Willy (-o'-the-wisp)

Grazalema, Spain, received over 2,000 mm (78 inches) of rain in just the last 20 days.

Over a year’s worth of rain — and it’s only early February. This is hydrologically absurd.

1/ ProPublica collected handwritten letters in mid-January from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the same facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken.

Hundreds of kids are still detained.

We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵

When I asked people why the whistles matter, I got inspiring answers. I'm going to thread (🧵) a few, starting with @mostlybree.kitrocha.com:

This whistle fights fascists I print whistles now. You can too.

In 1943, musician Woody Guthrie placed a message on his guitar: "This machine kills fascists."

I am part of a group that's shipped half a million free 3D-printed whistles to defend against ICE — 200,000 of them in the first week of February alone.

This is the story of the "Whistle Crew."

gatorade is owned by pepsico but it's the coca cola of the sports drink market. powerade in turn is owned by coca cola, but it's unquestionably the pepsi of sports drinks. this should be plainly obvious to all

ChatGPT’s cheapest options now show you ads Ads have arrived.

ChatGPT’s cheapest options now show you ads

‘Absolute hell’: Irishman with valid US work permit held by Ice since September Seamus Culleton has been in a detention facility in Texas for nearly five months despite having no criminal record

And here is my story: ‘Absolute hell’: Irishman with valid US work permit held by Ice since September

www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...

Cinnamon tree leaves and flowers! The flowers are like tiny lilies. Lovely.

A closeup of cinnamon flowers!

My cinnamon tree has flowered! The flowers smell sweet and floral, not cinnamon-y at all. This makes sense as the cinnamon is a bug deterrent in the tree flesh. Flowers are a bug attractant! I’ve never seen this before. Growing plants is awesome.
(Tree has flowered after 10 years growth from seed.)

bleh

Triangle with each of the corners labeled. The top corner says people who like camping the left corner says lab rats in the right corner says computer gates. Different areas are marked for different GS scientist. There is a picture of a woman halfway between people who like to camp and lab rats.

Ternary diagram of geoscientists. Where do you fall?

sure whatever i dont need to sleep
#cats

In the Middle East, countries spend heavily to transform seawater into drinking water In Oman, cities get water from desalination plants. Could the Arabian Peninsula’s reliance on seawater offer a glimpse of the Southwest's future?

On the subject of desalination, I wrote this in 2019 about the Middle East. No other region on Earth desalinates so much water. Countries including Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia are burning increasing amounts of fossil fuels to run their giant and expanding plants. www.azcentral.com/story/news/l...

Disturbingly detailed analysis of my first rewatch incoming

I will eventually shut up about this but Bad Bunny’s use of the power lines is an outstanding example of how to communicate about climate and energy issues. Not about who is the smartest nerd in the room and spewing numbers but about people’s actual lives. Genius.

What were the first animals? The fierce sponge–jelly battle that just won’t end For almost two decades, scientists have debated whether sponges or comb jellies are the first animal lineage. Now some are calling for a more harmonious approach.

For almost two decades, scientists have debated whether sponges or comb jellies are the first animal lineage. A feature in Nature describes how some researchers are calling for a more harmonious approach. #evosky 🧪

Bang & Olufsen BeoCom 1000 (1989)

GM: Charisma check.

Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]

GM: that’s a d6 how did you

Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊

This galaxy is VERY tiny—much much smaller than our own Milky Way—& incredibly distant. But we can see it AND distinguish its shape!

How?

The light we see from it is from SO LONG AGO that the Universe was MUCH smaller at the time: we see it as it was when it was close enough to us to look big!! 🤯

the magic of the Muppets is that there are two fourth walls. they constantly break the one that reminds the audience they are performers. they NEVER break the one that reminds the audience they are puppets. this dynamic is the key to their entire comedy style

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2hd...

bsky.app/profile/wait...

Study Species — Rosemary Mosco This chart will tell you which branch of nature you should study, from plants to mammals to fungi.

The stinkhorn also features prominently in this excellent chart by @rosemarymosco.com, an essential guide for nature studiers: rosemarymosco.com/comics/bird-...

Text message exchange. I have sent two photos, one of some flat white leaf-like fungus on a tree stump and one of an orange cage-shaped lattice stinkhorn (Clathrus ruber), with the caption “Some excellent fungi at the Santa Barbara botanical gardens”. Rosemary replies: omgomgomg that second one I've wanted to see it for ages, you got so lucky! did it stink??? I then reply: “I don’t know! I didn’t smell it. Should I go check?”

