Reducing pesticide

Engineers at MIT observed there has been a large increase in the amount of pesticide in use around the world. So they set out to try and see if they could reduce the impact. 

The developed a method of mixing water and soybean oil with the pesticide, so it would stick to the leaves of plants. 

The net result is better coverage, with less pesticide used. It's better for the environment. Better for farmers. Better for the plants (and planet). And the kicker is that it actually saves the agricultural industry billions of dollars because they have to buy lest pesticide. 

Technology developed by MIT engineers makes pesticides stick to plant leaves | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology


https://news.mit.edu/2025/mit-engineers-develop-pesticides-stick-on-plant-leaves-0325

Summer vacation

I recently visited St Kitts & Nevis. It was interesting on so many levels - beyond just enjoying beaches in the West Indies. 

First, and foremost, Nevis is where Alexander Hamilton was born.  We did a brief tour, and his life there was a little complicated. His father was a wealthy plantation owner, who was married, and Alexander was born to a woman who many believe was a prostitute. 

In any case, he was a bastard raised in Charlestown.  He couldn't attend school because of that fact, and was tutored by a Jewish woman (there was a decent sized Jewish community there!).  Of course, he saw slavery first hand, and that was pointed out as an influence on his life. After his mother died at age 9, he left for NY.  It's really interesting how connected these islands are to the Americas. 

Second is about this being Charlestown. As it happens, the first colonists who made it to the Americas in the 1600s landed on the island, reprovisioned their ship, and continued on their voyage, eventually settling in Massachusetts. But because they found the island, and its land was fertile, it became a stopping point for the explorers, and at some point, they founded Charlestown and of course the British "defended themselves" against the native population. By exterminating them. 

The slave trade was big business. Nearly all of the slaves that made it to the colonies came through the West Indies. They were auctioned off in public squares, and sometimes made to work on the islands for the cash crops (sugar cane most notably) that were grown on the island. The current inhabitants of St Kitts & Nevis (like most islands here) are descendants of the enslaved. They are well educated and know the history of their islands. Even if - because it was once a British colony - they are not specifically taught about slavery and the Christopher Columbus story is prominent. It's weirdly ironic. And of course, the West Indies abolished slavery by law, 30 years before the United States became disunited and engaged in the civil war. 

St Kitts & Nevis rely heavily on tourism. It's the main industry today. Even though the temperature remains fairly consistent during the year, tourism is very seasonal with more people visiting during the winter months. So it's a struggle during the summer months for a lot of people, with limited income during the offseason. And, interestingly, it's taken them a lot of time to recover from COVID as well. A year of lost business means some things that used to be available simply aren't any more. 

And finally, a note about climate change. They say that "the poor" are affected first. And while these islands are not poor, per se, they don't have the same affluence as we have in the United States. And they see things first. There's a huge problem of sea level rise. There are downstream impacts from pollution. The weather is less predictable in some ways. And there are few answers. 

You can learn an amazing amount by visiting a place and paying attention to the reality that's around you, rather than just ignoring it and sitting on the beach.

Tennessee woman denied prenatal care for being unmarried

What manner of nonsense is this? You can deny care for stupid - and questionable - moral reasons? 

And the congressman has no obligation to listen to his constituents? This really is dystopian. 


https://nashvillebanner.com/2025/07/20/doctor-denies-pregnant-woman-care/

So fucking dumb

In an effort to rile up the stupid people, and help move away from the Epstein case, the orange menace decided it was time to dictate how sports franchises name themselves. 

He went on some weird screed about how the time to worry about names that insult native Americans has passed, and the Cleveland guardians should revert to "Indians," while the Washington commanders should revert to "Redsk*ns" or else he'll personally veto any stadium money from the federal government. 

The Cleveland team said in a statement they're happy with the name as it is. And that pretty much was it for them. For now anyway. 

The football team would (I would say "never" in the past, but these days the world is truly upside down)  be unlikely to change the name back because (as I've noted before) the copyright restrictions on the name and likeness that they used have been lifted. Anyone could profit from it, undercutting a prime source of revenue for the team. 

Aside: take a look at the reveal of the throwback uniform. Do take note of the fact that there is no mention of the name and they did not use the logo for this very reason.

And here is the guy who is in the highest office telling literally everyone - from private citizens to private companies - how to conduct themselves.  

Smithsonian Fights Back Against $85 Million Space Shuttle Kipnapping To Texas

The stupidity of craven people elected to "represent us" is on full display here. 

