C-Cab's recent activity
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Comment on Sekiro: No Defeat | Official trailer 2 in ~anime
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Comment on Dune: Part Three | Teaser trailer in ~movies
C-Cab (edited )Link ParentThey really transformed Robert Pattinson with makeup, although a lot of it is probably due to the fact that they removed his eyebrows. I thought at first that the actor was Paul Bettany.They really transformed Robert Pattinson with makeup, although a lot of it is probably due to the fact that they removed his eyebrows. I thought at first that the actor was Paul Bettany.
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Comment on Genetically modified bacteria convert plastic waste into Parkinson's drug in ~health
C-Cab (edited )LinkOverall this sounds exciting - I love the idea of integrating recycling and upcycling across different domains. Regarding the idea of repurposing the polyethylene terephthalate waste from...Overall this sounds exciting - I love the idea of integrating recycling and upcycling across different domains.
Regarding the idea of repurposing the polyethylene terephthalate waste from landfills/plastic pollution, is it feasible to source the plastic waste? I have no idea about the processes involved here, but I'm wondering if there are any cleaning/purifying procedures that would have to be done that this article glosses over which might make this much more costly than anticipated. Not that it wouldn't be worth it - often it seems doing the sustainable thing is more costly than doing the easy approach.
Another question I have is what about any by-products from the conversion of polyethylene terephthalate into the substrate for the initial reaction, terephthalic acid, as well as the intermediary steps along the way to creating L-DOPA. I checked out the primary source and saw that they don't have a clear solution for that yet, so this probably has some time before we could start handing out L-DOPA made from plastic to Parkinson's patients, but it is a great proof of concept.
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Comment on Sekiro: No Defeat | Official trailer 2 in ~anime
C-Cab (edited )LinkWhoo boy this looks really good. I admittedly had to drop the video game because I was not in the mood to beat my head against the wall regarding the Guardian Ape (I think I had tried him like 10...Whoo boy this looks really good. I admittedly had to drop the video game because I was not in the mood to beat my head against the wall regarding the Guardian Ape (I think I had tried him like 10 times with no real progress), but I loved the story the game was building. I'm very excited to catch this when it releases.
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Sekiro: No Defeat | Official trailer 2
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Comment on Dune: Part Three | Teaser trailer in ~movies
C-Cab LinkGiven how much I enjoyed the parts 1 and 2 I'm pumped for this last one. I wonder what the run time is going to be. I'm quite frankly impressed they packed so much story into 2h35 minutes for part...Given how much I enjoyed the parts 1 and 2 I'm pumped for this last one. I wonder what the run time is going to be. I'm quite frankly impressed they packed so much story into 2h35 minutes for part 2, although I wish it had gone a little bit slower.
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Comment on A writing professor’s new task in the age of AI: Teaching students when to struggle in ~life
C-Cab Link ParentOh yeah I wholeheartedly agree that many students have no issues with the credit-load, but I think usually they are either well-prepared for it or may not have to worry about balancing a job and a...Oh yeah I wholeheartedly agree that many students have no issues with the credit-load, but I think usually they are either well-prepared for it or may not have to worry about balancing a job and a personal life. Totally see where you're coming from with that.
I appreciate that you're keeping the perspective on what's good for the student may not be good for the university. These academic institutions some fight really hard to maintain certain reputations about retention and graduation rates and some people may not benefit from the rigid way universities are structured, at least not at that point in their lives. I dropped out for a couple of years because I just was not taking school seriously and did not feel ready for it, and when I came back I felt much more prepared.
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Comment on A writing professor’s new task in the age of AI: Teaching students when to struggle in ~life
C-Cab Link ParentHow much of this urge to find the shortcut is a result of students being overworked with their course load (on top of a very natural urge to minimize effort)? I know there isn't a single cause to...How much of this urge to find the shortcut is a result of students being overworked with their course load (on top of a very natural urge to minimize effort)? I know there isn't a single cause to any of this, and that there will always be students that don't want to engage with the content and are just looking to get an easy grade no matter how few classes they take. But it seems like one clear issue with this is some students are taking too many courses and have too much work to do that it simply isn't feasible to dedicate enough time to each individual class on top of having a personal life and potentially working. I totally get the monetary reasons why they are overloading courses - it is the smart choice if you are taking on lots of debt to get an education.
