Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Adrian Bowyer @adrianbowyer.bsky.social · 1h

I agree that an insulated tank is a cheap thing. But the associated electromechanical equipment is quite complicated. And the 70% figure I quoted is a maximum if you use the waste heat from compression and refrigeration to reheat the liquid air when you need it, which opposes long term storage.

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Adrian Bowyer @adrianbowyer.bsky.social · 1h

"...hoping to compete with grid-scale lithium batteries..."

The overall thermodynamic efficiency of this is about 70%.

Grid-scale batteries can do 90% and have no moving parts*.

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* Except a few cooling fans.

Go Green @ecowarriorss.bsky.social · 2h

The liquid air alternative to fossil fuels
When the grid needs extra energy, the liquid air is put to work. It is pumped out of storage and evaporated, becoming a gas again.
www.bbc.com/future/artic...

The liquid air alternative to fossil fuels

An overlooked technology for nearly 50 years, the first liquid air battery facility is finally set to power up in 2026.

www.bbc.com

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Reposted by Adrian Bowyer

Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · 23h

bitch what

Onedrive settings. A toggle for using AI to detect and identify faces is set to on. The caption says, you can only turn off this setting 3 times per year.

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Reposted by Adrian Bowyer

Neil Norman And His Cosmic Orchestra @fubsyshabaroon.bsky.social · 19h

A cracking little thread, this.

Andrew Orton @andreworton.bsky.social · 19h

The death of multi-camera TV: a thread. I know most of you will know the technical parts of this (and may have read it in the other place) but bear with me. 1/ 🧵

A shot from the studio rehearsal of Doctor Who: The Daleks' Master Plan episode 'Volcano', showing several actors ont he TARDIS set, with various video cameras around the scene.

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Adrian Bowyer @adrianbowyer.bsky.social · 18h

I agree. An additional small point: broadcast-quality cameras can now be hidden in any object on the set. This means that multi-camera drama can be shot without any worry that one camera will be in the field of view of another.

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Chise @sailorrooscout.bsky.social · 22h

Researchers envision their vaccine being used as both a treatment and a preventive, and as an approach to treating multiple cancer types.
• www.umass.edu/news/article...

The study has been published in Cell Reports Medicine. YES, it is PEER-REVIEWED.
• www.cell.com/cell-reports...

🧪🧵⬇️

HIGHLIGHTS
•Lipid NPs carrying STING and TLR4 agonists promote synergistic type I interferons
• NPs drain efficiently to lymph nodes and increase polyfunctional T and B cells
• NPs improve tumor-free outcomes with memory against multiple aggressive tumor models
SUMMARY
We report on the utility of a "super-adjuvant" nanoparticle (NP) system as a modular, customizable platform for next-generation cancer vaccination. Using nanomaterials engineering technology, we aim to harness not only the effective adjuvanticity of whole-pathogen vaccines, but also the safety of subunit vaccines.
Our lipid-based NP platform co-encapsulates agonists of the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) pathways to promote synergistic production of type I interferons and other
proinflammatory cytokines in innate antigen-presenting dendritic cells and macrophages.
Compared to empty NPs and free agonists, dual-adjuvant NPs administered with antigenic peptides or tumor cell lysate promote increased antigen processing and presentation, drain efficiently to nearby lymph nodes, increase polyfunctional tumor-specific T and B cells, and improve tumor-free outcomes upon vaccination and subsequent challenge with multiple aggressive tumor cells.

Graphical Abstract

The vaccine combines two immune-stimulating molecules (adjuvants) in a tiny lipid nanoparticle that enhances both innate and adaptive immune responses. The innate immune system acts as the body’s first line of defense, responding quickly and non-specifically to invaders using cells that release inflammatory signals. The adaptive immune system takes longer to activate but provides a targeted, long-lasting response, training T-cells and B- cells to recognize and remember specific threats. Together, they form a coordinated defense: the innate system alerts and activates the adaptive system, which then delivers precise and durable immunity.

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Adrian Bowyer @adrianbowyer.bsky.social · 1d

Does it have orange trousers?

Goodies Recipes @goodiesrecipes.bsky.social · 1d

Portillo’s Chocolate Cake

Recreate the famous Portillo’s chocolate cake at home—rich, soft, and absolutely indulgent! #PortillosCake #ChocolateDesserts #CopycatRecipe #MoistCake

www.goodiesrecipes.com/portillos-ch...

Easy Portillo's Chocolate Cake Recipe

There's something magical about biting into a slice of Portillo's chocolate cake Recipe that transports you straight to dessert heaven. If you've ever craved

www.goodiesrecipes.com

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Adrian Bowyer @adrianbowyer.bsky.social · 1d

Also, I think that "...they were like things that you read in self-help books..." should have been a bit of a red flag.

Possibly in both directions...

Greg Jenner @gregjenner.bsky.social · 1d

You may call it ‘Chatfishing’, but I shall only refer to it as ‘Cyrano de Berger-App’
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

‘I realised I’d been ChatGPT-ed into bed’: how ‘Chatfishing’ made finding love on dating apps even weirder

Where once people were duped by soft-focus photos and borrowed chat-up lines, now they have to watch out for computer-generated charm. But it’s one thing to use a witty phrase – another thing entirely...

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Adrian Bowyer

Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 1d

NEW ANALYSIS: More than 80% of UK social housing still relies on gas boilers keeping bills exposed to international gas markets and climate targets out of reach.

I’ve explored how other European countries are tackling this at scale, and what the UK can learn.

www.sureserve.co.uk/news-and-pro...

