#common catling

[random-myski]

I made fan art of awesome streamer common_catling! Tried to do a mix between her and their Fields of Mistria character and of course queen Henrietta in the background.

-

I can’t draw hands or feets even if my life depends on it so I tried to hide those best I could xD

[kvetchinglyneurotic]

for 2024's pointless end of year exercise, i will be rating the first lines of all 34 books i read this year (or rather, 32 books i read this year and 2 i'm in the process of reading) in order of how much i liked them. the list contains both fiction and non-fiction but doesn't count anything i read for my master's thesis. short story and essay collections only get one entry, which is the first line of the first story/essay in the collection. rankings are based purely on how much i liked the first line and the first line only, NOT how much i liked the whole book.

Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves. This is not for you.

Dara Horn, People Love Dead Jews. Sometimes your body is someone else's haunted house.

Gabriel García Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude. Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. 

Timothy Snyder, Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin. "Now we will live!"

Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness. I'll make my report as if I told a story, for I was taught as a child on my homeworld that Truth is a matter of the imagination.

Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous. Let me begin again.

Donna Tartt, The Secret History. The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation.

Joan Didion, A Book of Common Prayer. I will be her witness.

George R. R. Martin, Nightflyers (in Nightflyers and Other Stories). When Jesus of Nazareth hung dying on the cross, the Volcryn passed within a year of his agony, headed outward.

Stephen King, The Gunslinger. The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.

Joan Didion, Play It as It Lays. What makes Iago evil?

Tamsyn Muir, Gideon the Ninth. In the myriadic year of our lord— the ten thousandth year of the King of the Undying, the kindly Prince of Death!— Gideon Nav packed her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and she escaped from the House of the Ninth.

Susanna Clarke, The Ladies of Grace Adieu (in The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories). Above all remember this: that magic belongs as much to the heart as to the head and everything which is done, should be done from love or joy or righteous anger.

Joan Didion, Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream (in Slouching Towards Bethlehem). This is a story about love and death in the golden land, and begins with the country.

Joan Didion, Run River. Lily heard the shot at seventeen minutes to one.

Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House. No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream.

Neil Gaiman, Stardust. There was once a young man who wished to gain his heart's desire.

Kazuo Ishiguro, Klara and the Sun. When we were new, Rosa and I were mid-store, on the magazine table side, and could see through more than half of the window.

Stephen Graham Jones, My Heart is a Chainsaw. On the battered paper map that's carried the two of them across they're not sure how many American states now, this is Proofrock, Idaho, and the dark body of water before them is Indian Lake, and it kind of goes forever out into the night. 

B. Catling, The Erstwhile. This is where the man-best crawls, its once-virtuous body turned inside out, made raw and skinless, growing vines and sinews backwards through the flesh, stiff primordial feathers pluming in its lungs, thorns and rust knotted to barbed wire in its loins.

Joan Didion, The White Album (in The White Album). We tell ourselves stories in order to live.

Scott Lynch, The Republic of Thieves. Place ten dozen hungry orphan thieves in a dank burrow of vaults and tunnels beneath what used to be a graveyard, put them under the supervision of one partly crippled old man, and you will soon find that governing them becomes a delicate business. 

Patricia Highsmith, Ripley's Game. 'There's no such thing as a perfect murder,' Tom said to Reeves.

Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day. It seems increasingly likely that I really will undertake the expedition that has been preoccupying my imagination now for some days. 

N.K. Jemisin, The Stone Sky. Time grows short, my love.

Martha Wells, All Systems Red. I could have become a mass murderer after I hacked my government module, but then I realized I could access the combined feed of entertainment channels carried on the company satellites. 

Patricia Highsmith, The Talented Mr. Ripley. Tom glanced behind him and saw the man coming out of the Green Cage, heading his way.

Louis-Henri de la Rochefoucauld, Châteux de sable. L'épisode eut lieu il y a quelques années au château de ma grand-mère.

Patricia Highsmith, Ripley Underground. Tom was in the garden when the telephone rang. 

Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire. "I see…" said the vampire thoughtfully, and slowly he walked across the room towards the window.

Brian Deer, The Doctor Who Fooled the World: Science, Deception, and the War on Vaccines. On the first night of Donald Trump's presidency, a video went up on the World Wide Web that sent a shudder through medicine and science. 

Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. One does not have to be a combat soldier, or visit a refugee camp in Syria or the Congo to encounter trauma.

Anne Rice, The Vampire Lestat. I am the vampire Lestat.

Anne Rice, The Queen of the Damned. I'm the Vampire Lestat.

[everythingandeverywhere]

Vert gallois / Common Welsh Green

Concept Art by Paul Catling

Harry Potter et la Coupe de Feu / Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this New York Times story:

The Chinese manufacturing giant CATL, the biggest supplier of batteries for the world’s electric cars, said on Monday that it had made technological advances that would allow it to produce batteries that are cheaper, lighter, faster to recharge and more resistant to cold, while providing greater driving range.

Most of the changes, which are a couple of years away from being widely available in new cars, could make electric cars more competitive in price and performance with gasoline-powered models.

CATL — its full name is the Contemporary Amperex Technology Company Ltd. — produces a third of the world’s electric car batteries and supplies 16 of the world’s biggest carmakers, including General Motors and the Shanghai factory of Tesla. Its main rivals for the global market are BYD in Shenzhen, China, which makes about one-sixth of the world’s E.V. batteries, almost entirely for its own cars, and South Korean and Japanese battery manufacturers.

CATL executives spoke at a news conference ahead of the Shanghai auto show, which starts on Wednesday. The choreographed event evoked the launch of a new car model.

