Hard Things

Jul. 23rd, 2025 01:02 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Life is full of things which are hard or tedious or otherwise unpleasant that need doing anyhow. They help make the world go 'round, they improve skills, and they boost your sense of self-respect. But doing them still kinda sucks. It's all the more difficult to do those things when nobody appreciates it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our accomplishments and pat each other on the back.

What are some of the hard things you've done recently? What are some hard things you haven't gotten to yet, but need to do? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your hard things a little easier?

Nanotechnology

Jul. 22nd, 2025 04:03 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Goodbye plastic? Scientists create new supermaterial that outperforms metals and glass

New method aligns bacterial cellulose nanofibrils, enabling high-strength multifunctional bionanocomposites.
Scientists at Rice University and the University of Houston have created a powerful new material by guiding bacteria to grow cellulose in aligned patterns, resulting in sheets with the strength of metals and the flexibility of plastic—without the pollution. Using a spinning bioreactor, they’ve turned Earth’s purest biopolymer into a high-performance alternative to plastic, capable of carrying heat, integrating advanced nanomaterials, and transforming packaging, electronics, and even energy storage
.


I am amused to see someone exploring the non-glamous applications of nanotechnology. Yes, this can work. Any time you're growing something, you have to make sure it can't get loose and cause problems, but organisms really do excel at making useful materials. Remember, conventional plastic comes from petrochemicals, which started out as ancient plants.

Birdfeeding

Jul. 22nd, 2025 03:59 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is partly sunny, humid, and hot.  It drizzled a bit yesterday.

I fed the birds.  I haven't seen much activity yet.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 7/22/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 7/22/25 -- I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches plus a pair of mourning doves.

EDIT 7/22/25 -- I trimmed around the garden under the contorta willow tree.  A few things are far enough from the trunk that I might need to move them closer in.

I am done for the night.

bracing for impact (normal way)

Jul. 22nd, 2025 02:54 pm
javert: scyther flying by in a forest (pkmn scyther flying)
[personal profile] javert
We are around 20 minutes away from the Pokémon Presents and so I'm making a Dreamwidth post to occupy my mind and not be needlessly anxious about it (also it's longer than the video I was watching so I can't keep watching it until I've seen the Presents </3)

What are the news?

I finished making a new, fancier (and proper) index page for my website! This was one of my goals for a while now, and with Rentry finally starting to put ads everywhere, I decided to focus on it at long last. I followed the vision I showed in my response to the first [community profile] sunshine_revival challenge here, except I ended up not having everything stuck inside a centered div because I wanted to try something else out for once. I'm really happy with the result! In the process I also discovered Victor Mono and kind of fell in love with it, lol. I love that it's two fonts at once, so handy! Speaking of, I need to switch my Google Fonts on Lysandre Labs to Bunny Fonts instead...

Webdev has been rotting my brain from the inside out hard at this point, because I'm up to three different layouts I've worked on in like a week, lol. The latest entry is a layout for a fanlistings/shrines/etc collective! I have so many ideas for those, I thought it'd be fun to work on a place to display them all (once they've been created...) and also to have a place to display all the ones I'd like to join in the future. There are so many...

Here's what it looks like so far:



Speaking of [community profile] sunshine_revival, I started working on something for the creative prompt of Challenge 5 but haven't managed to finish it yet. T_T To be honest I'm kind of tempted to discard it and go for the journaling one, even though I'm not sure what to talk about... I don't know. I guess I'll see how I feel post Presents. (Less than 15 minutes now... I have DJ Pikachu up on the TV to keep an eye on it, lol.)

My next immediate project is to finish my creepypasta page just so that's out of the way, and then I want to at least come up with a layout for my personal website. It's probably going to be the trickiest to design because I expect I'll be extremely picky about how it looks and displays, especially if I end up using it for everything... We'll see how it goes.

I've also been contemplating signing up for [community profile] enemiestoloversex for real this year, but I think my energy is better saved up for [community profile] ficinabox, to be honest... So I probably won't. I was pleasantly surprised by how many requests I could create for though, heh. Maybe I should get into treating :P

Well, there's less than 10 minutes left, so that'll probably be all for now. Maybe I'll edit this post later with my Pokémon Presents thoughts... It'd be funny if there ended up not being that much for me to be excited about in the end. At least I got to enjoy (?) the anticipation!

(I don't think this post is long enough to warrant a cut, but feel free to let me know if you disagree and I'll add one. I've been subscribing to more people, especially people I see around small web circles; if you read this, hi! Nice to meet you!)

ETA, under cut to not spoil the Presents )

Green Building

Jul. 21st, 2025 10:49 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Scientists invent 'living' concrete that heals its own cracks with sunlight

Jin and fellow researchers used two key materials: Cyanobacteria, which turns air and sunlight into food, and filamentous fungi, which produce minerals that seal the cracks.

The microbes survive on just air, light, and water, and when paired together, are able to grow and produce crack-filling minerals in concrete. At least, that’s what Jin’s latest research, published in Materials Today Communications, concluded.

Birdfeeding

Jul. 21st, 2025 03:16 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is cloudy and warm. It rained yesterday.

I fed the birds. I haven't seen much activity yet.

EDIT 7/21/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 7/21/25 -- I refilled the thistle feeder.

EDIT 7/21/25 -- I planted 3 pots with 12 sweet cherry seeds.

It's been drizzling on and off.

EDIT 7/21/25 -- I potted up a white peach seed.

EDIT 7/21/25 -- I was going to go back out, but the drizzle has increased to light rain.

EDIT 7/21/25 -- I picked 3 red cherry tomatoes and 2 blackberries.

