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tiredfox64 · 2 days

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Can you write about the reader tagging along with Lin Kuei brothers on a mission and where they are us cold, which the reader hates and gets cold very easily and each opportunity the brothers would find a way to warm the reader themselves?

Ice Can Help

Prior notes: I would complain about the cold but I need to complain about the heat now. Tell me why it’s gonna be 80 tomorrow and almost 90 on Monday 💀

Pairings: Lin Kuei Bros x Gn reader

Warnings ‼️: You shall walk with no fear

And you thought home was cold. Forget it, you rather take that than this.

The finest fake fur can’t save you right now. Nor any thermal wear that covers your arms and legs.

Yet the brothers walk in this harsh blizzard with ease. Not a single goosebump rises on their arms from the snow that comes pelting at their skin. That same snow feels like it’s aiming constantly at eyes. You’re lucky it’s not sticking to the couple of inches of snow that is already on the ground. If it raises any higher you’ll be doing a weird march just to move forward.

Your teeth clattered together as you hug your body to keep yourself even the tiniest bit warm. You’re constantly trying to keep your snot in but your nose is so numb you can’t tell if it’s still leaking. Why the hell would Liu Kang send you out to help the boys? You already hate the cold. This just feels like torture or some sort of mental training. See how long you can last before you snap.

“What is taking you so long?” Bi-Han yelled at you from a distance.

You didn’t even realize how far behind you were until you looked up.

“It’s hard walking in this weather. It’s freezing.” You answered back.

“It is not. Why did you come if you cannot handle this mere weather.”

“Because I was freaking told to, Bi-Han! I ain’t have no choice!” If Bi-Han is gonna give you attitude you gonna send it back.

Tomas was kind enough to walk over to you to keep you company as you guys kept moving. His arm wrapped around to to bring you close. It’s incredible that he still can maintain his body temperature at a healthy level. You forget that these guys train to handle intense circumstances and weather counts as an intense circumstance. Now you’re grateful that his body was still very warm cause you started leaning into his more than you meant to. He noticed you actions and he decided to check on your temperature by placing the back of his hand against your cheek.

“Are you okay? You’re freezing. You can’t go on while you’re nearly freezing to death.”Did your mother possess Tomas, what the heck is going on?

He brings you into a hug, your face now shoved in his chest area. It actually helps to warm your face since it prevents the snow from pelting you. It gives you the change to warm your nose up so you could breathe properly. You can’t lie you could get used to this. His hugs are healing.

“What now?!” You heard Bi-Han yell once more.

Tomas started explaining that you were horribly cold. Bi-Han didn’t want to hear that complaint again today. Kuai Liang was the one who took it seriously and before Bi-Han could stop his brother from paying any mind to you he was already in front of you.

“You should have told me they were like this. I could have warmed them easily.”

Of course, Kuai Liang would be the best option here. He used his pyromancy to cause flames to ignite, forming a circle around you three. The heat that emitted from the flames was much more pleasing than the harsh cold the wind produced. For extra measures Kuai Liang decided to hug you as well. Him and Tomas basically sandwiched you to help warm you up. Oh and it was working. A moment ago it felt like your cheeks were about to lose feeling and now they are burn up like you had hot coals shoved inside your mouth. This works in your favor. Thank goodness the fur of your jacket helped hide that satisfied smile that naturally produced from this hug session.

The only one who is not satisfied is Bi-Han. Times being wasted and he wants to get a move on. You three seem to be happy just where you are. Even the snow can’t hide the smiles on Tomas’ and Kuai Liang’s face as they look down at you. You did look pretty adorable snuggling up to them. If only Bi-Han could get in on that action. But now’s not the time! Y’all have a mission to get it.

“Fine, if they need to be warmed up let me in so we can be done with this.” Bi-Han started to make his way towards you before Kuai Liang gestured for him to stop.

“No, brother, you are too cold. You will only reverse all the efforts we have made.” Plus, there’s not enough room for another man to cuddle you.

Oh so Bi-Han is the problem now. He’s just about done with this. So they think he will make things worse? He begs to differ.

You started to hear the cracking and squeaking of ice as it starts to formed around all of you. It formed into a dome and soon you were unable to hear the wind blowing. There is no more snow striking you as if it were blades.

Of course, an igloo. Why didn’t you think of that.

“I didn’t know you could do that.” Tomas stared in awe at the icey walls.

“Of course I can, Tomas. Never doubt me again.” He said it like he actually knew he could do this. He just did it out of pure anger.

You were feeling way better than before. You don’t have to worry about hypothermia taking one of your toes. Kuai Liang produced more fire to help warm you up while Tomas used his body heat to deal with the rest of your body. And Bi-Han…ah he’s a little grumpy. Leave him be but thank him for his amazing abilities.

By now you were able to feel every part of your body again. Nothing felt stiff or numb. You were even sweating a little from all the heat that was being trapped in the igloo. Kuai Liang and Tomas were happy to see some color in your face again that didn’t signify you were freezing.

“Thank you guys. I’m feeling much better. Maybe I should have you guys visit in the winter more often to save me some money on the heating bill,” you joked while looking at Kuai Liang and Tomas, “Okay, Bi-Han, I’m ready to move on.”

“Good, great, wonderful, come on!” He yelled the last part at you before kicking open a hole in the igloo.

He was already on the move, ready to get this mission over with. He’s gonna have a nice talk with Liu Kang about sending you out here with them.

You’ll do the same. You’ll let that fire god know that you won’t ever do another mission in the cold weather. You rather stay home with a bunch of blankets wrapped around you than deal with this hell. But you did get a nice cuddle session out of this. This won’t be the last time, you’ll make sure of it.

After notes: The state that I live in has summers that are like hell and winters where you are at the lowest part of hell and the devil is constantly flapping his wings. Maybe cause a sort of devil does live in this state. Whoops. Welp I hope you don’t mind that this was simple and short. Sorry if this isn’t what you want. Now I have to get goin, Adiós!

