Consumption Week 10
My notes from some of the media I consumed this week.
Contents
Energy, Climate, and the Future
New membrane generates electricity while filtering wastewater
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/membrane-clean-water-generate-electricity
- “Scientists from Myongji University have developed an advanced multifunctional water purification membrane that not only purifies polluted water but also simultaneously generates electricity.”
- “The scientists claim that the membrane can reject over 90% of the pollutants less than 10 nm (one hundred-millionth of a meter) in size, like microplastics and highly toxic heavy metal particles like arsenic, lead, cobalt, zinc, etc., which are undetectable to the eye.”
- “Produced using a simple printing process, this is a cost-effective technology that has the potential to be commercialized at a greater scale.”
Generating electricity from air? Scientists discover energy enzyme
https://interestingengineering.com/science/enzyme-uses-air-generate-electricity
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-05781-7
- “Researchers at Monash University in Australia have found a novel enzyme that can use minute amounts of hydrogen available in the air to generate energy. This could lead to the development of devices that could literally generate electricity from thin air.”
[Inside Octopus Energy] Ep 15: Zero Bills homes: Getting rid of energy bills for good
- New builds (retrofit in the future) with energy generation (solar), energy storage (batteries), energy efficiency (insulation, heatpumps), and smart energy (Krakenflex) allows Octopus to provide £0 bills for 5 years. Amazing.
Cooling Our Cities Without Air Conditioning
- Until we have infinite energy (and ability to capture wasted heat), ACs are not the answer.
- This video includes ancient technologies (e.g. building design) and future tech (e.g. nanotechnology). Cool
This New Material Absorbs Three Times More CO2 Than Current Carbon Capture Tech
- “The team reported that one kilogram of their material was able to absorb 5.1 mol of CO2; in comparison, most solid sorbents currently in use for DAC have absorption capacities of 1.0 to 1.5 mol per kilogram.”
This Interactive Chart Shows Changes in the World’s Top 10 Emitters
https://www.wri.org/insights/interactive-chart-shows-changes-worlds-top-10-emitters
Charted: Global Energy Consumption by Source, and Carbon Emissions (1900-2021)
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/charting-consumption-production-fossil-fuels/
Personal Development, Health, and Fitness
[Lex Fridman Podcast] #364 – Chris Voss: FBI Hostage Negotiator
- Pick a point in the future where you’re both happy then work your way back.
- Be able to state the position/emotion of the other person so deeply and clearly that they agree.
[Modern Wisdom] #599 - Adam Lane Smith - 15 Harsh Psychology Truths
- Relationships
- Couples usually go to therapy when it’s too late. Normally, women try changing for years, but the man doesn’t realise, so the situation doesn’t improve, and the woman gives up. When men do finally realise there is a problem and change is needed, they do try to change, but it’s too late - the woman is beyond the threshold. This is why most women initiate divorces.
- ADHD and mental conditions
- Not everything is a pathology. Don’t make excuses. Don’t drug yourself up. Sometimes you just had to take responsibility.
- In the literature, diagnoses can be undone when it’s no longer an issue. Modern medicine never does this - once you have e.g. ADHD, you have it for life.
- Those with ADHD are often good entrepreneurs, but the school systems punish them for it.
- Therapy
- Most modern therapy is focussed on female solutions - feeling heard and loved - not male ones - actionable solutions to lack of purpose - hence why most men don’t like therapy, but women do.
JG: I stopped listening about half way through as it got too too focussed on incel culture - which, in my opinion, mostly exists on the internet. Chris’s podcasts seem to spend a lot of time on this topic.
The Female Brain / The Male Brain by Louann Brizendine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D9qd7Vy2JE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZjF9EW81p4
- Fascinating explanations of why and how men and women are different, how different hormones during development result in different attitudes towards risk and emotional abilities.
