banner
debcha.bsky.social
Deb Chachra
@debcha.bsky.social
11K followers 270 following 740 posts
Engineering professor. Author of HOW INFRASTRUCTURE WORKS (on Riverhead in the US+, on Torva in the UK+). Interested in embodiment, materiality, metacognition, and systems. All enthusiasm is 100% genuine.
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Reposted by Deb Chachra
amyklassen.bsky.social
Amy K @amyklassen.bsky.social · 1d
It's true! When I studied economics, I was stunned by the ROI of social programs. Every dollar spent on childcare returns about $2.80 to the economy, and healthcare delivers even greater returns with broader social impact.

A universal basic income is simply smart fiscal policy. Why the reluctance?
brenttoderian.bsky.social
Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 1d
For every €1 provided through a Basic Income For Artists pilot program in Ireland, the government got €1.46 back. So it’s being made permanent.

Over and over we see it. It saves public money to provide public housing. And it makes public money to provide basic income.

We can’t afford to NOT do it.
mikeachim.bsky.social
Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 1d
Damn. This is amazing. £325 per week, paid monthly, for 3 years - and the result was a profit for the Irish economy:
www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employmen...
15 120 280
debcha.bsky.social
Deb Chachra @debcha.bsky.social · 2d
At King’s College London (on the Strand, the north shore of the Thames), they were reno’ing the building a few years ago and found a space that was bricked closed and nobody knew what was inside. Storeroom? Bodies? Interdimensional portal? I think they decided they were better off not knowing.
2
debcha.bsky.social
Deb Chachra @debcha.bsky.social · 2d
I mean, I have questions.

Mainly, where was the canal water draining _to_?

Also, _why_?
1 2
debcha.bsky.social
Deb Chachra @debcha.bsky.social · 5d
@earlymodernjohn.bsky.social [Just making sure you see this.]
zacharylesser.bsky.social
Zachary Lesser @zacharylesser.bsky.social · 5d
Kofta kebab recipe in England c. 1660. Amazing find!
rhetorician.bsky.social
Danielle Clarke @rhetorician.bsky.social · 5d
Would anyone like to take a guess at the word before “kebob”? Which predates OED - ms is 1660
6
Reposted by Deb Chachra
zacharylesser.bsky.social
Zachary Lesser @zacharylesser.bsky.social · 5d
Kofta kebab recipe in England c. 1660. Amazing find!
rhetorician.bsky.social
Danielle Clarke @rhetorician.bsky.social · 5d
Would anyone like to take a guess at the word before “kebob”? Which predates OED - ms is 1660
2 61 190
debcha.bsky.social
Deb Chachra @debcha.bsky.social · 5d
[ilu all]

Chris recently informed me that in any arena, the debcha people were identifiable by their vibes, and I love that framing because it’s less about me being a *social* nexus and more that I’m just my friends’ type specimen for a way of being, interacting and understanding the world.
1 6
Reposted by Deb Chachra
wxliz.bsky.social
Elizabeth Leitman @wxliz.bsky.social · 6d
Just a reminder that NWS is considered essential during a government shutdown. Meteorologists will still go to work, forecasts will still be made, watches and warnings will be issued, data will flow. We won’t be paid until the shutdown ends, but we’ll still protect life and property as always.
12 100 340
debcha.bsky.social
Deb Chachra @debcha.bsky.social · 6d
Looking at a posting for a seminar at a major public research university about the role of AI in higher education (posited as inevitably increasing, of course) and it mostly makes me wish Ursula Franklin was alive to weigh in.
1 2 9
Reposted by Deb Chachra
kattenbarge.bsky.social
Kat Tenbarge @kattenbarge.bsky.social · 9d
The real generational divide is people who refuse to watch a video if it could be an article versus people who refuse to read an article if it could be a video
520 2.2K 12K
Reposted by Deb Chachra
brenttoderian.bsky.social
Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 9d
My semi-regular reminder of a really important reality about cities, density, services and taxes.

Original graphic cleaned up by @kathrynmathias.bsky.social. #CityMakingMath
Venn diagram with stable services, low density, and low taxes. The area in the centre said “Does Not Exist.” And it’s correct.
8 90 260
debcha.bsky.social
Deb Chachra @debcha.bsky.social · 8d
Hahaha two nice American ladies once asked me how to get to Harrod’s, but my all-time fave is that my first time in Paris I was asked *in French* where the nearest post office ATM was and could tell them. And then a few moments later someone else went “quel beau sourire!” at me grinning to myself.
1 3
debcha.bsky.social
Deb Chachra @debcha.bsky.social · 8d
That’d be great! I have a theory that aluminum foil, packaging etc (Jiffy Pop!) must be like government cheese [New Deal hydroelectricity + WWII = huge federal investment in aluminum production for aircraft => surplus capacity after => marketed for domestic use] but I’ve never dug into it properly.
5
debcha.bsky.social
Deb Chachra @debcha.bsky.social · 8d
I’m super-interested in the ties between Indian and Latino food in California in the late 19C/early 20C because of intermarriage between Punjabi immigrant men and local/Mexican women. Have also been wondering about when/why aluminum foil became ubiquitous for food serving and storage.
1 8
debcha.bsky.social
Deb Chachra @debcha.bsky.social · 8d
Any specific newspaper/region I should focus my queries on?
1
debcha.bsky.social
Deb Chachra @debcha.bsky.social · 8d
What I absolutely can’t count at all is the number of times I’ve been helped by strangers, or for that matter, the number of times I’ve helped strangers (it’s a running joke that no matter what city in the world I visit, I get taken for a resident and asked directions).