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reasonsforhope · 9 months

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"In Washington D.C., a sophisticated sewage treatment plant is turning the capital’s waste into a form of capital: living capital that is fertilizing the gardens of farms of the Mid-Atlantic region and saving vast quantities of resources.

Described by the workers’ there as a “resource recovery plant,” D.C. Water run a biogas plant and high-quality fertilizer production in the course of their dirty duty to ensure the city’s waste finds a safe endpoint.

The nation’s capital is exceptional at producing waste from the toilet bowls of the 2.2 million people who live, work, and commute through the city and its suburbs.

Reporting by Lina Zeldovich reveals that rather than trucking it all to a landfill, D.C. Water extract an awful lot of value from the capital crap, by looking at it as a resource to send through the world’s largest advanced wastewater treatment plant, which uses a “thermal hydrolysis process” in which it is sterilized, broken down, and shipped off for processing into “Bloom,” a nitrogen-rich, slow-release fertilizer product.

The other “Black Gold”

At their facility in southwest Washington, huge aeration tanks percolate the poo of everyone from tourists to the President. After it’s all fed into enormous pressure cookers where, under the gravity of six earth atmospheres and 300°F, the vast black sludge is rendered harmless.

Next this “Black Gold,” as Zeldovich described it, is pumped into massive bacterial-rich tanks where microbes breakdown large molecules like fats, proteins, and carbs into smaller components, shrinking the overall tonnage of sewage to 450 tons per day down from 1,100 at the start of the process.

This mass-micro-munching also produces methane, which when fed into an onsite turbine, generates a whopping 10 megawatts of green energy which can power 8,000 nearby homes. [Note: Natural gas (which is mostly methane) is definitely greener than coal and oil, but it still causes a significant amount of emissions and greenhouse gases.] The 450 tons of remaining waste from the D.C. feces are sent into another room where conveyor belts ring out excess fluid before feeding it through large rollers which squash it into small congregate chunks.

D.C. Water sends this to another company called Homestead Gardens for drying, aging, and packaging before it’s sold as Bloom.

“I grow everything with it, squashes, tomatoes, eggplants,” Bill Brower, one of the plant’s engineers, tells Zeldovich. “Everything grows great and tastes great,” he adds.

“And I’m not the only one who thinks so. We’ve heard from a lot of people that they’ve got the best response they’ve ever seen from the plants. Particularly with leafy greens because that nitrogen boost does well with leafy plants. And the plants seem to have fewer diseases and fewer pests around—probably because Bloom helps build healthy soils.”

While farms around the country are facing nutrient depletion in soils from over-farming, turning to synthetic fertilizers to make up the difference, introducing more such thermal hydrolysis plants could truly revolutionize the way humans look at their feces—as a way of restoring the country’s soils rather than polluting them. As Mike Rowe would say, it only takes a person who’s willing to get their hands dirty."

-via Good News Network, November 23, 2021

Note: You can buy this fertilizer yourself here!

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smellybead · 10 months

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OP do you have the essay about how Morro died 👀

Let me access my google docs really quick

Ok bear in mind I am not very good at writing shit and I'm not very good at chemistry but I think I did ok when I wrote this

After leaving Master Wu in search of his destiny and to prove his old master and the Golden Weapons wrong, Morro died in the Caves of Despair while seeking out the First Spinjitsu Master’s Tomb. He died after being trapped in a chamber full of the gas ‘kethanol’ - from a geyser in the chamber. Kethanol is a fictional gas that is extremely flammable and explosive and is released from deep well mining (this information was provided by Zane upon the ninja entering the caves of Despair - S5 EP7, Crooked Paths). While kethanol is not a real gas in our world, we can relate it back to gases that do exist for us and their effects on the human body by examining the location and circumstances of the gas.

So from the information given, we can correlate kethanol back to two likely examples of gas that would exist in a similar environment: hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and carbon monoxide (CO). H2S is a largely natural occurring gas, usually produced when bacteria breaks down organic material (typically in bogs and swamps, hence why it is also referred to as ‘swamp gas’). However, H2S can also be produced by volcanoes, hot springs, thermal vents, and geysers. CO can be sourced from geysers and coal mining. So both of these gases are comparable to kethanol.

And of course, being a fictional gas, kethanol could have drastically different effects on the human body than the gases stated, but these can give us the best guess on how Morro would have been affected in the cave chamber.

Now, in geysers, CO and H2S usually only make up a small amount of the different gases being released and only really occur in minor quantities. However, the composition of gases in spring waters located in fresh, hot volcanic areas is typically quite different. In cases like these, CO is known to be even more prevalent than CO2 (which is usually the most prominent gas). And in some areas, H2S makes up about 20% of active gases. We can consider the chamber in the Caves of Despair volcanic as in the episode ‘Crooked Paths’ (again, S5 EP7), the ninja barely made it out as the geyser violently erupted, spilling lava everywhere.

CO poisoning is generally quite a common issue and in a few cases, where it is allowed to continue to enter the body for longer, results in death. When there is too much CO in the air, your body begins replacing the oxygen in your red blood cells with CO. Depending on the concentration and the size of the person, CO poisoning typically takes about two hours to occur. Symptoms include things such as dizziness, disorientation, nausea/vomiting, chest pain, headaches and weakness but can eventually lead to unconsciousness, seizures, arrhythmias (irregular beating of the heart), and death. A few severe cases of CO poisoning may also involve the skin turning a bright “cherry-red” colour.

Similarly to CO, large concentrations of H2S can quickly lead to death. While lower amounts of the gas may only result in headaches, loss of appetite, sleep troubles, slight eye and throat irritation, and nausea, strong amounts can lead to staggering, collapse within as little as five minutes (or even nearly instantly if the concentration is at extremely high levels), significant damage to the eyes, and death within 30-60 minutes.

