Tootfinder

🌾 Growing rice in the UK 'not so crazy' as climate warms
#rice

Growing rice in the UK 'not so crazy' as climate warms
Wearing large rubber boots, Nadine Mitschunas joyfully handled mature rice plants peeking through the water of her small plot growing in the fertile soil of eastern England.

Worldwide, sales of new cars with a fossil fuel combustion engine dropped to the level of 2004, by 2024. And sales of new cars that use fossil fuels (100% or partially, in hybrids) dropped to the level of 2012. EVs are on the march.
https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/clean

Writing Prompt - True Names have power. But your name is only your True Name if you were ritually given your name in a ceremony - e.g. in a church christening. Filling in registry office forms doesn't count. A steadily growing chunk of the world doesn't have a True Name and cannot be controlled...

TIL both Algeria and Morroco have modern passenger rail services including growing High Speed services.... but the land border between them has been closed since 1994, so the systems don't touch :(
One day! 🤞
Algeria system is SNTF, Morroco: ONCF
Easiest English info is through https://www.seat61.com/Algeria.htm

Concrete is a mix of several different materials:
water, fine aggregates (or sand), coarse aggregates (or gravel), chemical additives,
and, most importantly, cement.
Cement is what binds all of these ingredients together to give concrete its durability and distinctive, grey appearance.
Cement production, however, also generates most of concrete’s emissions:
🔥In fact, cement accounts for around 8% of all CO2 emissions worldwide

Concrete
Concrete is among the world’s most consumed materials—second only to water. It also produces large amounts of heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

Closer to home here are the kind of 𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑝𝑠𝑖𝑠 flowers you find up and down the creek in Monkey Run; I think every natural area in Tompkins has its own characteristic 𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑝𝑠𝑖𝑠.
#photo #photography #flowers

Much lower energy fast chips:
"Scientists from the University of Warwick and the National Research Council of Canada have reported the highest "hole mobility" ever measured in a material that works within today's silicon-based semiconductor manufacturing...
This achievement also represents a significant accomplishment for Warwick's Semiconductors Research Group and highlights the UK's growing influence in advanced semiconductor materials research."…

A 1950s material just set a modern record for lightning-fast chips
Researchers engineered a strained germanium layer on silicon that allows charge to move faster than in any silicon-compatible material to date. This record mobility could lead to chips that run cooler, faster, and with dramatically lower energy consumption. The discovery also enhances the prospects for silicon-based quantum devices.

Jason Proctor is contributing to the CBC's live blog scroll from a legal perspective and as always, his stuff is illumniating. I'll paste his report in because it can get lost in the scroll easily.
"Creditors circle as cull looms
Jason Proctor
I'm Jason Proctor, a reporter with CBC Vancouver who looked into a series of lawsuits facing the owners of Universal Ostrich Farms Inc.
Last month, I spoke with three creditors who are watching today's ruling with great interest — and some skin in the game.
B.C. Supreme Court judges have ordered the farm's owners to repay debts worth more than $250,000 but, up until now, the creditors have been unable to collect. Normally in this kind of situation, a creditor would move to seize the business assets — but because in this case those assets are ostriches caught up in a legal battle, that's been challenging, to say the least.
All three creditors have tried to garnish the CFIA to intercept any money the agency might pay out as compensation for killing the birds (potentially up to $3,000 a bird, the CFIA says) but it remains to be seen how that will work. The creditors, however, told me they are anxious to recoup their losses.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/livestory/bc-ostrich-farm-decision-scoc-9.6968394?ts=1762453717737

Waymo's self-driving cars appear to be bending traffic laws and growing impatient with pedestrians as the company seeks to make them "confidently assertive" (Katherine Bindley/Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/…

Progressive lawmakers are demanding that the Democrats use the upcoming government funding deadline to hopefully reduce the Department of Homeland Security’s ability to wreak further havoc.
“I just don’t understand how we provide votes for a bill that funds the extent of the depravity,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told CNNThursday.
“I know we can’t fix everything in the appropriations bill but we should be looking at ways we can put some commonsense limitations on their ability to…

Schumer, Jeffries Refuse to Join Democrats' Growing Calls to Slash ICE Spending | Common Dreams
The killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent sparks outrage as Democrats debate funding for the agency. Should they use their power to rein in ICE's violence? Progressive lawmakers demand action, but top Democrats seem hesitant. Is it time for a change in leadership to hold ICE accountable? #ReinInICE #EndViolence