Superconductivity is the phenomenon where the resistance to current flow in a material drops to zero. This means that there will be no loss of energy due to heat generation when current flows through the superconductor. Since resistive heat losses are one of the main limitations associated with any current-generated devices, superconductors open up enormous possibilities for technology that could revolutionize our lives. Unfortunately this phenomenon, first discovered by Heike Kamerlingh Onnes in 1911, only seemed to work at extremely low temperatures close to absolute zero that required cooling with liquid helium, making it impractical for everyday use.

Creating materials that would be superconducting at room temperatures became the Holy Grail of this area of research and a big breakthrough came in 1986 when materials were found that were superconducting at around 90K (-183C) which could be reached using liquid nitrogen. Even higher temperature superconducting materials at about 203K (-77C) have been found but that required enormous pressures, of about 10⁶ times atmospheric pressure.

Recent papers by a research team headed by Ranga Dias and Ahskan Salamat at the University of Rochester have claimed that they have found materials that are superconducting at temperature of 294K (17C) and at a pressure of 10 kbar or ten times atmospheric pressure. This is big news.

This article explains what was found.

The only superconducting materials previously discovered require extreme conditions to function, which makes them impractical for many real-world applications. The first known superconductors had to be cooled with liquid helium to temperatures only a few degrees above absolute zero. In the 1980s researchers found superconductivity in a category of materials called cuprates, which work at higher temperatures yet still require cooling with liquid nitrogen. Since 2015 scientists have measured room-temperature superconductive behavior in hydrogen-rich materials called hydrides. but they have to be pressed in a sophisticated viselike instrument called a diamond anvil cell until they reach a pressure of about a quarter to half of that found near the center of Earth.

The new material, called nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride, is a blend of hydrogen, the rare-earth metal lutetium and nitrogen. Although this material also relies on a diamond anvil cell, the study found that it begins exhibiting superconductive behavior at a pressure of about 10,000 atmospheresroughly 100 times lower than the pressures that other hydrides require. The new material is much closer to ambient pressure than previous materials, says David Ceperley, a condensed matter physicist at University of Ill...

Im not a money person, so I like an 8-minute description of whats going on this week. Let me know if any of this is wrong!

When will we learn that big money needs to be more tightly regulated, not less, and that the advocates for deregulation are worse than bank robbers?

I organize spiders better than this

Berkeley has a bit of an unsavory reputation as the premiere grave-robbing institution in the US. Theyve got an impressive collection of looted remains.

More than three decades ago, Congress ordered museums, universities and government agencies that receive federal funding to publicly report any human remains in their collections that they believed to be Native American and then return them to tribal nations.

UC Berkeley has been slow to do so. The university estimates that it still holds the remains of 9,000 Indigenous people in the campus Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology more than any other U.S. institution bound by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, or NAGPRA, according to a ProPublica analysis of federal data.

Tim White, the esteemed anthropologist, was in charge of repatriation decisions for many years, and basically stonewalled the process.

White said the collection did not need to be reported under NAGPRA because there is no way to determine the origin of the bones and therefore the law does not apply.

The collection has exposed deep rifts at UC Berkeley, pitting a prominent professor who said hes done nothing wrong against university administrators who have apologized to tribes for not sharing information about the remains sooner.

Im looking at this as someone who is sympathetic to both educational and research needs, and I have to ask: why do you want these old bones anyway, Berkeley? Theyre used to teach anthropology students, and I can understand why you want variations represented one old mounted skeleton is not enough but why do you need thousands of specimens for teaching the basics, and why do you need Native American skeletons shoveled out of their graves by the thousands? This makes no sense. Its more like maintaining a dragons hoard then an actual, useful teaching collection. Thats especially clear when the collection is described.

By then, the teaching collection that anthropology professors used had grown to thousands of bones and teeth that White said in his report to university administrators had been commingled with others donated by amateur gravediggers, dentists, anatomists, physicians, law enforcement and biological supply companies.

The remains were unceremoniously sorted by body part...

Enjoy this.

Susan Hassol and Michael Mann say, Enjoy the weather. Worry about the climate.. No. I refuse to enjoy this weather. Warm in Minnesota means hovering around freezing, and weve got deep piles of snow everywhere, and another storm on the way thatll dump more snow on us. Im not looking forward to what other parts of the country call Spring, because for us itll be the time everything melts producing seas of mud and slush, with sheets of ice lurking underneath. Theres nothing enjoyable about this season.

Its going to get worse before it gets better is my feeling.

