Bitchin Dave's Newsletter - January 20th
During the holidays, there was this weird - and maybe "cute-adjacent" - TV ad for Facebook.
The premise was that in an office Christmas exchange, a guy got a woman he didn't know, so he watches her at the office to come up with ideas for a gift. Of course, he comes up empty. Then, he goes to Facebook and discovers she's a KISS fan. So he gets her some KISS fan dolls.
But the subtext really bothered me. The guy essentially becomes a creep and stalks his coworker to find out more about her. He follows her around the office and (at least I remember it this way) a little after work. Then, he digs into her facebook profile. And he uses the Facebook Marketplace to find these dolls from some sketchy guy.
It has such a stalker vibe to it. And yet, that's kind of what Facebook is, right? They're promoting exactly what they are. We've reached a level of interconnectivity so that anyone can cyberstalk anyone else, and privacy is a thing of the past.
Ugh.
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As we know, the moon is what affects the seas, and causes the tides to shift. Here's a company in Sweden that is trying to harness that natural power by placing a sort of kite under the ocean, and capturing the power generated when the tide shifts. Neat idea! |
Blue origin - until very recently - was known for providing space tourism. People with a bit of money to burn were taken aboard a flight that let them experience weightlessness. But the purpose of these missions was to slowly grow the company's ability to get into space. To test out their rockets, and their reusability. And so they started launching satellites, and in early November had a rather remarkable moment where the booster returned and "missed" the drone ship it was to land on by a few yards or so. The rockets fired and it hung in the air while the drone ship moved underneath it, then it landed successfully. Next stop is a moon venture. They are planning missions in 2026, because they feel they are ready. The rockets they'll use are purpose built, and not as heavy as starship, and won't require the complexity of refueling. Okay, game on. Let's see what Jeff Bezos can do. |
A 180-Year Assumption About Light Was Just Proven Wrong : ScienceAlert
I always enjoy reading about how scientific notions, assumptions, and theorems can be challenged and sometimes disproved or updated.
Here's a case where the Faraday effect on light was shown to be affected by magnetic fields. It's a bit to digest, but the basic idea is that light that is polarized can be nudged by a magnet, in addition to electric fields (which was known).
And they sum it up thusly.
Finally, this work is tantalizing because it reminds us of one of the cornerstones of science – namely, that researchers may discover other as-yet unknown properties of light or other electromagnetic phenomena at any time, even in well-established models.
Canada launches $1.2 billion push to attract talent, as U.S. charges $100,000 fee for H-1B visas - CBS News
You go, Canada! Way to try and build yourself into a competitive world power.
Scientists will be happy to make their way to the great white north and help build something lasting.
Over the holidays, this happened at Walt Disney World. The 400 pound boulder in the Indiana Jones's Epic Stunt Spectacular bumped off the track and headed towards the audience. A cast member stepped in and blocked it… kudos to him! And it's a reminder that the Disney bubble exists in the real world, and sometimes bad things can happen. By the way, I saw the guy being interviewed recently, and he is recovering well from his injuries (he took quite the hit). He said he did it to protect the guests in the crowd and would do it again. That was his role, and he was glad to help. |
Here's an interesting story about how fiddler crabs can ingest and break down plastic patties - more efficiently than sun and water can. Nature somehow finds a way, doesn't it? |
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