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Well, sort of.

I read an SF book once, don’t remember the name, where construction was effected by putting a pile of materials on site and having drones assemble them in a predefined order–each component had an ID, and the drones knew where each piece was and where it fell in the assembly process. That would be useful. This … not so much. But I suppose it’s a step in the right direction.

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It may be possible to develop superconductors that operate at room temperature with further knowledge of the relationship between spin liquids and superconductivity, which would transform our daily lives.

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We have the technology … if it works.

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A Norwegian yards group, Westcon, has put in place an agreement with Sweden-based company SeaTwirl to deploy 1MW vertical axis wind turbines in the North Sea by next year, Recharge News has reported. This commercial scale vertical axis turbine could kick off a new era in offshore wind farms delivering cost competitiveness very soon.

…

The vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) offer a slew of advantages over conventionally used horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs). The latter relies on sophisticated instruments that tell them in which direction the breeze is flowing in and where to point themselves for maximum power generation. The turbines of a VAWT can harness power from all directions, so they can work without such equipment.

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Founder Yvon Chouinard structured the transfer of his firm in a way that keeps control within the family and avoids taxes.

Somehow that doesn’t get mentioned in all the gushing about ‘climate change’.

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And who could blame them?

I’d live to live in Switzerland and work in the U.S.

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A number of financial institutions in and around New York City are dealing with a rash of super-thin “deep insert” skimming devices designed to fit inside the mouth of an ATM’s card acceptance slot. The card skimmers are paired with tiny pinhole cameras that are cleverly disguised as part of the cash machine. Here’s a look at some of the more sophisticated deep insert skimmer technology that fraud investigators have recently found in the wild.

…

These skimmers do not attempt to siphon chip-card data or transactions, but rather are after the cardholder data still stored in plain text on the magnetic stripe on the back of most payment cards issued to Americans.

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I’ve shipped a supply to the White House. I only hope it’s in time.

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There are some things the Japanese do that are just incomparable.

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Ecocapsule® is smart, self-sustainable micro-unit, which utilizes solar and wind energy. It allows you to stay in remote places out of reach of infrastructure, with the luxury of a hotel room. Ecocapsule® is your design way to independent living. It can become a cottage, pop-up hotel, mobile office, research station or anything you want it to be. We have engineered the product from scratch to be as self-sufficient, practical and functional as possible. Join us and change the world – starting with yours!

Price: Don’t ask.

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Instead of migrants waiting in Denmark for their asylum request to be processed, the country’s left-wing government will now begin deporting them to Rwanda after the African country agreed to accept them in a bilateral agreement.

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Or maybe not. Check it out.

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A pilot and two passengers are okay after the Cirrus Vision Jet went down after deploying the CAPS (Cirrus Airframe Parachute System), apparently while on approach to Kissimmee Gateway Airport (KISM) in Florida on Friday.

The scene following the deployment was reported by a local news affiliate as a marshy area in the “area of Lake Tohopekaliga,” where the pilot and a boy walked away and a second passenger, a woman, sustained “no life-threatening injuries.”

Read it. And certainly watch the video.

The idea is that an owner will be able to store the vehicle in their garage and then drive to a local airport. With the push of a button, the car’s wings will swing out from under its cabin, while a tail unfolds from the rear — a process that takes just three minutes.

The owner will then be able to fly the hybrid gas/electric vehicle to another airport, transition it back into car mode, and drive right off the runway to their final destination.

Scott Johnson at Power Line.

Yesterday we noted how West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin has played the fool for the Democrats’ tax, climate, and spending bonanza in the absurdly named Inflation Reduction Act. You can’t help but get the feeling that the Democrats are conducting a social science experiment. They are testing voters to ascertain if they’re paying attention.

West Virginia voters appear to be paying attention. Drawing on a recent Triton poll, RedState’s Mr. Bonchie declares “Manchin’s political career appears to be over.” The poll shows Manchin losing to any of three possible opponents. Unfortunately, Manchin’s Senate seat isn’t up until 2024.

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Researchers from MIT and China have developed a solar desalination device that could provide a family of four with all the drinking water it needs — and it can be made from just $4 worth of materials.

So obviously companies are rushing to implement this tremendous idea! Right?

Uh, no.

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It immediately comes to life and goes on a hunt for Alec Baldwin. (Just kidding….)

Construction workers employed in road building near the Onon River in the Khentii province of Mongolia, have discovered a mass ???v? containing the remains of many ?oz??s of human co??s?s lying upon a large rudimentary stone structure.

