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Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng. @rtmlepage.bsky.social · 39m

It's in the range that for every 1 person who contracts SARS2 by fomites, some 10,000 people catch it from airborne inhalation. It's in some buried papers from 2022.

Reposted by Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng.

Rachel Gilmore @rachelgilmore.bsky.social · 4h

On Monday, Pierre Poilievre shared his party’s petition to “end DEI” and “restore the merit principle.”

Just before that, another Conservative MP posted that “Canada must now place restrictions on birthright citizenship”

If it all sounds a bit Trump-y, that’s probably because…it is:

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Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng. @rtmlepage.bsky.social · 9h

In places like Edmonton, Alberta, the COP break-even point is about 2.1 in comparison with a 98% AFUE methane furnace on a GHG basis. These COPs are achievable even when it is -25C outside. And it is not -25C for the whole year, but less than 5%!

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Reposted by Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng.

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 10h

BECCS — attempting to capture CO₂ from biomass-burning plants and storing it underground — is the carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technique that has sold the most credits. But its climate benefits may be overstated, it could incentivize deforestation, and the carbon accounting might be distorted.

Big Tech’s big bet on a controversial carbon removal tactic

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage can scale faster than other approaches. But some experts are dubious about the climate benefits.

www.technologyreview.com

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Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng. @rtmlepage.bsky.social · 10h

This makes me sick to my stomach...

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Reposted by Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng.

Kevin J. CREATURE @kevinjkircher.com · 1d

Yes. Conflating "any data-driven prediction or decision software" with "AI" - a term almost everyone associates with large language models - is a huge gift to the hypemen who claim LLMs will do more energy/climate good than harm.

www.techpolicy.press/generative-a...

Quote from the linked article:

"Generative AI’s utility in optimizing content for social media algorithms is quite distinct from using real-time algorithms to monitor sensor data about the energy grid. Compressing these numbers into a single category of artificial intelligence is an unfortunate erasure of distinctions that could lead to clearer assessments of generative AI’s impact on productivity."

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Reposted by Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng.

Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · 15h

"If geoengineering works well initially & you see this temperature drop, the tempempation to keep going & extracting fossil fuels will be greater than ever, because it will seem that you have a technologically that can cut off the link between temperature rises & fossil fuel combustion."

Overshoot & Climate Breakdown - Wim Carton & Andreas Malm | #39

YouTube video by Jesse Damiani

youtu.be

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Reposted by Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng.

Dr. Genevieve Guenther (she/they) @doctorvive.bsky.social · 13h

The thing about solar geoengineering is that once you start you cannot stop *ever* unless somehow you have already removed all the multi-billions of tons of carbon emitted since the day you started.

If you stop at the higher CO2 concentration you get virtually instantaneous catastrophic heating.

Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · 15h

"If geoengineering works well initially & you see this temperature drop, the tempempation to keep going & extracting fossil fuels will be greater than ever, because it will seem that you have a technologically that can cut off the link between temperature rises & fossil fuel combustion."

Overshoot & Climate Breakdown - Wim Carton & Andreas Malm | #39

YouTube video by Jesse Damiani

youtu.be

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Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng. @rtmlepage.bsky.social · 1d

Canada Post is a service. The elite laptop class in Toronto, who get their Starbuck's Ubered to their office and who also author editorials on privatization of services, can't fathom that market forces collapse in some areas because they cannot conceive what a lack of services looks like.

Canadian Dimension @canadiandimension.bsky.social · 1d

Defending Canada Post is not only about protecting good jobs; it’s about preserving one of the last nationwide infrastructures capable of countering corporate monopoly and serving people where they live.

The privatization crisis at Canada Post

Canada Post is under attack. Political favouritism, privatized delivery, and precarious subcontracting are putting workers and public service at risk. From Intelcom’s exploitative practices to the gov...

canadiandimension.com

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Reposted by Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng.

alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 2d

Another good time to remind people that “tear gas” is a term of copaganda that police, the military, and its manufacturers use to obscure that it is a dangerous chemical weapon internationally banned for use even in warfare.

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Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng. @rtmlepage.bsky.social · 3d

"The model says so..."

🏰meg⚔️ @Birthright Audiobook! @impavid.us · 6d

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand

I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.

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Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng. @rtmlepage.bsky.social · 3d

My career and business is certainly stunted because I refuse to fly for one off events.

