Prior to getting my Masters and PhD in Nuclear Engineering at Berkeley I was a nuclear trained officer on a submarine. After graduating I worked in reactor core design at a nuclear company. I now work as a nuclear physicist at a national lab.
I just wanted to establish my bona fides before assuring you that yes, your assumption is correct that bombing any kind of nuclear infrastructure is dangerous and reckless as fuck.
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Euro notes contain a pigment which includes (very appropriately!) the rare earth metal Europium. It glows red under UV light.
On this week's Rare Earth on BBC Radio 4 we dug deep into the environmental benefits & costs of rare earths and other critical minerals. Do listen!
bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002dlh3
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And I think they're in other banknotes, including pounds, though I've never got round to recording the spectra. 1/2
To my astonishment, I got the fellowship. 😜
@sellathechemist haha, brilliant :)
Recording banknote spectra would be an interesting task... just to identify the list of elements included. With a sweepstake beforehand to guess the number.
🔥 Want to start your own Bonfire instance?
We’re hosting online install parties, come set up your server alongside others! Bring your questions and curiosity, we’ll figure it out together and support each other through the process.
✅ Ideally have a (sub)domain + server with DNS set up, or just follow along and take notes.
📆 Vote on possible dates/times: crab.fit/bonfire-install-parti…
📩 Sign up to be notified: mailchi.mp/a601c2e1e132/bonfir…
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un dimanche de fête des pèresJakob Grosse-Ophoff
tags : automate, #sculpture #fathersday
like this
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Last than one week until #ShowYourStripes day!
Check out some of our tools from Climate Central (climatecentral.org/stripes-inf…) to design and share your own climate changes stories: trello.com/b/bpDKOhd5/showyour…
Show Your Stripes Day is Happening June 21st! | Climate Central
On June 21, join meteorologists, journalists, content creators, climate scientists, and cities around the world for "Show Your Stripes Day” – an event dedicated to growing global awareness about human-caused climate change.www.climatecentral.org
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This is quite eye-opening to me anyways... temperatures averaged over land areas so far this year are statistically tied for the warmest on record!
Data from ncei.noaa.gov/products/land-ba…
NOAAGlobalTemp
The NOAA Merged Land Ocean Global Surface Temperature Analysis (NOAAGlobalTemp, formerly known as MLOST) combines long-term sea surface (water) temperature (SST) and land surface (air) temperature datasets to create a complete, accurate depiction of …National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)
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It’s Father’s Day!
So to coincide here’s a quick thread on male #bumblebees.
Please #share and #repost so more people get to know more about these wonderful creatures…#bees that is not fathers!
Although good Dads are wonderful creatures too!
1/14
#FathersDay
#worldbeesanctuary
#nature
#biodiversity
#wildlife
#naturereserve
#wicklow
#ireland
#science
🐝🌍
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So when it comes to #bumblebees the males …(although fed better as larvae and then not tasked with contributing to the nest as adults) live a lonely homeless life constantly seeking a mate which most never…
13/14
…find.
And the final kicker - they never produce sons and never get to meet the daughters they do help produce!
So there you have it…Male Bumblebees 101.
Thanks for reading!
Please #share to spread the knowledge.
#repost.
Likes are nice but reposts impact.
Happy #FathersDay
14/14
#worldbeesanctuary
#bees
#bumblebees
#nature
#wildlife
#science
#biodiversity
#vegan #organic
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Last month was the 2nd hottest May on record for our planet. It was also the 2nd warmest over the oceans as well as over just land areas.
Data by NOAAGlobalTemp v6.0.0 (ncei.noaa.gov/products/land-ba…). See more in the NOAA monthly summary: ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitorin….
NOAAGlobalTemp
The NOAA Merged Land Ocean Global Surface Temperature Analysis (NOAAGlobalTemp, formerly known as MLOST) combines long-term sea surface (water) temperature (SST) and land surface (air) temperature datasets to create a complete, accurate depiction of …National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)
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If we fail? “The alternative is accelerating climate change.”
