Things I Like: Mike Duncan's Podcasts

Judge Orders China's Evergrande to Dissolve (Will It Happen?)

New BS: Climate Change Causes Infant Mortality

WSJ: Intelligence Report Details Show UNRWA Links to Hamas is Worse Than First Reported

Imagine a sprinkler system with S-shaped arms. The water comes out and the sprinkler moves – so far‚ it seems pretty straightforward. Now imagine the complete opposite version: Your sprinkler is submerged and sucking in water. The question that physicist Richard Feynman asked was the following: in which direction does it rotate? We now have an answer‚ showing the complexity of the motion of fluids.If you have a simple clear idea of how it would behave‚ you are in good company. Feynman believed that people would be either in the reverse rotation camp or in the same rotation camp‚ with sound logic or how that would work. Experiments since 1985 (when the book Surely You're Joking‚ Mr. Feynman! was published) are more of a mixed bag‚ showing reverse rotation‚ unsteady rotation that changes direction‚ and motion completely dependent on the geometry of the system. It is a big whole mess.     The latest research set out to provide a global understanding of the mechanics of the system. Thanks to a precise experimental setup and successive modeling‚ the team got to the solution of the puzzle. The sprinkler does indeed reverse direction‚ but this motion is unsteady and much slower. So‚ reversing the flow of water in a sprinkler system is not the same as seeing the system playing backward.Step one to understand the challenge is to submerge the sprinkler in water and make it rotate. This needs to happen with as little friction as possible in either direction. In the standard forward motion‚ the motion of the sprinkler is driven by jet propulsion. In the reverse version‚ the sprinkler is still being driven by jet propulsion but with an average rotation rate about 50 times slower.The reverse approach still is puzzling if you can’t track what goes on inside the sprinkler. After all‚ the flow going inside should cancel out and not generate any net torque. The team used dyes and light to follow the behavior of the flow. In the forward case‚ the sprinkler beautifully moves as water comes out of the s-shaped arms. The arms shaped in the reverse sprinkler‚ which in the video above is kept stationary to help visualize the internal behavior‚ flung the water slightly off the center‚ creating a small but measurable motion. The flow is asymmetrical‚ giving rise to the peculiar profiles seen in the various experiments.“The regular or ‘forward’ sprinkler is similar to a rocket‚ since it propels itself by shooting out jets‚” senior author Leif Ristroph‚ from New York University‚ said in a statement. “But the reverse sprinkler is mysterious since the water being sucked in doesn’t look at all like jets. We discovered that the secret is hidden inside the sprinkler‚ where there are indeed jets that explain the observed motions.”There is no need for sprinklers that suck in water‚ but applications for devices whose flow might be similar have now some solid modeling to rely upon. And while this is specific to water‚ the mechanics of this are shared among fluids.A paper describing the results is published in the APS journal Physical Review Letters.

Plants have been up to some pretty weird tricks already this year and now a tree fern species (Cyathea rojasiana) has joined the party. Well‚ in order to join in it first has to die and then come back from the dead to help its mother. Let us explain.Cyathea rojasiana is a tree fern species found in the forests of western Panama. In a new discovery‚ the fern is found to be able to reanimate its own dead leaves‚ making roots that then pull nitrogen from the soil that keep feeding the mother plant. When alive‚ the aging leaves are tilted downwards so that the middle of the leaf‚ known as the rachis‚ can touch the ground. As the leaf dies off‚ the structures inside the rachis that once carried water to the living leaf parts‚ change and become living roots instead. These new living roots dig down into the soil and keep providing nutrients to the rest of the plant. “This is a truly novel repurposing of tissue. And it’s distinct from what we know other ferns do‚” said Professor James Dalling‚ lead author of the study‚ in a news release. The fronds of the tree fern appear to be simply decaying plant matter even when the conversion to root process is happening. The team think this is the first case of a fern being able to repurpose the leaves of a plant to feed itself in this way.   Why the plant might do this is traced back through geological time. The plant belongs to an ancient lineage of tree ferns that dates back to the Jurassic period. It is thought that the roots that develop from the dead leaves evolved to draw more nutrients out of poor volcanic soils. “Panama is a land bridge between North and South America that coalesced 7 million years ago out of an archipelago of islands‚ and those islands are the result of volcanic activity in the past‚” said Dalling.  “In one site we discovered‚ a layer of volcanic ash several meters deep looks like sand that you would dig up on a sandy beach. The plants that grow there are distinct from those that we find elsewhere in that forest reserve.”The tree fern is very slow growing‚ and invested a lot of energy in resources into growing the leaves in the first place. The fact they only grow to around 2 meters (6.5 feet) tall helps to ensure that when the leaves start to age and droop they always touch the ground. Perfect for their zombie comeback. The paper is published in Ecology.

