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41 votes
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Chatbots urged teen to self-harm, suggested murdering parents, Texas lawsuit says
24 votes -
The affordable housing shortage is reshaping parts of rural America
32 votes -
The Texas OB-GYN exodus – Amid increasingly stringent abortion laws, doctors who provide maternal care have been fleeing the state
36 votes -
Former Dallas PD officer ordered to pay $100 million
16 votes -
Golden State Warriors pull out overtime win in Houston
7 votes -
Austin's migrant crisis
9 votes -
Robert Caro on the art of biography
5 votes -
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18 votes -
Texas is close to adopting new oil and gas waste rules, first in decades
9 votes -
Houston's plastic waste, waiting more than a year for "advanced" recycling, piles up at a business failed three times by fire marshal
13 votes -
I think I'm moving to Austin, TX
To be clear, I'm a native Texan. But I'm tired of the goings-on of the county that I've always lived in. I feel like I've already done everything there is to do. I want to meet people that feel...
To be clear, I'm a native Texan. But I'm tired of the goings-on of the county that I've always lived in. I feel like I've already done everything there is to do. I want to meet people that feel genuinely 'new' to me and have as many novel experiences as I can in a short period of time.
I'm planning on moving during January since that's when my lease is up at my apartment. What things should I expect? What should I seek?18 votes -
Maglev titanium heart now whirs inside the chest of a live patient
24 votes -
US arrests Mexican drug lord 'El Mayo' and El Chapo's son in Texas
25 votes -
Inside the two-year fight to bring charges against school librarians in Granbury, Texas
20 votes -
Elon Musk says he’s moving SpaceX and X from California to Texas, blames new trans privacy law
28 votes -
u/RNG investigates bitcoin town
EDIT: Album available here Note: I'm writing this post as I go through my day, taking note of anything interesting. I try to do this with my diary, however for once I'll actually share my thoughts...
EDIT: Album available here
Note: I'm writing this post as I go through my day, taking note of anything interesting. I try to do this with my diary, however for once I'll actually share my thoughts with strangers.
This was inspired by u/arqalite's post on the topic.
I'm not a journalist. I didn't even take a class on journalism in college. I'm also not a writer, but at least my text is human generated. I have an audiobook I need to catch up on and a day to spare, so I'm going to bitcoin town.
I'm not a crypto guy, but I'm not going because I think Bitcoin is bad (even though it is). I'm going because I'm curious: how loud is this bitcoin mine really? When I read the initial post I wondered about the nocebo effect, Havana Syndrome, sociogenic illness, etc. Most of the reports are anecdotes of locals, and the null hypothesis doesn't make for a sharable news article.
I'm using this app "Sound Meter" to see how loud it is in my small suburban house. It peaks at 40dB. If you, like me, don't think in decibels, Google says that's as loud as a refrigerator hum. I'm skeptical about the accuracy of a phone app, but it's what I have.
Outside my house there are some birds loudly chirping. I would have missed their song if I wasn't writing this. I decide that I should take a measurement. The app reads 55dB. Google says it's the loudness of a residential street. Spot on.
I'm entering Granbury, TX and a massive American flag hanging from a crane greets me along with a pro-Trump billboard. There's a large lake running through the town. Seems like every house has a dock. Lot's of folks on boats and jet skis are visible.
Downtown is an old court building with a clock tower. The streets are lined with mom-and-pop shops for furniture, clothing, and trinkets. To my surprise, there are a lot of shoppers here with arms full of bags. They seem cheerful. They are all white.
The GPS takes me outside the city limits. I stop at a gas station a half-mile from the mine. I ask a couple of people about the mine while I grab a water. They've never heard of a bitcoin mine, and didn't know there was one around here.
As I approach the destination, the bitcoin mine looms over the horizon. The sheer size of the facility cannot be overstated. This facility looks like it should be pursuing some massive scientific endeavor. I wouldn't guess in a million years that all of this infrastructure exists to mine bitcoin. My car reads 98°F (what I expected based on forecast.) I imagine cooling systems will be as loud as one can expect on a day like today. And yes, it is loud.
Across the way, I see signs saying "Bitcoin sux" and "Bitcoin Noisehood". I take a lot of photos. I pull out "Sound Meter" and take measurements. It consistently reads 81-83dB, peaking at 88dB. Google says 85dB is the limit of safe hearing, and is comparable to the sound of a snowblower. This seems perfectly accurate to me. I'd be pissed if I lived across from this place.
I'll be in Granbury for the next hour or so, if anyone has a specific question about the mine I'll see if I can answer it. I took a lot of photos if there is interest.
121 votes -
‘We’re living in a nightmare:’ Inside the health crisis of a Texas bitcoin town
65 votes -
Beryl on track to make a Texas landfall on Monday morning
23 votes -
Texas congressman becomes first House Democrat to call on Joe Biden to withdraw
28 votes -
Former Uvalde Texas school police chief, officer indicted in 1st-ever criminal charges over failed response to 2022 mass shooting
43 votes -
Texas abortion ban linked to 13% increase in infant and newborn deaths
54 votes -
Water is bursting from another abandoned West Texas oil well, continuing a troubling trend
13 votes -
A Texas corporate lawyer got mad about illegal evictions—and did something about it
33 votes -
A fire killed 18,000 cows in Texas. It’s a horrifyingly normal disaster. (2023)
20 votes -
Houston has seen a gentle density revolution since the 1990s. Allowing neighborhoods to opt out of citywide reforms was crucial.
18 votes -
The most powerful fire truck ever created
2 votes -
At least thirty protesters arrested during pro-Palestinian protest at UT Austin
52 votes -
Dozens of Texas water systems exceed new federal PFAS limits
12 votes -
10-year-old Texas boy linked to 2022 killing, according to officials
11 votes -
Connecting solar to the grid is harder than you think
13 votes -
Oceans of Slumber - Where Gods Fear to Speak (2024)
2 votes -
Rio Grande Valley organizations suing Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to protect sacred tribal land from Elon Musk's SpaceX
16 votes -
Texas' skyscrapers are going dark to keep billions of birds safe
13 votes -
Texas is replacing thousands of human exam graders with AI
33 votes -
American contracts bird flu after exposure to virus spreading in cows
17 votes -
Wait, does America suddenly have a record number of bees?
27 votes -
A mistake in a Tesla and a panicked final call: The death of Angela Chao
27 votes -
Texan newcomer helps dispel the myth that sumo is a closed world
11 votes -
What Texas can teach San Francisco and London about building houses: it’s not a housing crisis — it’s a planning crisis
13 votes -
Opinion: Tesla investors should think twice about Elon Musk’s plan to reincorporate in Texas
14 votes -
Researchers were able to isolate the brain from the rest of the body of a pig, and kept it alive and functioning for five hours
59 votes -
United States Justice Department report finds ‘cascading failures’ and ‘no urgency’ during Uvalde, Texas, shooting
54 votes