#climatechange
#cop30
#environment
#news
#theguardian
#politics
#challenge
#fail
#science
World faces new danger of ‘economic denial’ in climate fight, Cop30 head says
Exclusive: André Corrêa do Lago says ‘answers have to come from the economy’ as climate policies trigger populist-fuelled backlashFiona Harvey (The Guardian)
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What are the current and future environmental impacts of data centres/AI? Who is responsible - companies or individuals? This week's Rare Earth (on BBC R4 at 12:04 and available online afterwards) got pretty lively as we dug into it all. One not to miss!
Powering Our Robot Overlords
The energy used by a simple internet search is increasing. Can we cut the cost?BBC
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See why we call it Arctic "amplification" 🫣
Graphic available at zacklabe.com/arctic-temperatur…
Arctic Temperatures
Near real-time visualizations [Arctic Climate Seasonality and Variability] [Arctic Sea-Ice Extent and Concentration] [Arctic Sea-Ice Volume and Thickness] [Arctic Temperatures] [Antarctic Sea-Ice E…Zachary Labe
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Sea ice was much thinner than average across large parts of the #Arctic Ocean in May 2025. These anomalies were particularly notable in the Kara and Laptev Seas, which likely corresponded to some of the recent early melt.
This graphic is updated monthly on my website: zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-ice-vo…
Arctic: Sea-Ice Thickness/Volume
My visualizations: Arctic Climate Seasonality and Variability Arctic Sea Ice Extent and Concentration Arctic Sea Ice Volume and Thickness Arctic Temperatures Antarctic Sea Ice Extent and Concentrat…Zachary Labe
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Ahoy neighbours.
With the world/feeds as they are, I hope you keep fighting.
If you can afford, or NEED a moment of guard down, we've popped up the #radioFreeFedi #comfy channel for June in lead up to our next artists streaming series #RFFF25 in July.
A chance to discover and directly communicate with and support rad independent artists to keep creating. Hopefully improving your day with some quality sonic hugs.
Stay safe, comfy and keep lifting up one another.
❤️ 🐹
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🚨 Carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels set a new monthly *record high* in May 2025 - 430.51 ppm (seasonal maximum)
This is the second largest May-May increase in this dataset (3.6 ppm higher than 2024). This is not good... 🫣
Data from gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/
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The Keeling Curve just keeps on curving upwards!
What is the financial status of the Mauna Loa observatory?
The brain power
quantamagazine.org/how-much-en…
#science
#article
#brain
#power
#energy
#neuroscience
How Much Energy Does It Take To Think? | Quanta Magazine
Studies of neural metabolism reveal our brain’s effort to keep us alive and the evolutionary constraints that sculpted our most complex organ.Conor Feehly (Quanta Magazine)
This week's Rare Earth is just about to start on BBC Radio 4 (12-1pm, Friday 6th), available online afterwards.
We'll be talking about social reactions to weaning our society off fossil fuels - what do the public really want and is "net zero" still a helpful phrase?
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Don’t waste time engaging with their distractions, press on with enlarging and accelerating the policies behind the label.
“We’re at a new point in human history,” Wagner says. Up until the last decade, “the major drivers of biodiversity losses around the planet were really land degradation and land loss, habitat loss. But I think now that climate change is by far exceeding that.”
theguardian.com/environment/20…
#biodiversity #biodiversityloss #massextinction #artenvielfalt #artenschwund #biodiversitätskrise
‘Half the tree of life’: ecologists’ horror as nature reserves are emptied of insects
A new point in history has been reached, entomologists say, as climate-led species’ collapse moves up the food chain even in supposedly protected regions free of pesticidesTess McClure (The Guardian)
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arclight
in reply to Jessica Rooster • • •We've had experience mixing radioactives and high explosives for almost exactly 80 years now and in all that time we have not solved the problems of atmospheric dispersion, aerosol transport, inhalation and submersion dose. We quibble over details but the fundamentals remain - if you do not want radioactive material all over, you should not blow it up.
I've been working on this problem professionally on and off for 30 years on the civil nuclear side; power plants, legacy defense waste. Your assessment is spot on - bombing nuclear facilities is reckless, dangerous, and egregiously irresponsible. There's no other way to spin it. (diagram from osti.gov/biblio/4743102)
PLUME RISE: A CRITICAL SURVEY.
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