motd - 02/##/2025
-----------------

02/28/2025    iMac G4(K):

              https://jcs.org/2025/02/26/imacg4k

              @00:41

02/28/2025    Framework 12in laptop:

              https://frame.work/laptop12

              Looks interesting, somewhat like a 12in MacBook.

              @00:18

02/25/2025    Git configurations used by Git core devs:

              https://blog.gitbutler.com/how-git-core-devs-configure-git/

              Sorting branches into columns by most recently used:

              $ git config --global column.ui auto
              $ git config --global branch.sort -committerdate

              Sorting tags in numerical order:

              $ git config --global tag.sort version:refname

              Better diffs:

              $ git config --global diff.algorithm histogram
              $ git config --global diff.colorMoved plain
              $ git config --global diff.mnemonicPrefix true
              $ git config --global diff.renames true

              @13:06

02/25/2025    Hydrogen nano-clusters at low temperatures show  superfluidity:

              https://phys.org/news/2025-02-hydrogen-superfluid-nanoscale-year.html

              @10:10

02/25/2025    Brewing tea reduces toxic heavy metals in drinking water:

              https://phys.org/news/2025-02-brewing-tea-toxic-heavy-metals.html

              "In a new study, Northwestern University researchers demonstrated
              that brewing tea naturally adsorbs heavy metals like lead and
              cadmium, effectively filtering dangerous contaminants out of
              drinks. Heavy metal ions stick to, or adsorb to, the surface of
              the tea leaves, where they stay trapped until the used tea bag is
              disposed of.

              ...

              After testing different types of bags without tea inside, the
              researchers found cotton and nylon bags only adsorbed trivial
              amounts of the contaminants. The cellulose bags, however, worked
              incredibly well.

              ...

              When comparing different varieties of tea, the researchers
              discovered tea type and grind played minor roles in adsorbing
              contaminants. Finely ground tea leaves, particularly black tea
              leaves, adsorbed slightly more metal ions than whole leaves.
              Again, the researchers attributed this to surface area.

              ...

              Steeping time played the most significant role in tea leaves'
              ability to adsorb metal ions. The longer the steeping time, the
              more contaminants were adsorbed.  ...  [T]he researchers estimate
              that tea preparation can remediate about 15% of lead from
              drinking water, even up to lead concentrations as high as 10
              parts per million. That estimate applies only to a 'typical' cup
              of tea, which includes one mug of water and one bag of tea,
              brewed for three to five minutes.

              Changing the parameters remediates different levels of lead.
              Steeping for longer than five minutes, for example, adsorbs more
              lead compared to the average steeping time."

              @10:06

02/25/2025    Monovalent carbon compound with a single bond to a phosphorus group:

              https://phys.org/news/2025-02-exotic-monovalent-carbon-compound-features.html

              "Normally, a carbon atom shares all four of its valence electrons
              to create four bonds with other atoms (tetravalent carbon). When
              fewer bonds are formed, unusual compounds such as carbenes are
              obtained[.] ... Rare cases exist of divalent carbon compounds
              called carbones, where a central neutral atom in an
              electronically excited state is stabilized by two bonds with
              neutral electron-pair donating groups.

              Now, another milestone was achieved with the synthesis of an
              organic compound that contains a singly-bonded (monovalent)
              carbon atom in its ground state[:] ... a chemical compound
              featuring a single carbon atom bonded to a phosphorus group,
              Ph3P->C. The compound was generated from a diazophosphorus ylide
              precursor by irradiation with ultraviolet (UV) light at very low
              temperatures, which led to elimination of N2 and formation of
              Ph3P->C."

              @09:58

02/25/2025    Beaches on Mars?

              https://www.sciencealert.com/ancient-beaches-found-on-mars-reveal-the-red-planet-once-had-oceans
              https://phys.org/news/2025-02-ancient-beaches-testify-ocean-mars.html

              @09:52

02/25/2025    Plastic Ice VII:

              https://dailygalaxy.com/2025/02/scientists-discovered-new-form-of-ice/

              "Scientists created this peculiar ice [plastic Ice VII] by
              squeezing water to 6 gigapascals-nearly 60,000 times Earth's
              atmospheric pressure-and heating it to 327 [deg] C (620 [deg] F).

              Under these extreme conditions, water molecules arrange
              themselves into an interwoven cubic structure, with hydrogen
              atoms behaving unusually. Instead of staying locked in place as
              in regular ice, the hydrogen atoms move freely, almost like in a
              liquid."

