The reactivation of herpes simplex virus (HSV-1, not only herpes zoster) may be tied to accelerated aging and dementia, and account in part for the mechanism of Shingrix vaccine''s protection www.wired.com/story/shingl...
If you don’t find it somewhere physical or ad-free, there‘a this: youtu.be/Gz4UvTJLrgg
And I see there was a volume II I didn’t know about. And that Biggs recorded some other harpsichord stuff. And that Scott Joplin died way too young. So I’ll stop now.
I had an album of E. Power Biggs playing Scott Joplin rags on a pedal harpsichord. Great stuff. The power of influencers!
I’m convinced this is the problem that orchestras were invented to solve.
An infrared photo of two llamas staring at me on a damp and misty morning in Sheffield. Why are they staring? Why did they stand staring for 5 minutes until I walked away?
Llama stare.
#scape #llamascape #infrared #photography #BWFri #ClassicMono #monochrome
Do people not wash their sheets first?
That’s so sad!
HEARTBREAKING: local pianist drills passage only to discover that the clever fingering she painstakingly worked out doesn’t work at full speed
That’s different from the ship that was bombed by a couple guys with a bass boat, right?
A dark tortoiseshell cat being petted.
"Thomas translated back into realspace with a scream of daemonic anguish. Now a twisted, corrupted, near-unrecognisable husk wrought from the heretical energies of the immaterium, his Gellar fields having failed completely shortly after first entering the Warp."
One fine photo of a black cat in a fancy, knitted hat and an illustration version of the cat, rendered with book and wand and cloak.
Stars and Bells
Discworld QOTD, from The Light Fantastic
“‘All the shops have been smashed open. There was a whole bunch of people across the street helping themselves to musical instruments, can you believe that?’
‘Yeah,’ said Rincewind. ‘…Luters, I expect.’”
Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I’ll get my LLM to use regular expressions.” Now they have three problems.
👀
I realized that I liked most of the various Trek episodes that Jonathan Frakes directed. He knows what Star Trek is supposed to be like, for sure.
Hezbaloha
Both for sure in the top 200 (or whatever list these stations use for drive time music). Sounds great!
A big part of tax discourse is that normal people would not give a single shit about how much they were paying in taxes if those taxes went to helping people, and that it is extremely obvious that this is not what taxes are actually going toward.
I make way, way less than 100k. Please tax me. Shit, I would even accept paying MORE taxes if they actually went to social programs and not to bombs getting dropped on small children
Now I’ve got the bouncy part of the eighth going in my head. Maybe a little synthesized.
Page 2 of letter by Daniel Swain. It begins: constructive suggestions regarding how the already remarkable institutional efficiency and societal impact of NCAR could be further enhanced through increased (not decreased) federal support in the years to come. Please note: To ensure the highest level of technical rigor, this response focuses exclusively on the core atmospheric and natural hazard science topics within the author’s primary domain of expertise; for this reason, I have omitted a response to Topic 4 (Space Weather)." NCAR weather modeling and atmospheric observing capabilities a) Management and operations of weather-related observational platforms, modeling and science as a stand-alone activity. The proposed management of weather-related research as a stand-alone activity is a scientifically regressive path that ignores the fundamental physical reality of the Earth system. Modern atmospheric science has demonstrated (largely, it is worth noting, due to groundbreaking researc
Page 3 of letter by Daniel Swain. It begins: b) Management and operations of weather-related observational platforms, modeling and science as combined with other NSF investments/facilities. The highly specialized nature of the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center (NWSC) infrastructure represents an extraordinary value proposition that cannot be replicated by combining it with more generalized NSF programs. The NWSC is not a generic high-performance computing (HPC) facility; it is a laboratory uniquely optimized for atmospheric science workflows, with a hardware and storage architecture specifically designed to handle the massive, high-bandwidth data demands of Earth system modeling. Furthermore, its model of providing an excellent, free-at-point-of-use technical support team ensures that the focus remains on the science rather than the overhead of systems administration. This centralized expertise allows individual researchers, smaller labs, and even entire universities—who would otherwi
Page 4 of letter by Daniel Swain. It begins: NCAR Mesa Lab (located in Boulder, Colorado) a/b) Ownership of the NSF NCAR Mesa Lab building for public and private use. Far more than just an office building, NSF NCAR Mesa Lab is an iconic and purpose-built facility designed specifically for the study of atmospheric science. Its position at the physical interface of the Rocky Mountain foothills and the Great Plains is a deliberate reflection of its mission, serving as a visible symbol—in an iconically American setting—of the federal government's enduring commitment to science in service of society. For many in the field, including myself, the Mesa Lab holds singular importance as a focal gathering point for the global atmospheric science community. My own early career exposure to weather and Earth system modeling, in fact, occurred within these walls, and I have long felt that the facility’s architecture and location inspire a necessary sense of awe regarding the atmosphere’s complexity a
Page 1 of letter by Daniel Swain. It begins: Dear Acting Director Stone and the NSF NCAR restructuring team: I am writing to provide a formal response to the Request for Information (RFI) regarding the proposed restructuring of the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and its critical weather science infrastructure contained within the January 23, 2026 Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) entitled “NSF Intent to Restructure Critical Weather Infrastructure.” I submit these comments in my professional capacity as an atmospheric research scientist within the University of California, where my research focuses on the physics and dynamics of atmospheric processes related to extreme weather events and their role in shifting natural hazard and disaster risk. My perspective is informed by a public-sector career dedicated to bridging the gap between fundamental atmospheric research and real-world application in an academic context, with a particular focus on understanding and mitigating
I just submitted my letter to NSF responding to its proposal to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). I argue that doing so would be an astonishing and avoidable misstep, and that federal support for the institution should in fact be *increased.* [1/4]
Natures Miracle Skunk Odor remover works reeeally well! I’m very impressed.
I don't know who else falls into the writing trap, but I do every single time. Give me an opportunity to overthink and overwork something, and boy will I ever!
Learning gradually how to embrace beauty in (more relative) simplicity.
(My actual answer is, of course, the horrifying roar of a TIE fighter)
It’s the Niamos! elevator muzak and it’s not close
If you haven’t, I highly recommend watching MASH. I didn’t watch all of it when Tom watched it, but I saw most of it (and I remember this scene). It’s such a good show and still so relevant today.
Though the writers regularly did Margaret dirty. She deserved better.
Seriously. Y'all NEED TO ACTUALLY READ John Hodgson's 173 page footnote in which he proves Hadrian built the Roman Wall.
I CANNOT do justice to how beautiful his brain was.
That he's forgotten as a historian breaks my heart.
"I don't know what weapons the next war will be fought with, but the one after that will be with sticks."
"Because of nukes, right?"
"No, because we decided logistics was woke."