Forensic experts and archaeologists were called to the site, which was revealed to be a Mongolian royal tomb from the 13th century that the scientists believe to be Genghis Khan’s.

The team of scientists affiliated with the University of Beijing has concluded that the numerous skeletons buried on top of the structure were most likely the slaves who built it and who were then massacred to keep the secret of the location.

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According to a paper published on September 6 in the journal Nature Communications, this “green hydrogen” is produced by electrolyzing the humidity in the air, rather than the traditional liquid water, which may allow the provision of hydrogen fuel to dry and remote regions, with minimal environmental impact, especially if using renewable energy. The paper’s authors have been able to electrolyze the air’s water in humidity as low as 4 percent.

“We have developed a so-called “direct air electrolyzer” in short, DAE,” Gang Kevin Li, a senior lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering at The University of Melbourne, and co-author of the paper, told Newsweek.

“This module uses a hygroscopic electrolyte exposed to the atmosphere constantly. Such electrolyte has a high potential to extract moisture from air spontaneously (without external energy input), making it readily available for electrolysis and hydrogen production once coupled with a (renewable) power supply,” he said.

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While reading up on architecture in Japan recently, I came across a technology that I hadn’t heard of before: the Ene-Farm. It’s a domestic energy system that is being used in Japan and so far doesn’t seem to be available elsewhere, and it makes me curious. What is it, and why doesn’t anyone know about it?

First – what is an Ene-Farm? It’s a unit about the size of a refrigerator that provides heat and power. It draws on the gas grid, turns the gas into hydrogen, and then provides electricity from a hydrogen fuel cell. The heat generated in the conversion is captured and used for heating or for hot water.

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University of Chicago data and social scientists have developed a new algorithm that forecasts crime by learning patterns in time and geographic locations from public data on violent and property crimes. It has demonstrated success at predicting future crimes one week in advance with approximately 90% accuracy.

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Sea Wave Energy Ltd (SWEL) has been working for more than a decade on a floating wave energy device it calls the Waveline Magnet. With several prototypes tested on- and off-shore, the company claims it delivers “ultra low cost,” with high output.

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Scientists have discovered a shocking fact about a material called Vanadium dioxide (VO2). According to research published in Nature Electronics, VO2 can remember previous external stimuli. It’s an interesting discovery, and one that researchers say could completely change the future of computer and storage devices.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a material bring new properties to light, or the first time we’ve heard about researchers finding new uses for older materials. Back in 2014, researchers and engineers began looking at graphene as a way to make smartphones even thinner. Perhaps Vanadium dioxide would provide a similar evolution for computational storage devices.

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Due to a rare genetic mutation, Aliria Rosa Piedrahita de Villegas should have had Alzheimer’s disease in her 40s and passed away from it in her 60s.

Her brain is now providing important information on the pathology of dementia and potential treatments for Alzheimer’s disease since she lived dementia-free into her 70s.

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A new way of 3D printing wood that takes advantage of warping could change how we build things in the future — an innovation that could potentially save us all time and money.

The challenge: Wood is made of fibers that absorb moisture like a sponge. If lumber isn’t dried properly, the wood will eventually shrink — bending or twisting in different directions depending on the orientation of the fibers.

That’s called “warping,” and it’s usually something we try to avoid — a warped door won’t close properly, and a warped floor will look wavy rather than flat.

The idea: A team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI) has now developed a new technique for 3D printing wood that turns warping into a tool rather than a nuisance.

By mixing superfine, filtered sawdust with binding agents, they created an ink that could be extruded from a 3D printer. By printing the ink at various speeds and along different pathways, they discovered that they could control the shape the wood warped into after drying.

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Since the pandemic began, there has been a boom in the number of cloud kitchens in the country. A lot of the restaurants I see on Swiggy and Zomato nowadays are cloud kitchens. They can even run multiple restaurant brands on food ordering platforms from the same kitchen.

For instance, Rebel Foods, a cloud kitchen company, owns and operates 11 different cloud kitchen brands like Faasos, Behrouz Biryani, Oven Story, etc. All from a single location.

But there are a few cloud kitchen restaurants that deliver food that is so shit that I want to know which other brands are being run from the same kitchen so that I can avoid them all. This information is not visible on either Swiggy or Zomato.

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The guide you’re about to read will not only share the best tactical umbrellas you can get, but also explain what makes these such powerful tools for keeping you safe.

