Gaythia Weis @Gaythia@qoto.org

A small anecdote in relation to a recent coffee conversation I had with @TaliaRinger (which she relates over at https://twitter.com/TaliaRinger/status/1681410191278080000 ): Yesterday I spoke with a children's book author who was interviewing me as part of a series she was writing on contemporary scientists. She freely admitted that she did not have great experiences with her math education at an under-resourced school and chose very early on to focus on writing instead. Nevertheless we had an excellent conversation about many mathematical topics that she was not previously familiar with, such as proof by contradiction, Cartesian coordinates, Mobius strips, or compressed sensing, all of which she found fascinating (and said she would read up on more of these topics herself after our interview). I posed to her the isoperimetric problem (using the classic story of Queen Dido from the Aeneid as the intro) and she correctly guessed the correct shape to maximize area enclosed by a loop (a circle), and instantly grasped the analogy between this problem and the familiar fact that inflated balloons are roughly spherical in shape. I am certain that had her path turned out differently, she could have attained far greater levels of mathematical education than she ended up receiving.

This is not to say that all humans have an identical capability for understanding mathematics, but I do strongly believe that that capability is often far higher than is actually manifested through one's education and development. Sometimes the key thing that is missing is a suitable cognitive framework that a given person needs to align mathematical concepts to their own particular mental strengths.

Rusty #Arctic rocks could help us understand #water on #Mars.

T-MARS researchers are on a hunt for Mars-like rocks high in the Arctic of #Canada. Like ancient Mars, the remote island in traditional Inuit territory is a cold spot that still allows for liquid water at times of the year.

https://www.space.com/mars-like-rocks-earth-arctic-expedition

Hottest summer of your life? or coldest summer of the rest of your life? Probably both!

Product testing by definition requires creative solutions to hard ethical dilemmas.

For example: how do you test a product claiming to be bear-proof without creating further harms for bears? The Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center in Yellowstone tests products with bears that would otherwise need to be euthanized

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn_O2li_jpk

FEMA Has So Far Paid Out Less Than 1% of What Congress Allocated for Victims of New Mexico Wildfire
==

Congress gave FEMA $3.95B to compensate victims of the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire in northern New Mexico.

Seven months later, just $3M has been paid, and most hasn’t gone to households.

#NewMexico #Wildfire #FEMA #Fire #News #Congress #Southwest

https://www.propublica.org/article/fema-paid-out-less-than-one-percent-of-claims-new-mexico-wildfire?utm_medium=social&utm_source=mastodon&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

Now, the CSP refuses to discuss the audit — or even reveal if the most-prolific ticket faker still has a badge. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/connecticut-police-trooper-1000-fake-tickets-1234789116/

The finding is key to a damning new audit of the Connecticut State Police, which reveals pervasive trooper malfeasance, including at least 26,000 false tickets logged over seven years, that masked racial bias in the force’s policing. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/connecticut-police-trooper-1000-fake-tickets-1234789116/

"I never thought wearing an N95 mask would qualify as a form of civil disobedience, but that’s where we’re heading, isn’t it?

A properly fitting N95 mask represents a truth that fascists hate being reminded of: Nobody ever achieves anything by themselves. Sometimes, the best way to protect yourself also means protecting others. A mask reminds them that their rugged individualism isn’t real."

~ @jessicawildfire

[https://jessicawildfire.substack.com/p/in-a-world-full-of-rugged-individualists]

Missouri has decided to turn down millions in federal food aid for low-income children

https://missouriindependent.com/2023/07/14/missouri-has-decided-to-turn-down-millions-in-federal-food-aid-for-low-income-children/

If you are attending large events and you aren't emailing to ask them to include cleaning the air in their plans (eg setting up some filter fans/air purifiers in the space or otherwise ensuring high quality ventilation), you are forcing your disabled colleagues to be the only people speaking up for this and spoiler alert, it's awful. I don't want words about caring, I want the basic actions that make us all safer.

DeSantis revived a state guard, and recruits are quitting over what they’re seeing inside. And:

“A disabled retired Marine Corps captain, called the local sheriff’s office to report he was battered by Florida National Guard instructors when they forcibly shoved him into a van after he questioned the program and its leadership.” https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2023/07/14/florida-state-guard-desantis-national-guard-training/

🟠 #Fires🔥 at the Arctic Circle in the Srednekolymsky District, Sakha Republic, #Russia🇷🇺 (Lat: 66.42, Lng: 157.47) - 16 July 2023 #Copernicus🇪🇺 #Sentinel-2🛰️ Full-size ▶️ https://flic.kr/p/2oPNfHV + https://flic.kr/p/2oPKhuN #OpenData #SciComm Images are about 105 kilometers wide @CopernicusEU @CopernicusECMWF @wildfirescience @m_parrington

Numerous #wildfires across Canada and easter Russia and generating huge amounts of thick smoke which is being transported thousands of kilometres, including to the high #Arctic in the #CopernicusAtmosphere 5-day aerosol optical depth forecast initialized 16 July 00 UTC https://ads.atmosphere.copernicus.eu/cdsapp#!/dataset/cams-global-atmospheric-composition-forecasts?tab=overview

#ArcticFires #wildfire #smoke #aerosol

@CopernicusECMWF @CopernicusEU @atmochem @wildfirescience

Gift article from Washington post: “How a Saudi firm tapped a gusher of water in drought-stricken Arizona”

#Arizona #Drought #Politics #ClimateChange

https://wapo.st/3DkTQ6w

DeSantis and Florida republicans have wiped hundreds of thousands of vote by mail registrations from the system—mostly democrats

That means people will not be getting the ballots they requested for the upcoming election if they don’t find if it’s them and re-register

When there are no consequences for fascists?

They keep taking rights until they win.

https://nbc-2.com/news/politics/2023/07/12/hundreds-of-thousands-of-vote-by-mail-requests-erased-from-floridas-system/amp/

"The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them."

Ida Bell Wells-Barnett was born #OTD in 1861. She was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Wells dedicated her career to combating prejudice and violence, and advocating for African-American equality—especially that of women. via @wikipedia

Books by Ida Bell Wells-Barnett at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/5765

#books #literature

"You see, right wingers don’t merely want their own platforms. If they did, they would all congregate on Truth Social or Parler. What they want is to dominate all platforms, which is why the Plaintiffs in Biden v. Missouri want to remove any possibility of legitimate criticism from official sources."
@Teri_Kanefield

The Struggle for Control of American Media: Missouri v. Biden
https://terikanefield.com/missouri-v-biden-control-for-the-dominance-of-american-media/

'Amid record-shattering warmth this February, BP scaled back an earlier goal of lowering its emissions by 35% by 2030, saying it will aim for a 20 to 30% cut instead. ExxonMobil quietly withdrew funding for a heavily publicized effort to use algae to create low-carbon fuel. And Shell announced that it would not increase its investments in renewable energy this year, despite earlier promises to dramatically slash its emissions.'

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/16/big-oil-climate-pledges-extreme-heat-fossil-fuel