a three-word system creates passwords that are easy to remember. In addition, it creates unusual combinations of letters, which means the system is strong enough to keep online accounts secure from cybercriminals. By contrast, more complex passwords can be ineffective as their makeup can often be guessed by criminals using specialist software.

https://www.theguardian.com/technol...rds-better-than-complex-variation-experts-say
 
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Any thoughts on doing up north vertical gardening using shipping containers?

I've given it some thought, but that's definitely for commercial growers. I saw someone on Dragon's Den doing a pitch, ingenious. Some growers use reefer containers (buried for insulation and privacy). Vertical gardening works well with more compact plants, but I can see potential if done properly. (y)
 
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We have been talking about the Gulf Stream previously here. And now it seems really close to collapse. This would have severe impacts on the global climate system.

A critical ocean system may be heading for collapse due to climate change, study finds


https://www.washingtonpost.com/clim...05/change-ocean-collapse-atlantic-meridional/

Human-caused warming has led to an “almost complete loss of stability” in the system that drives Atlantic Ocean currents, a new study has found — raising the worrying prospect that this critical aquatic “conveyor belt” could be close to collapse.

These indicators suggest that the AMOC is running out of steam, making it more susceptible to disruptions that might knock it out of equilibrium...

If the circulation shuts down, it could bring extreme cold to Europe and parts of North America, raise sea levels along the U.S. East Coast and disrupt seasonal monsoons that provide water to much of the world.

“This is an increase in understanding … of how close to a tipping point the AMOC might already be,” said Levke Caesar, a climate physicist at Maynooth University who was not involved in the study.

Boers’s analysis doesn’t suggest exactly when the switch might happen. But “the mere possibility that the AMOC tipping point is close should be motivation enough for us to take countermeasures,” Caesar said. “The consequences of a collapse would likely be far-reaching.”

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And here is the Nature article:

Observation-based early-warning signals for a collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01097-4.epdf

"The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a major ocean current system transporting warm surface waters toward the northern Atlantic, has been suggested to exhibit two distinct modes of operation. A collapse from the currently attained strong to the weak mode would have severe impacts on the global climate system and further multi-stable Earth system components. Observations and recently suggested fingerprints of AMOC variability indicate a gradual weakening during the last decades, but estimates of the critical transition point remain uncertain. Here, a robust and general early-warning indicator for forthcoming critical transitions is introduced. Significant early-warning signals are found in eight independent AMOC indices, based on observational sea-surface temperature and salinity data from across the Atlantic Ocean basin. These results reveal spatially consistent empirical evidence that, in the course of the last century, the AMOC may have evolved from relatively stable conditions to a point close to a critical transition."
 
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We have been talking about the Gulf Stream previously here. And now it seems really close to collapse. This would have severe impacts on the global climate system.

A critical ocean system may be heading for collapse due to climate change, study finds


https://www.washingtonpost.com/clim...05/change-ocean-collapse-atlantic-meridional/

Human-caused warming has led to an “almost complete loss of stability” in the system that drives Atlantic Ocean currents, a new study has found — raising the worrying prospect that this critical aquatic “conveyor belt” could be close to collapse.

These indicators suggest that the AMOC is running out of steam, making it more susceptible to disruptions that might knock it out of equilibrium...

If the circulation shuts down, it could bring extreme cold to Europe and parts of North America, raise sea levels along the U.S. East Coast and disrupt seasonal monsoons that provide water to much of the world.

“This is an increase in understanding … of how close to a tipping point the AMOC might already be,” said Levke Caesar, a climate physicist at Maynooth University who was not involved in the study.

Boers’s analysis doesn’t suggest exactly when the switch might happen. But “the mere possibility that the AMOC tipping point is close should be motivation enough for us to take countermeasures,” Caesar said. “The consequences of a collapse would likely be far-reaching.”

-----------------------------------------------

And here is the Nature article:

Observation-based early-warning signals for a collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01097-4.epdf

"The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a major ocean current system transporting warm surface waters toward the northern Atlantic, has been suggested to exhibit two distinct modes of operation. A collapse from the currently attained strong to the weak mode would have severe impacts on the global climate system and further multi-stable Earth system components. Observations and recently suggested fingerprints of AMOC variability indicate a gradual weakening during the last decades, but estimates of the critical transition point remain uncertain. Here, a robust and general early-warning indicator for forthcoming critical transitions is introduced. Significant early-warning signals are found in eight independent AMOC indices, based on observational sea-surface temperature and salinity data from across the Atlantic Ocean basin. These results reveal spatially consistent empirical evidence that, in the course of the last century, the AMOC may have evolved from relatively stable conditions to a point close to a critical transition."


Yes, I saw news report.

Reminds me of Ben Elton's book titled Stark that I read decades ago, where the eco-system collapses (I think it started with the Atlantic conveyor belt) and billionaires are building star-arks to get the rich off-planet.

Who would have thought... Musk, Bezos and Branson.
 
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Yes, I saw news report.

Reminds me of Ben Elton's book titled Stark that I read decades ago, where the eco-system collapses (I think it started with the Atlantic conveyor belt) and billionaires are building star-arks to get the rich off-planet.

Who would have thought... Musk, Bezos and Branson.

