Notices by Michael Busch (michael_w_busch@mastodon.online)

@ai6yr

I continue to wonder where the push for these blanket bans on social media, cell phones, etc. are coming from.

Since they manifestly do not help anyone.

@JustinMac84 @ai6yr

The version here in Minnesota would involve "age estimation" done explicitly by surveilling everyone online.

I am just wondering if this is Facebook / Google / etc. pushing for bans that enable them to do more of the surveillance capitalism they already do to avoid actual effective regulation.

Or if there is some other motivation.

@zalasur

@inthehands might know relevant groups?

@britt @inthehands

I am not sure how to reconcile that statement from Premier Kinew with his advocating age-gating large parts of the internet.

(Too many state politicians here in Minnesota have made similar statements.)

@inthehands

It depends on how one counts.

About 1/3 of anthropocentric emissions since 1850 have been from land use changes, but current ongoing emissions are near 80% fossil fuels: https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/11/1783/2019/ .

And some of the land use emissions are offset by sinks with varying persistence times (annual crop mass variations, forestry, biochar and other things that make longer lasting soil carbon).

@MsMerope

@hakan_geijer has a basic first aid zine that could be printed down to a couple of pages: https://riotmedicine.net/static/downloads/basic-first-aid-for-emergencies_us-letter.pdf .

@inthehands

Back in 2023, OpenAI was hyping ChatGPT by claiming "it can pass the GRE".

When all it was doing was autocomplete of the answer keys that had been used as input.

@inthehands

This is particularly confusing from St. Paul's 3rd ward.

SpaceX takes out massive loans to litter low Earth orbit with Starlinks, running up interest.

Then SpaceX says "If you ignore all of the costs from building the Starlinks, they are making money. Give us your cash so we can further mess up the sky."

Quite the scam.

I read people disappointed there was not more science done on the flight around the Moon.

There was a plan to combine asteroid science, asteroid deflection, and space resources work with Orion spacecraft tests in lunar orbit.

Donald Trump & Republicans then in Congress canceled that plan in 2017.

Yet again, USA:

Require that the state governments expand vaccine mandates so that everyone who can be vaccinated is.

And #ImpeachRFKJr and remove him & those with him before they kill even more people than they already have.

QT public health guy @publichealthguy1.bsky.social
2026 April 10

Too young for the MMR shot, babies become ‘sitting ducks’ in measles outbreaks
https://apnews.com/article/measles-vaccines-mmr-babies-south-carolina-outbreak-85b2ab8ec8baec808f258987b13af9dc

https://bsky.app/profile/publichealthguy1.bsky.social/post/3mj5mtwlofc2y

This is an occasional reminder that there is most of a century of wizard-school stories written by authors who are not horrible people.

From Le Guin's "Earthsea" through to Novik's "Scholomance Trilogy".

Good.

And, yet again, USA:

Require that Congress ensure that the NSF and other research agencies operate as it has ordered. Instead of this.

QT Alan Gerard @wxmanms1.bsky.social
2026 March 16

University Center for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) files suit against NSF, OMB, NOAA and DOC to halt alleged "violations of the Constitution and Administrative Procedure Act" undertaken by agencies to dismantle Nat'l Center for Atmospheric Research.
https://bsky.app/profile/wxmanms1.bsky.social/post/3mh7c2bda4k24

@psistarpsiii @ai6yr @mar10sanch32

The neutrino flash from Betelgeuse going supernova would mean tens of millions of neutrino interactions within the current detectors.

Which scales to one out of every 100 people having an interaction in their eyeballs - largely unnoticed and indistinguishable from other radiation phosphenes (the detectors work by very carefully excluding all of the confusion).

https://mastodon.online/@michael_w_busch/110958589956537424

@HarriettMB @Infoseepage @newsguyusa

The EU, Canada, and Australia have accepted Moderna's application: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-declines-review-modernas-mrna-flu-shot-rcna258436 .

The clinical trials to date have covered 11 countries and tens of thousands of patients.

@inthehands @heidilifeldman

Before ICE tried in Shakopee, they tried in Woodbury.

Local political pressure shut that down too.

@feznander @inthehands

I am informed that Saint Paul Public Schools is planning temporary remote instruction in three-week long blocks.

Because nobody thinks that things have suddenly gotten better.

Yet again, USA:

Require that Congress ensure that the CDC operate as it has ordered.

Instead of things like this.

And #ImpeachRFKJr.

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/chronic-wasting-disease/while-no-one-was-watching-tenuous-status-cdc-prion-unit-risk-cwd-people

@inthehands

Here in Saint Paul, there were people protesting ICE spread out across many intersections - even if individual groups have been small.

@adredish @inthehands

Here in Minnesota, call state legislators too.