Starling/stare. Värmland, Sweden (April 9, 2022).

Important if your in an abusive situation you can turn off this alarm

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Played pressure with friends recently and this image has been stuck in my head for a solid 2 days

furry species ranked by how difficult it'd be to take them anywhere

i love you swordsmachine

A new concept for low-cost batteries

Made from inexpensive, abundant materials, an aluminum-sulfur battery could provide low-cost backup storage for renewable energy sources.

As the world builds out ever larger installations of wind and solar power systems, the need is growing fast for economical, large-scale backup systems to provide power when the sun is down and the air is calm. Today’s lithium-ion batteries are still too expensive for most such applications, and other options such as pumped hydro require specific topography that’s not always available.

Now, researchers at MIT and elsewhere have developed a new kind of battery, made entirely from abundant and inexpensive materials, that could help to fill that gap.

The new battery architecture, which uses aluminum and sulfur as its two electrode materials, with a molten salt electrolyte in between, is described today in the journal Nature, in a paper by MIT Professor Donald Sadoway, along with 15 others at MIT and in China, Canada, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

“I wanted to invent something that was better, much better, than lithium-ion batteries for small-scale stationary storage, and ultimately for automotive [uses],” explains Sadoway, who is the John F. Elliott Professor Emeritus of Materials Chemistry.

Read more.

everybody’s always so worried about short kings getting carried off by predatory birds i’ll have you know the birds are Not planning to eat them and i know Several men under 5’6” who have had full and happy lives after having been raised in a nest

I had one of these 6 years ago, ever since I lost it I have been looking for their name.

Hexbugs for your blog 🐛

the tumblr app is so broken my phone just wants to take it behind the woodshed and shoot it

sebastian solace

You mean I will have to socialize for the best health of my garden? This is horrible!

Tips for wise gardening

My experience as a landscaper has mostly been in fixing or maintaining the bad ideas of other people. With that in mind, I’d like to share some advice on how to garden wisely.

Aggressive plants are high maintenance, avoid them. For many years the industry has touted aggressive plants as groundcovers because they’re very easy for them to mass-produce and they grow impressively for customers. However, aggressive plants ALWAYS breech containment. The effort of ripping out or just monthly hacking back aggressive vines which attack your house is much greater than the annoyance of having to wait for slower growers to establish.

Carefully research every plant you purchase. Research is treated like a chore in the plant community and many people celebrate their impulsiveness when it comes to purchasing plants. This is a mistake. The $2 plant you plop in the ground and forget about could eventually take over your yard. Knowing exactly what you’re buying, where it’s from and how it grows will help you know if it’s the right choice for you. Plus, getting to know a plant and learn what makes it interesting and beautiful will give you a better appreciation for it once the novelty wears off.

Only plan as much garden maintenance for yourself as you would like to do on the hottest day of the year. It’s inevitable that we pay more attention to our gardens when it’s a pleasant day outside but the weeds don’t mind the heat. By all means spend more time outside in the spring and fall, get big projects done but keep in mind that they must be maintained and that you will often not feel like spending your weekend toiling away at an overgrown bed in July. This one is tough because it takes a little experience to get a feeling for how much work you can get done in a day. I know for myself and my schedule, I will not weed my beds every week. I plant things that can hold their own against weeds without becoming weeds themselves. These are almost always native plants.

Shrubs and trees should be planted so that when they are fully grown they do not touch any part of your house. Branches rubbing against your house damage your siding, retain too much moisture, and make maintenance to your house difficult. Similarly, plants should never overhang pathways in a way that would interfere with their use. Always leave ample headroom and plenty of clearance on either side of paths, keeping in mind that branches will bend and droop with rain or snow.

Take the time to study your landscape as it exists now before changing it. Learn the names of the plants which are already planted, try to figure out why they were planted there and if it’s a good place for them. Learn where the sun strikes your yard at different times of the day, a patch that looks like full sun at noon may be in deep shade for the morning and afternoon. Which way do the prevailing winds blow in the different seasons? Some plants which bloom in the very early spring will be better suited to a location where they’re kept out of the winter wind but have good ventilation in summer. Is the soil clay, sandy, loamy, silty, or rocky? Are there low areas where water pools after a rain or dry areas where the turf always goes brown in summer. Find the most comfortable and frequently-used areas of your house and yard, what can you see in the garden from them and what would you like to see?

Make plans, budgets, sketches, and notes about what you do in the garden. Find a system of documentation that works for you, whether it’s as simple as saving plant tags or as complicated as drawing up designs, you should know what plants you have where and why. Ideally your system should have the common name, scientific name, a brief description, the reasoning behind its location, and when it was planted. For example: “Rosemallow, Hibiscus moscheutos; trident-shaped leaves with undertones that match the color of the blossom, large, blousy, open flowers in white-red range with a dark iridescent eye, shoots don’t emerge until June, flowers appear in mid-July and continue til frost; planted in 2015 at the bottom of the hill where the water pools on the southeast corner of the house near the back door because they like wet feet and the bare canes are hidden by clematis and agastache early in the season before foliage emerges.”

The cheapest way to buy plants is to buy seed, the cheapest way to get plants is by making friends. There are some beloved garden plants which are very difficult to grow from seed but many are not. Know the difference between them. Growing from seed is not always slower and frequently results in healthier growth long-term. Even better than buying seed is to get free plants from or swap plants with a friend. There are tons of plants which thrive through division, many plants make viable seed which can be shared, tubers and cuttings are simple to take and easy to transport. Get to know your neighbors who garden, offer them something from your yard or propose a swap. Many people are happy to share or trade plants. Be sure to ask them as much as you can about the plants they give and their care. The advice you get may be more valuable than any of the plants you get. Speaking of which…

Listen to experienced gardeners. Find the people who have been doing this for years, they might not look old but may have a lot of knowledge. Find people who have similar conditions to yours and who garden in your same area. So much of horticulture boils down to local conditions. If there’s a plant you’ve tried and failed with, find someone who is growing it well and ask them everything about their yard and how they care for it. “Your hydrangeas are just gorgeous! May I ask how you get them to grow so well? I have so much trouble with them in my yard.” Ask about their soil texture and color, what products they use, what they do in the winter, if they irrigate, and anything else you can think of. Many gardeners will happily talk your ear off about their gardens if you give them the chance.