[-] Phoonzang@lemmy.world 3 points 19 hours ago

There's also fuel cells, where fuel is not burned to create steam to move something, but combined with oxygen in a different way (the end products still being the same) so the electrons shuttled around during this reaction can be utilised as electricity. Think of combustion as oxidation of your fuel, the oxidation meaning that you (among other things) move electrons from the fuel to oxygen. In combustion, unfortunately you can't access the electrons directly, as they are always stuck in the chemical bonds of the molecules, that's why we take the detour via heat/mechanical - the steam engine. The fuel cell now separates fuel and oxygen, and thus divides the combustion reaction into two parts that happen at opposite sides of the cell. Those sides are divided by a membrane that does not allow the electrons to transfer across, so they need to take a detour through an electric circuit, in which we can harvest them as electrical power.

I always found it really fascinating that fuel cells are the only other technology than solar where the electrons we use as electrical power are more or less directly generated as opposed to the detour via a generator. Unfortunately, fuel cells are still a very niche technique.

[-] Phoonzang@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

I second that. I travel a lot for work, sometimes a bit obscure places (as in not touristic destinations), and I always try to find the odd tap room or micro brewery. It's often hit or miss, but stumbling upon the rare gem every once in a while always feels really good. Bonus points if the head brewer is there and it's a slow day so they have time to chat beer and brewing. And even in the well known areas, it's fun to sift through the touristy hipster "more-show-than-anything" places to finally arrive at one which has said vibe. Had a week in Portland, OR, and visited about a dozen or so places, and from the over marketed polished hip joint with mediocre beer to the "here's a bar and some stools thrown into the brewery hall" with absolutely stunning brews it had everything.

[-] Phoonzang@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

I don't like Mondays from the Boomtown Rats.

Mind, when I first heard it my English was not that good so I really only got the Chorus about not liking Mondays (and who does, eh?). Dismissed the "shoot the whole day down" as an idiom for something which I did not know.

Then at some point much later I realized it's actually a school shooting.

[-] Phoonzang@lemmy.world 41 points 2 weeks ago

In a former job, I developed "software" (I clicked together some LabVIEW...) for custom designed scientific experiments, which many other researchers (mostly PhD students) would use. Wrote detailed SOPs for their usage, because everything was wonky and in constant evolution, and in some circumstances, data generated could be wrong. So I put a toggle switch with some cryptic acronym on the panel which was told to be flipped in the SOP when users reached the part where following instructions was really critical. The toggle switch did nothing but to log time and date and what user was logged in. When discussing weird data later on, first thing I did was to check whether that log existed, and if not heavily scrutinized the data with respect to errors that could be induced by not following the SOP.

[-] Phoonzang@lemmy.world 58 points 3 weeks ago

He won't, because he's rich. The article is so apologetic already, several paragraphs about how bad this poor guy feels. Bonus points for mentioning he's a father of four (nothing is mentioned about the victim's family). "I'm not a thug!'. You disregarded other people's safety and well being for your own benefit, when being called out, you used unreasonable force. That's a thug to me.

[-] Phoonzang@lemmy.world 31 points 2 months ago

Also something related I never came to grips with: cat's breath = the stench of a thousand decaying corpses. Licks fur constantly. Fur = the smell of springtime itself.

My (unfortunately late) void had a scratching post with the top level just at my nose height, so whenever he lolled around there I made a point of taking a deep breath of fluffy freshness.

[-] Phoonzang@lemmy.world 49 points 6 months ago

Oh, I have a similar story from my (unfortunately late) void:

Had a big chunk of pork, which I trimmed for the BBQ. All the cuttings (mostly fat) I put in a pad to render (?) the delicious lard. Somehow I forgot to put a lid on the pan while it cooled down, and the whole thing got forgotten in the mess the kitchen was after a nice Barbie and beers with friends. Next morning I woke up, thought "oh crap, the lard". Went downstairs, first susicious thing: cat nowhere to be seen. Pan on the stove was completely clean. As in straight from the dishwasher clean. The I saw the cat lolling around on the sofa, barely awake, and almost unresponsive. Even shaking his morning treats did not prompt him to come into the kitchen (which usually was the ritual). And then it dawned on me: the little rascal slurped about a whole pound of pork lard during the night from the pan. Did not eat for two days straight, but seemed happy as a clam.

Wherever he is now, I hope he gets all the lard he wants.

[-] Phoonzang@lemmy.world 28 points 6 months ago

To be less hypothetical and more scary: Think about all the ancient pathogens that are dormant in the permafrost. Those could become a real problem when it starts to thaw because of global warming.

[-] Phoonzang@lemmy.world 29 points 6 months ago

Der Optimist in mir sagt, "Na endlich fangen die an, sich selbst zu zerlegen". Der Pessimist kontert: "Jede rechtsstaatliche Aufarbeitung wird von denen als Hexenjagd instrumentalisiert werden, und es wird funktionieren.'

[-] Phoonzang@lemmy.world 34 points 10 months ago

We had quite the discussion at work about this very scene (I am loosely related to OSHA stuff), at some point people might think of deliberately having work "accidents" so the employer has to pay for superior replacement parts. And then have an advantage on the job market because of this. Same could go for sports.

I guess technologically, we are very close, but might need to work on the whole ethics part a bit more?

Having said that, I would not mind some advanced Kiroshis to replace my screwed up eyeballs.

[-] Phoonzang@lemmy.world 40 points 11 months ago

Because WFH has shown that large parts of middle management are useless, and those MM people are pushing upper management for RTO before it becomes evident. It's what MM has always done, suck up to UM and kick down on the workers, without real benefit to the company.

[-] Phoonzang@lemmy.world 33 points 1 year ago

A really nice kitchen knife. I use it daily and it makes cooking so much more fun, which translates into eating less junk food and take out, saving a ton of money and being more healthy.

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Phoonzang

joined 1 year ago