drannex's recent activity

  1. Comment on Engineers develop a recipe for zero-emissions fuel: soda cans (aluminium), seawater and caffeine in ~science

    drannex
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    [..] I had heard that adding caffeine to lithium batteries can speed up and reduce needs for lithium, but that it extends out to producing hydrogen is absolutely fascinating. I've written before...

    In a study appearing today in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science, the researchers show they can produce hydrogen gas by dropping pretreated, pebble-sized aluminum pellets into a beaker of filtered seawater. The aluminum is pretreated with a rare-metal alloy that effectively scrubs aluminum into a pure form that can react with seawater to generate hydrogen. The salt ions in the seawater can in turn attract and recover the alloy, which can be reused to generate more hydrogen in a sustainable cycle.

    The team found that this reaction between aluminum and seawater successfully produces hydrogen gas, though slowly. On a lark, they tossed into the mix some coffee grounds and found, to their surprise, that the reaction picked up its pace.

    In the end, the team discovered that a low concentration of imidazole—an active ingredient in caffeine—is enough to significantly speed up the reaction, producing the same amount of hydrogen in just five minutes, compared to two hours without the added stimulant.

    [..]

    "We're showing a new way to produce hydrogen fuel, without carrying hydrogen but carrying aluminum as the 'fuel,'" Kombargi says. "The next part is to figure out how to use this for trucks, trains, and maybe airplanes. Perhaps, instead of having to carry water as well, we could extract water from the ambient humidity to produce hydrogen. That's down the line."

    "The researchers believe they have the essential ingredients to run a sustainable hydrogen reactor. They plan to test it first in marine and underwater vehicles. They've calculated that such a reactor, holding about 40 pounds of aluminum pellets, could power a small underwater glider for about 30 days by pumping in surrounding seawater and generating hydrogen to power a motor."

    I had heard that adding caffeine to lithium batteries can speed up and reduce needs for lithium, but that it extends out to producing hydrogen is absolutely fascinating. I've written before that I believe the best future solid energy is going to be Hydrogen, but aluminum hydrogen? I hope this helps energize the integration of this wonderful fuel.

    12 votes

  3. Comment on Study shock! AI hinders productivity and makes working worse. in ~tech

    drannex
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    I think of AI coding as this: You have one or two junior developers under you, they are new, they studied the basic concepts and understand how to make somewhat complex ones. But they are still...

    I think of AI coding as this:

    You have one or two junior developers under you, they are new, they studied the basic concepts and understand how to make somewhat complex ones. But they are still junior developers, they've never compiled a complete program, they don't know about data or architectures, they are new to the industry.

    When you're stumped, and you want some fresh ideas, ask them how it would work as an exercise, and then grade them on their performance and how you could do what they suggested, but make it better. Your edits are just redlines on a printed diagram for them and you are the teacher grading them.

    They're junior developers, you need to ensure that what they write works, and that includes ensuring there aren't any mistakes.

    And sometimes, they are just absolute idiots who need to start from scratch.

    6 votes

  4. Comment on Personal blogging in ~tildes

    drannex
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    I am on the other side; I detest the brevity and shortness that has consumed all types of communications lately. I adore writing in all its forms, sure sometimes they become too wordy, but humans...

    Brevity is to appreciate people's time, sorry to go off course but just a little pet peeve of mine about the many blogs I've encountered.

    I am on the other side; I detest the brevity and shortness that has consumed all types of communications lately. I adore writing in all its forms, sure sometimes they become too wordy, but humans in general when they are talking passionately about things that interest them in person will talk and ramble their way on. I say let them do so in text, a formalized method with editing to connect the dots that their mind explores (Edit: like this comment! It's an edit! You can't do that in real life well! I mistyped 'talking' for 'writing' and that didn't make sense in this context, but now it does!)

    Brevity is great for abstract distillations, but longform writing (even in microblog/tumblog formats!) showcase personality that the abstract drops. For the writer of text - longer form writing is beneficial in expanding your thoughts and ideas and decision, creating a line of unconnected dots and allowing sentence structure to be the railway for the train of thoughts as it travels from snowy lands to the swamps of the land, the sentence railway guides and connects them although they are unlike one another. For the reader of text - it creates something they can become attached to, something they remember as they spent time consuming it. They are the passengers on the train, and they are excited to be visiting different lands and ideas, but there might be a section that is a bit boring and tedious or too familiar, so they nap! They sleep to pass the time and skip to the more interesting parts of the journey.

    There are very few times, if any, where the power of "I wish this was shorter" was more powerful in my mind than the articles that I have read and go "I wish this was longer! I need more!" only to let it leave my mind because there wasn't more included. Details are important, you can't get that in brevity. How many short posts does one consume in a day, what is the percentage you can rattle off and remember in their entirety, if at all - but how many longer forms of writing do you remember, ponder, and think about as it had time to gestate and sit in that hungry organ of the mind and brain.