Batteries represent at least a third of the cost of an electric car, making CATL a critical player in the E.V. supply chain in China and beyond. Many automakers have been watching nervously whether CATL will someday try to establish its own car brand that could overshadow their own models.

The biggest surprise by CATL was an announcement about auxiliary batteries for electric cars. The batteries would share space in the underbody of cars, where there is now only one large battery.

The auxiliary battery would be the first commercially available electric vehicle battery that would not use graphite as one of its poles, CATL said.

Removing costly graphite will eventually make the batteries cheaper, after some initial costs, and will allow 60 percent more electricity to be squeezed in each cubic inch of the battery, said Gao Huan, CATL’s chief technology officer for electric cars in China. The extra energy density means that the car’s driving range can be greater, or the overall size of the battery can be reduced, leaving more room for the car’s passenger compartment.

The second battery also would provide backup in case one has trouble. That has become more important as self-driving features, which require uninterrupted electricity, become more common.

[coolithium]

High Voltage Batteries: 7 Must-Know Facts & Fixes!

Understanding High Voltage Batteries: Key Questions Answered

In the era of electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy systems, high voltage (HV) batteries have become a cornerstone of modern technology. Below, we address common questions about these power sources to demystify their role and functionality.

1. What is a High Voltage Battery?

A high voltage battery is an energy storage system designed to operate at voltages significantly higher than traditional batteries. These batteries are typically used in applications requiring substantial power output, such as electric vehicles, industrial machinery, and grid-scale energy storage. They are often composed of multiple lithium-ion cells connected in series to achieve the desired voltage level.

2. What is Considered “High” Battery Voltage?

The definition of “high voltage” varies by context:

Automotive: Voltages above 48V are classified as HV in hybrid/electric vehicles. Most EVs operate between 300–800V, with newer models pushing toward 900V.

Industrial/Energy Storage: Systems exceeding 100V are often categorized as HV.

Consumer Electronics: Even 12–24V may be deemed “high” for small devices, though this is context-dependent.

3. LV vs. HV Batteries: Key Differences

4. How Do High Voltage Batteries Produce Current?

5. Risks of High Battery Voltage

Excessive voltage often indicates overcharging or cell imbalance, leading to:

Thermal runaway (overheating, fires, or explosions).

Reduced battery lifespan.

Damage to connected electronics (e.g., inverters or motors).

Common causes include faulty BMS, improper charging, or degraded cells.

6. Cooling Methods for HV Batteries

To manage heat generated during operation, HV batteries use:

Air Cooling: Fans or vents for low-cost applications.

Liquid Cooling: Circulating coolant (e.g., glycol) through channels for precise thermal control (common in EVs).

Phase Change Materials (PCMs): Absorb heat during state changes (solid to liquid).

Refrigeration: Active cooling systems in extreme conditions.

7. Fixing High Battery Voltage Issues

Diagnose the Cause: Use a multimeter or BMS software to identify overcharged cells.

Cell Balancing: Recalibrate the BMS to equalize cell voltages.

Replace Faulty Cells: Swapping damaged or imbalanced cells.

Adjust Charging Parameters: Ensure chargers match the battery’s voltage specifications.

Professional Help: For complex systems like EV batteries, consult certified technicians.

8. Where to Buy High Voltage Batteries

HV batteries are available through:

EV Manufacturers: Tesla, BYD, or Rivian for vehicle-specific packs.

Industrial Suppliers: Companies like LG Energy Solution, Panasonic, or CATL.

Specialized Retailers: Online platforms (Alibaba, Amazon Business) for custom solutions.

Energy Storage Providers: Brands like Tesla Powerwall or Generac for home/grid systems.

Conclusion

High voltage batteries are revolutionizing transportation and energy systems, but their complexity demands careful handling. Understanding their design, risks, and maintenance ensures safe and efficient use. Whether powering an EV or storing solar energy, HV batteries are a critical component of our electrified future.

[mallowstep]

how do you feel about molly vs she-cat? sorry if you've answered this before lol

i don't think i have, no.

i use she-cat because i was raised on warriors, so that's what i'm used to. i'm not changing, kind of like how i'm american but i use a lot of british spellings.

PERSONALLY, i do get irritated when people critique the erins' use of she-cat, because the criticism is generally, "they could've just looked up the word!" but that actually ignores...

okay, so. i had SO MANY (non-fiction) cat books growing up. and while i can't claim none of them used molly, the first time i remember seeing it used is in warriors, so i looked it up, and lo, it is the word.

why is that?

because queen is generally used to refer to unspayed female cats, not molly. and if you read tpb, the word queen is used pretty liberally, in a way the erins don't anymore.

(probably because tpb is pretty sexist, and they moved away from the most obvious avenue of that sexism.)

so...like i find that criticism of she-cat by the erins is kind of stupid because if they DID look it up they'd see molly is a pretty rare term (please look up "molly cat" and "tom cat" to see what i mean.)

or really just look on wikipedia!

A male cat is called a tom or tomcat[28] (or a gib,[29] if neutered). An unspayed female is called a queen,[30] especially in a cat-breeding context. A juvenile cat is referred to as a kitten. In Early Modern English, the word kitten was interchangeable with the now-obsolete word catling.[31] A group of cats can be referred to as a clowder or a glaring.[32]

from cat on wikipedia, 2021-12-13.

so i find it kind of stupid to act like the erins "should have" used molly when it's just...not a common word that kids would've understood. again, i was a cat specialist, and i would've been thrown off.

that said, i couldn't care less what people use. i'm not switching, (a) because it's a minor change and (b) because these cats AREN'T spayed, but i don't mind when people use. i don't think it really sounds any more/less natural than she-cat, but it is a fun word to write.

