justing.net

New to me Facts and Ideas in July 2024

By Justin G. on 24AUG05MON

It wasn’t obvious that this month was going to have very many facts, but plenty turned up in the end.

Week 27

Began on 24JUL01MON .

• Fact: Hurricane Beryl reaches Category 5 on July 1

Week 28

Began on 24JUL08MON .

• The evacuation zone for SpaceX’s Starship has a 3 mile radius whenever the rocket is fueled in Texas. There is a larger variant planned for use in Florida, and presumably the zone would be even larger.
• Seeking: has the reliability of polling declined since we mostly transitioned off landlines?
• Observation: The bee situation is more complicated than I expected. They’re factory farmed to support agriculture but also there are gangs that steel them? Also: it’s not only about the bees. Via O’Reilly Next:Economy¹.
• Fact: California power grid continues to dramatically shift off of natural gas to batteries. Transitively via Hacker News.

Week 29

Began on 24JUL15MON .

• Obs: Tech companies (specifically MSFT and GOOG) used a lot of electricity last year, via Hacker News.
• Fact: Lab meat approved for pet food in the UK. Via Damn Interesting.
• Obs: Retail is more about those credit cards than retail, via Marginal Revolution. Like airlines. This is old news, I guess.
• Obs: British botanist’s seed bank is useful for crop diversity, via Damn Interesting. The seeds offer “a ‘snapshot’ of cultivated wheat before the dawn of systematic plant breeding.”
• Obs: Immunotherapy advances for cancer treatments, via Kottke.

Week 30

Began on 24JUL22MON .

• Fact: Solar production up 25% in the US. It now accounts for 7%.
• Fact: Hawaii has a “grid scale” wave power device, 1.25 MW. Via Damn Interesting.
• Speculative: Police drones are coming, or maybe are already here. Via Damn Interesting.
• Counter-point: that fact during week 11 about any amount of alcohol is a bad amount of alcohol, it was probably very cherry-picked. Via Hacker News Comment

Week 31

Began on 24JUL29MON .

• Obs: there are several brands of smart glasses out there that look pretty normal. Maybe this is happening, 10+ years after Google Glass.
• Fact: NASA has a spacesuit problem. News to me. Via Things Magazine.
• Obs: [Random² bird critical for human life](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c28e2pvzn3lo), via Kottke.
• Fact: Paper cuts are solved. Via Damn Interesting.
• Fact: Fast charging, high range EV battery tech is here (if you can afford it). Via Damn Interesting.
• Idea: The proto Indo-Euro language had a [deific³ “gender” form](https://interconnected.org/home/2024/08/02/filtered). Like passive/static fire, and the active/enspirited inflamed. It was used all over the language.
• Idea: Bureaucracy is so ubiquitous that it has become invisible. If that’s true then perhaps another ecosystem should emerge on top of it. Probably it always has been.

Email me the cool facts you've learned lately. Or a correction.