Odd Lots

[jeff_duntemann]

• ESR did an interesting long-form essay on that very peculiar nootropic drug, Modafinil, which he takes for cerebral palsy. It sounds extremely useful, but for the property that the more you use it, the less effective it is. That's why most people who use it illegally do so only on exam days, when heightened cognition can literally make or break your future. As always with ESR, it's worth reading the whole thing, and that includes the comments.
• The Sun has been blank now for five days, and in today's image I don't even see any plages, much less spots. The coming solar minimum is going to be early, and from all appearances deep.
• I'm looking for a source of sockets for Ryobi 1 18v rechargable batteries, which are the packs driving most Ryobi cordless hand tools. I want to build my own gadgets using Ryobi 1 packs, and it would be handy to buy sockets rather than having to scavenge dead Ryobi tools. I doubt that Ryobi sells them (having looked at their product line in vain) and I'm now hoping somebody has created them via 3-D printer.
• The American Heart Association says that animal fats can kill you. (These guys actually consider margarine healthier than butter!) Really? Or might it just maybe have something to do with the fact that the AHA takes significant money from major vegetable oil manufacturers? If you see anything from the AHA, pass it by. It's tainted (if not entirely fake) science.
• Gut biome bacteria may have significant effects on cognition. Numerous crude jokes suggest themselves here, none of which I will make.
• More people are leaving Illinois than moving to it, and the disparity is the greatest in the country. Illinois has some of the highest property taxes in the nation, along with exploding unfunded pension obligations that will drive all taxes higher in the near future. Carol and I are very glad we got out when we did.
• Good summary of recent progress on new designs for nuclear reactors. I'll be blunt here: If you're more afrad of nuclear power than global warming, I see no reason to be afraid of global warming at all.
• While researching lucid dreaming for my novel-in-progress, I happened upon a how-to guide for...astral sex. Thanks, but having sex with random astral beings doesn't sound like an especially good idea to me.
• We've seen gadgets that purport to enable lucid dreaming for years, but a new generation is coming, with better tech and probably better chances. Insomniac that I am, I suspect what they do best would be keeping me awake.
• WikiBooks has a book on lucid dreaming induction methods and I've found it intriguing. There's lots to try, but my suspicion is that the best lucid dreamers are probably born with it.
• I don't often do politics here, but the left-leaning Guardian has a very insightful explanation of why the American media will never make any headway in their desperate (and failing) war against Donald Trump. Basically, journalists here are herd-running tribalists who simply don't care how they come across to ordinary Americans, who are becoming numb to the topic and ever more frequently tuning them out.