Phasing out gas in European social housing - what the UK can learn

www.sureserve.co.uk

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Reposted by Adrian Bowyer

T-Rexit @t-rexit.bsky.social · 1d

Meanwhile….

I RECENTLY fell over whilst wearing a loose-fitting dressing gown, and an aubergine somehow became lodged in my bottom. On my medical notes, the A&E nurse recorded it as a "foreign object inserted in the rectum". I was incensed, as it was a British-grown aubergine, and I am a member of the Reform Party for God's sake! I put my foot through her clipboard and sent Keir Starmer the bill.
Terry Farricker, Blackpool

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Adrian Bowyer @adrianbowyer.bsky.social · 1d

I have a (very minor) dispute with my wife, who opposes my policy of having nothing but identical black socks so they all match.

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Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 6d

Asked lots about this piece on Chronic Lyme disease, and disappointed in the @guardian (a publication I both subscribe and contribute to) for running it. Short thread explaining the multitude of problems with it, and why I consider it irresponsible to run as is..🧵

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Adrian Bowyer @adrianbowyer.bsky.social · 1d

There's Fall.

And then there's the rest.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 1d

‘Verging on unwatchable’: Guardian writers on their most stressful movies

With the US release of Rose Byrne’s anxiety-inducing motherhood spiral If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, writers relive their most uncomfortable movie watches

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Adrian Bowyer

Max Roser @maxroser.bsky.social · 1d

What we die from vs. what we hear in the news.

Terrorism and homicides account for less than 1% of deaths, but for more than half of all media stories about death in the US — whether in the New York Times, the Washington Post, or Fox News.

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Reposted by Adrian Bowyer

Joanna Bryson @j2bryson.bsky.social · 2d

I wasted way to much time reading this this morning. There's nothing there except evidence that concentrated wealth/capital/leverage just disintegrates coherence. I got more out of a side trip into reading the Book of Daniel (NRSV) which is also incoherent but at least a bit poetic. 1/2

Purge Palantir @purgepalantir.bsky.social · 2d

"'I’m a libertarian, or a classical liberal, who deviates in one minor detail, where I’m worried about the antichrist,' Thiel said during his third lecture."

Okay, dude.

From The Guardian: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Inside tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s off-the-record lectures about the antichrist

The political svengali and investor has been giving lectures on ‘an evil king or tyrant … who appears in the end times’

www.theguardian.com

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Adrian Bowyer @adrianbowyer.bsky.social · 2d

The NHS has paid £2.57 billion to Pfizer for 100 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine.That's about £25 a shot. In addition they pay pharmacies etc. about £7 to administer them.

The cost of production is about £8 per shot, so Pfizer is applying a 300% markup...

www.globaljustice.org.uk/news/pfizers...

Jason Hazeley @jasonhazeley.bsky.social · 2d

It’s dispiriting that this is what getting a COVID vaccination now looks like to this chronic asthmatic.

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Reposted by Adrian Bowyer

Adrian Bowyer @adrianbowyer.bsky.social · 2d

The World is going to Hell in a handcart.

Kath Coyle @mrscoyle.bsky.social · 2d

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Adrian Bowyer @adrianbowyer.bsky.social · 2d

The World is going to Hell in a handcart.

Kath Coyle @mrscoyle.bsky.social · 2d

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Adrian Bowyer @adrianbowyer.bsky.social · 2d

Bugger! Autocomplete. Will be fixed.

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Adrian Bowyer @adrianbowyer.bsky.social · 3d

I think some birds can recognise their own shell patterns, but that and the ability to fake it are obviously in an arms race with the cuckoo.

Adrian Bowyer @adrianbowyer.bsky.social · 3d

Sortition. Still have elections with constituency representatives. But the representatives can't vote. They just propose and argue like barristers. Have a random-100-jury citizen's assembly to do the voting. Retire and replace four jurors every week.

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Adrian Bowyer @adrianbowyer.bsky.social · 3d

Never occurred to me before (bit dim) but brood parasitism is quite a strong Darwinian selection pressure towards viviparous birth and away from egg laying.

New Scientist @newscientist.com · 3d

Several species of birds from different continents use and understand similar alarm calls when they see an invader that might lay an egg in their nest – this shared call hints at the origin of language

20 bird species can understand each other’s anti-cuckoo call

Several species of birds from different continents use and understand similar alarm calls when they see an invader that might lay an egg in their nest – this shared call hints at the origin of language

www.newscientist.com

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Reposted by Adrian Bowyer

Adrian Bowyer @adrianbowyer.bsky.social · 4d

Come on everyone! If we all pull together as a team we can make this rhyming slang internationally universal.

Adrian Bowyer @adrianbowyer.bsky.social · 4d

Jackson Lamb heading to the bog: "Methinks a Donald is in order."

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Reposted by Adrian Bowyer

Adrian Bowyer @adrianbowyer.bsky.social · 4d

Thymol tastes and smells like thyme (hence the name). Most people, even if not very interested in gastronomy, can distinguish quite a few herbs and spices by their smell and taste. This could lead to a chewing gum that would diagnose any ENT infection.

BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 4d

Just published, a study describing a taste-based flu test yes, chewing gum that could tell you if you have influenza. The gum contains a sensor that detects the flu enzyme neuraminidase & releases a compound called thymol that changes taste when the virus is present.
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

A Viral Neuraminidase-Specific Sensor for Taste-Based Detection of Influenza

Influenza has caused the deadliest pandemics in history, thereby prompting advances in our ability to ensure vigilance at all stages of future outbreaks. Quarantining patients early is crucial when it...

pubs.acs.org

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Adrian Bowyer @adrianbowyer.bsky.social · 3d

Be rude.
Get viewed.

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