Remember those childhood days when your parents surprised you with an unexpected trip? Imagine you’re all set for a mundane grocery store visit‚ but suddenly‚ you’re on your way to a theme park or a movie. That’s the kind of excitement we’re talking about! This feeling of unexpected joy isn’t just a human experience. Hilarious... The post Dad films hilarious moment when four 4 giant dogs see they’re going to ‘favorite place’ appeared first on Animal Channel.

Get ready to be moved by the inspiring story of Casper‚ a sweet Dogo Argentino. Casper’s journey begins with heartache‚ abandoned at a shelter‚ standing frozen in fear‚ hoping for a family that sadly wouldn’t return. This captivating tale of resilience and hope unfolds as Rocky Kanaka‚ a passionate animal advocate‚ steps in to rewrite... The post Loyal dog waits by shelter door days after day hoping family will return for him appeared first on Animal Channel.

A leftist U.S. government-funded “disinformation” tracker has been flagged for a major lack of transparency‚ despite its habitual smearing of right-leaning websites for allegedly committing the same offense.  The Washington Examiner reported on Jan. 29 that the anti-free speech Global Disinformation Index (GDI)‚ which received at least $100‚000 from the State Department’s Global Engagement Center‚ is lacking transparency. While GDI claims to rate online sites in part based on possible “conflicts of interests that can arise from opaque ownership structures‚” per the Examiner‚ GDI itself clearly doesn’t practice what it preaches. Despite marketing itself as a nonpartisan and objective arbiter online‚ GDI has proved to have a leftist bias when blacklisting outlets and doesn’t abide by its own rules‚ the Examiner found. Hypocrisy much?  The Examiner quoted Internet Accountability Project founder and president Mike Davis‚ who stated that “[t]he Global Disinformation Index is violating the law by hiding its disclosures.” Furthermore‚ GDI (which is under congressional investigation) continues to refuse disclosure of its “dynamic exclusion list” that companies such as Microsoft and Oracle used to block the placement of ads on right-leaning outlets. GDI weaponized the list to pressure companies to withdraw ad money from websites‚ a form of financial censorship. The  Examiner reported that it requested tax filings for the two U.S. branches of GDI: the charity Disinformation Index Inc. and the AN Foundation. GDI sent heavily redacted documents in response. A review of GDI’s tax filings on ProPublica‚ however‚ provides some details showcasing its incestuous relationship with the U.S. government and leftist financiers‚ the Examiner explained. Both the State Department-funded National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and leftist billionaire George Soros apparently donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in all to GDI in 2022 — $315‚750 and $150‚000 respectively. In 2023‚ the state of Texas filed a lawsuit against the State Department’s Global Engagement Center‚ the Examiner continued. This lawsuit cited NED’s funding to GDI.  Texas‚ The Daily Wire and The Federalist accused Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other officials of “egregious government operations to censor the American press” through funding GDI and its activities to blacklist conservative outlets. The two outlets were among those flagged by GDI for alleged “disinformation.” GDI also redacted its 2021 filings‚ the Examiner reported‚ claiming an IRS exemption for a “harassment campaign.” But watchdog group the National Legal and Policy Center subsequently argued in an IRS complaint that GDI was actually in violation of federal law. Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency and an equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored‚ contact us at the Media Research Center contact form‚ and help us hold Big Tech accountable.