The fatal effects of these two gases are very likely along the lines of what Morro’s death was like. It could have been a mix of these symptoms, or even wildly different but these results can lead us to a decent conclusion of what he would have been experiencing in his final moments.

He makes me so mentally ill /affectionate

#morro #ninjago morro #ninjago #morro ninjago #lego ninjago #morro wu #ninjago theory #lego ninjago morro #zane ninjago #ninjago analysis

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materialsscienceandengineering · 2 months

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Hot water tanks, washing machines, kettles: limescale forms in every domestic appliance that comes into contact with (hot) water -- especially in areas where the water is hard, meaning high in calcium. Often the only thing that helps is to use vinegar or a special descaler to dissolve the rock-hard deposits and restore the appliance's functionality. This is a nuisance in households -- and an expensive problem in thermal power stations, for example those that generate electricity, where the formation of limescale is known as fouling. Heat exchangers are particularly prone to limescale, which greatly reduces the efficiency of the systems: a layer of limescale just one millimetre thick in the heat exchanger's pipes reduces the efficiency of electricity production by approximately 1.5 percent. To compensate for these losses an additional 8.7 million tonnes of hard coal would have to be burned. That's bad for the carbon footprint and the climate, and it's expensive for the electricity producers.

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metamatar · 1 year

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two positions on effective nuclear power advocacy

1. everytime there's an attempt to build a nuclear plant in india there are mass local protests which get locked into cycles of state repression due to fear of meltdowns. that's actually also the case with building dams (narmada bachao), large mining projects (vedanta) and expansion of coal plants (thermal power plants in assam/tamil nadu.) dam opposition is actually the most powerful environmental force in the country.

people are right to believe that they will be uprooted from their lives and that they will not be adequately protected in the case of failures which is borne out by the the bhopal gas tragedy or sterlite gas leaks. nobody wants to live near these plants. so inevitably it is the world's most marginalised people who end up living near them. look at the data on land conflict watch regarding industrial land use and acquisition for power.

outside the comfortably stupid german green party caricature there are actually people with serious concerns about nuclear power. long term investments and public trust can only occur when energy prices decrease and plants operate reasonably safely. prices of nuclear hover around ₹4 per unit while solar is ₹2 per unit in india. and it is a lie to pretend global nuclear retrenchment happened due to a conspiracy by oil/gas instead of the extremely expensive price of failure at fukushima (200 billion usd or so.) westinghouse went broke. pretending nuclear waste is the concern and not meltdowns is missing the forest for the trees.

2. i think we need to recognise the way the Non Proliferation Treaties choke civilian nuclear power while not making any commitment to long term disarmament in nuclear states rather than berating people with misgivings about meltdowns. rn, nuclear security for me and not for thee is its basic principle. the Nuclear Suppliers Group has not approved membership for india because it remains a useful tool of superpower gamesmanship.

lack of nuclear fuel means most existing nuclear power plants in india run at 60% capacity because we don't have that much uranium and have to import it and widely available thorium requires breeding which is technologically and economically infeasible. technology sharing is obviously very difficult when you're not in the NSG.

the US betrayal of iran after their deal was struck is the other obvious roadblock to building nuclear capacity in the third world. restricting nuclear tech is another way that imperial noose seeks to maintain control of states trying to unseat themselves from domination. it is not actually a surprise that north korea continues to pursue a weapons programme because deterrence works. and ukraine, of the three countries that disarmed because of the NPT is currently being invaded. you either subsume to China/Russia/US for defence or you just don't get to have nuclear energy which is not the position of a world that wants nuclear energy.

#imperialism #nuclear power #controversial opinion held weakly but argued strongly for interestingness #left discourse #long post

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alpaca-clouds · 9 months

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Neoliberals are actually not really liberal

Let me talk a bit about what is currently going on in Germany, politically.

Knowing that most people on this website are from the US of A, a quick thing about German politics: We do have more than two parties. In fact it does happen from time to time that there is a new party and actually does get elected into parliament. As such, obviously, usually different parties need to form a coalition to rule the country after an election, because nobody gets 51% of the seats in parliament.

Currently we do have a ruling coalition consisting of our Green Party, the "social democrat party" (that by now is not very social at all) and the neoliberal party. With the counter coalition currently mostly consisting out of the "christian democrat party" (that is neither very christian, nor very democratic, tbh), the left party (that is currently not very left) and the right-wing "alternative for Germany".

And currently German politics are not going anywhere, because the fucking neoliberals do block most propositions brought forward within the coalition.

Meanwhile the "Christian Democrats" keep screaming about liberal economics (after being the ruling party for 16 years).

And, like... None of them are really liberal. Not even on an economic basis.

See, for once the neolibs try to right now block off the self-id bill, that has been not only proposed by the current coalition (that they are part of) but that they have actually campaigned on before the last election. And, like... It is a fairly liberal idea, right? That people can actually themselves as liberated people say "yeah, I am of this or that gender" and have it officially changed. Compared to the current law, that is not only expensive, but also fucking humiliating.

But this entire bullshit does continue into the economic stuff. You know, the stuff that they are supposed to be liberal about.

Because they just keep blocking off all sorts of new technologies. Be it renewable energy, be it thermal heat pumps, or be it electric cars. Things that at least in regard to the renewable energy and to the electric cars people really do want. But because of the party's ties to the companies working on coal energy and on the old model cars... they just keep giving government subsidies to those things, while blocking off the new stuff.

And then they go crying, because nobody on the international market does want to buy cars any longer, because our EVs are shit.