    I don't care about appreciating people's time with writing, if they want to speedread it go ahead, if they want to stop reading it halfway through - great! If they want to nap and skip the better parts, great! I'm sure many people saw this wall of text and went "yeaaaaah, no." and passed on it. And that's fine. Let them, that's the beauty of long-form test, you do not have to read it all to understand the parts that interest you.

    Since we're a technology-focused place I'll use this as an example: I would prefer documentation that was overly verbose on each function and charsets and arguments and include the entire history of the decision making, than any documentation that just says that a feature is there and it has two options. Even if it solves my question for reading it, I would always prefer the documentation with more information to flip and scroll through.

    9 votes

  5. Comment on Personal blogging in ~tildes

    drannex
    Link Parent
    That could work to start, I suppose. To test the waters. We could expand it from standard 'small-web' things like personal blogs, but also to things like threads on other networks that might be of...

    That could work to start, I suppose. To test the waters.

    We could expand it from standard 'small-web' things like personal blogs, but also to things like threads on other networks that might be of interest. Either things we write, or ones we find interesting that we feel warrant being posted (but not specifically as a thread).

    The only problem is that this breaks our tagging and search systems, which I think are important, but it could be a good step? I still prefer ~blogs as an addition, but this isn't a bad idea.

    8 votes

  6. Comment on Personal blogging in ~tildes

    drannex
    Link Parent
    We've always had a lightly supported self-promotion policy, but that it had a very short leash. Officially:

    We've always had a lightly supported self-promotion policy, but that it had a very short leash.

    Officially:

    If you have your own site/project/channel/etc. that you'd like to share on Tildes, that's generally fine (in moderation), but it shouldn't be the primary reason that you post on the site. Tildes is a community, not a free advertising platform. Sharing your own content is welcome as long as you're involved in the community, but don't just treat Tildes as a source of an audience.

    22 votes

  7. Comment on Personal blogging in ~tildes

    drannex
    Link Parent
    I actually prefer that Tildes doesn't host any content other than text, it keeps it small and encourages more written than image based discussion (which always devolves). My post wasn't to use...

    I actually prefer that Tildes doesn't host any content other than text, it keeps it small and encourages more written than image based discussion (which always devolves).

    My post wasn't to use tildes as a blogging platform (something I have considered for myself multiple times), but for a community group that is purely for posting our own small-web articles on our own sites, or ones we find floating in the wind on this superhighway of ours. That way we can cultivate a better culture to share those sorts of things than just hard news links.

    10 votes

  8. Personal blogging

    ~tildes Ask
    Hey there everyone, I've been on here since near the start, and spend too much time finding content to post on here, but I just love this place. One thing I've noticed over the years is a severe...

    Hey there everyone,

    I've been on here since near the start, and spend too much time finding content to post on here, but I just love this place. One thing I've noticed over the years is a severe lack of personal articles, blogs, or the similar and I think it's to do with the 'officialness' of a lot of the topics.

    Would it be beneficial to just have a ~blogs section, to post links and thoughts on our personal writings? Even if that includes things like ~tech or ~cooking or whatever? Just to have a central place for our articles.

    I don't mind posting my own in ~tech, but I can imagine the hesitation for everyone else as those areas feel more in-tune with "news" than personal thoughts. We have ~creative, but that feels more for artistic endeavors and projects.

    Any ideas how we might be able to encourage more topics or links to personal (small-web) blogs (either your own, or someone else's) in the culture here? We seem to be becoming more and more a news aggregator, which is great because of the relevance and discussions (best on the web) but we have no real culture for small-web indie blogging.

    44 votes

  9. Comment on "Dark oxygen" production defies knowledge of the deep ocean, potentially upends standard model for discovering life on other planets in ~science

    drannex
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    I saw the list of materials that they said the nodules were made of and went "Oh, they're natural batteries, its electrolysis" and was shocked that they came to the same conclusion. I am working...

    I saw the list of materials that they said the nodules were made of and went "Oh, they're natural batteries, its electrolysis" and was shocked that they came to the same conclusion. I am working in the wrong field.

    The researchers think the same process - battery-powered oxygen production that requires no light and no biological process - could be happening on other moons and planets, creating oxygen-rich environments where life could thrive.

    20 votes

  11. Comment on We’re building nuclear spaceships again—this time for real in ~space

    drannex
    Link
    Really love that last line, and that the article includes the history of development. A lot of articles tend to leave out that bit (history) which imo is one of the most important parts of any...