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The study of animals in the wild has been a lifelong pursuit. I grew up with tribal people and in 1953-4 commanded a platoon of African soldiers from nine tribes, who taught me to sleep on my side without a pillow so that I could listen out for danger with both ears. I have organised over 14 expeditions all over the world to meet native peoples and study their sleeping and resting postures. They all adopted similar postures and exhibited few musculoskeletal problems. I must emphasise that this is not a comparison of genes or races but of lifestyles. I tried to carry out surveys to collect evidence but they were meaningless, as tribespeople give you the answer they think you want. They often object to having their photographs taken, so I have demonstrated the postures.

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We have the technology.

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U.S. Representative Liz Cheney, a fierce Republican critic of Donald Trump who has played a prominent role in the congressional probe of the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, lost to a Trump-backed primary challenger in Wyoming on Tuesday.

Good.

But Senator Lisa Murkowski, another Republican who has defied the former president, cleared a hurdle in Alaska. She was set to face Trump-endorsed challenger Kelly Tshibaka in the Nov. 8 congressional election, as the two candidates advanced in that state’s nonpartisan primary.

Shucks. I’d rather we got rid of Murkowski than Cheney. Ah, well. One step at a time.

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The challenge: The cornea is a tough, transparent layer of tissue that covers the front of the eye. It helps focus light on the retina, and if it’s damaged by disease or injury, a person’s vision can suffer — worldwide, nearly 13 million people are blind due to problems with their corneas.

For people with keratoconus — a disease that causes the cornea to thin and bulge out — the only way to correct severely impaired vision is with a cornea transplant from a human donor.

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If, of course, that’s what you want to do.

(I wonder whether it would be possible for a YouTube video to go ‘bacterial’?)

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Why people develop the autoimmune disorder has been a long-standing question. Studies have pointed to certain gene variations and environmental factors. For decades, a common virus called Epstein-Barr virus has also been high on the list of culprits.

Now recent studies paint a clearer picture that Epstein-Barr virus instigates MS when the central nervous system gets caught in the cross hairs of an immune response to the virus’s attack. This recognition opens new options for treatment, or even vaccines. Perhaps therapies that target Epstein-Barr itself — or remove the cells in the body where the virus camps out — could jettison the virus before damage is done.

In modern ‘journalism’, it is somehow mandatory to start off even a ‘news’ story with a bit of narrative, as if the old who-what-when-where-why isn’t enough; we have to have a ‘story’ to anchor it. Everything has to be a narrative. Feh.

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If, of course, that’s what you want to do.

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He looks to be in good shape for 90 years old. I hope I look that good at that age.

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Enough politics! Let’s geek out….

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Amazon has announced the retirement of its proprietary MOBI file format for eBooks, and a transition to the EPUB format for use on Kindle devices and apps. As of August 2022, you will no longer be able to send the MOBI file format to Kindles or the Kindle app using the Send to Kindle service. The MOBI file format no longer supports the newest document features, while the EPUB format is updated and accepted by Kindle devices.

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Aldo Steinfeld, a professor at ETH Zürich’s Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, says his system for converting ambient air into jet-ready kerosene fuel using a solar refinery tower isn’t science fiction. It’s simply thermodynamics.

In a two-year proof-of-concept test atop ETH Zürich’s Machine Laboratory building in Switzerland back in 2019, Steinfeld’s mini solar refinery first showed how the process works, and laid the groundwork to scale the project. Both carbon dioxide (CO2) and water are extracted directly from ambient air and split using solar energy, as Steinfeld describes his work in a new paper, published late last month in the journal Joule. The result is syngas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which is then processed into kerosene.

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U.S.- German auto parts company ZF has engineered a strut suspension front axle concept that allows the front wheels to turn up to an incredible 80 degrees. The invention is called EasyTurn.

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When a patient suffers an ischemic stroke — when a clot chokes off the blood supply of vital oxygen and nutrients to the brain — those brain cells begin to die within minutes. The resulting tissue damage can lead to long term complications, including paralysis, memory loss, depression, difficulty controlling emotions, and changes in behavior.

There are currently no FDA-approved therapies for repairing the damage caused by a stroke.

Now, researchers at the University of Cincinnati and Case Western Reserve University have identified a new drug which may help repair — not just limit — stroke damage.

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As prices surge, store brands – also known as private labels, white labels or generic brands – have become an even more attractive option for inflation-fatigued shoppers who are looking to switch from pricier name brands. Store brands can be anywhere from 10% to 50% cheaper.

But the origins of store brands remain largely secretive.

…

Although store brands ostensibly compete with manufacturers’ national brands, manufacturers often have excess capacity on their production lines. To generate additional profit, some will use that extra capacity to make private labels.

I always buy ‘store brands’ when they are available. They’re almost always of adequate quality and superior price.

