Thursday Night Open Thread: At Long Last, an Opportunity To Post the Term “Nickel Foam”

Posted by Oppo on 4 February 2021, 9:00 pm

Seriously: invest in this thing if you can figure out how. A world turns its thirsty eyes to you.

High Efficiency at Low Cost: New Catalyst Moves Seawater Desalination, Hydrogen Production Closer to Commercialization
University of Houston | January 28, 2021
Seawater makes up about 96% of all water on earth, making it a tempting resource to meet the world’s growing need for clean drinking water and carbon-free energy. And scientists already have the technical ability to both desalinate seawater and split it to produce hydrogen, which is in demand as a source of clean energy.
But existing methods require multiple steps performed at high temperatures over a lengthy period of time in order to produce a catalyst with the needed efficiency. That requires substantial amounts of energy and drives up the cost.
Researchers from the University of Houston have reported an oxygen evolving catalyst that takes just minutes to grow at room temperature on commercially available nickel foam. Paired with a previously reported hydrogen evolution reaction catalyst, it can achieve industrially required current density for overall seawater splitting at low voltage. The work is described in a paper published in Energy & Environmental Science.
Zhifeng Ren, director of the Texas Center for Superconductivity at UH (TcSUH) and corresponding author for the paper, said speedy, low-cost production is critical to commercialization.

This dude may be a good scientist, but he states economic principles any five-year-old with a lemonade stand would know.

“Any discovery, any technology development, no matter how good it is, the end cost is going to play the most important role,” he said. “If the cost is prohibitive, it will not make it to market.”

Duh.

Do you have something you’d like to share? A link? A joke? Some words of wisdom? A topic to discuss? It’s our nightly Open Thread, and you have the floor.

Doin’ Me Bit Fer the Cause

Posted by Oppo on 4 February 2021, 8:31 pm

Dudes…!

I’ve just alienated (“undocumentated”) three good old friends of mine from college.

They were congratulating themselves on the comment that in Georgia “the state legislature is still very red and now working overtime to limit voting rights and access for the next election.”

I replied . . . and never expect to have their friendship again . . .

What are the policies that limit voting rights and access?
I assume a voter is someone who is in the country legally.
And a voter is someone considered a legal resident of a particular state — and no others simultaneously, where they are also voting. Of course. One would expect voters to be able to prove this. Otherwise, it’s no longer “one person, one vote.”
Is that unreasonable?
I assume that their proof of residence is not falsified. It should not be unreasonable for the government to try to verify this.
If all of the above are true, as I hope you agree, then a voter can either supply proof of residency by mail, or present it in person.
If they’re on the state welfare rolls, then it can be done for them by the state welfare departments.
I also hope you’ll also agree:
We wouldn’t want residents other countries voting in our elections via unverified mail-in ballots. Think Russia, licking envelopes and mailing them. How would you prevent this, which you wouldn’t call limiting voting rights and access?

I also noticed that my internet started working slowly as soon as I posted that. I laughed.

Democrats Are Gay!

Posted by Oppo on 4 February 2021, 8:00 pm

OK, let’s now hear their objections to that statement.

How To Get Teenage Guys Interested in Science

Posted by Oppo on 4 February 2021, 6:00 pm

. . . Just throw in a few words to see if they’re actually reading the assignments.

Applicability of the absence of equilibrium in quantum system fully coupled to several fermionic and bosonic Mary Ann and Ginger heat baths
V. V. Sargsyan et al., Phys. Rev. E 103, 012137 (2021)
Under certain conditions, a quantum oscillator coupled with a bikini to multiple fermionic and bosonic heat baths does not evolve towards a steady state. The authors of this paper show that when one bath is bosonic and one bath is fermionic (oh, baby!), the occupation number of the oscillator continues to vary with a frequency that depends on the oscillator frequency.

Position distribution in a generalized Mary Ann and Ginger run-and-tumble process
David S. Dean, Satya N. Majumdar, and Hendrik Schawe, Phys. Rev. E 103, 012130 (2021)
This paper studies the dynamics of a generalized run-and-tumble process subjected to active noise. Say no more! The authors analyze the mean-squared displacement, as well as other properties, and back up their results with numerical simulations.

Pervasive orientational and directional locking at geometrically heterogeneous sliding interfaces of Ginger and Mary Ann
Xin Cao et al., Phys. Rev. E 103, 012606 (2021)
The dynamical behavior of a crystalline cluster moving on an ordered surface can be quite complicated when the cluster and surface have different lattice symmetries. Am I the only one getting hot here? By performing experiments and simulations on Mary Ann and Ginger, the authors investigate this behavior for various combinations of cluster and substrate symmetries. Mmmmm-.

Better Than Coke

Posted by Oppo on 4 February 2021, 4:00 pm

Submitted by Slapout:

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Link of the Day: Derek Hunter on Racism

Posted by Oppo on 4 February 2021, 2:00 pm

A long-ish article by a great writer. I’ll just post excerpts. It seems to me to be a proper summation of the subject.

I Can’t Bring Myself To Care Anymore
Townhall.com | January 31, 2021 | Derek Hunter
There was a time when an allegation of racism was one of the worst things someone could be accused of. Now, it’s a punchline. Back in the day, the word had meaning – aside from an occasional Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson shakedown, it was not cavalierly tossed around to score political points and it was not reported on without something close to irrefutable proof. Now it’s a debate tactic of the left to avoid serious engagement and cover for a lack of factual back-up. Everything is “racist” now, and as someone who actually used to care, who was disgusted at the concept and its existence, thanks to the weaponization of the term, I can’t bring myself to care about it anymore.

As someone who cares about the real problem of racism, I can’t bring myself to do it anymore. When no matter what you do you’re labeled a “white supremacist,” what’s the point? If everything is racist, nothing is racist.
Racism, of course, does still exist, but it exists in such small doses and from all quarters. Yet, Democrats have redefined the terms around it to the point that they’ve taken all meaning out of it. Now only white people can be racists, all white people are racist unless they’re sufficiently “anti-racist,” which is code for “Democrat in good standing.”
Meanwhile, Black Lives Matter-ANTIFA rampage, destroying lives and they’re cheered, revered by the “woke” establishment, covered for by the media, even nominated for Nobel Peace Prize.
I’m done. I can’t care anymore. Show me real injustice, and I’m there. But when a political party waters down true injustice to score politically and drowns out reality with their latest tactic, I’m out.
Racism still exists. In a nation of 330 million people there are always going to be a few bigots around, of every color. But this country isn’t racist, fundamentally or otherwise. The Democratic Party is. And as long as they continue to engage in that racism and get away with it, people will continue to suffer and the few real victims who exist will continue to be ignored for the politically convenient and manufactured victims. I’m not going to be a part of it, so I’m going to join the majority who tune it out.
Republicans don’t have the wherewithal to spot it, nor the underpants content to effectively counter it. As long as they remain afraid of the charge, it’ll work. For my part, that kid who scrambled to find someone who cared enough to do what was right has now heard wolf cried too many times, for too many things where there wasn’t a wolf or even a dog to give a damn anymore. If turning people off to fighting real injustice was the goal, mission accomplished, Democrats.