    It took over 40 years before NASA brought up nuclear propulsion again, first in the short-lived Jupiter Icy Moon Orbiter project and then in the design reference architecture for human exploration of Mars. Powering the latter missions with a compact reactor could cut down Mars transit by more than half, to three to four months versus the six to nine months predicted for chemical rocket engines. Less time in space meant less exposure to radiation for the astronauts and fewer supplies for the trip.

    So, in 2017, NASA started a small-scale NTR research program. The budget was just a hair above $18 million, but it was something. Two years later, Congress passed an appropriation bill that granted $125 million for developing NTRs. Things were progressing, but they were mostly paper studies, followed by more paper studies, followed by even more paper studies.

    And then on June 17, 2020, DARPA entered the chat and said, “We want a nuclear rocket.” Not just another paper study—a demonstrator.

    Really love that last line, and that the article includes the history of development. A lot of articles tend to leave out that bit (history) which imo is one of the most important parts of any scientific and technological reporting.

    12 votes

  14. Comment on Terminator Zero | Official teaser trailer in ~anime

    drannex
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    I saw a comment describe it as "Homemade DIY AI versus Corporate Military AI"

    In Japan, Malcolm Lee has been developing another AI system that is intended to compete with Skynet. As Judgment Day approaches in 1997, Lee finds himself and his three children pursued by an unknown robot assassin, and a mysterious soldier from the year 2022 has been sent to protect him.

    I saw a comment describe it as "Homemade DIY AI versus Corporate Military AI"

    3 votes

  16. Comment on Spotify is no longer just a streaming app, it’s a social network in ~tech

    drannex
    Link
    I mean that's basically how they started through their integration with FB in the super early days, its quite literally the way they survived and are still around today was launching on that so...

    I mean that's basically how they started through their integration with FB in the super early days, its quite literally the way they survived and are still around today was launching on that so hard. In a way its a return to their roots, but with the modern amount of enshitification added and without the soul or heart.

    2 votes

  17. Comment on Spotify is no longer just a streaming app, it’s a social network in ~tech

    drannex
    Link Parent
    Same here, and now I get a few kicks when I find a song with only one or two "likes" or a comment of someone somewhere enjoying the same piece of weird eclectic and niche musi enough to reach out...

    Same here, and now I get a few kicks when I find a song with only one or two "likes" or a comment of someone somewhere enjoying the same piece of weird eclectic and niche musi enough to reach out into the void of the web. I don't know, its just comforting, cozy even.

    1 vote

  18. Comment on James Carville: Joe Biden won’t win. Democrats need a plan. Here’s one. (gifted link) in ~misc

    drannex
    (edited )
    Link
    This is going to sound, lame? But, If the DNC had any semblance of strategy they would have done two things preparing for this election: Went absolutely heavy in some form of governmental...

    This is going to sound, lame? But, If the DNC had any semblance of strategy they would have done two things preparing for this election:

    1. Went absolutely heavy in some form of governmental propaganda espousing the great things the government has done, the great things our country has done over the last hundred years (right to vote, improvements to health, scientific innovation, aerospace, internet, electricity, the whole lot). Just unleashed an entire government-led campaign of America as the innovation capital. I realize they are absolutely opposed to any form of propaganda on philosophical grounds, but its needed. Take back the narrative of "make america great again" and run with "America has always been great (for narrative purposes), but let's make it better, for everyone". Bring back the marketing departments that we all somehow fondly remember of the 1950-70s, the "Got Milk" of it all, and run hard. Stylized, and everywhere you go – The Bernie 2016 campaign got the closest to starting that, and it was well done and incredibly effective . It had style and substance.

    2. Stood in a much younger, incredibly attractive person. I know, that's taboo to openly say, but its what they needed. Someone who would run so incredibly different to Trump that you bring in people who aren't even into politics just wanting to vote for the younger candidate. They don't even have to be a household name like AOC, who I hope runs on 2028, but just anyone younger with a decent clean background. Joe Kennedy III comes to mind just because he has some experience in politics, has a namesake legacy name attached, and is decent.

    They really just suck at changing the narrative, or thinking ahead. They are stuck in their echo chambers of political campaigns and rarely think about optics like they used to.

    2 votes

  20. Comment on Gundam Breaker 4 × Pac-Man Collaboration in ~games

    drannex
    Link
    They just announced GB4 the other day, and now they have a Pac-Man Collaboration. I am posting this purely for the absolute ridiculousness of this concept, and that it looks like a lot of fun.

    Publisher Bandai Namco and developer Crafts & Meister have announced a Gundam Breaker 4 collaboration with PAC-MAN, as well as an open network test that will run from July 18 to 20.

    They just announced GB4 the other day, and now they have a Pac-Man Collaboration. I am posting this purely for the absolute ridiculousness of this concept, and that it looks like a lot of fun.

    4 votes