You really cannot make that kinda stuff up >.<

#german politics #fuck neoliberals #neoliberals suck at economics

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fishonthetree · 8 months

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More on ancient life and early technologies for different crafts. I made some clay pots before plus I tried for an Old Kingdom Egyptian beer jar - the shapes and sizes were quite varied, and so were the quality, but we know they were made without a potter's wheel, with coil method where you put coils of clay on top of each other and pinch and smooth them together. I fired them with the safest possible option in a city that's above the population level of Ancient Egypt - pit firing in a bbq oven. There were some trials with the coal then I switched to wood and that worked nicely, the temperature likely reached the lowest points of turning the clay into earthenware ceramic (around 600 C). Two pots broke (one from thermal shock, one wasn't fully dried out because I was in a hurry), but the oil lamp, the beads and the last pot fired nicely! These are unsealed and unvetrified ceramics, highly porous like terracotta flower pots. Maybe I'll use them for that. If nothing else, I learned that firing pots in 35 C summer is hard work, and I got sunburn sitting in the shadows all the time. Progress:

And here's a video of the end results: https://youtu.be/RWi8A7neL-Q?feature=shared

#my art #pottery #ceramics #earthenware #experimental archeology

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zvaigzdelasas · 11 months

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The current Colombia head of coal miner Drummond Co Inc (DRMND.UL) and his predecessor will be tried for allegedly funding right-wing paramilitaries, the country's attorney general's office said on Wednesday, as the U.S.-based company denied any wrongdoing by the executives.

There is "abundant proof" current head Jose Miguel Linares, who took up his post in 2013 after serving as vice-president of legal, and Augusto Jimenez, who headed the company's Colombia operations between 1990 and 2012, conspired to finance a paramilitary group, the prosecutor said in a statement.

"Linares Martinez and Jimenez Mejia, between 1996 and 2001, increased the value of a food provision contract with a provider company to obtain additional resources and use them to cover previously-agreed illegal obligations with...the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC)," the statement said.

The effort was a bid to protect assets and ensure the free operation of Drummond's mine in Cesar province, the statement added. Drummond rejected the accusations, saying in its own statement that they are the product of "a cartel [sic] of false witnesses."[...]

Drummond - Colombia's largest producer of thermal coal - has three mining contracts in the country and also holds a port concession on the Caribbean coast. It expects to export around 30 million tons of coal this year, Linares said this week.

31 May 23

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lorellaishc · 11 months

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Observation Report: Shadowflame

(( Daily Writing Challenge May 2023, Day 1, Forgiveness/Shadowflame, @daily-writing-challenge ))

Observation Report A-8: Shadowflame in Zaralek Cavern. Expedition adventurer Lorellai Truthhammer reporting.

Following entry into the caverns beneath the dragon isles in the company of the black dragon leadership, and subsequent attempts to assist them in preventing primalist and djaradin forces from gaining a secure foothold, several encounters with the artificial elemental force known as Shadowflame were endured. Observations follow.

Using Truthhammer Industries Mark XIV scanner goggles and standard-issue Expedition Super Snapper camera, I was able to gather a great deal of data and imagery of the Shadowflame nexus located in sector 12, northwestern Zaralek. While the primal incarnate Fyrakk absorbed much of its energy, this nexus remains functional at this moment, and appears to be a subject of both interest and worship to the Djaradin and Primalist forces that are currently occupying the cavern.

(Image: The Shadowflame vortex above the lava pools.)

Based on the results of the magical energy scans taken with the mark xiv's, and the direct observations, I surmise that the vortex is a stable portal to the Void, allowing its energies to seep into the cavern and mingle with the primal elemental energies of the volcanic magma. The effect shadowflame has on the black dragons, namely visual and auditory hallucinations, further points to void influence. (See: Fall of Neltharion Vol. 3, Truthhammer Team Field Report 82). We were unable to determine the size of this portal or its stability, as the hostile forces in the region prevented us from setting up more dedicated scanning equipment.

Further observations were recorded in the aftermath of Fyrakk's emergence from the shadowflame pools, as they are called, into the cavern, and his subsequent strafing attack on Loamm. While shadowflame burns much like regular fire, it seems to possess a corrupting influence, causing damage not just to the flesh of the living creatures it burns, but also their ability to naturally channel the magical energies of the world through themselves. This disruption causes great pain, hallucinations, and anxiety in its victims. For this reason, I recommend that every possible step be taken for all expedition teams to avoid direct contact with the shadowflame, as even a small exposure can cause lasting, growing damage to one's body and mind.

On the positive side, as long as the flames are newly formed and small (less than two meters in diameter), they can be snuffed using any methods that would put out a regular fire, with little lingering corruption. Larger flames appear to require either excessive amounts of thermal shock and oxygen deprival beyond those used to snuff normal wood or coal flame, or the use of elemental earth magic to bury and smother the flames entirely. Recommend assigning earth-aspect magic users to teams that are likely to encounter shadowflame in their work to ensure they have these tools at their disposal. All mechanical methods of firefighting quickly lose efficiency as the flames grow larger, so at this time I must sadly report that my Truthhammer Industries belt-mounted Experiment-resetting-extinguisher is not up to the task, as it does not seem to provide the thermal shock necessary.

Truthhammer team and the Meddlers are investigating the laboratory of Aberrus in hopes of acquiring more data from Neltharion's research that will provide us the necessary knowledge and tools to combat this force.

Lorellai Truthhammer, Dragonflight Expedition, Truthhammer Team engineer, May 21st year 40

(Minor edit; Lorellai is team engineer, not team leader. Pinapple leads the team, and it's named because of a generous donation from Truthhammer Industries to the Expedition)

#daily writing challenge #drogar writes #lorellai #shadowflame

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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 2 years

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Texans are cranking on the air conditioning this week amid an unusually early heat wave, setting new records for electricity demand in the state, which surpassed 75 gigawatts on Sunday and smashed the 2019 record. Texas grid operator ERCOT projects it could approach that peak again on Tuesday.

But unlike previous extreme weather events in Texas which led to deadly blackouts, the grid is holding up remarkably well this week. Several experts told CNN that it's owed in large part to strong performances from wind and solar, which generated 27 gigawatts of electricity during Sunday's peak demand -- close to 40% of the total needed.