This week sees a meteorological battleground setting up across the continental U.S., pitting a massive winter storm from the West against far-too-early Spring heat in the East. This major winter storm is dumping heavy snow and ice across the northern U.S. from the West Coast to the Northeast. Widespread very strong, gusty winds are expected across the West and High Plains while heavy rain with the potential for flash floods and severe weather are predicted for the Midwest and Plains. Meanwhile, historic heat is building across the Southeast and mid-Atlantic states, with record-breaking February temperatures soaring into the 80s. Almost the entire country is experiencing some form of extreme weather this week.

Its miserable here in the upper Midwest, so dont try to tell me to enjoy the weather, which has been nothing but bad news all winter long. Maybe theres good news about the climate?

The good news is that clean energy and other climate solutions are abundant and available. Although there is much work that remains to be done, recent U.S. legislation makes it increasingly profitable to tap into natural flows of renewable energy, such as from the sun and the wind, and to use that clean electricity to power our buildings, transportation and more. We do not have to simply accept an ever-worsening torrent of tempestuous weather. We can act with urgency to rein in the climate emergency and remake our civilization into one that respects the gift of a stable climate we inherited one that we can pass on to our children.

What, thats the good news? We can hope that the US government acts with urgency to switch to clean renewable energy sources? Right. Or we can pray that a host of fairies shows up with magic w...

Russia invaded Ukraine, which blows.  Murderous dickbags gonna murder.  Anyway, Im supposed to stand in judgment of that, but Im in a glass house.  Gotta check out the periphery before I throw Slava Ukrainis.  Who is the US military occupying this week?  Who are we raining mutilation and ruin upon?  How about our buddies, like the Saudis?  Israel?  Ive lost track again.

Biden just demonstrated it. Basically, he just said I dont give a shit because none of this will affect me and signed off on the Willow project the largest oil extraction plan for Alaska, ever.

He ran as an environmentalist. Candidate Biden said: [whitehouse.gov]

I come here today with a message: As President, I have a responsibility to act with urgency and resolve when our nation faces clear and present danger. And thats what climate change is about. It is literally, not figuratively, a clear and present danger.

The health of our citizens and our communities is literally at stake.

The U.N.s leading international climate scientists called the latest climate report nothing less than, quote, code red for humanity. Let me say it again: Code red for humanity. Its not a group of political official elected officials. These are the scientists.

He cant even conveniently blame Joe Manchin or Kirsten Sinema for this one.

Climate change is literally an existential threat to our nation and to the world.

So my message today is this: Since Congress is not acting as it should and these guys here are, but were not getting many Republican votes this is an emergency. An emergency. And I will I will look at it that way.

Of course we cant expect honesty from politicians. Of course we are cynical and un-trusting. Of course we still have to consider the lesser of two evils when we look at the two bowls of shit the two party system serves up to us; naturally well take the one with the sriracha sauce on it.

Midjourney AI and mjr: Joe Biden lights Alaska on fire.

Of course there are lots of folks up in Alaska who want this. Why wouldnt they? Its money and jobs and its going to create even more jobs when all the coastal cities flood, the midwest burns under drought, Calcutta floods, and there are massive die-offs from heat and drought. Those jobs that Biden is helping create wont kick in until safely after hes dead and buried. So, check the do not give a shit box....

Dear readers, what do you think of the finance industry?

Ideally, I would keep this short and give up the floor to commenters. But Ill start by saying I work in the finance industry. I am not a finance expert, Im just a data scientist. I am ambivalent about the moral value of the industry.

I know from hanging out in leftist spaces that a lot of people feel much more strongly about the finance industry. Strongly negative. Im curious to hear more.

Is it just vibes, or are there more specific objections? Is it related to specific sectors of the industry such as lending, investment, banking? Or perhaps political influence from financial institutions?

And what do you think of government regulation of the finance industry?  Ive noticed that many people are angry at the finance industry because of events in the 2008 financial crisis, but this anger can be taken in diametrically opposed directions.  In the US we got greater regulation in the form of the Dodd-Frank act, but we also got cryptocurrency, an evil twin to the finance industry without regulation.  I tend to be in favor of regulations, although Im not necessarily knowledgeable about all the details.

I spend a lot of time watching true crime documentaries. Out of all the outrageous, horrible, violent stories Ive heard about humans, it bothers me more when an animal gets hurt.

Does anyone else feel this way?

A few days ago I was watching a show where an alpaca was attacked. While they didnt actually show the attack you could hear the alpaca crying out in pain. It was the most disturbing thing Ive experienced in a long time. I keep hearing the alpacas cry in my head and found it necessary to cuddle with an alpaca plushie I bought a few years ago. My throat just stays in my stomach.

