I Just Jerked Out Of My Midday Dissociation And Realized That Seed Bombing A Golf Course With Mint Would

this book is worth more than a dozen restaurants that grow their own microgreens on the roof

Hey solarpunk community! In light of several posts that have been going around, I was thinking it would be worthwhile to talk about the real, physical things we can do to make this world a more solarpunk place. Because speculation and aesthetics and thinkpieces are awesome, but a movement isn’t a movement without real action behind it. So what are things we can all do to make the present closer to our solarpunk future?

What do you think of vertical axis wind turbines? Seems to me they'd complement small domestic PV installations nicely and could use some wider usage

I’ve heard some people get quite preachy about vertical axis wind turbines being no good, but personally I’m rather fond of them. I definitely agree that for domestic use, they make more sense than regular windmills. They’re also much better suited to urban environments.

The typical style of wind turbines are great when you have lamellar flowing air currents, like near the coast or on flat plains, but city wind is more gusty and turbulent. Vertical axis turbines definitely seem ideal for that!

I think some of the reservations people have stem from the fact that, in the past, vertical axis wind turbines have typically been less reliable, and the turbine blades are more prone to fatigue. Though using modern engineering materials and turbine designs, I’m not convinced those old problems still apply.

Some designs for small scale applications are also impressively discreet and quiet – though seemingly rather expensive!

Direct air carbon capture is the most egregious bullshit green capitalism has tried to come up with and the fact that anyone who's taken a middle school science class falls for it is astonishing to me

Like, let's just imagine we can build magic carbon capture machines that are made of children's wishes and run on pixie dust and are 100% efficient. It pulls off the scheme carbon capture companies are going after - taking carbon out of the air and turning it into fuel, which is then burned, releasing the carbon back into the air. Even this impossible version of the technology is, at best, carbon neutral

But in the real world, carbon capture needs to use materials, energy, and infrastructure that actually exists, which means that it will always, unavoidably be carbon positive. Unless it breaks the laws of thermodynamics, it can literally never be a solution to the problem

And no matter what kinds of excuses you come up with, no matter how eloquently you argue for different forms of carbon capture and how good you make them sound, none of it fucking matters because we don't need to invent carbon capture. The best way to sequester carbon is to utilize the systems that are doing that already, by restoring ecosystems, restoring soil, and composting. We simply cannot ever be more efficient than nature

But nobody profits off of dirt or prairies, so they've gotta sell you machines that do it instead

Full color version :)

It’s a Native American planting technique that, honestly is genius. It’s called companion planting. You grow the corn first and then when it’s about knee-high, you add a runner bean. Once the beans have sprouted, you plant either summer or winter squash. The corn offers stakes for the beans to climb up and the squash shades the ground to prevent weeds from growing. It’s a really amazing way to nourish the soil and grow a great variety of different vegetables.

New 'e-dermis' brings sense of touch, pain to prosthetic hands

Amputees often experience the sensation of a “phantom limb” – a feeling that a missing body part is still there.

That sensory illusion is closer to becoming a reality thanks to a team of engineers at the Johns Hopkins University that has created an electronic skin. When layered on top of prosthetic hands, this e-dermis brings back a real sense of touch through the fingertips.

“After many years, I felt my hand, as if a hollow shell got filled with life again,” says the anonymous amputee who served as the team’s principal volunteer tester.

Keep reading

3-D printed bionic skin. It’s not science fiction.

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