I don't think that universities should be holding student's hostage and keeping them in school forever, but I hear the amount of courses my students are taking and thinking about how much time we suggest they spend studying outside of class and there's just not enough hours in the week for that to happen for many students. So that incentive to use the shortcut feels really strong.
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Comment on Researchers develop biodegradable, plant‑based packaging from natural fibers – new research in ~science
C-Cab Link ParentNo doubt from heavy lobbying from the oil/plastic industry. We use honeybee wax cloth to cover a lot of our left overs at home and find that it does a great job.No doubt from heavy lobbying from the oil/plastic industry. We use honeybee wax cloth to cover a lot of our left overs at home and find that it does a great job.
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Comment on Researchers develop biodegradable, plant‑based packaging from natural fibers – new research in ~science
C-Cab LinkFood for thought: I've often wondered about bio-degradable alternatives to plastic, especially since the majority of our plastic comes from fossil fuels. It was interesting reading the iterative...Food for thought: I've often wondered about bio-degradable alternatives to plastic, especially since the majority of our plastic comes from fossil fuels. It was interesting reading the iterative process of making a better container product - I'm hoping that it sees widespread use and might keep an eye out for any products that mention having it.
One thing I'm thinking about - where would they source the chitin from to meet demand? My initial thought was mushroom agriculture, but I don't know if that's more or less feasible than crustacean farming. Maybe there's a way to synthesize chitin that wouldn't require an agriculture source of any kind that I'm not aware of?
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Comment on Researchers develop biodegradable, plant‑based packaging from natural fibers – new research in ~science
C-Cab LinkExcerpts from the article: ... ... ...Excerpts from the article:
On a whim, Jie measured the rate at which oxygen passed through the film. The result was astonishing: The barrier allowed less oxygen through than many existing packaging plastics. That serendipitous finding in 2014 shifted my team of engineering students’ focus from color to packaging. We asked whether natural materials could rival the performance of common plastics. In the years since, our team has used this discovery to create biodegradable films that offer a more sustainable and effective alternative to plastic packaging.
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In 2018, the team made an important leap forward by using spray coating to create layers of chitin and cellulose nanomaterials. Cellulose, like chitin, is a carbohydrate polymer – a chain of repeating carbohydrate units – and it is obtained from plants. These abundant natural materials have opposite electric charges, which led to better barrier performance when we combined them than either material alone.
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...Our team’s most recent achievement, from October 2025, combines the above innovations. As a result, we’ve created a bio-based film that is an excellent barrier to both oxygen and moisture.
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The next challenge is scaling up from experimental films to industrial production, which would likely take several years. The team is exploring roll-to-roll coating techniques and working with industry partners to integrate these materials into existing packaging lines.
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Researchers develop biodegradable, plant‑based packaging from natural fibers – new research
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Comment on A writing professor’s new task in the age of AI: Teaching students when to struggle in ~life
C-Cab Link ParentI'm fairly reticent to the usage of LLMs in my daily life for a multitude of reasons, but as you point out if I want to properly teach students responsible use of it this means having to learn it...I'm fairly reticent to the usage of LLMs in my daily life for a multitude of reasons, but as you point out if I want to properly teach students responsible use of it this means having to learn it myself.
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Comment on In noisy surroundings, your techniques to learn to center attention and ignore distraction? in ~life
C-Cab LinkOne thing I would recommend in trying to get better at filtering is practicing it at home. Consider leaving on a TV, computer, smart phone on speaker, etc. while you do stuff around the house....One thing I would recommend in trying to get better at filtering is practicing it at home. Consider leaving on a TV, computer, smart phone on speaker, etc. while you do stuff around the house. When you're having breaks, practice sitting there and focusing on your thoughts with the distractions going on. While we all have varying degrees of aptitude with varying cognitive skills such as attention, these can be trained to some extent.