"Texas is, by rhetoric, anti-renewables. But frankly, renewables are bailing us out," said Michael Webber, an energy expert and professor at the University of Texas at Austin. "They're rocking. That really spares us a lot of heartache and a lot of money."

Despite the Texas Republican rhetoric that wind and solar are unreliable, Texas has a massive and growing fleet of renewables. Zero-carbon electricity sources (wind, solar, and nuclear) powered about 38% of the state's power in 2021, rivaling natural gas at 42%.

This is a relatively recent phenomenon for the state.

"Wind and solar would not have been available in years in the past, so the growing capacity helps to alleviate reliance on natural gas and coal," said Jonathan DeVilbiss, operations research analyst at the US Energy Information Administration.

Not only have renewables helped keep the power on during a scorching and early heatwave, they have also helped keep costs low. Prices for natural gas and coal are high amid a worldwide energy crunch, but renewables -- powered by the wind and sun -- have no fuel cost.

"Because the price of wind and sunlight hasn't doubled in the past year like other resources, they are acting as a hedge against high fuel prices," said Joshua Rhodes, an energy researcher at UT Austin.

PEAK DEMAND DURING PEAK HEAT

Texas and other states have been sweltering in triple-digit temperatures and dangerous heat indices. Texas state climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon told CNN that San Antonio has been a particular hot spot; it recently hit 102.5 degrees Fahrenheit, setting a new pre-July record.

Texas is used to heat, but this year they're "getting August weather in May and June," Webber told CNN.

Experts said the Texas grid was built to withstand extreme heat moreso than the extreme cold brought by the deadly 2021 winter storm. But with the state now experiencing August-like temperatures in early June many questioned whether the Texas grid could withstand the longer, hotter summers fueled by climate change.

"As opposed to a winter storm, we were built for three months of 90-plus [degrees]," said Caitlin Smith, head of regulatory policy and communications at Texas-based battery storage company Jupiter Power. "Were we built for 4 months of 100-plus [degrees]? There's some uncertainty there."

If the early spikes in temperature persist this year, it could stress out the grid and power plants, Smith and Rhodes warned. As well as the grid is working right now, that could change if this summer continues to bring unrelenting heat.

"It's like the human body; heat stress is cumulative," Rhodes said. "The body has no time to recover. Power plants are like that as well, they need some time to recover."

Rhodes added that renewables have been a big help during this early surge by taking strain off the traditional thermal power plants that use coal and natural gas to keep the lights on.

Human-caused climate change is linked to rising global temperatures and extreme heat. And while it's too early to tell exactly how much climate change is to blame for the current heat wave, it's safe to assume it is a factor, said Andy Dessler who directs the Texas Center for Climate Studies at Texas A&M University.

"It's 100% certain that climate change is contributing to this," Dessler told CNN. "Everything's getting hotter. August is getting hotter; June is getting hotter. It is hot and this is the future."

OVERCROWDED TRANSMISSION LINES

Even though Texas is an oil and gas giant, renewables -- and particularly, wind -- have long been thriving there. Texas generates the most wind energy in the country: In 2020, it produced more wind electricity than Iowa, Kansas, and Oklahoma — the next three highest states — combined, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Solar has been a smaller portion of the state's energy mix than wind, but it is growing as well. Solar generated about 4% of electricity in Texas last summer, and is expected to grow to 7.2% this summer, EIA projections show.

Building out more solar will be important to deal with heat waves in the depths of summer, when wind speeds tend to drop, experts told CNN. That's because if it's really hot out, there's a good chance the sun is beating down.

But Rhodes and Webber pointed to infrastructure issues limiting the potential of renewables; Texas needs more transmission lines to carry energy generated by renewables to customers. Rhodes pointed to ERCOT projects showing higher solar numbers than what was actually being used; a casualty of over-crowded power lines that can't let the power through to consumers.

"About half of the solar that could be produced is not being produced right now because there's no more room on the lines," Rhodes said. "The numbers for renewables would probably be higher if we had the transmission capacity to move them around."

Wind and solar have natural variability as well; solar can't generate energy during nighttime, and wind turbines don't turn when the wind isn't blowing. That is spurring a big focus on developing more massive batteries that can store and deploy renewable energy when the wind isn't blowing, and the sun isn't shining.

"It does keep growth of renewables strong; it allows you to firm up that renewable capacity," Smith said.

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mindmeltonabun-blog · 2 years

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Alchemy of Souls: Theories and Analyses for Ep 7-8

Ice Stone and Soul Ejectors

What is the Ice Stone? It is energy similar to the energy of the Sun or a star or energy of a person who has mastered Hwansu. The Ice Stone is a cumulation of energy released during each one of its phase change. For example, when there is a phase shift between the fire element to earth element or earth to water, energy is released. It should be noted that the Ice Stone not only shifts between elements (fire -> earth), but also transitions from one state of water to another (liquid water -> solid ice). Again, when water transitions to ice, heat is released. It’s mostly all a bunch of an exothermic reactions (exception is that ice -> fire is an endothermic reaction) and gathering the heat energy that is released! Hint hint...to destroy the Ice Stone one must subject it to intense heat energy...say someone who has mastered Hwansu (Master Lee or Naksu) or is able to harness the power of the Sun or star (maybe Jang Uk?). Additionally, if you know that the phase changes are mostly all exothermic reactions then to undo everything, just subject it to the inverse which are endothermic reactions (add heat into the system (OG Ice Stone) so that the system (OG Ice stone) absorbs it). It's kinda like that saying in chemistry, "like dissolves like". Therefore, whoever holds the power that is equal or greater than the OG Ice Stone will be able to destroy it. Additionally, if you know that the phase changes are mostly all exothermic reactions then to undo everything, just subject it to the inverse which are endothermic reactions (add heat into the system (OG Ice Stone) so that the system (OG Ice stone) absorbs it).

