272 evolving our picture of the world

At top, we'll lead with the fossil record. One of the things I have always found interesting is wondering what the fossil record will say about right now.

So some researchers sic'ced an AI onto the fossil record, and asked it to think about evolution patterns. They were particularly interested in the question of whether a mass extinction leads to a flowering of new life on the other side.

The answer is, no. According to the AI, we've had the five extinction events we know of, plus seven more. We've also had fifteen "flowering" moments, and only two of them came after extinctions.

And instead of finding "creative destruction," this idea that life comes in to fill the void after something wipes everything out, they observed the opposite: "destructive creation."

This is when something is so successful at proliferating that it kills everything else.

Sound familiar?

Hi Kamala!

Bye Bill! Apparently, there is a line that guy won't cross. 

At this point, I imagine dear leader wondering around the people's house in a bathrobe ranting as twenty-something staffers hide under desks, wondering if their old bedrooms are still available.

Worth a dance party.

Did anyone else feel the eclipse yesterday morning at 8:15 pacific?

There has been some powerful astrology all year, this grand conjunction coming up really is a big deal. First time Jupiter and Saturn have been this (visually) close in 800 years!

As I was finishing the blog yesterday, pretty much all of Google stopped working.

Seems like it was something to do with authentication.

Amazing how many things on my phone stop working when my Google account isn't online. And, for that matter, amazing how many things did keep working.



Watching ebike reviews and promo videos. The segment is still working on the basic education of consumers. This video spent a lot of time discussing the components, and exactly zero time saying "Guys, we built a high powered BMX bike, it's time to shred mofos!"
This from an article about semi-trucks. Reading, it's looking a lot like it will be pretty hard to find a gas-powered new car in 20 years.

And this is here because it was a genius open to a review. Two yous giving both sides of the coin. Great stuff. Also, I think I'm fine skipping the M1. SoC is great, but where's the touch?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

547 a giving planet

Image
Where to start? With a drip. Due to a recent large bill for two pieces of plastic pipe and a valve, I have become interested in learning more about pex plumbing. Like many things in the US, this more efficient way of doing things is having a slow takeoff.  Why? Because existing building codes, laws created by localities, have been slow to change, sticking with the tried and true rather than adapting to new technology. This is true on many fronts. After recently riding the train cross country, I arrived in the town I grew up in. Above is a bit of information from the town zoning laws, stating businesses are not allowed to have exterior displays of their products.  This runs counter to everything modern "new urban" planners have found: to create a vibrant retail presence, stores want to invite shoppers inside by displaying their goods outside. But really, it seems like everything is upside down. Above is a classic piec...
Read more

610 totally unrelated

Image
At top, a bicycle built for golf. Mid-drive, even. Kinda spendy at $7k, but this is golf. Apparently they're selling.  We're talking about Bikes and Batteries today. This is a, um, what was this?  Right, a swappable battery.  Sounds a lot like a dorado battery with a new design. Having uniform parts between different manufacturers will help us consumers. (Imagine if your car only worked with one brand of gasoline.) So this thinking is in the right direction-ish. Throw a golf bag holder on the front and they could charge more. ;) There's gold in them thar batteries. (Or at least some rare earth minerals.) The question is, how do we get them out, and then back in?  At least we can haul them about in this.  It's funny how some designs look bad while others look good. In my eye, that's a pretty good looking box for moving other boxes.  ...
Read more

469 who spiked the corona?

Image
Omicron is here. In less than a month, it has gone from zero cases in the US, to 73% of cases as of this past weekend. At top is San Francisco, below is New York State. The good news is, if you're vaccinated, you might not get too sick. The bad news is, there's a pretty good chance we're all going to get sick in this one. Here's NYC, where you can see omicron is making the curve from March 2020 look small. Or else, lockdown. I'm not a doctor, or an expert. Here's what I've picked up about omicron: 1. It is more transmissible . At least twice as easily spread as the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2. They say it's on the level of measles, the most easily spread virus we know. 2. It seems to have borrowed some tricks from the common cold. Literally, according to at least one report I've read, most of the spike protein mutations in Omicron match directly to the common cold, an...
Read more