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Comment on A writing professor’s new task in the age of AI: Teaching students when to struggle in ~life
C-Cab (edited )LinkFood for thought: I've been trying to keep explicit LLM use in my class to a minimum. I demonstrate to my students that it's not always reliable but that it has some potential uses. I tell them...Food for thought: I've been trying to keep explicit LLM use in my class to a minimum. I demonstrate to my students that it's not always reliable but that it has some potential uses. I tell them which uses are appropriate for our class and then I leave it at that.
Part of my resistance to incorporating the critical analysis of LLMs in my class is because I haven't yet settled on what I think is the appropriate usage. The capabilities of these models have greatly shifted from when they were first released and I was experimenting with them. What will these tools look like and how will we engage with them in the next 3 years?
But something the author wrote stuck out to me - having students discern their own thinking in parallel with LLM outputs. I really like this idea as a means of having the student compare their own writing and thought process to that of the model's. This would require, as noted in the article, that I set aside some time in class to make sure students are doing some of their own writing, but it feels like a way that makes sense to me.
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Comment on A writing professor’s new task in the age of AI: Teaching students when to struggle in ~life
C-Cab LinkExcerpts from the article: ... ... ...Excerpts from the article:
So what does “getting learning right” look like in the age of generative AI? It involves a lot of experimentation and leaning in with students as a co-learner when I don’t have all of the answers, while remaining staunchly committed to sharing my expertise in writing, critical thinking and learning. I also hope that they trust me enough to follow my lead and persevere when the work becomes difficult.
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I asked: Where would your own work – your own human thinking – need to come in to create a tiny piece of new knowledge in the world? We practiced primary research, we used time during class for reading and annotating, and I extended deadlines to account for the rigor we were undertaking.
AI usage was discouraged but not outright banned: If used, careful and explicit descriptions of exactly how were required, and I even gave examples of things like brainstorming academic titles as a potential option. While not all of the final research projects seemed completely AI-generated, the few that did caused me to spiral – like it was my fault that I didn’t come down harder on not using AI when I was trying to be neutral and understand how we could use it as a tool and not as a replacement.
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But here’s the honest difficulty: When students use AI, they often can’t tell when they’re shortcutting their own thinking. A study published from late 2024 in the British Journal of Educational Technology found that students using ChatGPT improved their essay scores in the short term but showed no meaningful gains in knowledge. Moreover, they were prone to what the researchers called “metacognitive laziness,” meaning a dependence on the tool that undermined their ability to self-regulate and engage deeply in learning. This is a result of cognitive offloading.
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If students are going to continue encountering these tools throughout their lives, then ignoring that reality does them no favors. My responsibility is to help them develop the judgment to decide when a shortcut is strategic and when it undermines their own thinking. That is pro-learning.
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A writing professor’s new task in the age of AI: Teaching students when to struggle
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Comment on Are you a morning person or a night owl? in ~talk
C-Cab Link ParentOh I feel ya on that. During grad school I would sometimes lie awake for hours thinking about all the things I had to get done that I had been putting off.Oh I feel ya on that. During grad school I would sometimes lie awake for hours thinking about all the things I had to get done that I had been putting off.
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Comment on Are you a morning person or a night owl? in ~talk
C-Cab (edited )Link ParentThat is a pretty nice feeling. It's especially nice having a glass of wine and reflecting on the day and life generally, as long as it's not too stressful.That is a pretty nice feeling. It's especially nice having a glass of wine and reflecting on the day and life generally, as long as it's not too stressful.
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Comment on Are you a morning person or a night owl? in ~talk
C-Cab Link ParentThat is really rough with the insomnia. Do you feel like there was anything in particular that triggered it?That is really rough with the insomnia. Do you feel like there was anything in particular that triggered it?
I can't tell you for sure seeing as how I haven't watched the anime yet. I can see some major plot points in the trailer that occurred in the game, so I am guessing it's a reimagining/adaptation. It does not appear to be a sequel as far as I can tell.