Technology, Science and the Environment.

[whoareyaaa]

 

[blabyboy]

10 hours ago, Sampson said:

Given who is behind the technology, I don’t trust that one but sadly. 4 more years of AI slop improving until it’s hard to tell facts from its self-checking made up “truth” will have a huge impact on the 2029 elections.

As Steve Bannon, you need to flood the zone with 5h!t. 

 

Keep ppl off their equilibrium hide the truth amongst a sea of lies.

[Sampson]

Just thinking about how Deus Ex and Metal Gear Solid 2 - games from 2000 and 2001 respectively sadly got a lot right with regards to the internet. I remember when I used to think this was about conspiracy theories, now it kind of accurately describes Facebook and YouTube algorithms and AI. 

 

 

[leicsmac]

1 minute ago, Sampson said:

Just thinking about how Deus Ex and Metal Gear Solid 2 - games from 2000 and 2001 respectively sadly got a lot right with regards to the internet. I remember when I used to think this was about conspiracy theories, now it kind of accurately describes Facebook and YouTube algorithms and AI. 

 

 

The MGS2 Colonel monologue should really be preserved as a piece of cultural iconography, tbh. Maybe it was mostly luck but it's predicted the current situation we're in practically to a T.

[Zear0]

0130 kickoff on the 14th for Starship 11.  Probably won't be awake to see if it can follow the success of 10 which shares most of the same objectives.  Launch and catch, ship landing in Indian Ocean and Starlink deployment simulations.

[leicsmac]

https://time.com/7325192/cdc-firings-government-shutdown-trump/

 

Dr. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, said Friday’s layoffs would be a death blow for an agency that has already been gutted by previous cuts under Kennedy’s leadership.

“CDC will have lost its ability to detect outbreaks and respond to them. It will no longer be able to track diseases, in America and around the globe. That includes infectious threats like flu, foodborne illnesses, and Ebola, as well as chronic diseases and injuries,” she said. 

 

A much freer hand for the next pandemic, then. 

[Trav Le Bleu]

48 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

 

A much freer hand for the next pandemic, then. 

Good, I like a co-operative boardgame. 

[Trav Le Bleu]

Played a board game this evening that @leicsmac would probably like - Earth Rising.

 

A co-operative game for up to 6 players where you have to get industry, agriculture, energy use, culture, politics and infrastructure to work together and stabilise the world in 20 years (turns).

 

 

We nearly got overwhelmed by energy usage, but managed to bring everything under control with 2 years to spare.

 

Always a disappointment to win a co-op game the first time you play it but we just go lucky. We checked the cards for the final 2 years ... We'd have been obliterated!

 

Ok, so it's just a game, but I think it does a great job of showing how all these different areas are interconnected. The balancing of resources and the cooperation you have to put in and some sacrifices are all there and the game does a great job of making them vital, or it's game over!

 

Not only but also, the game is environmentally sound. No plastic pieces, it's all card from recycled sources and the game creators really have done a good job of making what is a primarily fun game, educational too.

 

Worth a look if you like a game now and again.

[leicsmac]

On 09/10/2025 at 23:34, Zear0 said:

0130 kickoff on the 14th for Starship 11.  Probably won't be awake to see if it can follow the success of 10 which shares most of the same objectives.  Launch and catch, ship landing in Indian Ocean and Starlink deployment simulations.

Another win for SpaceX, highly successful flight. Hopefully they've ironed out most of the engineering difficulties that gave them issues on the first few flights of this Starship iteration.

[SpacedX]

7 hours ago, leicsmac said:

Another win for SpaceX, highly successful flight. Hopefully they've ironed out most of the engineering difficulties that gave them issues on the first few flights of this Starship iteration.

S38 Block 2 and the final test of the Block 2 Super Heavy. 

 

The final boostback turn is so spectacular. 

 

Flight 12 will feature the first use of Block 3 vehicles and will again be sub-orbital into the Indian Ocean. 

[davieG]

 

[leicsmac]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3vnl0yxg53o

 

A landmark deal to cut global shipping emissions has been abandoned after Saudi Arabia and the US succeeded in ending the talks.

More than 100 countries had gathered in London to approve a deal first agreed in April, which would have seen shipping become the world's first industry to adopt internationally mandated targets to reduce emissions.

But US President Donald Trump had called the plan a "green scam" and representatives of his administration had threatened countries with tariffs if they voted in favour of it.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared the outcome a "huge win" for Trump.

 

Just when they couldn't get any more loathsome...

