For understandable reasons, we have been focusing a lot on the West, but there's a much broader signal. Many stations across the entire southern half of the U.S. are recording their highest average maximum temperatures on record so far this March.

Graphic by https://sercc.com/

Another discussion on biking with a skirt on (and tagged with #solarpunksunday ) brought back a vague memory that my mom had a crocheted skirt guard in her bike when I was little.

So, after some pondering, I of course had to search online is there patterns for skirt guards, or was it just a fashion phase. Turns out there is.

1/

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pimp-your-bike-crocheted-skirt-guards

Save the date! May 27th! #PortlandME - Making #Habitat at Home

Rines Auditorium, #PortlandPublicLibrary
Wednesday, May 27, 2026
5:30pm–7:00pm
Free. Adults 19+.

"This presentation will describe the fundamentals of making habitat at home with #NativePlants. As #ExtremeWeather becomes more common, our spaces can serve as a vital habitat and climate refuge for #wildlife, providing much-needed relief from #HeatWaves, desiccating winds, and heavy downpours.

"#TylerRefsland, Manager of Applied Ecology at the Wild Seed Project (#WSP), has an extensive background in plant ecology, forest restoration, and climate change. He holds a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he studied how land management practices affect the drought resilience and carbon storing capacity of oak-hickory woodlands. Prior to his role at WSP, Tyler was a postdoctoral researcher at Michigan State University, working in collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service and Wisconsin DNR to develop seed collection and planting strategies to promote climate resilient forests in the Great Lakes region. He lives in Portland with his partner, their two children, and dog Harriet

"Portland’s Sustainability Series is co-hosted by the Portland Public Library and #MomentumConservation, and is sponsored by Bangor Savings Bank. The Portland Sustainability Series presents speakers who share aspects of the work needed to make Maine and our environment more sustainable. Please join us as we engage in these important topics and conversations!"

FMI:
https://portlandme.librarycalendar.com/event/sustainability-series-draft-7986

#SolarPunkSunday #MaineEvents #GardeningForWildlife #GardeningWithNativePlants #ClimateChange

And so it begins...

https://www.businessinsider.com/robot-dogs-quadruped-data-center-security-boston-dynamics-ghost-robotics-2026-3

Gizmodo: A Dish of Neurons Playing DOOM Is the Wildest Thing I’ve Seen in Ages. “A couple of years ago, a company called Cortical Labs released a video that showed a simplified version of Pong being played by a culture of human neurons in a Petri dish. The idea that a bunch of neurons in a dish can do anything is impressive enough, but it turns out that things have gotten significantly […]

"In a development straight out of science fiction, Australian startup Cortical Labs has released what it calls the world’s first code-deployable biological computer. The CL1, which debuted in March, fuses human brain cells on a silicon chip to process information via sub-millisecond electrical feedback loops.

Designed as a tool for neuroscience and biotech research, the CL1 offers a new way to study how brain cells process and react to stimuli. Unlike conventional silicon-based systems, the hybrid platform uses live human neurons capable of adapting, learning, and responding to external inputs in real time.

“On one view, [the CL1] could be regarded as the first commercially available biomimetic computer, the ultimate in neuromorphic computing that uses real neurons,” says theoretical neuroscientist Karl Friston of University College London. “However, the real gift of this technology is not to computer science. Rather, it’s an enabling technology that allows scientists to perform experiments on a little synthetic brain.”"

https://spectrum.ieee.org/biological-computer-for-sale

#Biocomputing #Neuroscience #CorticalLabs #BrainCells #Neurons

Australian Startup's Brain-Cell Data Centers Offer Radical Energy Alternative to GPU Giants

#CorticalLabs #AIInfrastructure #EnergyEfficiency #AusNews

https://thedailyperspective.org/article/2026-03-11-australian-startups-brain-cell-data-centers-offer-radical-energy-alternative-to--096cc401