dan613

dan613, 4 days ago to random

If you are thinking of trying mushroom (mycelial) leather for yourself, this paper (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/research-directions-biotechnology-design/article/growing-mycelium-leather-a-paste-substrate-approach-with-posttreatments/8B0BAD4C1481BDE26583408B4FAA9D13) has most of the steps you need. However the tensile strength is quite low, being around 1 N/cm², with cow leather being around 800 N/cm².

Another approach is bacterial cellulose, using bacteria found in kombucha. Adding mushroom protein and processing with glycerol gave similar results to leather. https://www.researchgate.net/journal/Cellulose-1572-882X/publication/349108621_Comparative_study_on_the_physical_entrapment_of_soy_and_mushroom_proteins_on_the_durability_of_bacterial_cellulose_bio-leather/links/6020cf4d92851c4ed557992d/Comparative-study-on-the-physical-entrapment-of-soy-and-mushroom-proteins-on-the-durability-of-bacterial-cellulose-bio-leather.pdf

I haven't seen studies on using a fabric mesh (cotton, linen, or hemp) to improve strength.

Thanks to @deborahh and @richard for the original posts.
#VeganLeather #MushroomLeather

dan613, 4 days ago to random

If you have only basic cooking skills like myself, you may not know that there are TWO kinds of cocoa. The first is baking cocoa that you see in the baking aisle. It is naturally alkaline and works with baking soda to make cakes rise.

The second is dutched cocoa, which has been processed to make it neutral. It is a bit more mellow in flavour and darker in colour. Most importantly, it dissolves in hot water more easily. If you make your own hot chocolate powder, dutched chocolate is what you need. It is also nice for powdering desserts and icing.

It might be a challenge to find it if you don't have a well-stocked grocery, but you can get it online, eg https://camino.ca/products/baking-products/cocoa-powders/dutch-processed-unsweetened-cocoa-powder-97-cacao/, but Bulk Barn in Ontario has a bulk bin of it.

dan613, 6 days ago to random

Crap, I could have been playing all day in Fallout 4's dystopic future of 2277 instead of worrying about the possible dystopic future of January 2025.

dan613, 7 days ago to random

Posting from my new M2 iPad Air. It is so light! This is an 11” model, whereas my last one was the 13” one (with not nearly enough memory). I’m surprised that the virtual keyboards are different, so I’ll have to get used to that.

I used to always get the pro model, but I’ve come to terms with the fact that the hobbies I think I’ll have rarely come to pass. I’ll get the new pencil once I make a real commitment to learn how to draw.

dan613, 1 month ago to renewableenergy

Seven countries, two in Europe, are now powered 100% by renewable energy!

• Albania,
• Bhutan,
• Ethiopia,
• Iceland,
• Nepal,
• Paraguay, and
• The Democratic Republic of Congo

Norway was close at over 98%.

#RenewableEnergy #ClimateAction
https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/04/17/wind-energy-saw-record-growth-in-2023-which-countries-installed-the-most

dan613, 1 month ago to random

Normally when they are this close, one is aggressively fighting the other. #Caturday

dan613, 1 month ago to random

🫨There's nothing like a freshly-charged toothbrush first thing in the morning. 🫨

dan613, 1 month ago to generativeAI

Pierre Poilievre is undoubtedly using AI to make creepy videos of himself. They feature:

• inconsistent pronunciations
• trouble pronouncing "always"
• weird jumps from neutral expression to smiling expression

#CanPoli #cdnpoli #GenerativeAI

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMMyoTU49/

dan613, 1 month ago to random

Huh. So Google AMP was supposed to speed up the Web, but actually had some lag issues. To hide this, they came up with a performance metric that doesn't actually show a useful performance. And then they eventually abandoned AMP. True to form. https://mastodon.social/@adactio/112161621153529972

dan613, 1 month ago to markdown

I just discovered that @MonaApp will save the Alt Text in the captions when saving a photo. It makes sense, since it also copies the caption into Alt Text. This should be more common. Are there other Mastodon apps with this feature?