[anastasianikolaevnaromanova]

While Henry was planning to remarry, attendants buried Anne’s remains at St. Peter ad Vincula, the chapel at the Tower. Preparing her for interment, her ladies wrapped her head and body with a sheet, perhaps of waxed cloth, and placed them in a chest of elm. In November 1876, as two architects, Anthony Salvin and John Taylor, began remodeling the chapel, they discovered a skeleton under a paving stone near the choir. After examining it, a medical expert, Dr. Mouat, said that he believed it was the skeleton of a woman between the ages of twenty-five and thirty. He also noted that the corpse had a little neck, which was how Anne Boleyn had described her neck while still a Tower prisoner. They did not positively identify the remains as Anne’s, but the supposition was strong that they were hers. If so, she was probably not interred in the elm chest but, without any prayers or religious services, placed in the ground covered only by the sheet, as were other condemned criminals. Commoners, who did have services, were also not buried in coffins. The architects failed to discover the skeleton of Katherine Howard, the other wife of Henry who was also interred in this chapel. Claire Ridgway, who investigated the execution site, has determined that because of the Tower’s many structural changes since the Tudor period, the beheadings on its green did not occur where the present memorial stands but rather on the now graveled parade ground between the White Tower and Waterloo Block, where the green used to be located. After the discovery of Anne’s assumed skeleton in the nineteenth century, a memorial plaque was placed on a railed-off area of what had then become Tower green in memory of all those executed there. In September 2006, it was replaced by a new memorial, designed by British artist Brian Catling, that “features two engraved glass circles, listing those executed on Tower Green, with a sculpted glass pillow as the focal point in the center.”

Elizabeth of York and Her Six Daughters-in-Law: Fashioning Tudor Queenship, 1485–1547 by Retha M. Warnicke, 2017.

[architectnews]

The Dezeen guide to stone in architecture, interiors and design

Thinking of using stone in your project? Our latest Dezeen guide includes 15 popular types of natural rock used in architecture, interiors and design with links to hundreds of examples to inspire your own work.

Alabaster

Alabaster is a soft, fine-grained stone that has been used for centuries to carve elaborate forms and ornaments. However, its solubility in water means that it is best suited for indoor use.

In its pure form, alabaster is white and translucent, which makes it ideally suited to lighting design.

Studio Tack used tubular light shades made from alabaster to softly illuminate a cosy Japanese restaurant in New York (above), while lighting studio Allied Maker used the stone to create ornate totemic floor lamps.

Amarist Studio showcased the sculptural possibilities of the stone in its Aqua Fossil collection, which includes a coffee table with swooping, curved legs.

See projects featuring alabaster ›

Basalt

Basalt is a dark-coloured igneous rock that is formed when lava cools rapidly. It is most frequently used as an aggregate for concrete as it is low-cost and high-strength, but it is also a popular cladding and flooring material, especially when polished.

Examples of this include the facade of a small gallery in Amsterdam by Barend Koolhaas and a Hawaiian holiday home by Walker Warner Architects in which slender basalt cladding tiles are contrasted with cedar detailing (above).

Icelandic studio Innriinnri used two sculpted slabs of basalt stone to create a sculptural table that doubles as a stool or a piece of art, while South Korean artist Byung Hoon Choi polished the stone to create oversized outdoor furniture.

See projects featuring basalt ›

Flint

Flint is a highly durable stone found in abundance as irregular-shaped nodules in sedimentary rocks such as chalk. It has been used as a construction material since the Roman era, though it is not often seen in contemporary architecture.

Flint varies in colour, but it is commonly glassy black with a white crust. In architecture, it is usually knapped – split to expose its glossy inner face – before being laid in mortar.

Skene Catling de la Peña used a combination of knapped and unknapped flint to cover a wedge-shaped house in Buckinghamshire (above), which creates a subtle colour gradient across its facade.

See projects featuring flint ›

Gneiss

Gneiss, a robust metamorphic stone composed of alternating layers of different coloured minerals, is popular to use for flooring and worktops. Hues can range from pinks and golds to greens and dark greys.

Peter Pichler sourced grey gneiss with black-and-white bands from Passeier Valley in South Tyrol to create a large counter in the bar of an Italian Alpine hotel (above).

It can also be used as a cladding material, such as in Bernardo Bader Architekten's ski resort office in Austria and a radio broadcasting station in Nepal by Archium.

Granite

Granite is one of the most widely used stones in architecture and design. It forms from the slow crystallisation of magma beneath the Earth's crust. It is used for everything from load-bearing structures to cladding, worktops and furniture.

Its popularity is down to its high compressive strength, durability and low porosity. Granite is also found in an array of colours, making it suitable for a range of spaces and styles.

Heatherwick Studio recently used green granite to make a trio of its sculptural Spun chairs (above), while Snøhetta has used a grey variety to cover almost every surface of an Aesop store to emulate a rocky coastline.

Architecture studio NOARQ tested the material's strength by elevating a cabin on thick blocks of granite over the entrance to a stone villa in Portugal.

See projects featuring granite ›

Laterite

Rusty-red laterite stone is formed from the leaching of rocks and soil during alternating periods of high temperature and heavy rainfall in tropical areas. This process leaves behind a high concentration of insoluble iron oxides, which gives the rock its colour.