My question is where can the billionaires go in the foreseeable future that would be better than earth? Mars? The moon? .....? Maybe Musk has plans for a possible underground future, at least in some areas, through his Boring Company?

I saw an article yesterday saying Larry Page from Google has been granted New Zealand residency. Peter Thiel and who knows what other multi-millionaires, billionaires have done that, are doing that.
 
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My question is where can the billionaires go in the foreseeable future that would be better than earth? Mars? The moon? .....?

One thing those places maybe wouldn't have is a population ending disease. That might make them better, from a survival viewpoint.
 
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Reminds me of Ben Elton's book titled Stark that I read decades ago, where the eco-system collapses (I think it started with the Atlantic conveyor belt) and billionaires are building star-arks to get the rich off-planet.

There's also the book the movie The Day After Tomorrow was based on - The Coming Global Superstorm.

Thesis

"First, the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic drift would generate a cordon of warm water around the North Pole, which in turn holds in a frozen mass of Arctic air. Second, if the North Atlantic drift were to shut down, that barrier would fail, releasing a flood of frozen air into the Northern Hemisphere, causing a sudden and drastic temperature shift.

The book discusses a possible cause of the failure of the Gulf Stream: the melting of the polar ice caps could drastically affect the ocean salinity of the North Atlantic drift by dumping a large quantity of freshwater into the world's oceans.

Bell and Strieber contend that such destabilizations have occurred before, and cite seemingly impossible engineering feats by ancient civilizations which must have been catastrophically destroyed since they don't appear in the historical record. Among their examples is the archaeological ruins of Nan Madol, which the book claims were built with exacting tolerances and extremely heavy basalt materials, necessitating a high degree of technical competency. Since no such society exists in the modern record, or even in legend, the society must have been destroyed by dramatic means.

While other explanations beside a global meteorological event are possible, a correlating evidence set is presented in the woolly mammoth. Strieber and Bell assert that since mammoths have been found preserved with food still in their mouths and undigested in their stomachs, these animals must have been killed quickly, in otherwise normal conditions. They were preserved so well by quick freezing, which is taken as evidence of a rapid onset of a global blizzard or similar event."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Coming_Global_Superstorm
 
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There's also the book the movie The Day After Tomorrow was based on - The Coming Global Superstorm.

Thesis

"First, the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic drift would generate a cordon of warm water around the North Pole, which in turn holds in a frozen mass of Arctic air. Second, if the North Atlantic drift were to shut down, that barrier would fail, releasing a flood of frozen air into the Northern Hemisphere, causing a sudden and drastic temperature shift.

The book discusses a possible cause of the failure of the Gulf Stream: the melting of the polar ice caps could drastically affect the ocean salinity of the North Atlantic drift by dumping a large quantity of freshwater into the world's oceans.

Bell and Strieber contend that such destabilizations have occurred before, and cite seemingly impossible engineering feats by ancient civilizations which must have been catastrophically destroyed since they don't appear in the historical record. Among their examples is the archaeological ruins of Nan Madol, which the book claims were built with exacting tolerances and extremely heavy basalt materials, necessitating a high degree of technical competency. Since no such society exists in the modern record, or even in legend, the society must have been destroyed by dramatic means.

While other explanations beside a global meteorological event are possible, a correlating evidence set is presented in the woolly mammoth. Strieber and Bell assert that since mammoths have been found preserved with food still in their mouths and undigested in their stomachs, these animals must have been killed quickly, in otherwise normal conditions. They were preserved so well by quick freezing, which is taken as evidence of a rapid onset of a global blizzard or similar event."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Coming_Global_Superstorm

Was that the one where everyone froze in seconds flat?
 
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One thing those places maybe wouldn't have is a population ending disease. That might make them better, from a survival viewpoint.

I watched Contagion (2011) years ago.

It was the best introduction for coronavirus.

My mates thought I was going crazy back in Jan/Feb 2020 when I was saying we needed to stop all flights into Australia and close our borders.
 
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I cant imagine anywhere being better than Earth.

We need to do everything in our power to save this place.

Hence my interest in getting heavy polluting industry off-planet.

I'd rather live here.
 
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It seems ironic that the billionaires who have made the biggest contribution to climate change are now the only ones with the means to escape it.

New Zealand rated best place to survive global societal collapse


New Zealand, Iceland, the UK, Tasmania and Ireland are the places best suited to survive a global collapse of society, according to a study.

The researchers said human civilisation was “in a perilous state” due to the highly interconnected and energy-intensive society that had developed and the environmental damage this had caused.
...

Billionaires have been reported to be buying land for bunkers in New Zealandin preparation for an apocalypse. “We weren’t surprised New Zealand was on our list,” said Prof Aled Jones, at the Global Sustainability Institute, at Anglia Ruskin University, in the UK.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...est-place-to-survive-global-societal-collapse
 
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Tasmania is a state of Australia. Bloody cold, but isolated from the mainland.

The Australian mainland is still a viable contender for a post apocalyptic haven, except for the heat, floods, bushfires, and native fauna trying to kill you.

But yes, New Zealand would be my pick for the best bunker shy of going to Antarctica.

EDIT: There be Dragons, and a few Hobbits :)
 
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