The true crime documentaries never made me do that. 

Am I sensitive about animals? Desensitized to human suffering? Both?

I am an animal person. As I write this, five of our eight cats are enjoying their new gigantic kitty condo. But even if my house wasnt ruled by a small army of cats, I think I would still feel the same way.

Humans are capable of evil whereas animals are innocent and just trying to survive. I think thats why it bothers me so much.

I am a sensitive and emotional person in general. I cry a lot when I watch TV. I just thought it was interesting how the alpaca had such an emotional impact on me more so than other stories involving people.

Can anyone relate?

A First Party for Bolingbrook robot crashed into a residents house. According to eyewitnesses, no one was injured, but the robot made a large hole in the wall.

Adam, a resident who asked that we not use his last name, described what happened.

I heard this loud bang from the living room. When I arrived, I saw a wheeled robot with the First Party logo painted on it. I yelled at it, then realized that it might have been a bad idea. It turned it cameras at me, and said that if I enjoyed living in Bolingbrook, I should thank the First Party. Well, I did like Bolingbrook, until this happened.

Another resident witnessed the robot crash into the house. First it drove up to me, and asked if I was supporting the First Party. I said no. It spit out a pamphlet at me and said it would change my mind. Then it charged at my neighbors house. Lets just say I dont think robots will replace human canvassers soon.

Sources within the First Party confirmed they owned the robot, and were planning on using it to counter the Bolingbrook Independant Voices partys drone advantage.

One source explained. Our polling suggests voters are swayed by areal drone videos. They think a political party that uses drones is forward thinking. Were countering this by using automated canvassers. Because in politics, you need to win the ground war, not the air war.

The sources agreed the robot crashed into the house because of its blue color. The robots AI believes everything blue is the sky, and therefore didnt recognize the house. Until programmers can correct the problem, the First Party will stop using the drones.

As for the damage, Adam claimed the First Party sent contractors to repair the damage. He also claimed that Trustee Michael Carpanzano visited the house. After handing a check to Adam, Carpanzano took a selfie with him. Adam agreed not to sue the First Party.

Their people did such a great job. Its like it never happened. Money has a way of soothing hurt feelings. But Im still voting for the BIV slate.

When reached for comment, BIV candidate and Village Trustee Sheldon Watts said, My running mate would love to spend a mental health day with your staff.

Mayor Mary Alexander-Basta, the leader of the First Party for Bolingbrook, denies the First Party has robots. If it werent for social media, we wouldnt need to campaign for votes.

Alexander-Basta asked the reporter to stay on the phone because she might have Earth shattering news. She then called Village IT staffer Alice into her office.

A digital voice then said, Blood Sucked at the Corpse Bite Cafe across the Rift, by BrookBot. Annette Buick is a woman, but shes not like other women. She carries a big sword, can change into an animal, has distant Native...

Not even the ones who seem nice and kindly. Theyve all got a dogma driving them. Pope Francis has said some stupid things, as the Daily Wire gleefully reports.

Gender ideology, today, is one of the most dangerous ideological colonizations, Francis said. Why is it dangerous? Because it blurs differences and the value of men and women. All humanity is the tension of differences. It is to grow through the tension of differences. The question of gender is diluting the differences and making the world the same, all dull, all alike, and that is contrary to the human vocation.

What is gender ideology? Because, near as I can tell, its simply that all people are of equal worth, no matter what their sex or gender or sexual preferences. Gender is not an ideology. Its just who people are.

He thinks its dangerous because it blurs the differences and value of men and women. I think men and women are of equal value, so blurring doesnt matter. What differences in value is he concerned about? Also, Im not seeing any blurring of differences, Im seeing a celebration of differences, where people with non-mainstream ideas are being allowed to flourish.

What are these tensions hes talking about, and how does the question of gender (what question?) dilute them? Diminishing differences, requiring everyone to fit into one of precisely two molds, is what would make the world dull and all alike. Would it make the world less dull if we told all the florists youre only allowed red roses and white lilies? It would certainly increase some tensions.

Also, a Catholic pope does not get to complain about ideological colonization. Catholicism is definitely an ideology, unlike gender, over a thousand years. Its ironic to complain about ideological conversion, but I guess that only applies to imaginary ideologies he doesnt like.

I was asked by a friend to take a look at this paper which he was surprised to see in a science journal. Its a weird and unconvincing paper, a Case report of instantaneous resolution of juvenile macular degeneration blindness after proximal intercessory prayer. Its actually a case of rummaging around in old medical files in order to report a miracle in 1972.