Continuing on, some might ask why was black ash produced from the shifting of water to ice? Well this is where I think the writers may have been confused by some scientific concepts. Hint hint…if you haven’t caught on, the Hong Sister have been using scientific concepts as the foundation for how things work in AOS. After all, alchemy is the forerunner to modern day chemistry. Anyways going back to how black ash was produced. Without getting into specifics since I'm sure most of you aren't scientists like me, I will just say that the black ash is produced as a result of incomplete combustion. An example of incomplete combustion is when heat (fire element) is applied to coal (earth element) and carbon monoxide, carbon (soot/black ash), and water is produced.

Now the process in which the Ice Stone is able to shift elements and different states of water can also be applied to the shifting one’s soul. The energy needed to shift souls can be naturally obtained from the Ice Stone, one’s self (mastering Hwansu), the Sun, or stars. It also can be acquired artificially through using the Soul Ejectors. Energy from the Ice Stone=Hwansu=Sun are all the same thing: thermal/heat energy. I just want you all to understand that you need a crap ton of energy to carry out the Alchemy of Souls spell! Soul shifting is a very energy intensive process. The energy of the Ice Stone =Hwansu=Sun.

Soul Shifting Process

Now this is where I feel like I might lose some people, but if you get confused, I suggest you look up, “States of Water” and “The Water Cycle”. The changing states of water occurs in nature in what is known as "The Water Cycle" where the Sun is the energy source (thermal/heat energy) that drives the process. An example of "The Water Cycle" can be found in the beginning scenes of Ep 7 where it is shown how the Ice Stone (hail) was formed. It should be noted that hail is a type of precipitation that is in between rain and snow. In AOS, hail symbolizes a transitional state.

First, the soul is water. The process of shifting souls is analogous to the shifting states of water. Ok process this for a minute. In order to shift from one body of water to another, one must first convert one’s soul which is in a liquid state (water) to a solid state (ice). When this process occurs, heat energy is released. That energy needs to be gathered and combined with the energy from within one’s body in order to shift one’s soul from the solid state to the gas state which is also known as sublimation (note: to change from solid to gas, a greater amount of energy is required than changing from liquid to gas). Now one’s soul is a gas vapor. The shifting of one’s soul from the gas state to liquid state is known as condensation where heat is released. Your soul is now once again in a liquid state except this time it is in a different body of a water. The reason why the soul must be in a liquid state is because it needs to be able to easily flow out from one body into another. It needs to be in a flexible yet stable enough state to take shape of whatever body it is in. Basically the whole process of soul shifting is like tearing the bonds that hold your soul together and then putting your soul back together by forming new bonds.

Why Gil Jo Failed to Take Over Jang Uk's Body

Something worth noting is that if one has mastered Hwansu, one is able to create one’s own “ice stone” like Naksu did. It does not seem that the ice stone in her hands was a Soul Ejector. She was able to gather the heat energy released from shifting her soul from water to ice, energy from within herself, and the environment to fuel the different phase changes of her soul. Additionally, I wanted to add that when characters say ice stone there is not really a distinction between the OG Ice Stone and the ice stone that one is able to create when one has mastered Hwansu. For example, during the scene between Park Jin and Heo Yeom, Heo Yeom had told Park Jin that Master Lee was able to shift Gwigu's soul with the power of the ice stone. Master Lee doesn't have the OG Ice Stone, he had fueled the process with the power of his ice stone.

Now with Gil Joo, he did not have energy within himself nor was able to gather energy from the environment to carry out the process. Therefore, he needed to crush a Soul Ejector to release the energy contained with it to fuel his Alchemy of Soul spell (notice that Naksu did not need to crush anything). Another way to look it is that Soul Ejectors are like catalysts. They lower the activation energy needed to begin a reaction. Now because a great amount of energy was transferred to Jang Uk the spell or reaction was not able to be carried out.

I know you all want me to think about this scene where we see liquid Mu Deok grabbing Jang Uk. If you want me to say what basically everyone has thought (that this was Mu Deok’s soul saving Jang Uk), you can simply exit this post. Now if you are still here, good. What this scene reminded me of was the scene from Harry Potter where Harry’s mom acted as a conduit between Voldemort killing curse and Harry. Due to her sacrifice, the spell backfired and turned Voldemort into a spirit. At the same time, Voldemort had accidentally placed a piece of his soul inside of Harry. This is what basically happened in AOS. Naksu acted as a conduit between Gil Joo’s Alchemy of Souls spell and Jang Uk. Subsequently, the spell backfired and Gil Joo’s soul went back into his body. So who’s soul is this that we are seeing? I’m pretty sure it’s Naksu. She not only physically tried to protect, but she also wanted to protect him spiritually. It’s like she was trying to literally protect Jang Uk with both her body and soul. Maybe the energy that was transferred to Jang Uk wasn’t from the Soul Ejector, but it was from the sealed energy Naksu had within her.

Naksu, Mu Deok, Jin Bu Yeon, and the Ice Stone

Before I start discussing the new “evidence” that everyone says proves Mu Deok is Jin Bu Yeon and that Mu Deok/Jin Bu Yeon is the personification of the Ice Stone or imbued with the power of the Ice Stone, I want you all to think about something. Given that writers are notorious for introducing plot twists to keep viewers interested, what would be a bigger plot twist- Mu Deok was Jin Bu Yeon or Naksu was Jin Bu Yeon? In the case of Mu Deok being Jin Bu Yeon, that isn’t so much a plot twist because everyone seems to think that. What would be more mind blowing was that Naksu was actually Jin Bu Yeon. You see, the Hong Sisters are the ones who really control the narrative in AOS. They only allow us to see what they want us to see. They’re trying to lead you think one thing so that when the opposite happens, it much more impactful at piquing your interest. Most people only take things at face value. They don’t tend to think deeper than what’s already been presented, and the Hong Sisters are very much aware of this fact. With that being said, I want to try to present a counter argument to what everyone says.

