Favorites May 5th 2022: Plastic, Power, and the Pentagon

San Francisco, November 2021

Charlie Stross @cstross

For once, some GOOD news comes out of Texas: Scientists Discover Method to Break Down Plastic [specifically PET] in Days, Not Centuries

vice.comScientists Discover Method to Break Down Plastic in Days, Not CenturiesScientists modified an enzyme that can break down plastic in one week to create fresh material for new products.

"a catalyst separates the building blocks that make up PET into their original monomers, which can then be repolymerized—built back into virgin plastic", very cool.

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

When I hear that Qatar and Saudi Arabia are helping to finance a deal to take Twitter private under the stewardship of a guy with extensive business interests in China, I am much more worried that we might end up with too little freedom of speech on the platform than too much.

The Independent @Independent

🚨 Tesla boss backed by Binance, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to buy Twitter 🚨 https://t.co/HzUNr64uAf

Really clear now that allowing too much disinformation on Twitter is not the primary danger of Musk buying it.

Nat Bullard @NatBullard

Two things happened at once on Saturday in California: 1. Renewables were 99.87% of grid demand 2. Almost 3GW of solar+wind was curtailed So - what will people do in future with all that free zero-carbon power, @jp_attwood @meredith_annex @posamentier @ataylorharbour?

"Curtailment is the deliberate reduction in output in order to balance energy supply and demand or due to transmission constraints." We need better transmission to send this to other states, and we need batteries to store it.

World Health Organization (WHO) @WHO

The total number of deaths associated with #COVID19 worldwide from 2020-2021 may be closer to 14.9 million: New estimates by WHO & @UNDESA. That’s 9.5 million more deaths than reported bit.ly/38SJIpM #HealthData

Youyang Gu says this is probably one of the most comprehensive estimates to date. We're approaching Spanish flu numbers. A recent paper estimates that the cost per life saved has been 55k in the US, which I believe is considered a good deal.

Andrew Exum @ExumAM

What if — and hear me out — we did this kind of thing but then didn’t talk about it?

The New York Times @nytimes

Breaking News: The U.S. has provided intelligence that has helped Ukraine target and kill many Russian generals who have died in the war, officials said. https://t.co/QwzcL9B7Yd

The Pentagon finally offered a denial, but what a foolish thing to have leaked to journalists.

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Traditionally, the majority leader seeks to hold votes on message bills that unite his caucus and divide the opposition. But Chuck Schumer doesn't roll that way and believes in dividing his own caucus while uniting the opposition and somehow Democrats think this is good?

Or better yet, actually pass bills, but I admit that's probably too much to hope for in the senate.

Peter Elstrom @pelstrom

Scoop: Beijing has told government agencies and state-backed firms to replace foreign computers within two years, one of China's most aggressive efforts yet to shift away from overseas technology via @GaoYuan86

bloomberg.comBloomberg - Are you a robot?

My understanding is that MS Windows is quite popular, this seems like quite a large undertaking...

Threads

• A thread about how corporations can most effectively handle downturns. The subtext is that a recession is imminent.

• Interesting thread from a law prof on the difficulty of deciding what a fundamental right is. This may become even more important as Florida considers removing the right to an education.