Laterite is typically used in construction in Africa and Asia in the form of bricks, which have excellent thermal mass and a low embodied energy. These bricks are made by cutting the rock out from below the water table when it is moist and leaving it to harden in the air.

Architect Francis Kéré used locally sourced laterite to build the walls of a school in Burkina Faso and Studio Lotus has used it to create the pedestal of a government building in India (above).

Limestone

There are many different types of limestone, a sedimentary rock composed mainly of calcium carbonate. It is considered a good all-round building material as it is easy to cut and carve and usually has a uniform texture and colour.

Popular limestone varieties include travertine (see below) and Portland stone, which is used on notable buildings in London such as St Paul's Cathedral and Buckingham Palace.

David Chipperfield Architects recently used limestone to clad the Kunsthaus Zurich museum extension in Switzerland and John Pawson used it to line the surfaces of a minimalist flagship store in Japan for fashion label Jil Sander.

Design projects that utilise limestone include a blocky furniture collection called Dig Where You Stand by students from the Estonian Academy of Arts (above).

See projects featuring limestone ›

Marble

Marble is a metamorphic rock with veins of calcite crystal. It forms from limestone that has been exposed to heat and pressure and is found in many colours. Marble is strong but easily carved and polishes well, making it suitable for numerous applications.

It is most popularly used in kitchen and bathroom designs, but it is often used as cladding too, such as in Alexander Owen Architecture's garden room in London (above).

See projects featuring marble ›

Onyx

Onyx is a translucent gemstone composed of parallel bands of quartz, found in almost every colour. It has a long history of use in sculpture and jewellery but is less commonly found in architecture and design. However, onyx is sometimes used as a facing or lighting.

Projects that use onyx include a mausoleum in Minneapolis by HGA and an office by Anne Claus Interiors where it has been used to clad a multi-coloured bar (above).

See projects featuring onyx ›

Porphyry

Porphyry is a strong and hard-wearing igneous stone that comes in reddish-brown to purple hues. It is composed of large-grained crystals embedded in a fine-grained groundmass.

It has been used in architecture and design since antiquity, though it is rarely seen in contemporary architecture and design. Today it is mostly used as aggregate in the construction of roads in places where cars require studded winter tires.

Pedevilla Architects used a block of porphyry as a kitchen island for a cookery school in South Tyrol, while architect Claudio Silvestrin used it to line the walls of a Milanese fashion boutique.

Quartzite

Formed from sandstone exposed to high heat and pressure, quartzite is a very hard and durable metamorphic rock. It is usually found in white and grey shades.

Quartzite is a popular material for kitchen countertops as it is resistant to staining, but is most commonly used as a decorative cladding or flooring.

Examples of this include a dwelling in Utah by Klima Architecture, Peter Zumthor's Therme Vals spa (above) and a monolithic Parisian library by Agence Pascale Guédot.

See projects featuring quartzite ›

Sandstone

Sandstone is composed of fine silicate grains that have eroded from other rocks, giving it either a warm red, yellow or orange colouration.

Used for construction since prehistoric times, sandstone continues to be a popular choice in architecture and design as it is abundant, durable and easy to handle.

Recent architectural projects that use the material include a cathedral extension by Feilden Fowles, a museum by Álvaro Siza, and an oval-shaped all-girls school in India (above) that is designed to blend into its desert surroundings.

See projects featuring sandstone ›

Shale

This grey fine-grained stone is one of the most common sedimentary rocks on earth. It is formed from the compaction of silt and mud into thin, fissile layers. In architecture and design, shale is usually crushed and processed into bricks, tiles and pottery, or heated with limestone to make cement.

Aketuri Architektai used shale tiles to clad a pointy woodland house in Lithuania (above), while Spaceworkers wrapped the stone around the basement of a Portuguese house to provide it with a raw, rugged aesthetic.

See projects featuring shale ›

Slate

Slate is a dark fine-grained stone that is formed when a sedimentary rock, such as shale, is subjected to high pressure. It is a foliated rock, meaning it is made up of thin sedimentary layers, which allows it to be split – or riven – into thin slabs.

Slate is durable and weather- and frost-resistant, making it a popular material choice for cladding, roofing and paving.

In interior projects, the material is often also used as floor tiles, hearths and kitchen worktops. Natalie Weinmann sanded and polished the stone to create a blocky furniture collection.

TRIAS used it to clad a small writer's retreat in a Welsh valley while Austin Maynard Architects diamond, scalloped and brick-shaped slate shingles to cover a Melbourne house (above).

See projects featuring slate ›

Travertine

One of the most commonly used forms of limestone is travertine, which has been sourced from mineral springs for use as a building material for centuries. The largest building in the world made from this stone is the Colosseum in Rome.

Today, travertine is mostly processed into tiles for internal and external surface coverings, but it is also a popular material for bathroom fit-outs. As it is found with troughs on its surface, processing travertine usually involves polishing its surface.

Projects that use travertine include an extension to a German museum by Bez + Kock Architekten (above), an apartment renovation in Lithuania by 2XJ, and a furniture collection by David/Nicolas.

See projects featuring travertine ›

Recent popular stone projects on Dezeen include an inconspicuous house on the island of Serifos, a monolithic spa by Smartvoll, a collection of luxury lodges on England's Jurassic Coast and a coffee table by Studio Twenty Seven.

The main image is of Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls' School by Diana Kellogg Architects taken by Vinay Panjwani.

The post The Dezeen guide to stone in architecture, interiors and design appeared first on Dezeen.

