I’m not stateless. I’m sorta homeless, though. On the loose. We are sleeping indoors, however, which is nice, because it was 15 this morning when I woke up. I don’t miss my old house all that much, but I’m starting to miss trash day.

The town we lived in had something you could call a dump. They didn’t call it that, of course, because calling anything or anybody something straightforward instead of a euphemism is verboten these days. Man, we put that dump through its paces before we moved. They picked up the trash on the curb once a week, so you didn’t need to visit their mother ship if you didn’t want to. You could put as many bags of trash out as you cared to, and cardboard and other stuff. Once a year, you could even plop a big pile of most anything out there, and they come around with a dump truck and a loader and take that, too.

The dump itself was open six days a week, for long hours, too. You could dump wood, or metal, or plastic, or electronics, or whatever into designated spots, or anything random into a big pit with a rail car in the bottom of it. It was glorious, but it’s over. I can’t nail Tuesday morning on the calendar anymore, to measure the passage of time in trash-weeks any longer. My trash sun sets in the east or north or south or wherever now. I’m still a raccoon at heart, but the world has strapped bungie cords over the lid of my galvanized life.

So let’s clean out the bookmarks sidebar, and pour one out for trash day.

How the 1955 Le Mans disaster changed motorsport forever

Levegh’s Mercedes collided with the sloping rear of the Austin-Healey at 150 mph and launched into the air. Macklin remembered feeling the “searing heat” of its exhaust on his face as it sailed over him, and seeing Levegh hunched over the wheel as his Mercedes flew off the track. It landed on an earth embankment, crashed into a concrete stairwell, and exploded like a grenade, sending shards of hot metal hurtling into an open public enclosure next to the grandstand.

The internet used to be full of interesting, good writing like this. Antisocial media killed it dead, dead, dead.

18th-century dentist Thomas Berdmore revealed the agonies his patients endured before, during and after treatment.

He fixed his instrument, and with a sudden exertion of all his strength, he brought away the affected Tooth, together with a piece of the jaw-bone, as big as a walnut, and three neighbouring Molares.

A dentist is a prestidigitator who puts metal in your mouth and pulls coins from your pocket.

Nearly half of US teens are online ‘constantly,’ Pew report finds

There was a slight downward trend in several popular apps teens used. For instance, 63% of teens said they used TikTok, down from 67% and Snapchat slipped to 55% from 59%. This small decline could be due to pandemic-era restrictions easing up and kids having more time to see friends in person, but it’s not enough to be truly meaningful.

Half were online constantly, the other half were too busy texting to answer the question.

Are Social Media Platforms the Next Dying Malls?

My home town is just one example of many. And there are also many “dying malls”—defined as enclosed shopping centers with less than 40% occupancy.

Not long ago, we hoped that these artificial gathering places could be robust, vital replacements for the neighborhoods we tore down. But what I’ve learned is that you pay a heavy price for replacing a real community with a fake one.

And that brings me to the subject of social media platforms—which increasingly resemble these old, decrepit malls.

They are the ultimate fake community centers. This makes them vulnerable, despite all the current visitors and lurkers and noise.

Sure. I guess no one goes there anymore because they’re too crowded.

Why conversations are better with four people

“You very rarely get more than four people in a conversation. In the normal run of things, when a fifth person joins a group, it’ll become two conversations within about 20 seconds.” Alternatively, a “lecture” situation develops in which one person holds court and the others act as an audience.

I’ll make small talk with three people, I guess, but I dispute only with God. I require a worthy adversary.

Mysterious tablet with unknown language unearthed in Georgia

The symbols, created using a conical drill and smoothed with rounded tools, reflect a high degree of craftsmanship. Archaeologists have speculated that the writing may have recorded military spoils, construction projects, or offerings to deities, though definitive interpretations remain elusive. “Generally, the Bashplemi inscription does not repeat any script known to us; however, most of the symbols used therein resemble ones found in the scripts of the Middle East, as well as those of geographically remote countries such as India, Egypt, and West Iberia,” noted researchers in the Journal of Ancient History and Archaeology.

I imagine thousands of researchers will spend ages analyzing them and eventually find out it’s a lost dry cleaning ticket.

A room temperature rechargeable Li2O-based lithium-air battery enabled by a solid electrolyte

A lithium-air battery based on lithium oxide (Li2O) formation can theoretically deliver an energy density that is comparable to that of gasoline. Lithium oxide formation involves a four-electron reaction that is more difficult to achieve than the one- and two-electron reaction processes that result in lithium superoxide (LiO2) and lithium peroxide (Li2O2), respectively. By using a composite polymer electrolyte based on Li10GeP2S12 nanoparticles embedded in a modified polyethylene oxide polymer matrix, we found that Li2O is the main product in a room temperature solid-state lithium-air battery. The battery is rechargeable for 1000 cycles with a low polarization gap and can operate at high rates.

When big batteries morph into big capacitors with slow discharge rates, electric cars will make a lot of sense.

Sionic Energy Unveils 100-Percent Silicon Anode Battery

Group14 plans to open a factory in Moses Lake, Wash. in the first quarter of 2025 with annual capacity for 4,000 tons of its nanostructured silicon-carbon material, called SCC55. That black powder could supply 20 gigawatt hours of cells, enough to power 100,000 to 200,000 EVs, or millions of consumer devices like phones. The two companies say silicon anodes can boost energy density by up to 50 percent versus today’s best nickel-rich batteries, and reduce EV charging times to 10 minutes or less.

Baby steps, I guess. But I don’t know why people think electric cars aren’t reliable. I heard that 95 percent of all the electric cars sold in America are still on the road. The other 5 percent made it home.

Well, that cleared up the bookmarks a bit. Enjoy. And if you see a forlorn man wandering the streets aimlessly, toting a half-full Hefty bag, make sure you wave. I promise I’ll wave back.