Cities are remarkable.
1 1 23
debcha.bsky.social
Deb Chachra @debcha.bsky.social · 8d
I’ve lived and solo-traveled in major urban areas my entire life — the first time I went to NYC on my own I was 16, I was living in downtown Toronto starting when I was 17, alone when I was 18 — and I can count the number of times I’ve been in any sort of altercation on one hand.
1 17
debcha.bsky.social
Deb Chachra @debcha.bsky.social · 8d
A ‘random tag on a utility box’ is almost certainly in the sense of graffiti art, not utility markings, but…f you’re not really familiar with either, I can see how spray-paint on the sidewalk could easily be misinterpreted.
beijingpalmer.bsky.social
BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 9d
oh lord I hadn't put it together, but tons of people like this must have confused utility markings and gang signs.

99percentinvisible.org/article/colo...
1 5 12
debcha.bsky.social
Deb Chachra @debcha.bsky.social · 8d
The way I usually describe it is that infrastructure, energy systems, etc. are the biggest levers we have to change the material (and thus political) conditions of our world. That means I don’t expect to personally move the lever very much, but it also means it’s worth throwing my weight against.
2 9
debcha.bsky.social
Deb Chachra @debcha.bsky.social · 9d
This is a fascinating discussion. I think I’m with you — I communicate my understandings and my beliefs, but I do it because I think we will collectively benefit from a shared understanding of our energy systems, infrastructure etc. And I see myself as one of many, many voices.
2
Reposted by Deb Chachra
chowleen.bsky.social
eileen chengyin chow @chowleen.bsky.social · 11d
The South Korean Ministry of Defense has awarded medals of merit to 11 officers for disobeying direct orders of superiors during the martial law fiasco, orders that they deemed to be contrary to the constitution and endangerment to democracy.
www.chosun.com/english/nati...
National Defense Ministry Honors 11 Soldiers for Refusing Illegal Orders
National Defense Ministry Honors 11 Soldiers for Refusing Illegal Orders Honored for rejecting illegal orders during martial law, Marine death probe
www.chosun.com
410 6.1K 20K
Reposted by Deb Chachra
shannonmattern.bsky.social
Shannon Mattern @shannonmattern.bsky.social · 11d
... Public works are a marvel, and we need people to *see them* and celebrate them more often, and recognize that *this* is where the taxes go!
2 8 61
Reposted by Deb Chachra
shannonmattern.bsky.social
Shannon Mattern @shannonmattern.bsky.social · 11d
I'm creating an OpenHouseNY shortlist for out-of-town guests, and I think it's 🤗 — and, I'll admit, touching — that you can see where the Dept of Transport makes its signs, or visit the Dept of Sanitation's waste transfer station + compost facility, or watch new garbage trucks demo big-bin pickup...
DOT Sign Shop: Maspeth Central - Open House New York
Visitors will see how New York City’s street signs are made, from start to finish. Every sign in NYC is made here, at the Maspeth Sign Shop.
ohny.org
7 19 120
debcha.bsky.social
Deb Chachra @debcha.bsky.social · 13d
Things find their own uses as streets.

[record-setting 70m skateboard drop on the wall of a modernist Brazilian state government building that is pretty much a quarter-ramp]

(via @robcruickshank.bsky.social )
dragratsurvivor.bsky.social
Dungeon Rat Spectre @dragratsurvivor.bsky.social · 13d
Way better angles for y'all on this one.
13 40
Reposted by Deb Chachra
rebeccarhelm.bsky.social
Rebecca R Helm @rebeccarhelm.bsky.social · 13d
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA

10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
730 10K 30K
Reposted by Deb Chachra
jklabs.net
Jesse Kriss @jklabs.net · 15d
Righting Czech dams your ass can't, Cash
depthsofwikipedia.bsky.social
depths of wikipedia @depthsofwikipedia.bsky.social · 15d
imagine if a family of beavers randomly showed up right now and finished whatever thing you've been putting off
In early 2025, beaver activity in the Brdy Protected Landscape Area, Czech Republic, contributed to the restoration of a wetland ecosystem. A family of beavers constructed a series of dams that coincidentally accomplished environmental goals of the Czech government, which had delayed its proposed project since 2018 for bureaucratic and financial reasons. The beaver-built dams saved the Czech government approximately US$1.2 million,
6 24