[sciencespies]

Life could have emerged from lakes with high phosphorus

https://sciencespies.com/environment/life-could-have-emerged-from-lakes-with-high-phosphorus/

Life could have emerged from lakes with high phosphorus

Eastern California’s Mono Lake has no outflow, allowing salts to build up over time. The high salts in this carbonate-rich lake can grow into pillars. Credit: Matthew Dillon/Flickr

Life as we know it requires phosphorus. It’s one of the six main chemical elements of life, it forms the backbone of DNA and RNA molecules, acts as the main currency for energy in all cells and anchors the lipids that separate cells from their surrounding environment.

But how did a lifeless environment on the early Earth supply this key ingredient?

“For 50 years, what’s called ‘the phosphate problem,’ has plagued studies on the origin of life,” said first author Jonathan Toner, a University of Washington research assistant professor of Earth and space sciences.

The problem is that chemical reactions that make the building blocks of living things need a lot of phosphorus, but phosphorus is scarce. A new UW study, published Dec. 30 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds an answer to this problem in certain types of lakes.

The study focuses on carbonate-rich lakes, which form in dry environments within depressions that funnel water draining from the surrounding landscape. Because of high evaporation rates, the lake waters concentrate into salty and alkaline, or high-pH, solutions. Such lakes, also known as alkaline or soda lakes, are found on all seven continents.

The researchers first looked at phosphorus measurements in existing carbonate-rich lakes, including Mono Lake in California, Lake Magadi in Kenya and Lonar Lake in India.

This 2007 photo shows Lake Magadi in Kenya, a carbonate-rich lake whose bed is made of volcanic rock. The lake’s salty water is rich in microbes and it attracts other life, including these flamingoes and zebras. Credit: Stig Nygaard/Flickr

While the exact concentration depends on where the samples were taken and during what season, the researchers found that carbonate-rich lakes have up to 50,000 times phosphorus levels found in seawater, rivers and other types of lakes. Such high concentrations point to the existence of some common, natural mechanism that accumulates phosphorus in these lakes.

Today these carbonate-rich lakes are biologically rich and support life ranging from microbes to Lake Magadi’s famous flocks of flamingoes. These living things affect the lake chemistry. So researchers did lab experiments with bottles of carbonate-rich water at different chemical compositions to understand how the lakes accumulate phosphorus, and how high phosphorus concentrations could get in a lifeless environment.

The reason these waters have high phosphorus is their carbonate content. In most lakes, calcium, which is much more abundant on Earth, binds to phosphorus to make solid calcium phosphate minerals, which life can’t access. But in carbonate-rich waters, the carbonate outcompetes phosphate to bind with calcium, leaving some of the phosphate unattached. Lab tests that combined ingredients at different concentrations show that calcium binds to carbonate and leaves the phosphate freely available in the water.

“It’s a straightforward idea, which is its appeal,” Toner said. “It solves the phosphate problem in an elegant and plausible way.”

Phosphate levels could climb even higher, to a million times levels in seawater, when lake waters evaporate during dry seasons, along shorelines, or in pools separated from the main body of the lake.

Colored dots show the level of phosphorus measured in different carbonate-rich lakes around the world. Existing carbonate-rich lakes can contain up to 50,000 times the levels of phosphate found in seawater, with the highest levels measured in British Columbia’s Goodenough and Last Chance lake system (yellow dots). Credit: Toner et al/PNAS

“The extremely high phosphate levels in these lakes and ponds would have driven reactions that put phosphorus into the molecular building blocks of RNA, proteins, and fats, all of which were needed to get life going,” said co-author David Catling, a UW professor of Earth & space sciences.

The carbon dioxide-rich air on the early Earth, some four billion years ago, would have been ideal for creating such lakes and allowing them to reach maximum levels of phosphorus. Carbonate-rich lakes tend to form in atmospheres with high carbon dioxide. Plus, carbon dioxide dissolves in water to create acid conditions that efficiently release phosphorus from rocks.

“The early Earth was a volcanically active place, so you would have had lots of fresh volcanic rock reacting with carbon dioxide and supplying carbonate and phosphorus to lakes,” Toner said. “The early Earth could have hosted many carbonate-rich lakes, which would have had high enough phosphorus concentrations to get life started.”

Another recent study by the two authors showed that these types of lakes can also provide abundant cyanide to support the formation of amino acids and nucleotides, the building blocks of proteins, DNA and RNA. Before then researchers had struggled to find a natural environment with enough cyanide to support an origin of life. Cyanide is poisonous to humans, but not to primitive microbes, and is critical for the kind of chemistry that readily makes the building blocks of life.

Explore further

Too many nutrients make microbes less responsive

More information: Jonathan D. Toner el al., “A carbonate-rich lake solution to the phosphate problem of the origin of life,” PNAS (2019). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1916109117

Provided by University of Washington

Citation: Life could have emerged from lakes with high phosphorus (2019, December 30) retrieved 30 December 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2019-12-life-emerged-lakes-high-phosphorus.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

#Environment

[amazingguru]

Million Mile Battery - Automotive Industry at an inflection point

CATL, the Chinese battery maker who provide batteries for Tesla and Volkswagen, has come up with a batter that would last for over a million miles. CATL is ready to sell pack that lasts 16 years, chairman says. This could be the next million dollar Disruptor Investment Idea. 

This might come as a shock to many, as the first thing you need to do when purchasing a new electric car is to find the life/warranty of the battery. This will help to power the vehicle as well as keep the electrical system of the car up and running. Most Electric cars do not have a regular battery that can be plugged into, but instead are powered by an onboard battery that is located in the trunk of the car.