I saw a skunk out in the yard, not on the patio, and it scrammed when it saw me. That's what I'm aiming for: we stay out of each other's way. They're welcome to the farther parts the of the yard away from the house.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

Climate Change

Jul. 21st, 2025 02:02 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
The Ice Age Echo That Erased Entire Civilizations (The 8.2K Event)

Around 8,200 years ago, the Earth experienced a sudden climatic crash now known as the 8.2k event. Triggered by the collapse of the Laurentide Ice Sheet and a massive outburst from Lake Agassiz, it dumped freshwater into the North Atlantic, disrupting the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Temperatures dropped 1–3°C globally for over a century. Monsoon systems weakened, rainfall declined sharply in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. The result: failed crops, abandoned Neolithic settlements, and major cultural shifts across regions like Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and the Sahara.


This gives a stark look at how even robust, resilient systems can collapse under the pressures of an unpredictable environment. Modern civilization is fragile more than resilient. And the AMOC is faltering again.

Monday Update 7-21-25

Jul. 21st, 2025 01:00 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Artwork of the wordsmith typing. (typing)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Permaculture
Conservation
Early Humans
Creative Jam
Birdfeeding
Recipe: "Dark Chocolate Brownies with Raspberry Spread"
Birdfeeding
Philosophical Questions: Productivity
Permaculture
Survival Skills
Self-Care
Birdfeeding
Current Events
Fireflies
Fruit Trees
Permaculture
Volcanoes
Follow Friday 7-18-25: Homestuck
Hobbies: Makeup Art
Conservation
Safety
Invasive Species
Birdfeeding
Anthropocene
Earthquakes
Evolution
Poem: "Beautiful, Damn Hard, Increasingly Useful"
Paleontology
Smoothie King
Birdfeeding
Good News

"Philosophical Questions: Looks" has 46 comments. "Not a Destination, But a Process" has 147 comments. "The Democratic Armada of the Caribbean" has 96 comments. "Incompetence, Sloppy Thinking, and Laziness" has 65 comments.


Last week's bonus fishbowl went well. Writing is slow, but I have drafts of a triptych to thumbnail shortly.


[community profile] sunshine_revival is running through July. See the schedule, meet the moderators, and use the master post to navigate the event. Meet new folks in the friending meme. Spread the word!

Sunshine-Revival-2025-Banner-3.png

* Sunshine Revival Challenge 1: Light
Poem: "The Pleasure of Escaping the Responsibility"

* Sunshine Revival Challenge 2: Tunnel of Love
Poem: "Legs of Grass, Feet of Flowers"

* Sunshine Revival Challenge 3: Food

* Sunshine Revival Challenge 4: Fun House
Poem: "The Bee Tree's Gift"

* Sunshine Challenge 5: Carnival Barker

* Sunshine Revival Challenge 6: Game Night
Poem: "A New Twist"


[community profile] summerofthe69 is now open! You can see the calendar here and the current themes are and Greater Than 69 and Sopping Wet.


There are no open epics at present.


The weather has been hot and wet here. It rained again yesterday. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a pair of cardinals, a mourning dove, and a fox squirrel. I've heard red-winged blackbirds, wrens, and a woodpecker without seeing them. Currently blooming: dandelions, pansies, violas, marigolds, petunias, red salvia, wild strawberries, verbena, lantana, sweet alyssum, zinnias, snapdragons, blue lobelia, perennial pinks, impatiens, oxalis, moss rose, yarrow, anise hyssop, firecracker plant, tomatoes, tomatillos, Asiatic lilies, cucumber, yellow squash, zucchini, morning glory, purple echinacea, narrow-leaf mountain mint, black-eyed Susan, yellow coneflower, wild bergamot, chicory, Queen Anne's lace, sunflowers, cup plant, gladioli, firewheel, orange butterfly weed. Tomatillo and pepper have green fruit. Wild strawberries, mulberries, tomatoes, and cucumbers are ripe. Peas are winding down. The first crop of blackberries is done.

Conservation

Jul. 20th, 2025 10:38 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
The genius invention that made peace with lions

A 12-year-old boy invented a system of lights that mimicked human patrols, thus shooing lions away from homes and livestock. This reduced interspecies conflicts, allowing lions to coexist peacefully with humans and their livestock.

Think about how humans and wildlife interact. Where there are dangerous conflicts as above, seek to understand each other's behavior and how small changes can reduce or eliminate conflicts so that all species can live and let live. Watch for effective solutions and spread them.

Poem: "A New Twist"

Jul. 20th, 2025 04:13 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This poem was written for the Sunshine Revival Challenge 6: Game Night. It also fills the "Dodge" square in my 7-1-25 card for the Western Bingo Fest. It belongs to the series Love Is For Children.

Read more... )
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Sunshine Revival Challenge 6: Game Night

Journaling prompt: What games do you play, if any? Are you a solo-gamer or do you view games as a social activity?

Creative prompt: Write a story/fic around the theme "game night".

Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so
.

Sunshine-Revival-Carnival-2.png

Read more... )

Early Humans

Jul. 20th, 2025 02:24 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
11,000-year-old feast uncovered: Why hunters hauled wild boars across mountains

Ancient Iranians hosted epic feasts with wild boars that had been hunted and transported from distant regions. These animals weren’t just dinner—they were symbolic gifts. Tooth enamel analysis revealed they came from different areas, suggesting early communities valued geography in gift-giving. The event took place even before agriculture began, hinting at deeply rooted cultural traditions.

Creative Jam

Jul. 20th, 2025 02:22 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
The July [community profile] crowdfunding Creative Jam is open with a theme of "Heroism -- Real or Perceived."  Come give us prompts, or claim some for your own inspiration.


What I Have Written




From My Prompts