evilstevie @evilstevie@mastod1.ddns.net

The correct pronouns to use for addressing hills are them/thar

Don’t fuck with moon dust. No seriously, do not fuck with moon dust.

Absent any moisture or atmosphere, millennia of asteroid impacts have turned lunar regolith (soil) into a fine powder of razor sharp, glass-like particles. What’s more, the solar wind imparts an electric charge on the dust, causing it to cling to any and every surface it touches through static electricity. On earth, sand tends to get smoother over time as wind and water tumble the grains about, eroding their sharpness. Not so on the moon – lunar dust is sharp and deadly. This is Not A Good Time if you’re an explorer looking to visit our celestial neighbor.

During Apollo, the astronauts faced a plethora of unexpected issues caused by dust. It clung to spacesuits and darkened them enough that exposure to sunlight overheated the life support systems. Dust got in suit joints and on suit visors, damaging them. It ate away layers of boot lining. It covered cameras. Upon returning to the cabin, astronauts attempting to brush it off damaged their suit fabric and sent the dust airborne, where it remained suspended in the air due to low gravity.

Inhaling moon dust causes mucus membranes to swell; every Apollo astronaut who stepped foot on the moon reported symptoms of “Lunar Hay Fever.” Sneezing, congestion, and a “smell of burnt gunpowder” took days to subside. Later Apollo missions even sent a special dust brush with the team to help clean each other and equipment. We don’t know exactly how dangerous the stuff is, but lunar regolith simulants suggest it might destroy lung and brain cells with long-term exposure. 1

In fact the dust is so nasty that it destroyed the vacuum seals of sample return containers. We no longer have any accurate samples of lunar dust, “Every sample brought back from the moon has been contaminated by Earth’s air and humidity […] The chemical and electrostatic properties of the soil no longer match what future astronauts will encounter on the moon.” 2

Whats worse, the solar-charged dust gets thrown up off the moon’s surface via electrostatic forces. The moon doesn’t technically have an atmosphere, but it does have a thin cloud of sharp dust itching to cling to anything it can find.

And it probably isn’t just the moon. “A 2005 NASA study listed 20 risks that required further study before humans should commit to a human Mars expedition, and ranked "dust" as the number one challenge.” 3

The coolest solution I’ve heard about in next-gen spacesuit design is a mesh of woven wires layered into the suit. When activated, the wire mesh would form an anti-static electric field that repels dust. Quite literally a force field. 4
#astronomy #apollo #moon #lunardust

BWAHAHAHA! VICTORY IS MINE!

*ahem*

I am pleased to announce that I have successfully created a proof of concept tile image for the tessellated hugs, and I did not spend excessive time working round problems due to a 0.35 pixel discrepancy.

None whatsoever.

#sillyScribbles #cute #drawing #tiling

Me: And I believe you offer a señor discount.

Waiter: You mean the senior discount?

Me, wearing a poncho and sombrero: I knew it was too bueno to be true.

I use a motorised wheelchair and, when I feel a fart coming on, I slow down slightly so that when I do fart I can speed up as if it was a turbo boost.

Just closing my computer down prior to sleep and had forgotten that I had been playing around with the idea of a "tessellated hug".

I hadn't managed to do what I wanted to do, and abandoned it to do something else, but popping back up on screen it looked rather cheery.

Sometimes failures can be quite endearing.

'Night all 😴 💤

#sillyScribbles #cute #colourful #drawing

The Doctor: The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me, they've tried.

Voice from outside: This is the Lock Picking Lawyer, and what I have for you today is a Type 40 TARDIS....

My favourite thing about Rishi Sunak is that he's old school animatronics - no CG used.

What idiot called it "our glorious AI future" instead of "Nightmare on LLM Street"?

JFC, people in tech are really out there saying that language models will be better at therapy, financial advice, and career advice than trained people.

WTF is wrong with you people? Do you really have no clue about what other people’s jobs actually involve?

Language models can’t even do maths how are they supposed to get good at financial advice?

And therapy? Just… 😑

What’s wrong with people in tech?

In Brilon Wald wird die Unterführung durch eine Brücke mit Aufzug ersetzt. Ich weiß nicht, wie lange dieses Motiv noch möglich ist.

#eichhoernchen #radfahren

I am not very well at the moment which I *think* I am mentioning as I believe it will excuse the gif below in some way, while knowing full well that anyone who is paying attention will have seen me post worse / sillier / more nonsensical when I'm not ill 🤧

#sillyScribbles #googlyEyes #farming #silly

The only place you’ll get this configuration of dudes living together is prison.

So I guess that’s good news for Andrew.

dear diary, it has been 437 days since my husband disappeared under mysterious circumstances. alas, I am unable to inform the police, for I am a mere woman.

Microsoft Excel

@Daojoan "scared of AI" as in "scared of mold". Like mold, it's not going to become sentient and eat us all. But also like mold, it has a tendency to spoil previously good things, and my preferred amount of it in my (information) diet is zero with very few, carefully selected exceptions. Those exceptions, or the bries among the internet mold that is AI, are things like automatic transcription or translation.

@paulrickards thank you for this awesome plot.
Should I try it on my #commodore SX64?

Today has not gone to plan. They were good plans and they fell apart in spectacular fashion but we seem to have a solution and things should be back to OK in a few days.

And the dancers dance on.

Have a good weekend if you possibly can.

#FridaySparklyDancers #sillyScribbles #animation

Oh, this is now my favorite shorthand