The third most common car batteries found in vehicles are Lithium Ion cells. These batteries are the newest technology and provide longer lasting life than the Lithium Polymer (Li-Po) or Nickel Cadmium (NiCad) Batteries. They are much more expensive than other types of batteries.

All vehicles require a charge to operate properly. A charge is necessary to allow the vehicle to function and to take it to where you want to go. With the millions of miles that are logged every year, it is recommended that you have a battery with a minimum of 100,000 miles to allow for longer trips. The greater the number of miles between charges, the lower the cost of the car, and the higher your savings.

The majority of vehicles sold today have an AC Adapter built into them. The advantages of this setup is that it allows for the battery to be charged using the electrical grid and will also prevent the electric car from drawing too much current, which will reduce the range of the electric car. Although, if you choose an AC Adapter, make sure that the vehicle uses the same style of outlet that your home or office uses.

One of the most important things to remember is that the wiring harness of your vehicle should only be used for AC and should never be connected to a DC battery. If your vehicle has a DC charger then it is possible that you will damage your motor.

The charging port on the underside of the car isused to supply the battery with power to charge. To charge the battery, it needs to be at a level that is slightly higher than the level of the internal combustion engine. The Charging port of the vehicle must be sealed properly and used to properly charge the battery. If the port gets damp or water collects on the edge of the charging port, the car will suffer.

When looking for a Billion Mile Battery China make sure that it is used for electric cars only. Other types of batteries will cause a lot of damage to the car. If you want to be able to charge your battery during the winter months to make sure that the temperature is below freezing.

Make sure that you have a good signal and feel comfortable while driving the electric car. Many people that purchase a New Electric car are very excited about having one, but the first thing they worry about is whether or not they can safely drive the car. Before purchasing an electric car, make sure that you feel comfortable with it driving you safely.

You must understand that no matter how careful you are, you still cannot predict what the weather will do and when it will rain. You have to be prepared for anything. The Million Mile Battery China is the only way to store the energy from the electric car battery and is a very important part of the overall functioning of the car.

Another thing that you should understand about the Million Mile Battery China is that it is not something that can be used for the entire life of the electric car. It is only meant to provide enough power for the electrical system of the car. There are better options available that are worth using to store the power that is needed for the electric car.

In order to keep the car running properly you need to maintain it by doing regular oil changes and check ups with your local auto dealer. Your oil should be changed on a regular basis to ensure that the engine is working correctly. The oil change should include the filter assembly which is what the Million Mile Battery China is.

If you have decided to buy an electric car, make sure that you know the proper maintenance procedures and do not rush out and purchase an electric car without the proper knowledge and supplies. This may cost you more money in the long run.

[decordreamscom]

The MG Cyberster has scissor doors, a feature usually only seen on supercars. LONDON -- MG gave its Cyberster all-electric roadster ‘scissor’ doors that open upward because it needed visual drama to stand out in the increasingly competitive Chinese market, said Carl Gotham, the brand’s head of advanced design. The costs to engineer scissor doors have restricted their use to ultraluxury sports cars, but they are becoming more common on more affordable Chinese electric cars, such as the Aion Hyper GT midsize sedan, a Tesla Model 3 rival. “You have got to take in context what you are seeing coming to China and Shanghai. There is a fight for attention,” said Gotham, head of MG’s advanced design studio in London and creator of the Cyberster. “You need to turn up with some drama. It’s got to be 110 percent,” Gotham told Automotive News Europe at the sidelines of the Shanghai auto show. The China-built Cyberster is expected to arrive for sale in the UK and mainland Europe in the summer of 2024, MG said. It was revealed at the Shanghai show in April in a video on the MG stand. The roadster uses a version of the MG’s new MSP electric platform that underpins the MG4 electric hatchback available in Europe. While some automakers give their battery-electric cars a futuristic design, MG took a different approach, seeking to strike a balance between modernity and the brand’s sporting past, Gotham said. “It was tempting to go fully EV for the look for the car,” he said. “But we steered away from that and decided to go for ‘designers’ emotive’ rather than something that feels like a machine.” The Cyberster references MG roadsters of old by pushing the windscreen and cab rearward. The underfloor battery pack raises the height of the floor, so MG’s designers positioned the driver further back. It also slimmed down the seat and engineered a more laid-back seating position to achieve the feeling of sitting in a traditional sports car. At first glance, the Cyberster appears to have a softtop in common with all previous MG roadsters, but in reality, MG engineers have grafted material panels onto a foldable hardtop, Gotham said. Inside MG’s London studio is a showcar split down the middle with the Cyberster concept comprising one half and an MGB on the other.The MGB is MG’s most famous and longest-running roadster in production from 1962-1980. Gotham said the design team avoided directly copying the MGB, “You cannot sum up MG with one MG sports car, they are very different,” he said.   MG’s London studio has a show car that shows a merged Cyberster and MGB. Aside from the scissor doors, the Cyberster is striking for its low nose, rear ‘kammback’ aerodynamic tail design and arrow taillights. The first cars arriving in Europe next year are likely to go to fans of the original sports cars, said Aiden He, the managing director of Benelux and Nordics. “They have been waiting a long time for this,” he said. Pricing has yet to be announced but MG says it wants to position the Cyberster within reach of volume buyers. “We do not want a super expensive price. We want to keep the philosophy of MG to provide affordable electric cars,” He said. One big factor will be the battery price supplied by MG parent company SAIC’s joint venture with Chinese battery supplier CATL. “We need to negotiate with our JV partner to make the battery price stable,” He said. The battery size is expected to be in the range of 70-90 kilowatt hours, He said, without giving a precise figure. The Cyberster will be available with a single motor fitted to the rear axle or with a second motor fitted to the front axle to give all-wheel drive. The car “will be a game changer in terms of perception of the brand,” MG UK commercial director Guy Pigounakis, told Automotive News Europe last year.