When Naksu came close to the doors of Jinwoyon, the doors simply open for her. Naksu did not need to cast a spell nor touch the doors for them to open. They just automatically did it. In past episodes, we have seen that magical objects can recognize their owners’ soul regardless of what body it is in. For example, Naksu’s sword reacted to her when she came close to it even though she was in Mu Deok’s body. It would seem there is greater importance is place on one’s soul than one’s body. Given this, the doors probably opened themselves because they sensed a Jin family member’s soul. If Naksu was Jin Bu Yeon this would make sense.

Now I know most people are saying that the scene with the pots was definitive proof that Mu Deok is Jin Bu Yeon and that she’s the personification of the OG Ice Stone. However, I beg to differ. If anything, this is more proof that is it Naksu who is Jin Bu Yeon with the power of her own ice stone.

Now Naksu only saw herself as someone who was just a soul shifter, maid, and disposable. This was the illusion she created for herself and this is how she thought others had perceived her as well. However, when Jang Uk told her that she was someone who was much more than that, the illusion she created for herself began to crack. The truth was literally and metaphorically power and blinding. It was only after she realize the truth that the pots begin to say how she’s the ice stone and blind girl. By realizing the truth, she temporarily gained her powers (power of her ice stone) back which subsequently allowed her to escape. It’s like that saying of how the truth will set you free. Truth is power. Additionally, when one metaphorically sees the light, it means one sees the truth. In this case, it was quite also literal.

I want you all to just think about some things....if Mu Deok was indeed the OG Ice Stone and Jin Bu Yeon, the pots would have said what they had said much earlier. Like they would’ve said it right when Mu Deok’s body had entered Jinwoyon, but they didn’t. They only said those things after Naksu, not Mu Deok, realized the truth about herself. Anyways I hope this clear things up for so many of you.

Queen Seo/Fake Queen Choi

I’d previously theorized that the Queen was the real puppet master and well in this week’s episodes, this theory was proven correct. I also theorized that she was not really the Queen, but was using some method to appear like the Queen. I was mostly correct. The Queen here is a soul shifter. She mentioned she wanted to get revenge on Songrim for destroying her family, the Choi’s. If you remembered, the OG Queen was a Seo family member. Anyways because Fake Queen Choi possessed the OG Ice Stone (an unlimited source energy), she never needed to suck the life out of people.

How did Fake Queen Choi come into possession of the Ice Stone? Well, it’s like I mentioned previously, Seo Gyeong had probably kept the Ice Stone in his family for safe keeping. So Fake Queen Choi had shifted souls with Queen Seo in order to find the location of Ice Stone which was probably known by some members of the Seo family.

The Choi’s were probably one of the major mage families that lost during the Soul Ejector battle 200 years ago. Some questions come to my mind. Just how old exactly is Fake Queen Choi’s soul? When did Fake Queen Choi shift into Queen Seo’s body? Why set things into motion now? Let’s entertain the theory that Fake Queen Choi’s soul is 200 years old. She would’ve needed to keep shifting bodies multiple times over the years. The only problem with this theory is that she would’ve needed an endless supply of Soul Ejectors (I am assuming Soul Ejectors are a one-time use object since they have to be crushed to perform the Alchemy of Souls spell). Getting an endless supply of Soul Ejectors would’ve been difficult to do if one did not have the main source aka the OG Ice Stone. It could be that Fake Queen Choi used one of the last Soul Ejectors to shift souls with a Seo family member to find out the location of the Ice Stone. This process would have probably taken a great deal of time.

After having it for decades or whatever, she decided now was the time to strike. Still the question remains…why now? The kind of anger she has isn’t one that is passed down from one generation to the next. Rather it seems like one that has been 200 years in the making. However, it could very well be that the rage Fake Queen Choi has was passed from one generation to the next. Anyhow maybe Fake Queen Choi’s big plan was to gain ultimate power which comes in two forms: power from the Ice Stone and power from being a royal family member. Such power would allow one to rule everyone in Daeho from regular humans to mages.

To be able to rule everyone, she must first get rid of the mages and this was evident when Fake Queen Choi said she wanted to destroy Songrim aka the four families. She’s probably trying to destroy them from the inside out. She had already begun to set things into motion 20 years ago. Recall that 20 years ago a bunch of things happened: King’s Star prophecy, Jang Gang shifted souls with the King, Naksu’s “dad” became a soul shifter, Naksu joining Jin Mu. Fake Queen Choi started first with the Jang family. Then she moved onto the Jin family. Who’s left? The Park and Seo family. I think she will save the Seo family for last. Why? Because they were the family who ended the battle 200 years ago. Got to save the best for last right?

Now let’s look at how Fake Queen Choi destroyed the Jang family. We know Jin Mu was taken in by Jang Gang after he was exiled from the Jin family. I suspect that by the time Jin Mu was working with Jang Gang, he was also secretly working with Fake Queen Choi. Jin Mu was probably the one who planted the seed of soul shifting in Jang Gang’s mind. Again, Fake Queen Choi probably instructed Jin Mu to do this. Not only did Fake Queen Choi do this, but she also planted the seed of distrust between the Jang and Jin family. Remember that Jang Gang was the one that Mama Jin had talked about when she said, “My trust was once broken by a Songrim mage”. When thinking about Jang Gang’s downfall, one should think about what started it in the first place. At what point did it begin? Well, it started with the prophecy of the King’s Star. We have seen that constellation plates can easily be manipulated. Maybe the prophecy of the King’s Star was fake. Meaning there was no real King’s Star. Maybe one reason why Naksu’s “dad” became a soul shifter was because Fake Queen Choi wanted him to implant the King’s Star into the plates. Plus, you know when the King Star’s prophecy happened? April 1st….April Fool’s Day. If it turns out that Jang Uk is not the King’s Star then this has got to be best April Fool’s Day joke ever! Following the events of the King’s Star, Jang Gang left and in Fake Queen Choi’s mind, the house of Jang had collapsed.

