Unofficial Off Topic Thread

[sk47]

Goodyear’s new prototype tires are made of soybeans — and they could majorly improve your gas mileage (msn.com)
Hello; Hope these tires are not tasty to rodents the way soy-based wire insulation has been.

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[HoosierDaddy]

Goodyear’s new prototype tires are made of soybeans — and they could majorly improve your gas mileage (msn.com)
Hello; Hope these tires are not tasty to rodents the way soy-based wire insulation has been.

So much promise. But sadly greenies triggered by the article title about gas mileage, burned the R&D center and factory to the ground.

 

[sk47]

So much promise. But sadly greenies triggered by the article title about gas mileage, burned the R&D center and factory to the ground.

Hello; An improved tire should also work on EV's as well. At least such seems logical to me. Guess this characterizes the level of understanding among that mob.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Hello; An improved tire should also work on EV's as well. At least such seems logical to me. Guess this characterizes the level of understanding among that mob.

What did you expect.

Still, ICErs and EVers have some common traits. We debate which brand/octane of gas is better while they debate if their EVs run better on coal, nuc, hydro, etc. electricity.

 

[sk47]

S650 Ford Mustang GT Joins Kentucky State Police Force (msn.com)

 

[sk47]

A Chevrolet dealer offered an AI chatbot on its website. It told customers to buy a Ford (msn.com)

 

[sk47]

Tesla blamed customers for failures of parts it already knew were faulty - report (msn.com)

 

[sk47]

Study Finds Humans Are Contributing to Global Warming By Breathing (msn.com)

Hello; A while back i wrote one of my long-winded posts and included a bit about how respiration and fire were similar with respect to involving oxidation. How in my classroom on a cold morning the day would start with cooler temperatures but after a while the body heat of people would add warmth a bit.
We breathe to take in oxygen. The oxygen is used in our cells to release energy from the foods (fuels) we eat. Sugars in the blood can be quickly used.

Looks like the wheel has come back around but in a somewhat different track than in my youth. Back in the 1970's after a few years of study of ecology and wild population dynamics along with some thought, I decided ZPG was needed. Zero Population Growth = two people (a couple) would voluntarily limit the number of children to two. One for each person. That way the population would stabilize at what we hoped was a sustainable number.
The issues of the day had to do with pollution and other related environmental problems. We feared with unlimited growth there would be problems from just too many people. One thing predicted was we would not be able to drink water from natural sources.
We had some suggestions about pollution from industry, about how farmland mainly topsoil, was being eroded faster than it could be replaced. Things like taking lead out of gasoline and asbestos out of brake linings and clutches.
Of course, ZPG did not happen, and it became clear early on it would not happen. I decided along with my first wife to be childless. Even though we eventually divorced it turns out we both kept to that choice.

A difference, in my mind, from the anti-human breathing thing of today is we in the past had practical reasoning behind our thinking. This equating our breathing to global warming is a wacky way to look at things. The choices that got the human population to the exponential level it is at were made over the decades. It is too late to put the population issue back in pandoras box.
I hope this does not lead to drastic ideas. My ZPG goal would not have hurt anyone at all.

 

[sk47]

New Study Blames Climate Change For Major Problem, But Then Appears To Undercut Its Findings (msn.com)
Hello; A short article. Gist is a claim that due to climate change/Warming people are becoming "climate refugees" and are moving out of areas now prone to flooding. The catch 22 appears to be these "refugees" are moving to coastal areas.

 

[sk47]

Artificial leaves can now directly make liquid fuels (msn.com)

“Researchers have been working for years on such systems that mimic photosynthesis to sustainably produce fuels at low cost. Previous artificial leaves produced simple products like carbon monoxide and hydrogen. But the new one takes an important step forward by making energy-dense ethanol and propanol fuels.”

“…researchers have made artificial leaves based on light-absorbing solar cells and chemical catalysts. The Cambridge group have made several artificial leaves before. One such device, made with a class of materials called perovskites, which are excellent at converting sunlight to electrical energy, could float on water and produce a mix of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Another, made using a low-cost and water-resistant light absorber called bismuth oxyiodide produced hydrogen fuel for weeks.”

“For now, the small proof-of-concept device has low efficiency and does not produce large amounts of fuel. The team is now optimizing the light absorbers and the catalyst so it can convert more sunlight into fuel.”

