Feather Phobia | Mini-Moon | Agrivoltaics - The Convo Kit #23

Calendar dates carry incredible weight despite being made up. Even when we don’t realize it, an anniversary sneaks into our conscience.

Skateboarding forever changed my outlook on life by nearly taking it 13 years ago this week. Life happens fast. This article simplifies it with icons and humor. Also, I appreciate you!

-Steve

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Feather Phobia

Fresh murder tends to lower property value, for humans and birds. Some bird species manipulate their housing market by faking death in the nest.

• Birds strategically place feathers in the nest before foraging

• Color coding: white feathers > dark feathers in nest defense

• Real estate competition is a constant and deadly reality for many birds

Studies show would-be nest thieves are less likely to squat in a dwelling with feathers strewn about. The feathery mess could indicate a nearby predator’s recent feast; no nest is worth dying for. Which is precisely why I’ve replaced all my locks with white feathers.

More details about the study here.

Mini-Moon

Astronomers believe Earth has a relatively new mini-moon. The Kamo`oalewa asteroid was discovered in 2016 but is only visible to us in April.

• Orbits the Sun and Earth, making it a quasi-satellite

• 13.6x further from Earth than the Moon

• Only ~130 ft wide

Kamo`oalewa’s reflection spectrum is a close match with lunar samples, meaning it likely formed as impact debris. Estimates give us 300 years before the mini-moon leaves our orbit, taking its suspiciously undocumented cheese reserves with it.

Research details and data available here.

Agrivoltaics 

A solar garden in Colorado merges renewable-energy and agriculture by planting crops beneath panels. The process, agrivoltaics, yields more production from land that would otherwise produce either energy or food.

• The farm: Jack’s Solar Garden

• Generates enough power for 300 homes per year

• Panels spaced apart for a tractor to drive through

Solar panels offer temporary shade for sensitive crops, which then require 50% less water. Efficient land use plus additional revenue stream will go a long way in keeping smaller farms in business.

Pics of the garden and an audio version of the details available here.

Iron Monster

China’s SLJ900/32, aka “Iron Monster”, crawls across bridges while constructing them. The massive machine drops prefabricated sections into place before rolling back to collect another piece of the road.

• 300’ long x 24’ wide x 30’ tall

• Weighs 580 tons (or 3.8 blue whales) 

• Fully loaded top speed: 3.1 mph

Iron Monster was designed by the Shijiazhuang Railway Institute to efficiently build out China’s road and rail network. A similar project, the U.S. infrastructure bill, could benefit from the beast…or perhaps homegrown Iron Caterpillar.

 Watch the 64-wheeled beast in action.

VR Gloves

Meta (formerly Facebook) is working on haptic gloves to simulate touch in VR. The gloves feature air pockets that inflate in response to actions performed by the wearer’s avatar.

• Air pockets = 15 plastic actuators

• Doubles as a VR controller

• Will be compatible with other VR wearables

The glove technology is not ready for consumer use, yet. The first prototype was developed in 2015, a year after Meta purchased Oculus. Something tells me Zuck misunderstood “out of touch” and just ran with it.

Pics of the haptic glove available here.

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