Moving onto the Jin family. How did Fake Queen Choi destroy this family? Well it’s much more complicated. Initially, she planted the seed of distrust between the Jang and Jin family by indirectly convincing Jang Gang to take a Soul Ejector from Jinwoyon. I suspect Fake Queen Choi played a big role in Jin Bu Yeon’s disappearance (used the OG Ice Stone to swap Naksu /Jin Bu Yeon and Mu Deok’ soul as children and that’s the reason why they didn’t run wild as children). I still think Naksu is Jin Bu Yeon (just read my previous posts about this matter). We still don’t know at what age Jin Bu Yeon disappeared, but I am guessing it happened 20 years ago or more, coinciding with events that lead to the destruction of the house of Jang.

As for the Park and Seo family, I still don’t know how she will destroy them.

Red and Blue Symbolism

For those who haven’t notice, the colors of red and blue have constantly been shown. Red and blue can signify a bunch of things such as fire/water, blood/water, fire/ice, hot/cold, etc. In particular, Naksu’s outfit in the beginning was a red and blue. In a new picture that someone posted on IG, it can be seen that Naksu is now wearing a purple outfit. What happens when you mix red and blue? It forms purple. Therefore, Naksu wearing purple can symbolize that she has finally unified her body (red/heat) and soul (blue/water).

Theme of Blindness

One important theme in AOS is blindness. I know for most of you, you just interpret blindness as a literal one, but in AOS blindness is also used as a metaphor. Blindness physically and metaphorically can be a negative or positive thing. In literature, blind people are often portrayed as seers or oracles. Despite the physical loss of sight, they can “see” what others can’t like someone’s past, present, and future. In this case, being literally blind allows one to hold some sort of cosmic knowledge.There are other times when people who can physically see, but are blind to the truth. The most famous example from literature is Oedipus Rex. After Oedipus Rex “sees” the truth that he had actually murdered his father and fucked his mother, he takes his mother’s brooch and physically blinds himself by poking his eyes out with it. Therefore, Oedipus literally became the thing he had always metaphorically been: blind.

Let’s look at Naksu and Mu Deok. Naksu could physically see, but she was blinded to the truth that it was Jin Mu who was the cause of her family’s destruction. It is only after her soul enters the blind body of Mu Deok, that she literally and metaphorically begins to see. Blindness can also be used to describe someone’s soul. For example, even though Naksu’s physical manifestation of her soul (liquid Naksu) could see, it was metaphorically blind. Now with Mu Deok, the opposite could be said. Despite her being physically blind, she could metaphorically “see”. The theme of people being able to physically see but are metaphorically blind is repeated numerous times in AOS. For example, Jang Uk can literally see, but even he is blinded to the truth about his birth. Or Cho Yeon being “blinded” by her love for Jang Uk that she cannot “see” that Park Gang Gu is in love with her. The list goes on!

Now, some have interpreted all the scenes of liquid Mu Deok as representative of Mu Deok’s soul. However, I feel that liquid Mu Deok could actually be representative of Naksu’s subconscious mind. I know some of you would say I am crazy for thinking this. However, am I crazy or are some of you “blind”? Anyways our conscious mind contains things like our thoughts, memories, feelings, etc and we physically express these things through our bodies. For example, I am hungry right now so I am going to get up and grab something to eat. Our subconscious mind holds things that like repressed feelings, thoughts, urges, and memories. So maybe when Naksu sees liquid Mu Deok, it is not actually Mu Deok’s soul, but it is a manifestation of Naksu’s subconscious mind. Take for example the whole sleeping walking incident. Sleepwalking occurs when our bodies and subconscious mind are active. Just before Naksu sleepwalked, Master Lee touched her forehead thereby activating her subconscious mind. If Naksu’s subconscious mind is represented as being blind, what could this symbolize? I think could symbolize that Naksu has some suppressed memories. Maybe the key to Naksu regaining her powers back is that she must unlock the parts of her mind which she had chosen to blind herself from. A person is only whole if they can unite their mind, body, and soul.

Other things I wanted to address is the whole theory that Mu Deok is the soul of the leader of the Jin family from 200 years ago. I don't think this is the case. What I think had happened is that originally Jin Bu Yeon/Naksu was physically blind, but not spiritually blind. Meaning her body was blind, but not her soul. Then when Jin Bu Yeon/Naksu's soul was swapped into Naksu/Mu Deok body, it could physically see. However, Jin Bu Yeon/Naksu's soul became blinded because as I mentioned above, she was blind to the truth of Jin Mu's involvement in her "father's" death. Now when Jin Bu Yeon/Naksu's blind soul switch back to her OG body (what we know as Mu Deok's body), it had a healing effect. She wasn't the same soul she was when she was in her OG body and she wasn't the same soul that was in Mu Deok's body (what we know as Naksu's body), it was somewhere in between. So now Jin Bu Yeon/Naksu's body and soul can see (well her soul mostly sees...I had mentioned she needs to uncover parts of her subconscious mind).

Anyways, what I urge you all to do is to quit taking things at face value. If you keep looking at every clue as it being proof that Mu Deok's soul is still dormant in her body then you have become biased and blind. Take every clue and actually think about them in a number of ways. It is only then that the veil across your eyes can be removed and you can finally see the truth.

Other Thoughts

There was a butterfly on the box that held the Yin and Yang jade...symbolizes metamorphosis/change. Pretty sure that this is symbolizing the changes that are occurring in Naksu. For example, she no longer hates the four families because she found out the truth. She's no longer a cold blooded assassin.

Other cycles present in AOS is Wuxing ( 5 elements) and their associated seasons. There's actually 5 seasons in Wuxing: Summer, Late Summer (transitional period), Autumn, Winter, and Spring. Naksu is like Late Summer.

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