Seaweed packaging

A company called Notpla is working on a seaweed coating to put over a cardboard container.  The result is something that can biodegrade quicky and easily.

They're partnering with some European business, and with some big stadium operators to replace the packaging that's used when serving food at games and events.  

They also toyed wit han idea for seaweed-based cuops to replace single use plastic cups, but post-pandemic, opted to focus on these takeaway containers.

https://www.euronews.com/green/2025/06/07/we-dont-want-to-be-a-niche-brand-seaweed-is-taking-plastic-out-of-stadiums-and-sandwich-bo

Davinci drawings lead to newly discovered tunnels

Leonardo Davinci did some drawings of the Sforza Castle, and included were a series of underground tunnels.

Centuries passed, and the landscape changed.  The tunnels were lost to history.  Except that some archaeologists referred back to these drawings, and used ground penetrating radar.  And found the tunnels.

This is one of those fun stories that makes one marvel at the ability of Davinci to show us the real world.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/archaeology/a64864755/leonardo-da-vinci-castle-sketch/

Scientists in Japan develop plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours

It may seem a little far-fetched, but the scientists had in a group of scientists and reporters, and demonstrated the effect: plastic sitting in a salt water tank disintegrated in about an hour.  So if this is scalable, and if the plastic can stand up to regular handling, they may be on to something.

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/scientists-japan-develop-plastic-that-dissolves-seawater-within-hours-2025-06-04/

Saturn's moon - Titan - has a tilt that scientists are trying to understand

To this point, scientists can't figure out why Titan is "wobbling."

"We think some event in the past may have knocked the atmosphere off its spin axis, causing it to wobble."

While studying it using telescopes and looking at the data from probes, they noticed that Saturn wasn't impacting the tilt, which made the result curiouser.

"That would've given us clues to the cause," Nick Teanby, co-author of the study and a planetary scientist at the University of Bristol, said in the statement. "Instead, we've got a new mystery on our hands."

Its amazing to me just how much we don't know.  But its also worth noting that this is what's great about scientific curiosity.  We continue to evaluate what we see, and update theories to adapt to that.  And we continue to learn new things.

https://www.space.com/astronomy/solar-system/weve-got-a-new-mystery-on-our-hands-titans-weird-wobble-just-got-even-stranger

Space is hard

Japan's Resilience Lunar Lander apparently crash landed on the moon.  Everything was looking good after its time in space, and the engineers were excited and confident about landing.

But as it was 20m above the surface, and about 2 minutes from landing, the thrusters fired to move it to a vertical position, but it didn't successfully complete the maneuver, and the craft didn't slow down.  

iSpace lost contact with it and later determined that it had crash landed.  And that means its iSpace's second failed attempt to land on the moon,

https://www.reuters.com/science/japans-ispace-tries-lunar-touchdown-again-with-resilience-lander-2025-06-05/

Disney announces Piston Peak

Disney hadn't said much about the Cars themed land slated for the magic kingdom, after their initial announcement. 

The reason for that is: Florida politics. 

Disney proposed filling in the Rivers of America and using that as additional space for their new land. But Disney no longer controls its own waterways. They are now under the purview of the state's water management district. So, when Disney proposed their changes, the state rejected it outright. It's hard to tell what their reasoning was, but presumably it's about their ongoing feud. 

Disney tried negotiating, but they met a lot of resistance. I personally assumed the project died quietly. 

But in the first week of June, they came up with this statement. 

"Since the early days of Magic Kingdom, adventurous guests have traveled across space and time as they pass from Liberty Square to Frontierland.

 

"At the heart of all these stories are heroic characters with a belief in themselves that helped forge a path to their dreams.

 

"To continue this journey in great American storytelling, Piston Peak National Park will be part of the largest expansion in the history of Magic Kingdom.

 

"Visitors will be able to see and explore the visitor lodge, Ranger HQ, trails and more all set within the Disney and Pixar Cars universe.

 

"To make sure these buildings fit naturally within the surrounding majestic landscapes, Imagineers are using a style of architecture called 'Parkitecture,' which was developed by the National Park Service to create structures that harmonize with the natural environment.

 

"From the outside, trees will provide a natural barrier between the off-road rally and other parts of Frontierland and Liberty Square. Rugged mountains with dramatic peaks will be nestled along a calming waterway across from Grizzly Hall, and soaring geysers from the famed Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will stretch into the trails of our off-road rally."

Which means that they found a way to make it work. And if you look at the new rendering, you'll note that the waterway surrounds the land. So in effect, they reshaped the Rivers of America slightly, but left it intact. 

I'm not quite sure who won and lost here. But it seems a reasonable compromise. I think, anyway. 

But my one question is why did they put it there, and not over by the Tomorrowland speedway? That seemed to be a more natural tie-in. 

But what do I know?

Original artist rendering - no waterways shown:

Conceptualization shown in June with the announcement, with the waterway!: 

This is just madness

There's a weird story about Elon Musk, Stephen Miller, and Miller's wife. And honestly, I'm not sure why this is any way "news" or relevant. 

But I think it probably does suggest there are problems with this stupid "in crowd"…

If you're unfamiliar with the story, well, it's that Miller assigned his wife to keep an eye on Musk. Miller referred to it as "handling him," and musk reportedly figured out that he was being manipulated. 

Whatever it was ex actor is unclear … but it sure seems like something is simmering among them. 

And of course, there was some weirdness about their relationship, both professional and personal. And there was some side story about Musk no longer contributing to T-rumps personal account, which seems to have rankled some of the keystone cops.