cufcman

@cufcman@mastodon.green
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527 Following
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NASA Administrator to Visit, Sign Agreement with Peru’s Space Agency - NASA

Continuing his engagement to deepen international collaboration and promote the peaceful use of space, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson will travel to Lima on

NASA
Eigg isn't connected to the UK national grid. Instead we generate 90% to 95% of our electricity from wind, sun, & water (hydro). Community-owned Eigg Electric was switched on in 2008. Islanders are trained and employed to manage it. Electricity costs 28p per unit/kWh. Before 2008 each property had its own diesel generator. Now we have 24kW of wind, 110kW of hydro, 170kW of solar PV, storage batteries, and a back up generator. Next challenge is #netzero #renewables #eigg http://isleofeigg.org/eigg-electric/
Eigg Electric - The Isle of Eigg

Eigg is not connected to the mainland electricity supply.  After decades of diesel generators, Eigg Electric provided 24 hour power for the first time in February 2008.  Eigg Electric is a community owned, managed and maintained company which provides electricity for all island residents from the renewable sources of water, sun, and wind.   No more pouring smelly […]

The Isle of Eigg
Diamond data storage to the return of the dodo: The year in science

With 2023 drawing to a close, it's once again time to look at the significant, intriguing, and sometimes just plain daft science stories of the year. So, let's dive in and see what the science types have been up to.

New Atlas
AI-screened eye pics diagnose childhood autism with 100% accuracy

Researchers have taken photographs of children’s retinas and screened them using a deep learning AI algorithm to diagnose autism with 100% accuracy. The findings support using AI as an objective screening tool for early diagnosis, especially when access to a specialist child psychiatrist is limited.

New Atlas
Taxing Wealth Report 2024: The UK needs an Office for Tax Responsibility https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2023/12/19/taxing-wealth-report-2024-the-uk-needs-an-office-for-tax-responsibility/. The governance of the UK's tax system is dire. HMRC is unaccountable. There is no direct ministerial line of responsibility. Parliament does not have the power to investigate, and HMRC marks its own work when preparing tax gap data. We need an Office for Tax Responsibility reporting to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee to create necessary accountability.
It is time to end the payment of most interest to commercial by the Bank of England

I got this link from Steve Keen, whose Substack is worth subscribing to. Ted Cruz has claimed that the Federal Reserve should stop paying banks interest on Reserves: The Federal Reserve pays banks interest on reserves. For most of the history of The Fed, they never did that. But for a little...

Funding the Future
Liathach was looking menacing yesterday.
Une hirondelle de rivage en vol
#photographie #photography
D’autres photos ici sur mon nouveau site :
https://www.superbe-nature.fr/oiseaux/mesanges-orites-et-hirondelles
Mésanges orites et hirondelles / Oiseaux | Superbe-nature

Fourth para from the end...

The UK water industry is broken from nearly 35 years of privatisation, Steve Reed.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/20/defras-failure-to-protect-and-restore-water-bodies-unlawful-high-court-rules

#conservatives #labour #privatisation

Defra’s failure to protect and restore water bodies ‘unlawful’, high court rules

Landmark finding in judicial review over management of Costa Beck river could force overhaul of government’s plans

The Guardian
To confront injustice, we can teach children media literacy. Media literacy in public school curricula legislation will begin in California next year. Media Literacy Now indicates Texas, New Jersey and Delaware have passed “strong media literacy laws.” #confrontinjustice #criticalthinkingskills https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-11-19/california-commits-to-media-literacy-classes
California commits to teaching 'media literacy' in schools

Requied media literacy courses will slowly be integrated into the curriculum of California students from kindergarten through high school.

Los Angeles Times
On the one hand business as usual leads to civilisation at risk and a Hobbesian future, on the other, we change the system, stop investing our pensions in the oil/gas/coal industries and get that economics don’t trump planetary capacity. As a species, I’m not optimistic we can, but we have to try. To not try is to fail. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/20/restaurants-pets-holidays-how-uk-well-off-have-outsize-carbon-footprints
Restaurants, pets and holidays: how UK’s well-off have outsize carbon footprints

Data shows baby boomers have highest emissions and London has lower footprint than rest of UK

The Guardian