Posts by brianvastag@sciencemastodon.com
(DIR) Post #Asvt35lSbfATPV053Y by brianvastag@sciencemastodon.com
2025-04-09T19:06:23Z
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For people still wearing N95s and the like: The federal office that ensured masks met the N95 or KN95 standards has been destroyed. So any masks sold in the US could well be counterfeit or inadequate.https://www.ems1.com/public-health/hhs-cuts-eliminate-niosh-respirator-certification-staff
(DIR) Post #Asvt3CmmV9NrBcfjaS by brianvastag@sciencemastodon.com
2025-04-09T22:57:31Z
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My friend who edits this site, EMS1, said this when I asked him what paramedics (in the US) will do now: "I also suspect the supply chain was already overrun with counterfeit masks and the margins in EMS are so thin employers were buying cheapest possible, likely buying counterfeit." But he says paramedics generally don't mask up anyway.
(DIR) Post #Asy5Usk8CVzAtpJfJA by brianvastag@sciencemastodon.com
2025-04-11T01:58:44Z
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#Tesla says the $43 million in Canadian tax credits it claimed for thousands of cars it said it sold in three days is all a big..."misunderstanding."https://electrek.co/2025/04/09/tesla-canada-says-its-shady-43-million-incentive-grab-was-a-misunderstanding/
(DIR) Post #Asy5V19Ex2p8y17pYW by brianvastag@sciencemastodon.com
2025-04-11T02:03:20Z
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I don't know who runs Elektrek but I appreciate when journalists lean on their expertise: "We’re still skeptical of Tesla’s incentive claims, even after reading the letter.The thousands of incentives filed over the course of one weekend would represent several months of incentive backlog. While disorganization is nothing new for Tesla, it still does seem questionable that Tesla’s 1,400-employee Canadian subsidiary would ignore tens of millions of dollars of revenue for several months."
(DIR) Post #AszeklB5mprtcjC400 by brianvastag@sciencemastodon.com
2025-04-11T19:10:40Z
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The world will still take actions to reduce carbon emissions even as #Trump tries to burn it all to the ground. This is good #climate news today: A global carbon tax on shipping. https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2025/04/11/shipping-carbon-tax-global-agreement-climate/
(DIR) Post #AszeksxCsLVxjyl5Sy by brianvastag@sciencemastodon.com
2025-04-11T19:12:24Z
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"Money in the net-zero fund is to be used to reward ships with low emissions, support clean energy research, further the IMO’s greenhouse gas reduction initiatives and support states vulnerable to climate change."I suspect we'll see more global moves to reduce emissions & China & Vietnam & other places outside the US are going to continue to crank out solar panels at high volumes.
(DIR) Post #AtAbA8OCwhSGJ8BNzM by brianvastag@sciencemastodon.com
2025-04-17T03:46:35Z
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I remember having conversations with Joel Achenbach (who wrote this piece) about how the first biosignature detections from exoplanets will be ambiguous & that the whole field of exobiology is fraught with this issue...it's going to be very difficult to declare *anything* other than, I dunno, a video call? - as proof of life. Still, it's an exciting discovery - a molecule that on Earth is only made by life has been detected (probably) on a distant planet. https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025/04/16/alien-life-exoplanet-webb-telescope/#science
(DIR) Post #AtAbA9eYFQ7eE6px6O by brianvastag@sciencemastodon.com
2025-04-17T03:48:02Z
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Even if we detect abundant molecular oxygen (O2) in an exoplanet atmosphere, there is some non-zero possibility some geologic or non-biological process made it. Here, it's a sign of life. Elsewhere...it's *probably* a sign of life too. But it's not a certainty.
(DIR) Post #AtXW1aF0gyebI2cNiC by brianvastag@sciencemastodon.com
2025-04-28T03:55:05Z
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Bette Midler is such a good egg. She's helping Kauai build an agricultural park to help grow more local food (90% of Hawaii's food is imported). Midler is a long-time resident of the island and I believe she grew up on Oahu.#farming #local #Hawaiihttps://www.civilbeat.org/2025/04/new-ag-park-aims-to-let-kaua%CA%BBi-farmers-just-focus-on-farming/
(DIR) Post #AtpcohMou43A1fzMLA by brianvastag@sciencemastodon.com
2025-05-06T22:36:19Z
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The US Director of National Intelligence isn't very intelligent and you can bet the people working for her are extremely aware of this.https://www.wired.com/story/tulsi-gabbard-dni-weak-password/
(DIR) Post #AtpcoqCs2QRHRQP2a8 by brianvastag@sciencemastodon.com
2025-05-06T22:37:24Z
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I also reuse weak passwords...on like my Paramount+ account, which I don't think contains too many secrets.
(DIR) Post #Atpcoz9elkDRC3y6K0 by brianvastag@sciencemastodon.com
2025-05-06T22:40:11Z
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Wired continues to be 👍👍
(DIR) Post #Atpcp7oiYxoY3jF0Qy by brianvastag@sciencemastodon.com
2025-05-06T22:42:04Z
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I have to confess that I voted for Gabbard for Congress in like 2016 or something. My bad, although I did manage to visit her DC office and harangue some of her staff to fund ME/CFS research.
(DIR) Post #Au3yOvVAe8d9XVRwYa by brianvastag@sciencemastodon.com
2025-05-13T21:01:14Z
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@futurebird A friend in another Easy Coast city wanted a Euro-style small refrigerator for a remodel and of course it cost more than the monster fridges.
(DIR) Post #AuSbfwN8MVRPumIGhc by brianvastag@sciencemastodon.com
2025-05-25T18:04:17Z
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I get a monthly prescription delivered on ice and have accumulated a million of these which my friend just pointed out I can use as plant food. I have no idea how she knows this because I didn't notice anything. #gardening
(DIR) Post #AudQwLkYHO1GUDc9dA by brianvastag@sciencemastodon.com
2025-05-30T23:24:22Z
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#Fediverse advocates: The fediverse is superior to all other forms of internet communicaton & should be the default means of communicating online. Also fediverse advocates: You want to be able to *migrate* your posts to another server when yours shutters? Well aren't you a self-important asshole.
(DIR) Post #AuuChEHneSJ1K6NeQi by brianvastag@sciencemastodon.com
2025-06-08T00:12:19Z
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Just spending the afternoon wondering where & when the US Tiananmen Sq massacre will happen. #USpol
(DIR) Post #AuxrejFgkA2S5YCOhM by brianvastag@sciencemastodon.com
2025-06-09T20:09:29Z
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@futurebird I have a Bosch that is also way too quiet, it's eerie.
(DIR) Post #Auyh4J3Zr4de2KUIk4 by brianvastag@sciencemastodon.com
2025-06-08T18:00:52Z
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Everyone knows about Tiananmen Square but the Gwangju Uprising in S. Korea in 1980 is also a very interesting (tragic) event...the playbook for authoritarians is so rote...arrest and suppress the opposition (Homan threatened to arrest Newsom & Bass), provoke resistance and then turn state violence on the protesters. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwangju_Uprising#USpol
(DIR) Post #AvcOwZVGpT4P4KXyL2 by brianvastag@sciencemastodon.com
2025-06-26T23:42:32Z
1 likes, 1 repeats
A day with a dip in the ocean is better than one without. Also, this rock says hello.