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A French mayor says conditions on Mont Blanc are now so dangerous that climbers should pay a €15,000 (£12,640; $15,370) deposit to cover rescue and possible funeral costs.

Jean-Marc Peillex is mayor of Saint-Gervais, a village at the foot of Western Europe’s highest mountain, whose summit is at 4,807m (15,774ft).

Those who ignored warnings and took the Goûter route up the mountain were playing “Russian roulette”, he said.

I think that’s a great idea. Nothing is more common these days than bozos heading up a mountain or into a wilderness who ought to be in a city somewhere, and the first thing they do when their incompetence does its thing is to call on public authorities for help or rescue.

Mayor Peillex said the average cost of a rescue on the mountain was €10,000 and funeral costs were €5,000. “It is unacceptable for the French taxpayer to cover those costs,” he said in a press release.

Would that American politicians were as sensible.

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Agricultural drones, self-driving tractors and seed-planting robots are among the innovations that could be key to future food supplies, as autonomous farming promises to produce more crops with less effort and less impact on the environment.

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Additive manufacturing is on the cusp of being adopted more widely by industry, as large corporates Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and Boeing as well as small innovative start-ups prove it can work well at scale in manufacturing.

In May, Goodyear opened a $77 million plant in Luxembourg that centers on 3-D printing and can make tires four times faster in small batches than with conventional production. Goodyear also is testing its new 3-D printed airless tire technology on Tesla electric vehicles and Starship Technologies’ autonomous delivery robots. It has been working for the past several years on improved manufacturing techniques at an R&D center near Columbus, Ohio.

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The vessel in question is the Unmanned Influence Sweep System (UISS), a crucial piece of technology packaged as part of the Navy’s suite of systems designed for mine countermeasures. The ship, small enough to deployed from a Littoral Combat Ship, reached “initial operational capability,” or IOC, on July 22, the Navy said late last week.

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For the second time since 2014 the United States is supporting efforts that help Russians to bypass government censorship to reach the outside world and search for information that will clarify what is going on in Ukraine. The official Russian version about what is going on in Ukraine is contradicted by what surviving Russian veterans of the fighting are reporting. The information provided by soldiers who have been there, or parents seeking to find out what happened to their sons in the army, has caused growing reluctance to support the Russian operations in Ukraine. More Russians are refusing to report when they receive a conscription notice. Calls for volunteers to serve in Ukraine are being ignored, even at higher pay, as in three to ten times the average monthly income of civilians. The government refuses to provide any clarification, pointing out that such information is a state secret.

Steve Sailer.

I guess Mexico and California are trading populations.

Apparently, even M.C. was less Woke on COVID than California. Perhaps this way they can get out of the Peoples Republic of the Left Coast without tripping over a bunch of smelly Republicans. (Although, if they’re looking to avoid people carrying guns, this may not work out well for them.)

What proportion of trend articles are based on interviews with career coaches?

That’s our Steve – not afraid to ask the hard questions.

Steve Sailer.

I find this encouraging.

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Dozens of former Republican and Democratic officials announced on Wednesday a new national political third party to appeal to millions of voters they say are dismayed with what they see as America’s dysfunctional two-party system.

The new party, called Forward and whose creation was first reported by Reuters, will initially be co-chaired by former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang and Christine Todd Whitman, the former Republican governor of New Jersey. They hope the party will become a viable alternative to the Republican and Democratic parties that dominate U.S. politics, founding members told Reuters.

This could prove entertaining. I’ve always liked Andrew Yang, and I’ve always disliked Whitman, so I will be paying attention as to how this discomfort with the current UniParty translates into policy. Typically such ‘third parties’ are started by people who aren’t getting what they believe to be Their Fair Share of the political pie, so they have short life-spans; Teddy Roosevelt’s Bull Moose Party, Ross Perot’s Independence Party, and the Dixiecrat party in the late 1940s being the poster children here.

Historically these only survive because one of the two national parties has disintegrated, and the Federalists and Whigs did before the Civil War. Despite gleeful cacklings on the part of activists, I don’t see that happening these days, although the Democrats are skating close to the edge with their embrace of Woke ideology that only a proglodyte could love. But we’ll see.

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Cocoa flavanols have previously been found to lower blood pressure and arterial stiffness as much as some blood pressure medication. However, how effective flavanols are in everyday life in reducing blood pressure has remained unknown, as previous studies in this area have been performed in tightly controlled experimental settings.

Surrey’s new research reduces concerns that cocoa as a treatment for raised blood pressure could pose health risks by decreasing blood pressure when it is not raised, paving the way for it to be potentially used in clinical practice.

Well, there you go.