All joking aside, I just finished a ‘novel’ – felt more like a barely-fictional compilation of what we know so far regarding climate change science – in which figuring out how to slow down extreme global heat involved pumping out the water under Antarctica’s ice shelves (causing the shelves to slip into warmer ocean waters instead of remaining frozen to the rock foundation) to refreeze on top. Interesting premise.
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The Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Villigen, northern Switzerland, has set a new world record for X-ray precision. Researchers peered inside a computer chip and obtained an image with a resolution of four nanometres.
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… Paolo Bacigalupi said he had to make up extra science-fictiony background elements for his climate-disaster novel “The Water Knife” because that’s what the publisher wanted 
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Have they tried adding hot sauce?
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We can only hope so…
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Not sure how I feel about this one…
The goal, Techtmann hastens to add, is not to feed people plastic. Rather, the hope is that the plastic-devouring microbes in his system will themselves prove fit for human consumption. While Techtmann believes most of the project will be ready in a year or two, it’s this food step that could take longer. His team is currently doing toxicity testing, and then they will submit their results to the Food and Drug Administration for review. Even if all that goes smoothly, an additional challenge awaits. There’s an ick factor, said Techtmann, “that I think would have to be overcome.”
That would be, I suspect, an understatement. Will be interesting to see where this goes, though.
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They’re gonna eat the plastic in my brain and leave it all Swiss cheesy.
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… in reality two earths in the same orbit would not stay on opposite sides, but apparently “12 to 24 seems to be very stable”
Klemperer Rosettes
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Researchers aboard the Falkor, a state-of-the-art research vessel, used a remotely operated vehicle named SuBastian to collect images and samples during deep sea exploration with much greater accuracy and success than the satellite imagery used in the past to map the sea floor, Virmani said.
Detecting a neverending theme here, eh?
The pristine ecosystem is so far from any coastline that it appears almost untouched by pollution, Virmani said. The region is a high-priority area for international marine protection and has been earmarked to potentially be one of the first high-seas marine protected areas due to the enormous biodiversity and the unusual geology – as well as the unique physical and chemical characteristics for that part of the world, she said.
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The Schmidt Ocean Institute are an interesting institution. I am by no means a fan of billionaires, but what Eric (former Google CEO) and Wendy Schmidt are doing is the best case scenario. Rather than a super yacht they (or rather their foundation) own the aforementioned RV Falkor (too)[1].
Like OceanX, a similar operation that’s seeking the media spotlight more (probably because they are financed by high-profile public and sponsor support), they’re an independent oceanographic research institute that do good work.
I first came across the Schmidt Foundation because they also sponsor 11th Hour Racing Team,[2] who won the latest Ocean Race, a crewed sailing race around the globe.
Philanthropy makes me queasy, but it’s better than all that money being spent on yet another yacht support vessel to haul supercars around the world for the off chance that the owner wants to drive their Maserati when they arrive.
And yes, one of the Schmidts is clearly a fan of the Neverending Story.
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This is weird and interesting:
Scientists use food dye found in Doritos to make see-through mice
WaPo don’t OneBox, but the link is free.
EDIT: here are photos of the transparent mice:
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Not really sure where to put this:
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