“The next step will be scaling up the device so it can produce large volumes of fuel, he says. “It is definitely possible to develop it in a large scale and we have already started working on that. However, this technology is still in its initial stage, and it will take quite some time to scale up.””

“If successful, ethanol produced using this technology would be a more sustainable alternative for transport than the bioethanol mixed into gasoline today, the researchers said. Biofuels, made today by fermenting sugars, takes up land that could be used for agriculture, and researchers have been searching for better options. Going from real plants to artificial leaves might just be the answer.”

Hello; Very interesting to me at least. Too bad this research is happening now. By that I mean we are being forced down the anti-fossil fuels road by zealots and I suspect the alcohol type fuels will be condemned with that broad brush.

For those with a sense of the real world still intact being able to use these “artificial leaves” type devices would be a boon for fighting world hunger. Currently ethyl alcohols are being blended into gasoline stocks from 10 to 85%. Those alcohols use corn for a large part to essentially turn corn mash into what could be drinking liquor in distillery equipment. Just pour it into peoples gas tanks.

Several problems with this practice but for this post I will stick to the fact we are using food to supplement fuel supplies.

But, like new battery tech, mere proof of concept does not mean it will scale up to significant production nor prove it will be cost effective enough. Likely another someday bit of new tech that may never happen at scale.

 

[sk47]

An Ivermectin Lawsuit Could Undermine US Public Health, Experts Fear (msn.com)

Hello; I never took the human version of this drug. I do recall the uproar surrounding it during the pandemic.

 

[sk47]

Hello; Two big money items in the news lately. Saw today the national debt is over 34 trillion dollars now. Not sure if the interest payments on that debt is bigger than national defense spending quiet yet, but have seen reports it will be soon.

The other is an announcement that in California people in the country illegally will be getting health coverage of some sort. Do not know the details but have a pretty good idea who will have to pay for that largess.

 

[sk47]

Two stray dogs cause more than $350,000 in damage at car dealership | Watch (msn.com)

 

[sk47]

Novel compound protects against infection by virus that causes COVID-19, preliminary studies show (msn.com)

“Unlike mRNA vaccines, which are a form of immune-based therapy that provides delayed protection and also requires periodic administration due to viral mutation and/or waning immunity, the stapled lipopeptides developed by Walensky's lab act directly on SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19, interfering with its ability to infect healthy cells.”

“The stapled peptides mimicked the virus's "landing gear," a bundle of six coils or "helices" of the virus that comes together, enabling the virus to fuse with the host cell's membrane.”

“The therapeutic approach, known as fusion inhibition, prevents the virus from entering the cell to off-load its nucleic acid blueprint, otherwise turning it into a virus-producing factory.”

"Remarkably, the viral peptide sequence that we use to block the fusion apparatus is 100% identical between SARS-CoV-2 and SARS1, which emerged as a deadly respiratory virus in 2003," notes Walensky. He points out that, in contrast to the viral sequences that frequently mutate to evade immune-based therapies, the virus's fusion sequences are rarely altered due to the critical role of six-helix bundle assembly in promoting viral infection.”

“The fact that many viruses with pandemic potential rely on the six-helix bundle to enter and infect cells suggests that stapled lipopeptides developed by Walensky's lab can be adapted to block or reduce infection by other viruses "on demand."

"This was a great collaboration that started in the very first days of the pandemic when we wanted to work out a treatment for SARS-CoV-2 using the great biocontainment resources we have at Boston University. Our two labs worked very well together, and this is something we will continue to do in the future on other viruses that I work on, like Ebola."



Hello; I like the premise of this nasal spray clinical (therapeutic) approach. A simple self-administered nose drop/spray. That the virus mutates will not matter as it has so much with the more ineffective Covid vaccines. May work for a range of viral diseases, not only covid. Perhaps any virus using a six-helix bundle assembly including one that scares me most-Ebola.

This approach was known of before and at the time of the pandemic. Curious as to why it did not get a share of the billions spent on vaccines. I forget the name but there have been antiviral nasal sprays on the market before.

Note- decided to post this in this and an active covid thread as well.

 

[sk47]

Dog eats $4,000 in cash off of counter. The unpleasant way his owners got it back (msn.com)

Hello; Unpleasant story from beginning to end.

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