binsrc @binsrc@qoto.org

An interesting article in Quanta Magazine, highlighting issues with a recent paper dismissing dark energy

https://www.quantamagazine.org/no-dark-energy-no-chance-cosmologists-contend-20191217/

#cosmology

Me 5 minutes into my diet

#dog #dogs #funny #humor

The things you can learn from discarded wads of gum…

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2019/12/18/chew-more-gum-for-posterity/

Just wanted everyone to know that effective immediately I'll be stepping down as a Mod at QOTO.

I'm really just not enjoying it, and I've found I'd much rather be on Fedi doing silly stuff.

Qoto is my first instance, and I've always liked it here. I hope everyone continues to love QOTO and the community continues to grow.

So long, and thanks for all the Fish. :)

@design_RG You've taught me never to send you a DM. It won't happen again.

I looked up the term "ascerbic."

I don't see how this adjective applies to my words. Maybe if I change some of the words, it will mitigate the stigma.

DIFFERENT WORDS

I decided not to express any opinion in the QOTO moderator selection process because it is a procedural charade.

The fact that my point-of-view is missing will have no effect on the short-term outcome, of course.

But it does make sense to acknowledge a problem which has potential long-term consequences.

Without more, a sham process is meaningless except for the unanticipated consequences going forward.

DIFFERENT FORMAT

A. FACT. My support or lack of it will have no effect on the short-term process of selecting you as a QOTO moderator.

B. QUESTION. Does it make sense to acknowledges a problem that has long-term consequences?
ANSWER: Yes

C. PROBLEM. Without more, a procedural charade is a meaningless in the short-term and potentially meaningful consequences long-term are not unlikely.

Some people are not happy with my spider obsession. Well, this one is for you. It could be so much worse.

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2019/12/16/not-a-spider/

➽=ALL The future that graphene builtMove over, flat carbon. Meet borophene, phosphorene and the rest of the next generation of “atomically thin” super-materials.
The wonder material graphene — an array of interlinked carbon atoms arranged in a sheet just one atom thick — promised a world of applications, including super-fast electronics, ultra-sensitive sensors and incredibly durable materials. After a few false starts, that promise is close to realization. And a suite of other extremely thin substances is following in its wake.
https://www.knowablemagazine.org/article/technology/2019/graphene-2d-materials

UK teachers joining Extinction rebellion https://gnusocial.no/url/1766840

@binsrc There's never a stupid question. In eukaryotes the process begins within the cell as the DNA and organelles begin to divide and line up in preparation of mitosis (or meiosis). What you're describing occurs in a form of binary fission within some prokaryotes. Check out: https://micro.cornell.edu/research/epulopiscium/binary-fission-and-other-forms-reproduction-bacteria/ #biology #mastodon

#art #ukiyo-e #pigment #volcanology #volcanologie #sky

WHY IS THE SKY PINK IN 'THE GREAT WAVE"?

Although the color has now faded in many of the woodblock prints Hokusai made and sold in the 1830s, art historians confirm that the sky was originally pink in initial prints of "The Great Wave."

We can't know why the artist selected pink, but we do know that Hokusai researched available literature and illustrations before working on his own pictures. -- see "Rare Hokusai woodblock is themed on 1707 Mt. Fuji eruption" (Akihiro Tanaka & Yoshito Watari). Asahi Shimbun. May 6, 2019. http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201905060011.html

The pink sky may be intended to suggest dawn. -- see Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Dawn at Isawa in Kai Province," 1930-32. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/56349

Or maybe science provides another valid explanation?

VOLCANIC ASH IN ATMOSPHERE. In 1829, Klyuchevskaya Sopka erupted on the Kamchatka peninsula. -- see Wikipedia "List of large volcanic eruptions in the 19th century" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_large_volcanic_eruptions_of_the_19th_century; and see "Volcanos of Kamchatka"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanoes_of_Kamchatka

The magnitude of this Klyuchevskaya eruption was much like the 2011 eruption of Grímsvötn in Iceland. -- see "List of large volcanic eruptions in the 21st century" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_large_volcanic_eruptions_in_the_21st_century

Like the paintings of J.M.W. Turner after the 1815 eruption of Mt. Tambora, Hokusai's pink skies may simply depict the presence of volcanic ash and dust in the atmosphere. -- see "How Paintings of Sunsets Immortalize Past Volcanic Eruptions" (Sarah Zielinski). Smithsonian. March 25, 2014. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-paintings-sunsets-immortalize-past-volcanic-eruptions-180950254/

Skies more polluted by volcanic ash scatter sunlight more, so they appear redder. -- see "How 19th century art is painting a picture of Earth's polluted past: Turner's sunsets reveal volcanic ash and gas in the sky" (Sarah Griffiths). Daily Mail. 25 March 2014. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2588838/How-19th-century-art-painting-picture-Earths-polluted-past-Turners-sunsets-reveal-volcanic-ash-gas-sky.html

WHAT A GREAT ARTIST SEES? Red-to-green ratios measured in paintings by great masters correlate well with the amount of volcanic aerosols in the atmosphere, regardless of the painters and of the school of painting. -- see Zerefos, C.S. et al. "Further evidence of important environmental information content in red-to-green ratios as depicted in paintings by great masters," Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2014 14:6, 2016, pp. 2987-3015. https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/14/2987/2014/,
DOI = 10.5194/acp-14-2987-2014; and see below, compare Hokusai with J.M.W. Turner's "Sea and Sky," c.1820–30. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-sea-and-sky-d25433
.
QUESTION: Does the pink sky of Hokusai suggest plausibly accurate and useful environmental observation?
.
QOTO = Question Others to Teach Ourselves?

The Australian Psychological Society have released a "Coping with #ClimateChange Distress" fact-sheet.
https://www.psychology.org.au/getmedia/cf076d33-4470-415d-8acc-75f375adf2f3/coping_with_climate_change.pdf.pdf
Take care, everyone. 💚

What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make. - Jane Goodall

Support the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots! “Killing in the Age of Algorithms”, a NYT documentary examining the future of artificial intelligence and warfare https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/13/technology/autonomous-weapons-video.html @BanKillerRobots

I am intrigues by mathematical facts that are very easy to know to be true instinctually or with a verbal explanation but are very difficult to write proofs for.

A good example of this is the four color theorem.