A close-up of one of the Clathrus ruber fungi, looking like a slightly floppy orange ovoid basket. Caption: “This one didn’t smell much”

Close-up of another Clathrus ruber, a bit smaller and more flattened, with obvious white ball-shaped parts next to it. Caption: “This one smelled more”

Me, crouching low to the ground with a small backpack on, wearing a purple cap, sniffing the Clathrus ruber fungus. The caption says “My family is very amused”

Get you a friend like @rosemarymosco.com who will remind you to stop and smell the stinkhorn fungus

[reads email]

Lead handling concerns?

[bone creaking "lich in a tomb" noises as I rise]

Let me tell you of our lead handling concerns since the Manhattan Project, child.

A drying-up Rio Grande basin threatens water security on both sides of the border Researchers have completed a full accounting of water uses and losses in the Rio Grande-Bravo basin as it faces severe shortages throughout its range in the United States and Mexico.

“That’s a pretty daunting, challenging reality when half of our water isn’t necessarily going to be reliable for the future”

🌎 apnews.com/article/rio-...

Water overconsumption is threatening the Rio Grande, study finds NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – The Rio Grande-Bravo basin, which spans from Colorado through New Mexico, Texas, and into Mexico, is experiencing a “severe water crisis” that is being fueled b…

“Only about half of our water use is being supported by that natural replenishment, which means the other half requires us to take more and more water out of our reservoirs, take more and more water out of the groundwater aquifers.”

🌎 www.krqe.com/news/new-mex...

Our Reporting Showed Washington Ranks Last in Green Energy Growth. Now the State Is Working to Speed It Up. The state’s departing commerce director said there’s added urgency to get the projects done after an Oregon Public Broadcasting and ProPublica investigation showed states like Iowa and Texas have made...

Washington is seeking to speed up construction of renewable energy projects through a series of actions after a ProPublica and @opb.org investigation showed the state ranks dead last in the country for green energy growth.

Visual showing planned behind-the-meter MW capacity by state, with top five states accounting for 83% of all proposed BTM capacity--each of which has considerable fossil fuel production. In sequence: TX, NM, PA, UT, WY.

AI data centers are being located in proximity to fossil fuel production regions, stacking the energy & tech industry's burden on places & communities already reeling from a legacy of ecological harm & extraction-based economics. Is this Abundance?

"Power generation efficiency is out. Speed to power is all that developers care about. AI data centers can generate $10–12 million per MW annually, or $10–12 billion per GW. Bringing a data center online even a few years early could result in tens of billions in revenue that would otherwise be forgone. In this environment, developers are willing to overlook inefficiencies that could cost millions of dollars."

Hard to see how AI data center buildout has much to do w/serving the public good. Which, to me, puts into question the true motivations behind Abundance-aligned "permitting reform" where "affordability" is a rhetorical strategy to justify energy/tech developer demands & interests--not the public's.

"Data center developers are using anything they can get their hands on The equipment being deployed is not what utilities typically buy to generate power. Heavy-duty combined-cycle gas turbines—the most efficient option for baseload power—have long lead times and are largely unavailable. Data center developers are instead turning to: Mobile gas generators strapped to semitrucks Aeroderivative turbines originally designed for aircraft and warships Reciprocating engines that ramp fast, but are less efficient Refurbished turbines acquired from industrial operations In our research, we came across a company that typically sells cruise ship engines that struck a deal to power a data center. One developer, unable to secure enough conventional turbines, placed a $1.25 billion order with Boom Supersonic—a company that has never sold a power generation product. Elon Musk's xAI famously drove in semitrucks with natural gas generators on the back to build what was at one time the world's largest data center."

AI data centers are increasingly not just leaning on (behind-the-meter) natural gas-fired power (in part to evade regulatory oversight), but particularly dirty forms of natural-gas fired power.

Per report executive summary, "Press releases for these projects say one thing. But the 35+ permit documents, site plans, and equipment deals we found tell a much different story. Nearly 75% of the generation equipment we could identify (23 GW) was natural gas-powered." Image includes data chart underpinning finding, showing 22,799 MW of gas-fired power, 6,400 MW nuclear, 1,1317 fuel cells, and 355 batter storage per publicly-disclosed equipment.

The AI data center "buildout is overwhelmingly powered by natural gas." Despite claims re: alternative generation, "the equipment actually being installed in 2025 and 2026 is almost entirely gas-fired. Renewable capacity, where committed, is scheduled for 2028 or later. Nuclear is a decade away."