All it's missing is #Markdown rendering.

dan613, 1 month ago to random

The youngest let it be known that my spouse has, for the last 4 years, likened me to a house spider when reminding her kids not to startle or overwhelm me. Writing this from under a piece of furniture.

dan613, 2 months ago to random

My spouse just came back from a Canadian Association of Social Workers luncheon at which there were two senators as guest speakers (Hartley, Berand). They had social work backgrounds which informed their legislative work.

This demonstrates a benefit of appointed senators—anyone can become one with no political experience needed and no campaigning, which is a deterrent for many. The new recommendation process is a big step up from the process Harper used.
#CanPoli #cdnpoli

dan613, 2 months ago to random

Augmented Reality idea:

Whenever I start singing half-remembered songs that fit the current situation, my AR glasses pop up the rest of the lyrics so I sound clever and not like a dork. #AR

dan613, 2 months ago to random

Standards just mean that when something goes wrong, we can blame somebody else.

My last organization box was filled upon receiving a Thunderbolt cable today that ended not being useful. I found the boxes at Michael's, in their scrap booking section, I believe.

#CableLife #Organizing

dan613, 2 months ago to random

Wow, the year-end reports for small Alberta community subreddits showed Russia as the third largest country of origin. These subreddits were subjected to significant anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and downvoting. #CanPoli #cdnpoli #ABPoli https://mstdn.ca/@senanthic/112007361406766527

dan613, 2 months ago to random

I have a slight potassium deficiency that concerns my doctor. So I've been using potassium chloride salt (in the baking section as iodized no-sodium salt) as a replacement for, and started sprinkling it on food I hadn't normally. So now I get more flavourful food and more potassium at the same time. Win-win!

I use the Windsor brand, and while it does have a bit of a different taste, on food I don't notice. I'm not sure how well it works as a pickling preservative, though, since it works differently on bacteria.

dan613, 2 months ago to infosec

Having trouble thinking of password security questions? Try one of these:

#infosec

dan613, 2 months ago to random

Icecube is on insurance ads now. What??

#GettingOld

dan613, 2 months ago to random

“Owner of a Lonely Heart” by progrock band Yes is playing overhead at the mall. #GettingOld

dan613, 3 months ago to random

How is the carbon tax causing inflation if inflation is dropping?

#CanPoli #cdnpoli #CarbonTax

https://apple.news/ANi4ya-tNQfu8iIoXdZ0FBw

dan613, 3 months ago to random

One afternoon when I was a young lad in Prince George, our neighbour’s house caught fire. Dad said the neighbour’s son was home alone, and he saw him bring buckets of water from outside into the basement.

Dad called the fire department when he saw the smoke, and rushed us across the street, where we waited anxiously for signs the fire might spread to our house. Fortunately it was put out in time.

Anyway, if you wonder why I frequently boost US political news…

#CanPoli #CdnPoli

dan613, 3 months ago to climate

In the same vein as my last post, I've calculated the global temperature trend using annual temperatures. Here much of the monthly variability disappears, and the correlation to El Niño becomes much more obvious. Removing the natural influences (including solar and volcanic) shows the annual temperature progressing very steadily.

Should we use the annual temperature instead of monthly? The problem with annual is that shorter events such as volcanic and El Niño could get spread out over multiple years, making them seem less important than they are. A monthly trend doesn't have this problem. So I'll stick to monthly projections, even though there is more variation.

I discuss this in more detail on my blog: https://dmn613.wordpress.com/2024/02/16/2023-temperature/

#ClimateChange

dan613, 3 months ago to random

It'll take a few days for my mastodon instance move finishes. I may have to manually refollow some of you.

dan613, 3 months ago to random

How do N95 masks catch particles that are smaller than the holes?

1. Particles are sticky because of static forces
2. Large particle go straight until they hit a mask layer
   Tiny particles get knocked around by molecules until they hit a fibre
3. Fibres are given an electric charge so that they attract all particles

#MaskUp

http://‪youtu.be/eAdanPfQdCA‬

dan613, 3 months ago to climate

We have all the tools needed to avoid the coming #ClimateCrisis. Don't let anyone tell you we can't or we shouldn't.

#ClimateAction