Tootfinder

I often agree with Robert Reich, but not this time. Trump is a wholly US creation; a product of a national glorification of greed, selfishness, and ego all disguised as some sort of conquering hero.
So, USians: You made him, you elected him, and he is your responsibility. His actions absolutely reflect on you, and he is your responsibility to deal with.
Get rid of him. Now. And then we can talk about being friends again.

In some Latin American and Caribbean countries, such as Suriname, it is up to 12 times cheaper to drive an electric vehicle than a petrol car (when looking purely at fuel costs)
https://www.agora-verkehrswende.org/publications/fuel-cost-map…

Following the fatal shootings of American citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis last month,
Democrats have refused to support long-term funding for the Department of Homland Security unless Republicans agree to reforms on the tactics of federal agents carrying out Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
“The American people rightfully expect their elected representatives to take action to rein in ICE and ensure no more lives are lost,” Senate minorit…

Simulation and optimization of the Active Magnetic Shield of the n2EDM experiment
N. J. Ayres, G. Ban, G. Bison, K. Bodek, V. Bondar, T. Bouillaud, G. L. Caratsch, E. Chanel, W. Chen, C. Crawford, V. Czamler, C. B. Doorenbos, S. Emmeneger, S. K. Ermakov, M. Ferry, M. Fertl, A. Fratangelo, D. Galbinski, W. C. Griffith, Z. D. Grujic, K. Kirch, V. Kletzl, J. Krempel, B. Lauss, T. Lefort, A. Lejuez, K. Michielsen, J. Micko, P. Mullan, O. Naviliat-Cuncic, F. M. Piegsa, G. Pignol, C. Pistillo, I. Rien\"acker, D. Ries, S. Roccia, D. Rozp\k{e}dzik, L. Sanchez-Real Zielniewicz, N. von Schickh, P. Schmidt-Wellenburg, E. P. Segarra, L. Segner, N. Severijns, K. Svirina, J. Thorne, J. Vankeirsbilck, N. Yazdandoost, J. Zejma, N. Ziehl, G. Zsigmond
https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.22960 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2601.22960 https://arxiv.org/html/2601.22960
arXiv:2601.22960v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: The n2EDM experiment at the Paul Scherrer Institute aims to conduct a high-sensitivity search for the electric dipole moment of the neutron. Magnetic stability and control are achieved through a combination of passive shielding, provided by a magnetically shielded room (MSR), and a surrounding active field compensation system by an Active Magnetic Shield (AMS). The AMS is a feedback-controlled system of eight coils spanned on an irregular grid, designed to provide magnetic stability to the enclosed volume by actively suppressing external magnetic disturbances. It can compensate static and variable magnetic fields up to $\pm 50$ $\mu$T (homogeneous components) and $\pm 5$ $\mu$T/m (first-order gradients), suppressing them to a few $\mu$T in the sub-Hertz frequency range. We present a full finite element simulation of magnetic fields generated by the AMS in the presence of the MSR. This simulation is of sufficient accuracy to approach our measurements. We demonstrate how the simulation can be used with an example, obtaining an optimal number and placement of feedback sensors using genetic algorithms.
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ENGIE has acquired UK Power Networks. Does this mean that the UK’s energy infrastructure is now more integrated with the EU than it was before Brexit?
https://en.newsroom.engie.com/news/eng

ENGIE announces the acquisition of UK Power Networks, UK’s best-in-class electricity distribution network
ENGIE today announces the signing of an agreement to acquire 100% of UK Power Networks (UKPN), the best-in-class electricity distributor in the UK, for an equity value1 of £10.5 billion. This acquisition marks a major milestone in ENGIE’s ambition to become the best energy transition utility, by strengthening its position in regulated electricity networks. It will also bolster the Group’s presence in the UK, which will become its second-largest country of activity.