[silverblogxyz]

Three quarters of MPs to appear via videolink as government debate the Brexit deal

Three quarters of MPs to appear via videolink as government debate the Brexit deal

Three quarters of MPs will appear via videolink when Parliament is recalled from Christmas break to debate the Brexit deal The Commons and Lords recalled from Christmas break for first time since 1998  Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle urged MPs to work remotely if possible Government have allocated a single day for discussions of the Brexit trade deal  By Lydia Catling For…

[liberty1776]

Piers Corbyn; There is No Such Thing as Man-Made Climate Change

Astrophysicist / Weather Forecaster Piers Corbyn explains the differences between his ideas and those of the CO2 crowd. Corbyn says; "There is No Such Thing as Man-Made Climate Change". He also mentions auto-compression and the work of Nikolov & Zeller. Related works in the literature; Principles, T., Nikolov, N., & Zeller, K. (2011). Unified Theory of Climate, poster session at the World Climate Research Program; http://www.wcrp-climate.org/conference 2011/ Nikolov, N., & Zeller, K. (2017). New insights on the physical nature of the atmospheric greenhouse effect deduced from an empirical planetary temperature model. Environment Pollution and Climate Change, 1(2), 112. Holmes, R. I. (2017). Molar Mass Version of the Ideal Gas Law Points to a Very Low Climate Sensitivity. Earth Sciences, 6(6), 157. Robinson, T. D., & Catling, D. C. (2014). Common 0.1 [thinsp] bar tropopause in thick atmospheres set by pressure-dependent infrared transparency. Nature Geoscience, 7(1), 12-15. A brilliant student, at 18 Piers Corbyn went to Imperial College of London, where he earned a first class BSc degree in physics in 1968. He commenced postgraduate research there into superconductivity, but then went into student representation and politics for some years. Then in 1979 he returned to postgraduate study at Queen Mary College, University of London, where he earned a MSc in Astrophysics in 1981.SHOW MORE

[architectnews]

The Dezeen guide to stone in architecture, interiors and design

Thinking of using stone in your project? Our latest Dezeen guide includes 15 popular types of natural rock used in architecture, interiors and design with links to hundreds of examples to inspire your own work.

Alabaster

Alabaster is a soft, fine-grained stone that has been used for centuries to carve elaborate forms and ornaments. However, its solubility in water means that it is best suited for indoor use.

In its pure form, alabaster is white and translucent, which makes it ideally suited to lighting design.

Studio Tack used tubular light shades made from alabaster to softly illuminate a cosy Japanese restaurant in New York (above), while lighting studio Allied Maker used the stone to create ornate totemic floor lamps.

Amarist Studio showcased the sculptural possibilities of the stone in its Aqua Fossil collection, which includes a coffee table with swooping, curved legs.

See projects featuring alabaster ›

Basalt

Basalt is a dark-coloured igneous rock that is formed when lava cools rapidly. It is most frequently used as an aggregate for concrete as it is low-cost and high-strength, but it is also a popular cladding and flooring material, especially when polished.

Examples of this include the facade of a small gallery in Amsterdam by Barend Koolhaas and a Hawaiian holiday home by Walker Warner Architects in which slender basalt cladding tiles are contrasted with cedar detailing (above).

Icelandic studio Innriinnri used two sculpted slabs of basalt stone to create a sculptural table that doubles as a stool or a piece of art, while South Korean artist Byung Hoon Choi polished the stone to create oversized outdoor furniture.

See projects featuring basalt ›

Flint

Flint is a highly durable stone found in abundance as irregular-shaped nodules in sedimentary rocks such as chalk. It has been used as a construction material since the Roman era, though it is not often seen in contemporary architecture.

Flint varies in colour, but it is commonly glassy black with a white crust. In architecture, it is usually knapped – split to expose its glossy inner face – before being laid in mortar.

Skene Catling de la Peña used a combination of knapped and unknapped flint to cover a wedge-shaped house in Buckinghamshire (above), which creates a subtle colour gradient across its facade.

See projects featuring flint ›

Gneiss

Gneiss, a robust metamorphic stone composed of alternating layers of different coloured minerals, is popular to use for flooring and worktops. Hues can range from pinks and golds to greens and dark greys.

Peter Pichler sourced grey gneiss with black-and-white bands from Passeier Valley in South Tyrol to create a large counter in the bar of an Italian Alpine hotel (above).

It can also be used as a cladding material, such as in Bernardo Bader Architekten's ski resort office in Austria and a radio broadcasting station in Nepal by Archium.

Granite

Granite is one of the most widely used stones in architecture and design. It forms from the slow crystallisation of magma beneath the Earth's crust. It is used for everything from load-bearing structures to cladding, worktops and furniture.

Its popularity is down to its high compressive strength, durability and low porosity. Granite is also found in an array of colours, making it suitable for a range of spaces and styles.

Heatherwick Studio recently used green granite to make a trio of its sculptural Spun chairs (above), while Snøhetta has used a grey variety to cover almost every surface of an Aesop store to emulate a rocky coastline.

Architecture studio NOARQ tested the material's strength by elevating a cabin on thick blocks of granite over the entrance to a stone villa in Portugal.

See projects featuring granite ›

Laterite

Rusty-red laterite stone is formed from the leaching of rocks and soil during alternating periods of high temperature and heavy rainfall in tropical areas. This process leaves behind a high concentration of insoluble iron oxides, which gives the rock its colour.