TL;DR the space shuttle discovery isn't owned by the federal government. The appropriated funds are about 1/4 of what it would take to move it. And the specially outfitted 747s that can move the shuttle have been retired for about 15 years. 


https://www.jalopnik.com/1916183/smithsonian-fights-back-against-space-shuttle-kidnapping/

America's scary fire truck shortage

A while ago, I posted a video about why fire trucks are so expensive. Here's more context on the topic. 

https://media.hubspot.com/americas-scary-fire-truck-shortage

Musk will ask Tesla shareholders to vote on bailout for Twitter/xAI

Wait. A billionaire who spent ostensibly his own money to buy a platform that is used for hate - and which is bleeding money - wants to ask the company where he serves as the CEO (poorly) to bail him out for his privately held company?

And what does the company get in return? Nothing I assume. 

Why not just spend your own damn money? You have it for gosh sakes. 

If the shareholders and board vote for this, rather than voting no confidence in him … then we are as stupid as it seems. 

https://electrek.co/2025/07/13/musk-will-ask-tesla-shareholders-to-vote-on-bailout-for-twitter-xai/

Schroedingers executive.

I mean he was "unfit to serve" according to pretty much everyone FIVE YEARS AGO. 

It's not like he got better. 

The absurdity amazes me sometimes

The federal government wants to cut, cut, cut!  They have cut programs big and small, all in a seeming effort to inflict the most "pain" on citizens, while mostly protecting the oligarchs.

And this budget bill proved just how silly all of this is, on almost every level.  Rafael Edward Cruz (I shan't call him "Ted" because that's a nickname, and that is simply unacceptable in this day and age) added a line item to said budget that moves the Space Shuttle Discovery from its home at the Air and Space Museum to the Johnson Space Center.  For no reason other than he thought it belongs in Texas.  But included in this line item was $85,000,000 to facilitate its move and to create a structure to house it.

Its just the usual stupidity from the people who we "elect to serve us" but instead just act like a bunch of imbeciles in it for themselves.

That Epstein report

I have the Epstein report and I’ll release it right away!  

Don’t worry, it will be available soon!

There never was a report.

T-rump channeled his inner Frank Drebin in order to keep people close to him (and likely himself) from salacious headlines that ultimately wouldn’t matter (remember when Al Franken resigned from the senate because at some point he made an inappropriate comment about a female reporter? Such simpler times.  Now you can literally do anything and it gets a yawn) 

And meanwhile, Elon opened that can of worms further. https://www.buzzfeed.com/alanavalko/elon-musk-reacts-epstein-memo-memes

RFK jr makes no sense

Make America healthy. Or not. But rail against everyone and let the worm in the brain control you. 

So freaking dumb. 


https://apnews.com/article/rfk-jr-ultraprocessed-foods-diet-maha-trump-018a808efcf059eadfab2f8fc93fad4d

Two thoughts on the flood in Texas

1. Cutting weather-related services and research into weather patterns in a changing climate is a fools errand and will lead us to nowhere good. 

And 2. This is the kind of thing you might have heard about in time past happening in an underdeveloped country. Having something like this happen here in our "great nation" is inexcusable.  

That's on brand...

France unveiled a mural called "The Statue of Liberty's Silent Protest," designed to illustrate the "shame" surrounding the recent immigration policies of the Trump administration. 

Images went viral (including here) and have been viewed (according to some estimates) by at least 20 million people.  

But the MAGA crowd thinks its insulting and there were more than a few comments about how France should be "thanking us for bailing them out in the second world war" ... which is somewhat disingenuous and omits the fact that our independence would not have been won if the French hadn't intervened and provided support for the revolution.

And for reference, the statue was gifted to the United Stated by France on July 4, 1884 to celebrate our independence, democracy, and our willing acceptance of others on our shores.

Dutch artist Judith de Leeuw took six days to complete the mural, which was painted on a building in Roubaix, France. This location was intentional due to Roubaix's large migrant population who live in extremely difficult circumstances. "The values that the statue once stood for — freedom, hope, the right to be yourself — have been lost for many," she said.

Soccer fans stuck between a (hard) rock and a hard (trip home) place.

Early this year, you had people storming the gates. And now you have people unable to get out of the stadium and easily get home. 

But, I'm guessing Stephen Ross (who owns the stadium) made me money in both cases. So who cares? 

Soccer fans stuck between Hard Rock Stadium and a ride home: 'I'll never go to another game, especially not here' - The Athletic


https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6460496/2025/06/30/club-world-cup-hard-rock-stadium-fans-experience/

Man rebuilds a B-17 bomber

This is kind of a fun story about a guy that bought a B-17 fuselage, that had been sitting in a field in Maine, way back in 1984. 

He has since spent the last 4 decades restoring it. 

There's a charm and a warmth to the story, and the embedded tv coverage is kind of a nice summary of it all. 

"Illinois man has spent 40 years rebuilding a WWII-era B-17 bomber" | Popular Science


https://www.popsci.com/technology/b-17-bomber-restoration/