Don’t blame Taylor Swift. Don’t blame Pfizer. Don’t blame Travis Kelce‚ the referees‚ or Roger Goodell. Blame Lamar Jackson‚ Zay Flowers‚ the Baltimore Ravens‚ and racial idolatry commentators like Ryan Clark and Robert Griffin III who litter sports media. They platformed Taylor Swift on American television’s biggest stage: Super Bowl LVIII. Jackson‚ Flowers‚ the Ravens‚ Clark‚ Griffin‚ and others handed the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday’s AFC championship game‚ 17-10. When you misidentify your real opponent and latch on to the wrong motivation‚ it’s not surprising when you come out of character‚ abandon your identity‚ and perform poorly. If you think Swift’s injection into the current NFL season has been a months-long psyop to inflate the pop star’s profile and influence so she can inevitably throw her weight behind the presidential campaign of Joe Biden or Michelle Obama‚ be mad at the right people today. Focus your angst and anger on the race pundits. They baited the Ravens into one of the biggest choke jobs we’ve seen in recent sports history. The NFL’s best team played with no composure and implemented a pass-heavy offensive strategy intended to crown Jackson rather than to beat the Chiefs. Jackson and the Ravens fell for a race hoax. It cost them their best chance to reach the Super Bowl during Jackson’s six-year career. Instead of crowning Jackson‚ Sunday further stamped Patrick Mahomes as being in a league of his own among the current crop of quarterbacks. Mahomes elevated his playoff record to 14-3. Jackson fell to 2-4. Don’t blame Taylor Swift for the Chiefs reaching their fourth Super Bowl in the last six years. Don’t blame the referees‚ either. If the refs rigged the AFC championship‚ they did so in favor of the Ravens. A series of bogus holding penalties late in the second quarter and early in the third allowed Baltimore to stay in a game that was decidedly one-sided everywhere except on the scoreboard. Kansas City should have led 28-7 midway through the third quarter. Instead‚ it was 17-7. If anything‚ it appeared the NFL wanted Lamar Jackson to advance to his first Super Bowl. Ever since draft day 2018‚ Jackson has been the lead actor in the league’s diversity‚ equity‚ and inclusion narrative. Black quarterbacks — the highest-paid players in the NFL — are allegedly victims of NFL-sanctioned white supremacy. Jackson‚ the story goes‚ was the last pick of the first round six years ago because of racism. It had nothing to do with his awkward throwing motion or concerns about his downfield accuracy and ability to make plays from the pocket. Nope. Racism explained why Jackson was the 32nd pick. It’s the same reason Tom Brady was the 199th player selected in 2000. Oh‚ wait. Brady is white. Maybe evaluating college quarterbacks is hard? I digress. My point is the NFL and its media surrogates were rooting hard for Jackson. The predominantly black officiating crew might have been supporting Lamar‚ too. The NFL has emphasized “racial justice” ever since Colin Kaepernick started wearing an afro and taking a knee during the national anthem to demonstrate his authentic Halfrican-American roots. According to ESPN football analyst Ryan Clark‚ Jackson had a chance to be the first authentic black quarterback to win a Super Bowl. Doug Williams‚ Russell Wilson‚ and Patrick Mahomes do not really qualify. They don’t (or didn’t) wear cornrows or big gold chains or talk in a dialect that represents the so-called culture. Unable to be provocative‚ interesting‚ insightful‚ or useful on any topic beyond shouts of “white supremacy‚” black media elites have used Jackson and black assistant coaches as fodder and ammunition to justify their own existence. The racial victimization narrative inevitably works against the chosen symbol of it. Why did the Ravens wet the bed? Why did the best team in football implode with a lack of composure? Why did they come out of character and panic strategically and emotionally? Jackson and the Ravens were swept up in the false belief that Jackson’s win on Sunday was a giant step for mankind. They put unneeded pressure on themselves. The most physical team in football ran the ball just 16 times on Sunday. Jackson threw the ball 37 times. At least half of Jackson’s eight runs were scrambles when he was attempting to pass. Jackson‚ Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken‚ QB coach Tee Martin‚ assistant QB coach Kerry Dixon‚ and backup quarterbacks Tyrone Huntley and Josh Johnson all wanted to prove Lamar could go throw for throw with Patrick Mahomes. Lamar can’t do that. He’s not on Mahomes’ level as a passer. In the first half‚ when the game was decided‚ Jackson completed five of 13 passing attempts. The Ravens wasted the first 30 minutes of the game. By the second half‚ everyone on the Ravens was in full panic mode. The penalties and lack of emotional control reared themselves. With defenders around him‚ receiver Zay Flowers dove for the end zone with the ball exposed. That’s a breakdown in fundamentals‚ a byproduct of desperation. The Chiefs punched the ball loose. Jackson tossed a horrendous interception into triple coverage. Another panic move.The Ravens reminded me of Deontay Wilder before his second fight with Tyson Fury. The fight was in Las Vegas. I attended the fight with a group of friends. We were all rooting for Wilder‚ the American versus the Brit. Wilder entered the arena and the ring to a racialized rap song and was wearing some sort of African warrior garb. We all thought it was strange‚ disconcerting‚ and needlessly divisive. Wilder approached the fight as if it were a Civil War re-enactment and he was the Denzel Washington character from the movie “Glory.” Fury‚ who is white‚ proceeded to beat the brakes off Wilder‚ who is black. When you misidentify your real opponent and latch on to the wrong motivation‚ it’s not surprising when you come out of character‚ abandon your identity‚ and perform poorly. For 100 years‚ the identity of black Americans had been as strong Christians. As we’ve embraced politics and “racial justice” as our new religion and identity‚ we’ve come out of character and performed poorly. Lamar Jackson is just the latest victim of this pattern. Taylor Swift‚ a liberal feminist influencer‚ benefitted from the Ravens’ mistake. No surprise.