Über die Hälfte der bislang eingereichten nationalen #Klimapläne (NDCs) enthalten inzwischen konkrete Ziele zur #Elektromobilität.
66 Länder, darunter viele aus dem globalen Süden, haben erstmals entsprechende Vorgaben aufgenommen. Diese Staaten stehen heute für mehr als …

EV NDC World Map
Interactive map of global ambition to adopt electric vehicles (EVs) based on the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of Paris Agreement signatories Data current to 15 December 2025

I agree with SF Chronicle columnist Allison Arieff that we should follow in Paris' footsteps by electing socialist mayors. Ok, she doesn't mention what party they belong to, but Allison does praise Anne Hidalgo and Emmanuel Grégoire.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/opini…

Collective Electronic Polarization Drives Charge Asymmetry at Oil-Water Interfaces
Gabriele Amante, Klaudia Mrazikova, Gabriele Centi, Sylvie Roke, Ali Hassanali, Giuseppe Cassone
https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.24142 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2603.24142 https://arxiv.org/html/2603.24142
arXiv:2603.24142v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: Why kinetically stable oil droplets in water spontaneously acquire a negative charge remains one of the most vigorously debated questions in interfacial science. Here, we combine neural-network based deep potential molecular dynamics with a data-driven and information theory approach to probe the real-space electron density at an extended decane-water interface. While decane-water clusters show nearly symmetric forward and backward charge transfer (CT) and thus negligible net CT, the extended interface displays a systematic electronic asymmetry, yielding a net CT from water to the hydrocarbon phase producing an average surface charge density of $\sim0.006~e^{-}\,\mathrm{nm}^{-2}$ on the oil phase. This imbalance is accompanied by much larger intra-phase self-polarization, particularly within the hydrocarbon phase, demonstrating that collective many-body polarization dominates the interfacial electronic response. Structural analysis reveals an asymmetry between forward C--H$\cdots$O and backward O--H$\cdots$C motifs, providing a microscopic origin for a net CT from one phase to the other. Curiously, both the water O--H and decane C--H covalent bonds incur subtle contractions which originate from a response to the charge-separation layers at the interface. These features are fully consistent with the weak improper hydrogen-bonds forming at the oil-water interface that results in blue-shifts of the C-H modes.
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🪨 Diversifying lithium-rich mineral sources with petalite
#lithium

Diversifying lithium-rich mineral sources with petalite
Demand for lithium is surging, as the world transitions to renewable energy and adopts new technologies. Lithium-ion batteries play a central role in this shift, powering everything from cars to portable electronics. To meet the increasing demand, companies are recycling lithium from old batteries and also looking for new sources and better ways to extract it. While recycling supports a circular economy, experts agree that recycled lithium alone will not meet projected future needs.

Sequential Counterfactual Inference for Temporal Clinical Data: Addressing the Time Traveler Dilemma
Jingya Cheng, Alaleh Azhir, Jiazi Tian, Hossein Estiri
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.21168 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2602.21168 https://arxiv.org/html/2602.21168
arXiv:2602.21168v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: Counterfactual inference enables clinicians to ask "what if" questions about patient outcomes, but standard methods assume feature independence and simultaneous modifiability -- assumptions violated by longitudinal clinical data. We introduce the Sequential Counterfactual Framework, which respects temporal dependencies in electronic health records by distinguishing immutable features (chronic diagnoses) from controllable features (lab values) and modeling how interventions propagate through time. Applied to 2,723 COVID-19 patients (383 Long COVID heart failure cases, 2,340 matched controls), we demonstrate that 38-67% of patients with chronic conditions would require biologically impossible counterfactuals under naive methods. We identify a cardiorenal cascade (CKD -> AKI -> HF) with relative risks of 2.27 and 1.19 at each step, illustrating temporal propagation that sequential -- but not naive -- counterfactuals can capture. Our framework transforms counterfactual explanation from "what if this feature were different?" to "what if we had intervened earlier, and how would that propagate forward?" -- yielding clinically actionable insights grounded in biological plausibility.
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