helenczerski

sellathechemist, 1 month ago to random

I don’t think I’ve ever seen UK grid intensity this low before: 35 g/kWh. 5% exports and huge wind this morning. And the price has gone negative for the last few hours.
Charge, store and wash stuff now.

janrosenow, 1 month ago to random

MEGA FACTCHECK: Heat pumps are the “central technology in the global transition to secure and sustainable heating” says the IEA.

But heat pumps still face relentless hostile media coverage. I comprehensively debunked 18 heat pump myths in Carbon Brief.

Find it here 👉https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-18-misleading-myths-about-heat-pumps/

davidho, 2 months ago to random

There's zero reason to drive a car so close to someone on a bike. Zero.

View of video shot from the seat post of a bicycle looking backwards, showing a reckless driver in a Honda SUV pulling up within inches of my bicycle as we both travel down the road at 15 mph.

helenczerski, 2 months ago to mastodon

University College London shoutout! UCL is unwilling to set up a Mastodon account now, but they say that if there's lots of UCL presence here already it will nudge them in this direction. If you're at UCL or know someone who is, and you're on here, please reply to this to let us know! Current chief plotters: @sellathechemist , me and maybe more)

#UCL #Mastodon #Universities

helenczerski, 2 months ago (edited 2 months ago) to science

In this week's WSJ column, I wrote about how the engineered weaknesses in chocolate bars (the grooves) help break it, & now I have an inbox of cross people telling me they break chocolate by bending towards the groove (pushing down directly on the groove), rather than pushing on the side that doesn’t have a groove. I spent a lot of time drawing diagrams of cracks & fracture zones & it's never occurred to me to push on the groove. How do you do this?

https://t.co/x1whkiG9X6

#chocolate #science

davidho, 2 months ago to random

The opposite of Ratatouille.

pluralistic, 8 months ago to Ottawa

It wasn't just Ottawa: #MicrosoftTravel published a whole bushel of absurd articles, including the notorious Ottawa guide recommending that tourists dine at the #Ottawa #FoodBank ("go on an empty stomach"):

https://twitter.com/parismarx/status/1692233111260582161

--

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/23/automation-blindness/#humans-in-the-loop

1/

helenczerski, 9 months ago to cars

A lovely bike ride along canal towpaths today made me wonder whether one day disused motorways will become havens for walkers, cyclists and wildlife. Although the joy of that thought does rather depend on us not replacing them with something worse. #cars #canals

davidho, 9 months ago to random

Proper MRV is often more expensive and harder than CO₂ removal (CDR), especially for open systems. This explains why no one wants to pay for MRV and the rampant fraud in the legacy carbon market.

Contrast what our non-profit [C]Worthy is trying to raise ($50 million) to build tools for MRV with what XPRIZE will pay ($68k).

4. Budget Given the overall budget for the XPRIZE Carbon Removal, XPRIZE has established a budget ceiling per work package per team. This budget is to cover the costs of all professional services related to technical work, onboarding, administration and project management, as well as overhead. Hard costs associated with the required work packages will be handled and reimbursed separately on a cost reimbursable basis, and in discussion with XPRIZE. Hard costs anticipated in excess of this budget include travel expenses for the on-site audits required to complete Performance Verification of each Finalist Team, and expenses related to instrumentation, lab testing, and other services related to verification (to be approved during the verification planning process). By submitting a proposal, contractors are acknowledging this budget and confirming their ability to work within XPRIZE’s budget specifications. |f contractors have specific concerns with any of the budget figures outlined below, please provide a detailed response as part of your proposal in the Budget and Schedule Acknowledgement section. Work Packages Performance Verification | Sustainability Analysis Cost Analysis Base budget per assigned Finalist Team $68,000 $14,000 $14,000

climatenews, 9 months ago to climate

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s family firm signed a billion-dollar deal with BP before the UK opened new North Sea licences for Oil and Gas drilling.

The CEO of Shell also joined Rishi Sunak's new business council two weeks ago.