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Reposted by Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng.

Canadian History Ehx @cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social · 3d

Did you know the first thanksgiving celebrated by Europeans in North America happened in Canada?
Or that the Indigenous celebrated autumn harvests long before Europeans arrived?
Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving a month earlier than the United States?
This is the story.

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A festive Thanksgiving dinner table featuring a roasted turkey as the centerpiece, surrounded by an array of dishes including green beans, stuffing, sliced ham, and a pumpkin pie. The table is decorated with pumpkins, sunflowers, candles, and autumnal flowers, with wine glasses and plates set for a meal.

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Reposted by Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng.

Dustin Poppendieck @poppendieck.bsky.social · 3d

And second, can we figure out how long some of those chemicals persist in adjacent homes that remain standing after the fire event (in preprint):

Timescales of Gaseous Smoke Contamination Indoors from Real and Simulated Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fires | share.google/lrtV9rtYWYJk...

Timescales of Gaseous Smoke Contamination Indoors from Real and Simulated Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fires

Fires occurring at the wildland-urban interface (WUI) can produce smoke that contains unique chemicals from the combustion of urban structures, which can then contaminate nearby buildings and affect i...

share.google

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Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng. @rtmlepage.bsky.social · 4d

Did the people involved in delivery the data centres use LLMs to do their math for them?

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Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng. @rtmlepage.bsky.social · 4d

Not equal sample sizes, but it unequivocally shows covid is worse than flu, and flu is really bad!

"74,738 COVID-19 cases and 18,790 influenza"

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Reposted by Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng.

Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 5d

Enduring Outcomes of COVID-19 Work Absences on the US Labor Market url: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Enduring Outcomes of COVID-19 Work Absences on the US Labor Market

This cohort study examines the extent to which COVID-19 continues to generate work absences and decrease labor force participation beyond the pandemic period in the US.

jamanetwork.com

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Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng. @rtmlepage.bsky.social · 5d

chatgpt.com/s/t_68e93d47...

Air traffic controller test

A conversational AI system that listens, learns, and challenges

chatgpt.com

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Reposted by Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng.

Aarne Granlund @aarnegranlund.bsky.social · 22d

"Our findings demonstrate a gap between governments’ expected reliance on land and the role that land can realistically play in climate mitigation."

Offsetting failed, climate targets have massive amounts of CDR, and now some want to modify the atmosphere directly.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Over-reliance on land for carbon dioxide removal in net-zero climate pledges - Nature Communications

Achieving net-zero climate targets requires substantial land for carbon dioxide removal. This paper quantifies the land area in countries’ climate pledges at approximately 1 billion hectares, often in...

www.nature.com

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Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng. @rtmlepage.bsky.social · 5d

It's a spectrum.

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Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng. @rtmlepage.bsky.social · 5d

Bypass is certainly a problem, but a large portion of inspired air does pass through the surgical mask filter. It may only achieve 50-70% efficacy (off the top of my head). Better than nothing, and helps keep aerosols to yourself too. Fitted ffp/N95 (99.9%) is certainly much better.

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Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng. @rtmlepage.bsky.social · 6d

KSHHHHH... deet-deet-deet... Bing BONG Bing BONG... eeeeee-errrrr-eeeeee-errrrr... KSSSHHHHHHHHH... chirp-chirp-whirrrrr... BWEEEEE-whaaaa-BWEEEEE-whaaaa... kssh-kssh-kssh... pshhhhhhhhhh... beep-beep... SCREEEEEEECH-whirrr-whirrr... pshhhhhhhhhh... beep-beep-BEEP!

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Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng. @rtmlepage.bsky.social · 6d

And at a max bitrate of 14kbps

BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 6d

after careful study, I believe only people born between 1975 and 1995 should be allowed to use the internet

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Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng. @rtmlepage.bsky.social · 6d

I have lost IQ watching this...

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Reposted by Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng.

James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 6d

That England has had its three worst harvests on record inside the past five years really should be being treated as a much bigger cause for concern than is currently the case. www.businessgreen.com/news/4520171...

'This is what farming with climate change looks like': England endures second worst harvest on record

New analysis confirms three of the five worst harvests on record have occurred in the past five years on the back of extreme heat, drought, and rainfall

www.businessgreen.com

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