- “In the adult and mated male brain testosterone has dampened their neural development around verbal communication and emotional memory, but their problem-solving circuits stay large and well connected. This can lead to the perception that male brains feel emotions less than female brains, but this isn’t true. When a bonded male brain realises his partner’s upset for instance, it immediately kicks into problem-solving mode. In male-female couples this difference in instinctual responses fuels many conflicts. While a female brain partner might crave communication and connection around her issue, their male brain counterparts aren’t built for that. Their neural networks are hardwired to respond by offering solutions. it’s well intentioned sure, but baffling to a partner who doesn’t understand why they can’t just listen.”
Politics, Economics, Business, and Culture
These are the 4 skills you’ll need in the workplace of the future
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/01/skills-jobs-future-workplace/
- “The report finds that “Business Consulting, Specialized Sales, Database Architecture and Administration, Network Protocols, Web Design and Development” are all seeing a big drop-off in demand. The role of web developer has been hit hard by low-code, no code platforms that allow people to build their own websites quickly and easily.”
- JG: Interesting when viewed alongside the BCG report from last week. New technologies earn more money, but are also potentially quickly outdated. Note how web developer was huge, and is now having the biggest decrease. Will we be saying the same about AI/cloud in 5 years? And social media is, I feel, on a downward trend already.
From Barbie to Airlines: The Business Method to Charge the Richest People More
- More interesting than expected. About price discrimination.
- Examples: Student discount (80% of full price is still better than no sale); business class (10% higher cost, 100% higher price).
- Barbies: Doctors (who have more money) will buy their daughters doctor Barbies, so Mattel can sell them for more money.
[Brave New Earth] E14: Christian Samuel, Founder of Roots Allotments
- Allotments have an up to 40 year wait list - huge demand. Mostly owned my government who cannot make a profit, so many are closing down.
- Add community and education aspect - increased sales and retention.
- Best way to start a business: don’t overthink, create a landing page, drop £1000 or so in advertising, see if you get demand
‘Good luck’: Metal detectorists find 2,000-year-old statue with giant penis
https://interestingengineering.com/culture/2000-year-old-statue-with-giant-penis
For years, the Vatican referred to capybaras as “fish”
https://interestingengineering.com/culture/capybara-classified-fish-vatican
- “Following European immigrants’ colonization of the Americas, pastors in Venezuela contacted the Vatican to inquire about possibly classifying this new animal, which had webbed feet and a fishy flavor, as a fish so that they might continue to eat it throughout the Lenten season.”
- “Animals that spent their time in the water qualified as aquatic and could be eaten at Lent,”
Science, Technology, and Nature
Bikla
https://www.tasteatlas.com/bikla
- “Bikla is a Croatian drink mainly associated with Dalmatia, including the islands and the hinterland. It is an unusual combination of red wine (traditionally young wine) and milk. It is usually made with equal amounts of both ingredients.”
ChatGPT invented its own puzzle game.
https://puzzledpenguin.substack.com/p/chatgpt-invented-its-own-puzzle-game
- Except it didn’t
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35038804
- “It’s still incredible you can coerce a language model to produce this, but it’s not a new game, I’ve had it on my phone for a few years: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rohitpailw…”
- “And herein lies the issue with ChatGPT, it can generate functioning code, but can also lie through its none existent teeth about it. Using ChatGPT (or Co-Pilot) can feel like pair-programming with a very talented developer who loves to bullshit.”
Rare surgery: Unborn twin removed from brain of 1-year-old in China
https://interestingengineering.com/health/unborn-twin-removed-from-brain-1-year-old
- Nightmare time:
New vocal cords on a chip can let mute people speak
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/vocal-cords-chip-let-mute-speak
- “The new tool is a one-centimeter square that can easily be attached to the throat to transform barely audible sounds and whispers into speech heard at normal audible volumes.”
- “The new innovation has the capacity to detect and translate speech elements such as phonemes, tones, and words at an accuracy rate of 99 percent.”
I Drove EVERY Nissan GT-R
- The dream.
Other
BBC Global News Podcast The Happy Podcast
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0f6m7d3
- JG: Didn’t expect to hear my voice on the BBC!