Laterite is typically used in construction in Africa and Asia in the form of bricks, which have excellent thermal mass and a low embodied energy. These bricks are made by cutting the rock out from below the water table when it is moist and leaving it to harden in the air.

Architect Francis Kéré used locally sourced laterite to build the walls of a school in Burkina Faso and Studio Lotus has used it to create the pedestal of a government building in India (above).

Limestone

There are many different types of limestone, a sedimentary rock composed mainly of calcium carbonate. It is considered a good all-round building material as it is easy to cut and carve and usually has a uniform texture and colour.

Popular limestone varieties include travertine (see below) and Portland stone, which is used on notable buildings in London such as St Paul's Cathedral and Buckingham Palace.

David Chipperfield Architects recently used limestone to clad the Kunsthaus Zurich museum extension in Switzerland and John Pawson used it to line the surfaces of a minimalist flagship store in Japan for fashion label Jil Sander.

Design projects that utilise limestone include a blocky furniture collection called Dig Where You Stand by students from the Estonian Academy of Arts (above).

See projects featuring limestone ›

Marble

Marble is a metamorphic rock with veins of calcite crystal. It forms from limestone that has been exposed to heat and pressure and is found in many colours. Marble is strong but easily carved and polishes well, making it suitable for numerous applications.

It is most popularly used in kitchen and bathroom designs, but it is often used as cladding too, such as in Alexander Owen Architecture's garden room in London (above).

See projects featuring marble ›

Onyx

Onyx is a translucent gemstone composed of parallel bands of quartz, found in almost every colour. It has a long history of use in sculpture and jewellery but is less commonly found in architecture and design. However, onyx is sometimes used as a facing or lighting.

Projects that use onyx include a mausoleum in Minneapolis by HGA and an office by Anne Claus Interiors where it has been used to clad a multi-coloured bar (above).

See projects featuring onyx ›

Porphyry

Porphyry is a strong and hard-wearing igneous stone that comes in reddish-brown to purple hues. It is composed of large-grained crystals embedded in a fine-grained groundmass.

It has been used in architecture and design since antiquity, though it is rarely seen in contemporary architecture and design. Today it is mostly used as aggregate in the construction of roads in places where cars require studded winter tires.

Pedevilla Architects used a block of porphyry as a kitchen island for a cookery school in South Tyrol, while architect Claudio Silvestrin used it to line the walls of a Milanese fashion boutique.

Quartzite

Formed from sandstone exposed to high heat and pressure, quartzite is a very hard and durable metamorphic rock. It is usually found in white and grey shades.

Quartzite is a popular material for kitchen countertops as it is resistant to staining, but is most commonly used as a decorative cladding or flooring.

Examples of this include a dwelling in Utah by Klima Architecture, Peter Zumthor's Therme Vals spa (above) and a monolithic Parisian library by Agence Pascale Guédot.

See projects featuring quartzite ›

Sandstone

Sandstone is composed of fine silicate grains that have eroded from other rocks, giving it either a warm red, yellow or orange colouration.

Used for construction since prehistoric times, sandstone continues to be a popular choice in architecture and design as it is abundant, durable and easy to handle.

Recent architectural projects that use the material include a cathedral extension by Feilden Fowles, a museum by Álvaro Siza, and an oval-shaped all-girls school in India (above) that is designed to blend into its desert surroundings.

See projects featuring sandstone ›

Shale

This grey fine-grained stone is one of the most common sedimentary rocks on earth. It is formed from the compaction of silt and mud into thin, fissile layers. In architecture and design, shale is usually crushed and processed into bricks, tiles and pottery, or heated with limestone to make cement.

Aketuri Architektai used shale tiles to clad a pointy woodland house in Lithuania (above), while Spaceworkers wrapped the stone around the basement of a Portuguese house to provide it with a raw, rugged aesthetic.

See projects featuring shale ›

Slate

Slate is a dark fine-grained stone that is formed when a sedimentary rock, such as shale, is subjected to high pressure. It is a foliated rock, meaning it is made up of thin sedimentary layers, which allows it to be split – or riven – into thin slabs.

Slate is durable and weather- and frost-resistant, making it a popular material choice for cladding, roofing and paving.

In interior projects, the material is often also used as floor tiles, hearths and kitchen worktops. Natalie Weinmann sanded and polished the stone to create a blocky furniture collection.

TRIAS used it to clad a small writer's retreat in a Welsh valley while Austin Maynard Architects diamond, scalloped and brick-shaped slate shingles to cover a Melbourne house (above).

See projects featuring slate ›

Travertine

One of the most commonly used forms of limestone is travertine, which has been sourced from mineral springs for use as a building material for centuries. The largest building in the world made from this stone is the Colosseum in Rome.

Today, travertine is mostly processed into tiles for internal and external surface coverings, but it is also a popular material for bathroom fit-outs. As it is found with troughs on its surface, processing travertine usually involves polishing its surface.

Projects that use travertine include an extension to a German museum by Bez + Kock Architekten (above), an apartment renovation in Lithuania by 2XJ, and a furniture collection by David/Nicolas.

See projects featuring travertine ›

Recent popular stone projects on Dezeen include an inconspicuous house on the island of Serifos, a monolithic spa by Smartvoll, a collection of luxury lodges on England's Jurassic Coast and a coffee table by Studio Twenty Seven.

The main image is of Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls' School by Diana Kellogg Architects taken by Vinay Panjwani.

The post The Dezeen guide to stone in architecture, interiors and design appeared first on Dezeen.