Climate Change

Jul. 13th, 2025 12:28 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Melting glaciers are awakening Earth's most dangerous volcanoes

As glaciers melt around the world, long-dormant volcanoes may be waking up beneath the ice. New research reveals that massive ice sheets have suppressed eruptions for thousands of years, building up underground pressure. But as that icy weight disappears, it may trigger a wave of explosive eruptions—especially in places like Antarctica. This unexpected volcanic threat not only poses regional risks but could also accelerate climate change in a dangerous feedback loop. The Earth’s hidden fire may be closer to the surface than we thought.


Somehow OH SHIT just doesn't seem like enough. O_O  I have noticed that the volcanoes seem more restless than they used to, and now wonder if this could be a contributing factor.

Today's Smoothie

Jul. 12th, 2025 10:49 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today we made a smoothie with:

1 cup almond milk
1 cup Brown Cow vanilla yogurt
3 tablespoons Bettergoods pistachio butter
a dash of cardamom

The result is off-white and on the thin side.  It tastes okay, but does not have much pistachio flavor at this stage.

The pistachio butter does have a strong pistachio flavor, but it is quite sweet; sugar is the second ingredient.  So we skipped the honey that we usually put into a nut butter smoothie.

Birdfeeding

Jul. 12th, 2025 03:27 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is cloudy, mild, and wet.  It rained earlier.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches plus a male cardinal.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 7/12/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

It started drizzling again.

EDIT 7/12/25 -- I potted up 2 apricot seeds.

I picked the first ripe cucumber.  :D






.
 
spiralsheep: Sheep wearing an eyepatch (Default)
[personal profile] spiralsheep
The real Salt Path (link to The Observer): how a blockbuster book and film were spun from lies, deceit and desperation.

The Salt Path-ological liar, The Wild Lies, and Landlies )

Most importantly, to me, disabled people suffer collateral damage from both aspects of her fraud: firstly by being told they could do x or y if only they had as much willpower as Walker's fictional character with CBS/CBD, then secondly from the assumption that many disabled people are frauds like Walker. I'm betting she'll continue to profit from her crimes while her victims, intended and indirect, suffer for her choices. (I also feel sympathy for the Walker children and hope they avoid being dragged into this.)

ETA 13 July 2025: Observer article about a further Walker scam I've quoted salient extracts in a comment below.

Philosophical Questions: Poverty

Jul. 12th, 2025 02:36 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

Is poverty in society inevitable?

Read more... )

Extinct Birds

Jul. 11th, 2025 11:31 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
'The Lord of the Rings' director Peter Jackson is on a mission to revive the world’s tallest bird, 600 years after it went extinct

Inspired by their debut project, Jackson is now working with Colossal to bring the ancient moa back to life through subfossil sourcing and genetic engineering.

On July 8, Jackson and his partner donated $15 million to the project
.


The moa is an excellent choice for de-extinction, as it died out relatively recently and due to human misbehavior.

Read more... )

Today's Adventures

Jul. 11th, 2025 09:34 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today we went to the Marshall Farmer's Market. It's an evening market from 6-8 PM, followed by a band concert, which is way better than a morning one.

Read more... )
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Take Us North is down to the last day or so of its campaign. If you want to participate, now is the time.

$50,976 pledged of $30,000 goal
509 backers
26 hours to go

some good things

Jul. 11th, 2025 11:56 pm
kaberett: Trans symbol with Swiss Army knife tools at other positions around the central circle. (Default)
[personal profile] kaberett
  1. The fan. Got house down to Actually Matching Outside Air Temperature in finite time; set up to experiment with running it in the bedroom overnight. (It has been Too Warm For Cuddles, which is Bad.)
  2. Made the nonsense lavender-and-honey Welsh cakes for breakfast. I was sure I had picked way too much lavender but it actually fit in the measuring spoon pretty much perfectly, and wound up being noticeable but not Overwhelming.
  3. New Murderbot novelette! I have not launched right into reading it because I am just about a quarter of the way through a System Collapse reread (and fascinated by how little of it I remember, though I concede I've read it many fewer times than All Systems Red...) so I'm going to finish that first. Which I am not expecting to take me very long.
  4. Having spent a bunch of time poking around Wikipedia, I've gone back to Nerve and Muscle and, now almost two whole pages in, it is making significantly more sense than my previous attempt. (I have not yet started making myself notes on neuroanatomy but I am definitely considering it.)
  5. It is The Time Of Year when strawberries are relatively cheap, so after dinner we wandered down the hill in service of me getting my steps, and us getting some exposure to The Breeze, and acquiring me a giant box of strawberries, and also picking up Ice Lollies to consume on the way back up.
  6. Realised I could stick a jug of water in the fridge. This has made hydrating significantly easier. (I do not do well at drinking water that isn't Cold, and the magic ice dispenser on our freezer is currently out of action.)
  7. The online Oxfam shop. Shortly to be on their way to me: a pair of cargo shorts; two pairs of linen cargo trousers; a book I previously had out from the library but which I wanted to have a reference copy of at least briefly for writing purposes.

Art

Jul. 11th, 2025 03:35 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This art workshop made a "landscape" out of loose parts for the artists to use as inspiration.  Every art room should have a generous collection of objects to mix and match like this.

Birdfeeding

Jul. 11th, 2025 02:53 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is sunny and sweltering.

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches plus a house wren.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 7/11/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I've seen a fox squirrel.

EDIT 7/11/25 -- Yesterday I collected 5 little pink crabapples while out and about. These are almost marble size, much more useful than the pea-sized ones. So I potted up those today to see if they'll sprout.

Bonus Fishbowl

Jul. 11th, 2025 12:38 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
There will be a bonus fishbowl on Tuesday, July 15. The theme will be "anything goes." If you want a continuation of an earlier piece, or something totally new, that doesn't fit the usual themes, then now's your chance. Brainstorm in advance and jot down ideas for later. You can also request any favorite series, character, setting, etc.

Note that our internet connection has been bad for well over a month. Sometimes it's down completely, other times things like Dreamwidth and searches won't run. So I'm losing a lot of work time and may only have access for half a day or less. Given this limitation, there's a higher chance of actually getting things written for prompts that use characters, settings, etc. that are already established.

Follow Friday 7-11-25: History

Jul. 11th, 2025 12:05 pm
ysabetwordsmith: A blue sheep holding a quill dreams of Dreamwidth (Dreamsheep)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today's theme is History.

Read more... )

Communities

Jul. 11th, 2025 04:15 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Here's a cool Dreamwidth tool: take the URL of any community and add /read to the end. It will show you posts by all the members. So for instance:

https://birdfeeding.dreamwidth.org/read

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