              @09:50

02/25/2025    Xcode phones home:

              https://lapcatsoftware.com/articles/2025/2/5.html

              Sites Xcode connects to are:

              developerservices2.apple.com
              devimages-cdn.apple.com
              appstoreconnect.apple.com

              @09:33
02/24/2025    QR codes in all caps seem to be smaller:

              https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/02/why-are-qr-codes-with-capital-letters-smaller-than-qr-codes-with-lower-case-letters/

              @12:29

02/21/2025    What antifungals are really doing:

              https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/what-antifungals-are-really-doing

              @16:26

02/16/2025    The lost pyramid of Dahshur:

              https://dailygalaxy.com/2025/02/archaeologists-in-disbelief-after-breaking-into-a-4000-year-old-sealed-egyptian-pyramid/

              "Among the remnants of the burial [in the pyramid],
              archaeologists discovered a canopic chest inscribed with faded
              hieroglyphs. With advanced scanning technology, experts
              deciphered the markings, revealing the name of the tomb's
              occupant: Princess Hatshepsut.

              This was not the famous Pharaoh Hatshepsut of the 18th Dynasty
              but an entirely different royal figure. Until now, no records
              mentioned another Hatshepsut, making this discovery even more
              extraordinary. The presence of her own pyramid suggests she was a
              person of great significance, yet her name had been erased from
              history."

              @13:58

02/15/2025    Radioactive anomaly in the Pacific ocean:

              https://www.sciencealert.com/mysterious-radioactive-anomaly-discovered-deep-under-the-pacific-ocean

              @00:20

02/15/2025    Hidden portrait in a Picasso:

              https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-the-hidden-portrait-of-a-mysterious-woman-discovered-beneath-a-picasso-painting-180986037/

              @00:14

02/12/2025    The most energetic neutrino detected thus far:

              https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/02/most-energetic-neutrino-yet-seen-smashes-through-seafloor-detector/

              "The neutrino that was detected had an energy of at least 60
              Peta-electronVolts, possibly hitting 230 PeV. ... Attempts to
              trace back the neutrino to a source make it clear that it
              originated outside our galaxy[.]"

              @10:48

02/12/2025    Interesting family of Pythagorean triples:

              https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2025/02/11/binary-triples/

              a = 2^(4n) + 2^(2n+1)
              b = 2^(4n) - 2^(4n-2) - 2^(2n) - 1
              c = 2^(4n) + 2^(4n-2) + 2^(2n) + 1

              @10:20

02/12/2025    Hidden portrait underneath a Titian painting:

              https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/experts-say-theyve-found-a-portrait-of-a-mysterious-businessman-hidden-beneath-a-titian-masterpiece-180986022/

              @10:06

02/09/2025    Quipu:

              https://www.livescience.com/space/astronomy/astronomers-discover-quipu-the-single-largest-structure-in-the-known-universe

              "Astronomers have discovered what may be the largest-scale
              structure in the known universe - a group of galaxy clusters and
              clusters of galaxy clusters that spans roughly 1.3 billion
              light-years across and contains a mind-boggling 200 quadrillion
              solar masses.

              The newfound structure is dubbed Quipu after an Incan system of
              counting and storing numbers using knots on cords.

              ... [T]he structure is complex, made up of one long filament and
              multiple side filaments[,] ...  potentially making it the largest
              object in the universe in terms of length, beating out previous
              record-holders such as the Laniakea supercluster."

              @00:03

02/08/2025    ADB-USB Wombat:

              https://eshop.macsales.com/blog/97070-when-old-meets-new-using-a-35-year-old-adb-apple-extended-keyboard-ii-with-an-apple-silicon-m4-mac-mini/

              @22:37

02/08/2025    Plesiosaurs had scales similar to sea turtles:

              https://phys.org/news/2025-02-soft-tissue-plesiosaur-reveals-scales.html
              https://www.sci.news/paleontology/plesiosaur-skin-scales-13648.html

              @22:32

Older
-----

01/##/2025    https://srirangav.github.io/motd/2025/01/motd.txt
              https://srirangav.github.io/motd/2025/01/index.html

##/##/2024    https://srirangav.github.io/motd/2024/motd.txt
              https://srirangav.github.io/motd/2024/index.html

##/##/2023    https://srirangav.github.io/motd/2023/motd.txt
              https://srirangav.github.io/motd/2023/index.html

##/##/2022    https://srirangav.github.io/motd/2022/motd.txt
              https://srirangav.github.io/motd/2022/index.html

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