#climate #climatechange #climatecrisis
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/sunaks-family-firm-signed-a-billion-dollar-deal-with-bp-before-pm-opened-new-north-sea-licences-353690/

davidho, 9 months ago to random

When those of us who work on CO₂ removal (CDR) meet, it’s apparent that no one wants to do this and no one thinks it’s easy.

It’s far easier and cheaper to stop emitting CO₂.

The fact that some of the smartest people I know decide to work on CDR signals our desperation.

sellathechemist, 9 months ago to random

We have just launched #UCLChemAirPoll for 2023. We're looking for Year 5 and 6 primary school classes across London. Our students will visit a class in October, deliver a lesson where the children make predictions about where levels of NOx are higher/lower. Our students make the measurements using Palmes diffusion tubes and then return for a second lesson in December to discuss the results with the children.
There's oodles of fun and challenge for all.
More information: https://uclchemairpoll.wordpress.com

davidho, 10 months ago to random

"@helenczerski is a physicist who specialises in bubbles generated by breaking ocean waves — a seemingly narrow area of research but one that informs weather and climate science. She is also an accomplished TV presenter and a popular science writer, and Blue Machine exhibits her full skill set as both scientist and communicator. The book is like a magical pair of spectacles for the mind’s eye, revealing planetary scale processes and astonishments of the deep."

https://www.ft.com/content/1abf0e6b-9cf7-4e78-aeeb-126d69a41430

steve, 10 months ago to random

I'd like to live in the world where the pedestrian lights are green by default, and the drivers have to press a button and wait ages for the lights to change.

helenczerski, 11 months ago to books

Today’s the day - starting at 9:45am on BBC Radio 4, Blue Machine is this week’s Book of the Week. Time for some ocean in your day! https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001mlgf #ocean #books

helenczerski, 11 months ago to climate

“Instead of seeing the ocean as a “solution” for climate change, we need to see it as a test of a new attitude to our planet, one that doesn’t treat it as a combination of universal rubbish bin and exploitable resource. Ask not what the ocean can do for you, but what you can do for the ocean.”

My piece in the Observer today, about the growing attitude that we can just “use” the ocean as if it’s not doing anything useful to start with: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/04/why-we-need-to-respect-earths-last-great-wilderness-the-ocean

#ocean #climate

icey_mark, 1 year ago to random

The #Antarctic #Iceberg A76A now ~130 Nm from Bird Island South Georgia. Currently its ~2700 km². The smaller berg is ~140 km².

davidslifka, 1 year ago to fediversenews

Easy to miss in Mastodon's latest update, but the most-requested features are indeed coming "soon:"

"...quote posts, improved content and profile search, and groups. We’re also continuously working on improving content and profile discovery, onboarding, and of course our extensive set of moderation tools, as well as removing friction from decentralized features. Keep a lookout for these updates soon."

https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2023/05/a-new-onboarding-experience-on-mastodon/

@spreadmastodon @fediversenews

MarkRuffalo, 1 year ago to random

For our friends in London who don’t want their schools to be run like a private enterprise, please sign.

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/prendergast-governing-body-and-headteachers

helenczerski, 1 year ago (edited 1 year ago) to climate

In the late 1800s, when steam ships were replacing sailing cargo ships, one of the last roles for the sailing ships was to carry coal around the world to supply ports where steamships wanted to go. A clean technology was essential to enable the growth of a dirty technology. And even today, fossil fuels aren’t magically just everywhere. A gigantic *** 40% *** of global shipping is just moving fossil fuels. So eliminating fossil fuel also drastically cuts global shipping emissions. #climate #ships

wonderofscience, 1 year ago to random

Amazing footage of a Cirroteuthid octopus stretching its tentacles to form a huge balloon, filmed by EVNautilus at a depth of around 1,600 metres.

Source and more details: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbHjs9A7sis

Orange octopus extending its tentacles, curling them beneath itself and inflating its body into a billowing sphere.

davidho, 1 year ago (edited 1 month ago) to random

I used to think I was Calvin, but I think I’ve become the Dad.