It was -3 °C this morning at #UVic. How unusual is that in February? The first figure shows daily average temperature with the range. Red is 2026, blue is the long-term (23 years) statistics. Today was a break from the pattern this month, and overall. The second […] [Original post on mstdn.ca]

“Twenty years ago, we’d have said those extremes are indeed going to be a problem, but primarily in poorer countries that cannot cope. What we’re now noticing is that Europe itself is vulnerable, especially for conditions it has not faced in the past." There's been no action when it's just 'the […]

"The waters off Australia’s southwest have typically been dry at the surface" Only an oceanographer could come up dry water. (They've also come up with spicy and minty water. In general, the region described is spicy.) […]

The Bad Place is getting worse every day. "The U.S. State Department is developing an online portal that will enable people in Europe and elsewhere to see content banned by their governments including alleged hate speech and terrorist propaganda, a move Washington views as a way to counter […]

I laughed out loud when I saw this headline. Not because it's funny but because #WTF. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/researchers-fracking-health-effects-bc-peace-region-9.7095889 #canada#wtf#BC

"Regardless of nitrogen deposition levels, the nitrogen isotope values in tree rings have been declining across all Swedish regions for both pine and spruce. And rising CO₂, rather than atmospheric nitrogen deposition, explained the observed patterns." […]

"The authors used atmospheric wind models to calculate the path and potential origin of the lithium plume. They found that the most likely area of origin was on the path of a Falcon 9 upper stage that had reentered the atmosphere uncontrolled over the Atlantic Ocean, west of Ireland, about 20 […]

New article on too many satellites and ways that we SHOULD be allocating orbits (by Gregory Radisic with me as second author) https://theconversation.com/too-many-satellites-earths-orbit-is-on-track-for-a-catastrophe-but-we-can-stop-it-275430 Been up for about 30 minutes and I already got a […]

"Ireland rolled out a permanent basic income scheme for the arts on Tuesday, pledging to pay 2000 creative workers 325 euros per week following a trial that participants said eased financial strain and allowed them to spend more time on projects." […]

"G7’s wind and utility-scale solar pipeline remains mostly unchanged" What entrenched fossil fuel interests do: stop progress in renewable energy. https://globalenergymonitor.org/report/global-wind-and-solar-2025-the-g7-gap/ #ClimateChange

Science is complete. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-scientists-smart-underwear-human-flatulence.html

We've built a system that rewards people for exploiting everyone else. What's behind abandoned ships, or wells, or waste? We tolerate it so they do it. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cddg885344do

Here's the view looking north from #UVic in January, 2026. There were some technical problems last month so some observations are missing. 1/ #saanich #victoriabc

Do not name things after people. https://scitechdaily.com/halleys-comet-has-the-wrong-name-new-research-suggests/

Three new bowls from Garry oak. The small ones are about 2 mm thick. #wwodturning

Yowsers! #brockuniversity what’s up? #kpmg LETTER: Advisory committee alarmed by Brock staff cuts - Niagara-on-the-Lake Local https://www.notllocal.com/letters-to-the-editor/letter-advisory-committee-alarmed-by-brock-staff-cuts-11842451

I learned about Sicherman Dice today. Is anyone selling these in #canada? I'd love a pair. I won't order from The Bad Place. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicherman_dice

Compare and contrast. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/vancouver-toronto-winter-weather-9.7076649

"while autistic female individuals wait for an accurate diagnosis, “they are likely to be (mis)diagnosed with psychiatric conditions, especially mood and personality disorders, and they are forced to self-advocate to be seen and treated appropriately" […]

"Software has an unprecedented capability to produce a correct answer in the most resource consuming way possible. Of course, producing incorrect answers or no answer at all is also an option. "Despite the apparent truth of Wirth's law, engineers have been actively battling against it for […]

My neighbour in #Saanich is getting heating oil delivered for their furnace. It’s 2026. It needs to be outlawed. #VictoriaBC #ClimateChange #canada

The Scam Ad Machine https://www.gendigital.com/blog/insights/research/scam-ad-machine-meta Over a 23-day period, Gen Threat Labs analysed 14.5 million ads running on Meta platforms across the EU and UK, representing more than 10.7 billion impressions. Nearly one in three of those ads (30.99%) […]

Animal lovers mourn ‘dramatic, adorable’ senior Saanich newt. Local news is great. We’ll all miss Newton. https://vicnews.com/2026/01/31/alas-poor-newton-animal-lovers-mourn-dramatic-adorable-senior-saanich-newt/ #saanich #victoriabc

"If you’ve ever felt the 'ick' about #ai and couldn’t explain why, this is for you. If you’ve been told you need more training to use AI and something in you resisted, this is for you. If you’ve watched men build 'second brains' and 'productivity systems' and thought I’ve been doing that my […]