Heres the story: an 18 year old girl lost her vision in 1959 over the course of a few months, with no identified cause. She was diagnosed with 7/200 vision, attended a school for the blind, and lived as a blind person for 12 years. Then, even more suddenly, her vision recovered fully after her husband prayed for her.

When the couple went to bed later than normal (after midnight), her husband performed a hurried spiritual devotional practice (reading two Bible verses) and got on his knees to pray. She describes that they both began to cry as he began to pray, with a hand on her shoulder while she laid on the bed, and with great feeling and boldness he prayed: Oh, God! You can restore [] eyesight tonight, Lord. I know You can do it! And I pray You will do it tonight. At the close of the prayer, his wife opened her eyes and saw her husband kneeling in front of her, which was her first clear visual perception after almost 13 years of blindness.

An examination in 2001 revealed that she had 20/40 vision, and that her retinas looked normal.

I cant debunk this account, if thats what youre looking for. I could speculate about possible ways the story is misleading us, but we know nothing about the causes of the blindness or its cure, we dont even know that there was a physical basis for the blindness, and Im not going to diagnose an old medical condition thats what the authors of the paper are doing. All weve got are old records, and modern evidence that she can see, and no way to trace the actual history of her vision. Its an anecdote. Maybe she was actually cured by a miracle! Unfortunately, theres no way to analyze what actually happened.

Im skeptical that prayer is actually effective, though. This woman was devout, came from a very religious family and community, and youre telling me that the onset of blindness did not trigger a flurry of intense prayers from the woman, her family, and her church? Was that the first time her husband begged his god to restore her sight? Its awfully hard to believe that something th...

I decided to try a slightly different process than normal for the update on the movement to Stop Cop City and Defend the Atlanta Forest, so that post will be up tomorrow, and today you get something like a stream of consciousness.

Work on The Inner Tower is going well, for the most part. I think I will never understand why my brain just refuses to cooperate sometimes, for no discernible reason. Even so, Im following the map I laid out, and discovering an interesting landscape. There are a few geographic locations in that world that were established before I began the exploration that is writing a first draft. Beyond that, its been mostly blank, and the landscape has been filling in as I go.

When the plot of this thing started falling into my brain like Tetris blocks last year, I decided that I was going to be deliberately formulaic with my writing, and see what sort of interesting story I could create within more conventional limits. I say more conventional, because my first novel, Exits and Entrances, was very much experimental. The biggest difference youll probably notice, should you decide to read it, is that every other chapter is a short story thats peripheral to the main plot. I dont recall why I thought that was a good idea, but I think it turned out decently for a first novel. I dont think I was a particularly good writer at that point in time, but I try to remember that there are books out there that are much worse by every metric I can think of, save popularity.

I will have to return to that particular laboratory, because there are two books still to write for that trilogy, but for my current project, Ive chosen to constraints and rules from bits of writing advice Ive encountered over the years.

I guess you could say that this series just a different kind of experiment, but I think itll be a more familiar reading experience for regular young adult fantasy readers, at least for the first couple volumes. After that, things will get a little stranger, because I just cant help myself.

Part of the reason youre getting this particular blog post, is that I was getting tired of video posts, and I doubt Im alone in that. The other part is that, after a cold snap in which we actually got snow, its the first classic Beautiful Spring Day since the sun went away. That means that Im sitting at a folding table out in the middle of our little walled village, while His Holiness Saint Ray the Cat explores.

While there are cats and foxes that...

West Virginia had a bill in the works to explicitly allow the teaching of intelligent design creationism.

Teachers in public schools, including public charter schools, that include any one or more of grades kindergarten through 12, may teach intelligent design as a theory of how the universe and/or humanity came to exist.

Never fear, Americans United is on the case. It didnt pass, not yet at least.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State President and CEO Rachel Laser issued the following statement in response to the West Virginia Legislature adjourning without passing Senate Bill 619, a bill that would have authorized public school teachers to teach intelligent design creationism:

We at Americans United are thankful that West Virginia public school students wont be forced to sit through lessons on intelligent design creationism an inherently religious doctrine that has no place in public schools. Public schools are not Sunday schools; their purpose is to teach students sound science, not preach religious beliefs.

While the intelligent design bill failed this session, its alarming that the bill got as much traction as it did. The bills supporters blatantly ignored the Constitutions promise to separate church and state the protector of religious freedom and would have flouted decades of court precedent that bars the teaching of religious doctrine in public schools, including an Americans United case that successfully proved intelligent design was simply creationism rebranded.

