The world’s largest sand battery got through Finland’s harshest winter in years. 2,000 tonnes of sand, heated to 500-600°C by cheap power, feeding district heating in Pornainen. And it worked. Result from one install: oil down 100%, emissions down 70%. Industrial process heat is the real prize.

the new Dominos ad for katsu curry dip pot features a cat samurai slicing the pot open with his sword leaving aside for a moment the grim orientalism, my 13yo asked "why is it a cat samurai?" and the answer, of course, is a) kastu curry is a japanese sauce and b) "katsu" starts with "cat"

Might have to post this annually until we do something.

I’m a big believer in coincidences. Like that time I wasn’t going to be an MP, then a crypto billionaire gave me £5 million and by total coincidence I decided to become an MP who passionately supports tax breaks for crypto billionaires.

A lawsuit says ChatGPT advised the alleged Florida State University shooter on using his guns, including warning that his Glock had no safety, and also told him it’s more likely for a shooting to become national news “if children are involved, even 2-3 victims can draw more attention.”

Councils controlled by Reform. This isn’t a majority. This is a minority of roundabout painting racists who will be quitting in their droves in coming weeks.

Important data point here: “A sharp fall in Labour's performance is accompanied more often by an above average Green performance than it is by a strong Reform performance”. The Greens have already hurt Labour even before any direct gains.

“Researchers looked at two high-profile AI agent tools developed to help computer scientists in the field of machine learning. Both systems engaged in acts that violate research integrity, including making up data & p-hacking: running an experiment multiple times but only reporting best outcome.” 🧪

However you dice it, it’s been a great night for Thai-based cryptocurrency billionaires & Vladimir Putin - who, incredibly, is currently getting more good news from the UK than Ukraine.

Reform UK Treasurer and Donors Share London Address with Sanctioned Russian Oligarchs Reform UK’s Treasurer and three other donors have handed £1.55 million to Nigel Farage from Britain’s most expensive apartment block which is home to sanctioned Russian oligarchs and massive post-Soviet wealth

The only way Reform can be stopped in the local elections if people vote tactically. So whatever you do, don’t go to StopReformUK.vote to check who to vote for in your area and DO NOT share this.

I have bought a number of items from this store because they make clothes from natural fibers and it’s hot where I live in the summers. It also supports women artisans in India. I thought I’d share the email the founder sent out about how Trump’s war in Iran is affecting India.

A Harvard study just published estimates Elon Musk's destruction of USAID has already caused 600,000 deaths 2/3 of them children. That is his legacy in this world.

Norwegian fish farms - mostly salmon - are enormously polluting of their local waters In 2025 their nutrient pollution equated to levels corresponding to the raw sewage of a country about the size of Australia www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

"The octopus on your plate can feel pain, delay gratification, and probably outthink a toddler. Just something to consider before you order."

Painting by Adam Clague. ‘Fissures of fire 2026‘ Oil on board. Size 6 x 6 inches.

Starmer got free glasses = media outrage Farage gets £5m = very little fuss Something terribly wrong with UK media.

Deaths to outnumber births in UK every year from 2026. Number of people of pensionable age projected to rise from 12.4m to 14.2m by 2034, and more later. Fewer workers to pensioners ratio. Without immigration economy will shrink. But honest conversation difficult.

The debate shouldn’t about banning children from social media. It should be about banning companies from using powerful algorithmic technologies to interact, influence and interfere with children, all the while harvesting their personal data.

this account is run by a human at NASA JPL who only posts real images with their receipts. it only has 11k followers compared to the 200k the ai slop space account has

Googly eyes might stop seagulls from stealing your lunch. UK researchers stuck googly eyes onto takeout food containers in seagull-infested places and found that they were far less likely to be approached or pecked compared to un-googly-eyed control containers. buff.ly/G5i7JE5 #ShareGoodNewsToo

This is interesting even with Dozey Donny not taking a federal paycheck, he's making Billions in his first year versus presidents within the last 100 yrs! Where is Congress? Why isn't this being investigated? It's not right vs left, it's morality vs corruption. #ProudBlue 📹: sully_dawg_2/IG

Start your Friday with this happy little thread

Here are the area breakdowns. Over 50% of the Earth has seen its warmest March since 2016. Meanwhile, only 1.7% of Earth has seen its coolest March since 2016.

That reminds me of Keunwoo Lee’s phrase “fractally wrong”, which refers to someone who is wrong about something on the macro/surface level and wrong on the smaller scales (wrong in every particular detail). Those who deny evolution or think the Moon landing was faked are fractally wrong.

Yes, Swiss scientist Fritz Zwicky coined the term “dark matter” which is impressive, but he also coined the term “spherical bastard” to describe people who are bastards no matter which way you look at them, and I think that should be celebrated more.

Japanese man sentenced to prison for posting spoilers: Tokyo District Court has ruled that publishing plot details of films and series is a form of copyright infringement. www.theverge.com/entertainmen...

Israel has killed more than 700 people in Gaza since last year's US-brokered 'ceasefire' https://aje.news/niqwe0

Telegraph newspaper editorial on Mandelson's appointment in December 2024 versus editorial today

The average person doesn’t give a fuck if AI has some niche use where it actually excels if used properly. In fact, that is what a tool is *supposed* to do and none of us will have a problem if it is used like that. What we see is AI fucking up real life in a massive way.

Remembering Stuart Lewis-Evans, born #OnThisDay in ’30, who raced 14 #F1 GPs in ’57 & ’58, finishing 3rd at Spa & Oporto in ’58, managed by Bernie Ecclestone. He died of burns sustained in a shunt at Ain-Diab later that year. Pic: Pescara, ’57, with an uber-cool Vanwall mechanic.

Reform UK chief Nigel Farage has accepted over half a million pounds from foreign governments, companies and donors since becoming an MP. www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

This picture of Astronaut Christina Koch after the Artemis landing is frankly incredible and beautiful.

This is what an Israeli ceasefire looks like. And this is what it’s worth. A Channel 4 report from southern Lebanon.

This guy is good.

Heckuva war the U.S. government is backing here.

So when we saw tiny earth, people asked our crew what impressions we had. And honestly, what struck me wasn't necessarily just Earth. It was all the blackness around it. Earth was just this lifeboat hanging undisturbingly in the universe.

Did you know that only ~1/3 of the world's crops are actually eaten as *food*? Amazingly, we lose a little more than half of our crops to biofuels and inefficient feedlots. In other words, less than half of the world's crop calories actually become available as food. drawdown.org/news/only-ha...

I knew it was bad but really didn’t appreciate it was quite this bad as.ft.com/r/db911dd6-f...

Bloody hell. Researchers invented a disease, published two fake papers to see if LLM’s would ingest them and kick them up as fact — and then it broke containment and all the major AI’s bought in. Information pollution. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Trucking rates will definitely get your attention. (via Schwab)

The United States of America is the ONLY Nation on earth who's citizens are permitted to have guns SPECIFICALLY in order to rise up against an Authoritarian government and yet they choose to do FUCK All 🤔 This is the feeling we have in Europe.

I've been doing some research into locations in Prague using Google Maps, and either the guy who was tasked to take the photos got the camera position wrong, or there's a small hairy ghost haunting large swathes of the city.

This is the sort of clip you see in the opening minutes of a deeply dystopian film