RE: https://cyberplace.social/@GossiTheDog/116006168382496666 Now do #canada #leavexca

It’s a long story but we looked up Galicia in Spain and found it has an anthem. I turned to my wife and asked, “Do you think #BC has an anthem?” She started humming the theme from Beachcombers. #BritishColumbia

"On average, firms consistently reported ESG scores that were higher than what their actual carbon emissions would justify." Shocking. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-greenwashing-false-stability-companies.html

Hey Canadian Mastodonauts - here's where we're at. We had some instability the last few days, and it's because the PostgreSQL server (the long term memory for our community) needed more resources. Giving it more resources means we spend more money, so we went from USD$240 to USD$431/mo. This […]

Another reason the US is stupid: paper weights. Sane: GSM (grams per square meter) – A metric unit measuring the weight [mass] of a 1m² sheet. Insane: LBS (pounds) – Common in the U.S., it represents the weight of 500 sheets of paper in its base size, which _differs depending on the type_ […]

"A court on Wednesday ordered the Dutch government to draw up a plan to protect residents on the tiny Caribbean island of Bonaire from the devastating effects of #ClimateChange https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/bonaire-climate-change-hague-9.7064791 What's with the orange obelisk in the […]

Ancestral indigenous names returning! in #tofino #tlaoquiaht :tlaoquiaht: North Chesterman Beach named after two 19th century settlers: n̓an̓aquuʔa (“nah-nah-kuu-ah” - needle fish) Kennedy Lake largest lake on Vancouver Island named after first Governor of Colony of Vancouver Island […]

"Changing the lighting in these environments could be a highly economic route to improved public health." https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-35389-6

"citizen involvement has been reduced to complaint" https://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/gene-miller-we-need-more-meaningful-citizen-involvement-not-just-complaint-11772588 #VictoriaBC #saanich

"Our current society and economy too often prioritize the economy over people and the planet, putting both in service of the economy." https://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/trevor-hancock-reclaim-the-economy-for-people-and-the-planet-11767903

If the old order is not coming back, our elections cannot stay stuck in it. First-past-the-post no longer reflects how Canada votes. Proportional representation is how we build something better and stronger.

Check out this amazing resource @dansup created! I had no idea how many communities were hosted in Canada. Well done, everyone! Now, we need to grow. #canada #mastoadmin https://madeincanada.social/

“They’re one of the few good theories for what dark matter could be. So it’s important to keep looking for them.” Indeed. #darkmatter could be something else we’ve never seen and have no evidence for […]

Not much makes me procrastinate more than grading assignments.

E-bikes are so great that they are being adopted even by the people who shun other technology because of their detrimental effects. www.jalopnik.com/2077068/amis...

Some of the flea and tick treatment you put on your pets ends up in the environment where it may be causing harm to other species. This is good for dog owners in #VictoriaBC and #saanich#victoriabcto think about as many of them seem to believe their dogs should be allowed to go (in both meanings of the […]

Don't name things after people. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-halley-comet-wrongly-11th-century.html

"I think we ought to intentionally choose those times and activities that are our disconnection times—and rawdogging boredom ain’t it. That’s just a fundamentally dumb idea." First of all, I missed the memo on the changed use of 'rawdog'. Secondly, stop paying attention to attention-seeking […]

"CW: Do you have any qualms about the fact that AI art is made by scraping other artists? "GG: Yeah, I mean, that’s part of why I spat it out, because #AI chews up and spits out art made by other people." https://www.thenation.com/article/society/alaska-student-arrested-eating-ai-art-exhibit/

The 26 000-Year Astronomical Monument Hidden in Plain Sight https://longnow.org/ideas/the-26000-year-astronomical-monument-hidden-in-plain-sight/

Do you see Arthur Dent as a 'hero' or not? https://shreevatsa.net/post/douglas-adams-cultural-divide/

#language #mathematics #English #grammar .

Is it in the culture of boomers to always shift causes of misery to other people or something? #boomers #tattoo #climate #ClimateChangeIsReal #activism #ClimateActivism #CarbonEmissions #comic

Imagine what Poilievre and the #cpc would be saying at Davos. https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/speeches/2026/01/20/principled-and-pragmatic-canadas-path-prime-minister-carney-addresses #canada

There's been a quiet exodus of Canada's net-zero climate advisors https://www.cbc.ca/radio/whatonearth/net-zero-advisory-board-future-9.7046361 - - - Il y a eu un exode silencieux des conseillers•ières en action climatique net zero au Canada // Article en anglais // #canada #canpoli #cdnpoli […]