Featured Links - December 9, 2024

Links to things I found interesting but didn't want to do a full blog post about.

TGull on a post

• The Grateful Dead ran this madcap country through their ‘fun machine’. "The long, strange trip — drugs, jams, drama and death — now brings the band to the Kennedy Center Honors."
• Stunning New Titanic 3D Scans Show Shipwreck In Unbelievable Detail. "It's so detailed you can even see the serial number on the Titanic's propeller blade."
• Giant Underground ‘Batteries’ Are Shaping the Future of Renewable Energy Storage. "We're wasting too much of the clean energy we generate. Reservoirs and caverns can store excess solar and wind power."
• This Is What the Giant Tonga Eruption Sounded Like. "A crowdsourced survey reveals how the sounds of the explosive event travelled around the world, and showcase the importance of fast-acting researchers."
• Exotic New Superconductors Delight and Confound. "Three new species of superconductivity were spotted this year, illustrating the myriad ways electrons can join together to form a frictionless quantum soup."
• H5N1 bird flu just one small mutation away from being a threat to humans, California researchers say. "California researchers say the world may be just one genetic tweak away from human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 bird flu virus — a worrisome mutation that could open the door to widespread human infections and possibly even a pandemic, according to some experts."
• R.I.P Trent. George R. R. Martin's obituary for Trent Zelazny, writer and son of writer Roger Zelazny.
• After critics decry Orion heat shield decision, NASA reviewer says agency is correct. "If this isn’t raising red flags out there, I don’t know what will." I will be very surprised if the new US administration doesn't kill the SLS, the Lunar Gateway, and possibly the Artemis program. 
• The Distinction Between Imaginary Science and Magic. This is an excerpt from SF author Ted Chiang's speech at American Humanist Association’s 83rd Annual Conference.