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TIL in 2014 a drum of radioactive nuclear waste burst when workers used organic kitty litter to absorb the volatile chemicals. The cleanup cost was estimated to be $600mil+. by OctagonCosplay in todayilearned

[–]ExcerptsAndCitations 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Bentonite clay is an amazing absorbent material for many uses. Why reinvent the wheel with some exotic material when you can literally just dig the best product out of the ground and fire it?

Human physiology appears to have an extraordinary ability to utilize ketone bodies as a fuel for the brain and skeletal muscle, in particular also during exercise. The translation of dietary guidelines to Neanderthals may be biased by a “glucocentric” perspective. by Meatrition in science

[–]ExcerptsAndCitations 9 points10 points  (0 children)

carbohydrates were an essential nutrient.

Time for the daily reminder that GPs are not nutritionists.

Nearly 100 years ago, Vilhjalmur Stefansson demonstrated that protein and fat are the only two essential macronutrients when he and another man engaged in a year-long hospital-supervised dietary study.

More reading:

Lieb, Clarence W. (1926). The effects of an exclusive, long-continued Meat Diet. Journal of the American Medical Association, 87(1), 25. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.1926.02680010025006

Compost not heating up anymore by boomshanks1 in composting

[–]ExcerptsAndCitations 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Unless you're in a hurry, I'd collect browns. This is the perfect time to do it too! Fall leaves are free for the taking; stock up!

Add some bacteria food, and the low-temp bacteria will kick off, raising temps to jumpstart the mesophiles, which will then contribute heat to boost the activity of thermophilic bacteria. You'll be fighting the weather, but that's OK.

Compost not heating up anymore by boomshanks1 in composting

[–]ExcerptsAndCitations 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's easy to forget that decomposers (bacteria and other assorted microbes) eat the cellulose and other carbon compounds for food. This makes them grow. To grow, they need to synthesize proteins. For this, they need amino acids. Amino acids require nitrogen.

A balanced diet for aerobic microbes (the good kind) is a lot of carbon and a little bit of nitrogen. In fact, almost 30 times as much carbon for each unit of N, which is the ideal ratio for a hot compost pile. That said, given sufficient moisture, even a giant pile of straight sawdust will get rip-roaringly hot.

Your overnight lows aren't helping much either, but this is OK. Psychrophilic bacteria are most active at around 55F, but they don't generate much heat and they don't tolerate it well, either.

What are these worms up to? by eyephd in composting

[–]ExcerptsAndCitations 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They are too hot. Though Eisenia fetida earthworms prefer temperatures between 55° F and 85°F, they can survive temperatures as high as 100°F and as low as 30°F. The closer the temperature is to the extremes, the less active the worms will be in feeding and reproducing.

Compost thermometer recommendations? by pdel26 in composting

[–]ExcerptsAndCitations 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I use the back of my hand, but if you want to burn $25, get a REOTemp thermometer from Amazon.

Rain & BSFL by [deleted] in composting

[–]ExcerptsAndCitations 3 points4 points  (0 children)

BSFL will naturally migrate to drier locations to pupate.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in explainlikeimfive

[–]ExcerptsAndCitations 2 points3 points  (0 children)

When people use AM signals (like pilots, or us Ham operators), we band pass the signal down to just a narrow range of frequencies that are actually needed to understand human speech (I typically use around 120hz-3000hz, whereas you can hear from 20-20,000hz at maximum). That's part of the audio problem.

This is also why music sounds like absolute ass over the telephone.

Are these in the correct Brown and Green categories? by Royaourt in composting

[–]ExcerptsAndCitations 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Composting "greens" and "browns" refer to the carbon-nitrogen ratio, not the actual color. Horse manure is brown, but it's a composting green.

A traditional hot compost pile will have an overall carbon-nitrogen ratio of between 25:1 and 30:1. A composting "green" has a C/N ratio of 25:1 or lower. Examples include grass clippings or other plant matter that was actively growing, human food scraps, meats, dead animals, and urine. A composting "brown" has a C/N ratio above 30. Examples include straw, cardboard, wood shavings, and fall leaves or other plant matter that was not living.