If legislators insist on resurrecting this bill, Americans United is ready to defend the Constitution and protect public education and the religious freedom of West Virginia families. Using our public schools to impose religious doctrines like intelligent design on a captive audience of schoolchildren is part of the Christian Nationalist agenda to force all of us to live by their narrow beliefs. We need a national recommitment to the separation of church and state. Our public schools and our democracy depend on it.

The creationists are persistent little buggers, thats for sure.

My daughter might appreciate this. Shes writing up papers, getting ready for her Ph.D. thesis defense, and trying to raise a four year old, and all I have to contribute isit could be worse.

I dont think she has any mad Australian guardians living next door, unfortunately.

Also, where is Ray Comfort getting the money?

Thats a box full of crap you can get for free from LivingWaters/london. Just fill out the form at that link, giving Ray Comfort your address, and he will ship up to ten boxes of his book and Bible tracts about the coronation.

You could have a thousand copies of Rays book and six thousand cheesy tracts delivered to your doorstep, totally free. Unless youre in the UK, EU, Australia, or New Zealand, in which case you dont get the books, just 10,000 cheesy tracts. Or if youre outside those countries, you get nothing, and will have to pick up your free tracts in person in London.

From this I have determined that Canada is truly blessed.

I thought about ordering a box, just to bleed a few drops from the bloated vampiric corpse of Ray Comforts unaccountably rich organization, but decided not to. My reasons: a) its not enough to exsanguinate the parasite, b) it would just encourage him, c) its incredibly wasteful and would just have to be recycled, and d) I dont want to read his stupid book (Ive read enough Comfort to know it will be awful), I dont want his tracts, and I dont need a box of waste paper in my house. The man is giving away free garbage, and that does not appeal.

I still have to wonder, though: does ol Ray have some multi-millionaire sugar daddy? Or does he get so much in donations from a horde of deluded Christians that he can afford these ridiculous give-aways? Does he pay taxes on all of his revenues that he then spends on evangelical nonsense?

By the way, Ray Comfort is very, very excited about the coronationbut hes not going to bother to go himself. He wants his minions to do the humiliating work of distributing his crap to all the people who dont want it in London.

Im working on an actual post catching up on events in Atlanta, but for tonight, I encourage you to check out this interview. Matthew Johnson does a great job breaking down whats going on with Cop City, the dubious history of Atlanta PD, the very dubious police account behind their killing of a peaceful activist, and how things got to this point in the first place. The whole situation is a nightmare, and really underscores just how little say people have in the government that supposedly serves them.

I got a request for a ghetto shiv and, naturally, it had to happen.

The original design request was for a sort of switchblade icepick something youd push a button on, and an icepick blade would pop out. Theres a big problem with that, which is that front-opening lock knives (OTF) are finicky and not particularly strong. The lock depends on a few small pieces of steel that hold in place with a spring I own a few OTF knives and they are great letter-openers and utility knives but I would not trust them with the impact of a proper stabbing.

Another problem is that something like that is going to attract attention from the wrong sort of people, by which I mean: the police. In many states there are laws on the books that the district attorneys can use to bulk up the charges on a case, to make the offense more severe i.e.: if you get in a fight with someone, youre in trouble, but if you are carrying a concealed dagger (even if you dont use it) theres a felony charge they can drop on top of everything else, to make the defendant more likely to accept a plea bargain. Im going to year-old to carry a loaded AR-15, but criminalize carrying a dagger. After all, daggers dont stab people in the kidneys, people do.

Carrying any kind of nasty knife comes with other problems. Often, I see some of the knives people carry and the sheathes for the knives, or the carrying system in general, scare me. Ive fallen down, before, see, and you dont want to land on 4 of razor blade, especially if its carried anyplace useful under an arm, near the waist, on a thigh because those are not the places you want a loose razor blade scurrying around in. So the solution I like is: hardwood. A good solid block of oak is something that would break if you hammered on it repeatedly, but its going to protect a blade and, more importantly, keep it out of your own arteries, in the event of a normal accident.

That style of sheath is one I developed randomly for a letter opener I did for Richard B., (Yes, I still owe you another one) and its a fun build. Basically, you make a wooden welt that is cut on the bandsaw to hold a blade with a fair chunk of wood left over at the top. The pieces are epoxied together, then drilled from the top down with a forstner bit to make a hole the size of the blades handle. Since we already know that the cut-line is the center where the hole should...