A.C. Flory's Blog, page 11

Innerscape ideas coming to life!

In Miira, the first book of the Innerscape trilogy, I wrote a scene in which the hospital bed in which Miira lies transforms [via mirror foam] into a ‘bath’. Look what I just found on Youtube:

No mirror foam or massage jets but very cool nonetheless.

cheers,
Meeks

Promising research on cartilage repair

With back pain very much on my mind at the moment, this article in New Atlas instantly caught my attention:

https://newatlas.com/medical/dancing-molecules-cartilage/?utm_source=New+Atlas+Subscribers&utm_campaign=9608915a91-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_08_08_12_57&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-9608915a91-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

‘“Cartilage is a critical component in our joints,” said lead researcher Samuel Stupp, from Northwestern University. “When cartilage becomes damaged or breaks down over time, it can have a great impact on people’s overall health and mobility. The problem is that, in adult humans, cartilage does not have an inherent ability to heal. Our new therapy can induce repair in a tissue that does not naturally regenerate. We think our treatment could help address a serious, unmet clinical need.”’

The gist of the article is that researchers from Northwestern have developed a two part process that helps repair cartilage in sheep. As sheep are more our size than rats or mice, this is good news indeed.

‘The team believes this thick paste-like biomaterial could be used in surgery as a less invasive way to encourage cartilage repair, compared to the current method of microfracture procedures.

“The main issue with the microfracture approach is that it often results in the formation of fibrocartilage – the same cartilage in our ears – as opposed to hyaline cartilage, which is the one we need to have functional joints,” Stupp said. “By regenerating hyaline cartilage, our approach should be more resistant to wear and tear, fixing the problem of poor mobility and joint pain for the long term while also avoiding the need for joint reconstruction with large pieces of hardware.”’

I just hope that this treatment regime, or one like it, is available by the time the problems with my back get to the disabling stage. In the meantime, Youtube has shown me how to get out of my chair more or less pain free:

Not exactly the most ladylike of movements, but hey, it works.

Happy Friday, everyone.
Meeks

Tukti SOS

My back’s playing up so just a quick update for now.

cheers,
Meeks

Arnie’s definition of true strength

I have admired Arnold Schwarzenegger for decades, but never more so than today. Why? Because today I stumbled across a video message he gave about the difference between hate…and strength. To paraphrase his message, hate is easy, strength is hard, choose strength:

I first learned about courage and strength from my Dad. He taught me that courage doesn’t mean ‘lack of fear’. Instead, it means ‘doing the right thing despite fear’. That is the hard path that Arnie is talking about too, because it’s easier to run away than it is to face your fears and stare them down.

When Donald Trump dismissed dead war veterans as ‘losers’, he betrayed his own cowardice because they conquered their fear and died, while he would have run away because he’s…oh so smart.

Running away may be ‘smart’, but it’s also the coward’s choice. It’s the choice of weak people.

I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but Arnie’s message was so uplifting I just had to share. Have a peaceful weekend, my friends.

Love,
Meeks

Aussie made mobile brick factory!

Mobile Crisis Construction (MCC) is a West Australian company that has found a way to convert the rubble left behind in a war zone into blocks/bricks that stack together a bit like Lego blocks. And the whole process is compact enough to fit into a standard shipping container.

This is the mobile factory hard at work:

Designed to rebuild cities, the first mobile factory is on its way to Ukraine to help that country turn rubble into housing:

‘Once up and running, the factory can churn out 8,000 “Crisis Blocks” or “LayGo Blocks” a day – MCC says that’s enough to build one school, or three large houses, or 10 joined houses a week…The factory isn’t completely self-contained, requiring a diesel generator for power and a freestanding hammer mill to crush the debris and waste into a fine powder that is then fed into the machine, along with a small amount of cement and water. In addition to rubble, other waste such as plastic bottles, glass and mine tailings can be used.’

You can read the entire article on the New Atlas page located here. The full url is below:

https://newatlas.com/technology/mobile-factory-convert-into-bricks/?utm_source=New+Atlas+Subscribers&utm_campaign=7eaecb2a89-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_07_31_12_33&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-7eaecb2a89-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

It would be nice if the Australian government could donate at least one of these mobile factories to the Palestinians surviving the destruction of Gaza.

cheers,
Meeks

Dimash & Chanté Moore Duet

I’ve been a Dimash fan for a while now, but this is the first time I’ve heard Chanté Moore, and she is brilliant too. The two of them together turn this song into something special.

Enjoy.
Meeks

Runway AI – videos stolen from Youtube

As someone who posts videos to Youtube, I was shocked when I first heard the rumour that companies were ripping off videos to ‘train’ generative AI such as Runway. Now there’s proof. The following is taken from a Futurism article entitled ‘Leak Shows That Google-Funded AI Video Generator Runway Was Trained on Stolen YouTube Content, Pirated Films‘ :

‘A popular and powerful text-to-video AI generator developed by Runway was trained on copious amounts of pirated content and ripped off YouTube videos, according to a gigantic internal spreadsheet obtained by 404 Media…The spreadsheet is chock full of popular content drawn from major YouTube channels, including those belonging to Disney, Netflix, and Sony, in addition to links to websites that are known to host pirated content.’

Given how much money has been invested in generative AI, I know it’s naive to hope this particular genie will be put back in its box, but boy would I like to see the CEO’s responsible for this global heist brought to justice. They have deliberately flouted every copyright law in existence because ‘the end justifies the means’.

But what is the end that makes outright theft on an unbelievable scale ‘okay’?

If the AI in question were being used in medical research to save lives, or in some program designed to transition us away from global warming, I might feel more conflicted, more uncertain. But the generative AI thrust upon an unsuspecting world are all about stealing art, not saving lives. And the men and women who are the most vocal about how ‘good’ AI is, are also the ones making the most money out of this global theft.

If I had a magic wand, I’d keep all the AI designed to further research and make the world a better place. And then I’d dump all the rest into a deep, deep hole, along with those who believe the end justifies the means.

It never does.

Meeks

Greg Jennett is the rudest host EVER!

I’ve just watched Barnaby Joyce [Nationals politician] go on and on about total rubbish, for minutes at a time without Greg Jennett pulling him up. Meanwhile, whenever Anne Aly [Labor politician] tries to say anything, Jennett allows that fat, red-faced, drunk-in-the-gutter joke of a politician to talk over her. Constantly!

As the host of Afternoon Briefing, Greg Jennett should be moderating both politicians. Instead, Greg Jennett does nothing, absolutely nothing. I don’t know whether he’s incompetent or biased, but I do know he’s rude.

Rude, ABC Afternoon Briefing…bloody RUDE.

I’m disgusted.

Meeks

Just for fun…Queen and a flip book. :D

cheers,
Meeks

Global Outage…have you been affected?

The mystery outage occurring on Microsoft Windows operating systems seems to be restricted to companies, at the moment, which is a relief as I’m on Windows 10. Nevertheless, I have been affected because my bank is down, which means that I probably can’t buy anything.

We did our shopping yesterday, including petrol, so we’ll be okay until the problem is sorted, but I wonder how many people intended to do their shopping tomorrow [Saturday]? If you can access WordPress or social media generally, please tell us how you’re going in comments. We won’t be able to help, but perhaps we can still share information.

cheers,
Meeks