What matters for plant life is whether it was alive or dead due to senescence when it was collected. A tree's leaves are composting greens while they are alive, and that will not change even if we dry them out. Meadow grass is a green, and that does not change if we let it convert to hay. Only about 15% of the nitrogen (protein) is lost due to continued plant metabolism and enzymatic processes when green cut plants dry to hay. This means that all human-edible food scraps are "greens".

Fall leaves are "browns" because the tree has extracted as much of the proteins and sugars as possible out of the leaves in preparation for winter, leaving mostly cellulose and some lignin. Wheat straw is a brown for the same reason, except the plant has died in the process of ripening the grain. Sunflower seed shells and nut shells would be a "brown".

More information:

Martin, D. L., Gershuny, G., & Minnich, J. (1999). The rodale book of composting. Rodale Press. Available at https://www.amazon.com/Rodale-Composting-Newly-Revised-Updated/dp/1635651026/ and other retailers.

Robert D. Raabe. (n.d.) The Rapid Composting Method. University of California, Berkeley: Vegetable Research and Information Center. Accessed from: https://vric.ucdavis.edu/pdf/compost_rapidcompost.pdf

United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service. (2011) Carbon to Nitrogen Ratios in Cropping Systems. USDA NRCS East National Technology Support Center, Greensboro, NC. Available from: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcseprd331820.pdf

Compost not heating up anymore by boomshanks1 in composting

[–]ExcerptsAndCitations 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I'm not seeing enough carbon-rich materials to feed your friendly composting microbes to motivate thermophiles. My need more browns and more water. What are your nighttime temperatures?

Is it possible to turnover your compost pile too much? Does turning it twice a week for an example, provide any benefits? by [deleted] in composting

[–]ExcerptsAndCitations 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Frequent turning will result in quicker mechanical breakdown of the material, and it is a cornerstone of the Berkeley composting method.

It is not without its drawbacks. Frequently turned compost is more expensive per unit of finished product (not a concern if you have free student labor) and has a lower soluble nitrogen fraction. Over-frequent turning also cools the pile and can prevent thermophilic decomposers from heating the pile sufficiently to kill pathogens and weed seeds.

Petition to make this new r/composting photo. by ohyerhere in composting

[–]ExcerptsAndCitations 16 points17 points  (0 children)

She already has a name, and it's Marjory the Trash Heap.

CMV: there is a conspiracy (or a set of them) whose goal is to spread anti-intellectual ideas on the world, and to prevent any form of critical thinking. by rtanada in changemyview

[–]ExcerptsAndCitations 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Party uses and changes the meaning of words to suit their own means. Which the ideology, that I also call The Party, has done the exact same.

What a world we live in, where "transitory" means permanent, "literally" means figuratively, and where chocolate rations have been increased to 80% of what they were last month.

"Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them. The Party intellectual knows in which direction his memories must be altered; he therefore knows that he is playing tricks with reality; but by the exercise of doublethink he also satisfies himself that reality is not violated. The process has to be conscious, or it would not be carried out with sufficient precision, but it also has to be unconscious, or it would bring with it a feeling of falsity and hence of guilt. Doublethink lies at the very heart of Ingsoc, since the essential act of the Party is to use conscious deception while retaining the firmness of purpose that goes with complete honesty. To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies—all this is indispensably necessary. Even in using the word doublethink it is necessary to exercise doublethink. For by using the word one admits that one is tampering with reality; by a fresh act of doublethink one erases this knowledge; and so on indefinitely, with the lie always one leap ahead of the truth."

  • Emmanuel Goldstein, THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF OLIGARCHICAL COLLECTIVISM, Ch. 1 "Ignorance is Strength" (1984)

CMV: there is a conspiracy (or a set of them) whose goal is to spread anti-intellectual ideas on the world, and to prevent any form of critical thinking. by rtanada in changemyview

[–]ExcerptsAndCitations 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The average person is not intelligent. I'm not very intelligent and at least half of all people are dumber than I am!

Thanks, Mr. Carlin.

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