Dr Keith Walker @SteelFolk@qoto.org

#Jasper
is an opaque variety of silica with a diverse range of colors and patterns. While most people associate it with red, the reality is much more diverse. Here's an overview of the different types and colors of jasper:
https://www.geologyin.com/2023/12/jasper-types-and-varieties-of-jasper.html?fbclid=IwAR1Vimh8LJl5aoBXaN9Ba2LTdrvlT9mCXXgnhXSEywrJXz5s4NXO4NuEQfE
By #GeologyWonders
#Geology #GeologyPage #Nature #minerals #crystals #gems #Nature #NatureLovers #NaturePhotography #Photographer

In August 1908, Hans Geiger published the first “gold foil” experiment which he conducted under Ernest Rutherford. There were many gold foil experiments, but this was the first. These experiments, also called the Geiger-Marsden experiments, were a driving factor behind the shift away from J. J. Thomson’s “plum pudding.” Then, in the gold foil experiments, alpha particles were shot at a very thin sheet of gold foil.

via Center for History of Physics, American Institute of Physics

#physics

The cherry on top of the shit sundae that is this climate denier president of the #cop28, is that his comment about "No science" backing up the need to phase out fossil fuels was while he spoke over (or mansplained) the actual guests in a talk called SHE CHANGES CLIMATE, a women-only panel about female perspectives on climate change.

He also topped it off by saying "I'm the man in charge".

The metaphor of ignorant toxic patriarchal capitalism would be too on the nose for fiction. But it's real

Police make 630 arrests of climate protesters in London in one month.

U.K.'s ‘staggering and shocking’ statistic as anti-protest legislation is enacted.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/04/police-arrest-climate-protesters-london

Belgian philosopher, cartographer & mathematician Gerardus Mercator died #OTD in 1594.

He made the group of stars we know as Coma Berenices into an official constellation. He also made terrestrial & celestial globes and was one of the 1st to show the now-obsolete constellation Antinous on a star globe, this being on one he made in 1551. The 47 km diameter lunar crater Mercator, located on the south western edge of Mare Nubium, is named in his honour. via SocietyHistoryAstronomy

#astronomy

Really, really interesting.

Behind The Lines with Arthur Snell | Ep 17 Can Parliament Take Back Control? on Podbean. https://www.podbean.com/ea/dir-jh7cs-1c27e0d5

Russian mathematician and geometer Nikolai Lobachevsky was born #OTD in 1792.

He is known primarily for his work on hyperbolic geometry, otherwise known as Lobachevskian geometry, and also for his fundamental study on Dirichlet integrals, known as the Lobachevsky integral formula.

Another of his achievements was developing a method for the approximation of the roots of algebraic equations (Lobachevsky method). via @wikipedia

#science #mathematics

We would like to make tungsten needles for doing our dissections. Does anyone know where we can get size 0.008 tungsten wire? We would prefer to have it in the form of 3 ft rods if possible. #Drosophila #microscopy

"We should regret our mistakes and learn from them, but never carry them forward into the future with us."
The Anne of Green Gables Chronicles

Canadian Author Lucy Maud Montgomery was born #OTD in 1874. Most of her novels were set on Prince Edward Island, and those locations within Canada's smallest province became a literary landmark and popular tourist site – namely Green Gables farm, the genesis of Prince Edward Island National Park.

L. M. Montgomery at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/36

#books

For those wondering what #feminist solution is, there is a helpful book 'Feminist Solutions for Ending War'.
https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/52008

“Climate change is a man-made problem and requires a feminist solution,” said the former President of Ireland Mary Robinson 👏 👏 👏
https://www.bcheights.com/2022/04/24/former-president-of-ireland-speaks-at-boston-college-hosting-earth-conference/

#climatechange is #climatecrisis
#feminism

My piece on the repugnant economics of hostage-taking explains why Israel releases far more prisoners than Hamas does hostages, and why Hamas treats hostages better than Israel does Palestinian prisoners.
https://coppolacomment.substack.com/p/hostage-economics

A guy in an SUV yelled sexual harassment while biking at night, stalked me for 4 miles, popped around the corner to drive directly at me in the wrong lane of traffic to continue yelling bc I ignored him; tried to ram me into parked cars or directly into his car's grill. I had only a few feet and 1 second to maneuver.

Roads need protected bike lanes to reduce this violent, shitty behaviour! It's easier to advocate for infrastructure than for not being treated like property or murdered. *sigh*

Fascinating Atlantic Monthly piece on America's falling economy.

It's complicated, of course, but finds a place for racism, RFK, LBJ, the rise of college educated voters, the rift betw/ white working class & the Dems, Nixon, global events, Reagan, etc.

Makes it seem so inevitable.

#news #politics #economy

tinyurl.com/u3r3y7ex

Make no mistake. Trump wants to TERMINATE healthcare for millions by gutting the Affordable Care Act.

"Scientific discovery consists in the interpretation for our own convenience of a system of existence which has been made with no eye to our convenience at all.
One of the chief duties of a mathematician in acting as an advisor to scientists is to discourage them from expecting too much of mathematicians."

As quoted in Comic Sections (1993) by D MacHale

#science #mathematics

"I believe in Spinoza's God, Who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God Who concerns Himself with the fate and the doings of mankind."

Albert Einstein (4 March 1879 – 18 April 1955)

‘Geometry & Experience’ speech, Prussian Academy of Sciences
Berlin, Jan 27 1921

#books

For over 70 years, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) has enshrined our fundamental rights in international law.

It’s been in the background, always there, helping to prevent human rights abuses. The essential rights we are familiar with – like the right to life, the right not to be tortured, the right to privacy – all come from the ECHR.

Now, the ECHR is under attack.

One thing you can (easily) do today is sign Liberty's pledge on the ECHR

https://action.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/page/133001/petition/1?ea.url.id=6699994&forwarded=true

Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. There is no excuse for violence against women.

Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Just the fact that we need such day is a sad evidence of the dire state of our society.
At the dawn of another murder of a young woman in Italy, my head has been reflecting a lot about ‘monsters’ and ‘patriarchy’. I’ll be posting it during the weekend. For a little glimpse on what to expect, here my yesterday’s thread
https://mastodon.design/@alx/111464704564936230

#25novembre #25n23 #women #NiUnaMenos #feminism #patriarchy