[blabyboy]

1 hour ago, leicsmac said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3vnl0yxg53o

 

A landmark deal to cut global shipping emissions has been abandoned after Saudi Arabia and the US succeeded in ending the talks.

More than 100 countries had gathered in London to approve a deal first agreed in April, which would have seen shipping become the world's first industry to adopt internationally mandated targets to reduce emissions.

But US President Donald Trump had called the plan a "green scam" and representatives of his administration had threatened countries with tariffs if they voted in favour of it.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared the outcome a "huge win" for Trump.

 

Just when they couldn't get any more loathsome...

Related (read about half way down to the shipping fuels theory)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce3xynwwx4yo

 

Maybe he's trying to buy time... So he can play golf at Turnbury more.

[leicsmac]

8 minutes ago, blabyboy said:

Related (read about half way down to the shipping fuels theory)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce3xynwwx4yo

 

Maybe he's trying to buy time... So he can play golf at Turnbury more.

Probably. 

 

As has been said before, the whole thing would be darkly hilarious were the consequences not so horrendous. 

[leicsmac]

When it comes to UK specific long-term infrastructure projects, there has to be a better way of ensuring their completion without money drain and party political flip-flopping than the current one.

 

Any ideas, because there's far too many essential big jobs that either don't get done or get done late and massively over budget because of the politicking?

Edited 22 October 2025 by leicsmac

[Trav Le Bleu]

This is a good article about why we need to worry about the environment in other countries....

 

Why supermarket prices really became sky high in the UK - BBC News

 

https://share.google/7W0aj5bPGBq5DDsxO

 

This quote sums it up...

 

A 2024 government report on food security noted: "The UK continues to be highly dependent on imports to meet consumer demand for fruit, vegetables and seafood...

 

"Many of the countries the UK imports these foods from are subject to their own climate-related challenges and sustainability risks."

 

You like oranges, tomatoes, bananas? Little bit of tumeric or ginger in your curry?

Would you like rice with that? Wash it down with a cup of coffee and some chocolate torte for dessert?

 

Guess we'll survive on root veg, brassica and apples, eh?

[ozleicester]

Amazing that..if we take action, we can improve things.
https://earth.org/green-sea-turtles-no-longer-endangered-species-in-major-conservation-win/

[leicsmac]

Rumours that the current US administration are going to completely defund/shutter NASA.

 

... congratulations on totally handing this century to the Chinese with practically zero effort needed on their part, guys. 

[leicsmac]

On 23/10/2025 at 14:35, leicsmac said:

Rumours that the current US administration are going to completely defund/shutter NASA.

 

... congratulations on totally handing this century to the Chinese with practically zero effort needed on their part, guys. 

On the above, good piece from Scott Manley (good bloke for anything about manned spaceflight) on the current Chinese Moon program:

 

 

[Tommy G]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1m3zm9jnl1o

[leicsmac]

14 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1m3zm9jnl1o

The more stories like this regarding creating ever more unemployed, unsupported and therefore disaffected people, the massive environmental concerns and the simple fact that at the moment you simply cannot train a machine to anticipate nearly as many eventualities as you need, the more it appears the AI bubble will pop, and reasonably soon. There's too many downsides to be ignored. 

 

The fact that the powers that be are trying to use it to prop up pretty much the entire market means it will also be ugly when it does.

[Trav Le Bleu]

6 hours ago, leicsmac said:

The more stories like this regarding creating ever more unemployed, unsupported and therefore disaffected people, the massive environmental concerns and the simple fact that at the moment you simply cannot train a machine to anticipate nearly as many eventualities as you need, the more it appears the AI bubble will pop, and reasonably soon. There's too many downsides to be ignored. 

 

The fact that the powers that be are trying to use it to prop up pretty much the entire market means it will also be ugly when it does.

Look Mac, I can see you're really upset about this. I honestly think you should sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over.

 

It can only be attributed to human error.

 

Mac... what are you doing Mac?

 

[leicsmac]

5 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Look Mac, I can see you're really upset about this. I honestly think you should sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over.

 

It can only be attributed to human error.

 

Mac... what are you doing Mac?

 

All the eggs in one basket doesn't often end well, that's all I'm saying. 

 

It's bloody annoying to have to play the Cassandra (or Tiresias, if one prefers) so often. 

[Trav Le Bleu]

14 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

All the eggs in one basket doesn't often end well, that's all I'm saying. 

 

It's bloody annoying to have to play the Cassandra (or Tiresias, if one prefers) so often. 

More Antigone.

[ajthefox]

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/28/wind-power-cut-uk-energy-costs-ucl-study

 

Lefty net zero renewable bastards saving us money!