Treetops Emit Ultraviolet Sparkles During Thunderstorms. Researchers Just Filmed It in Nature for the First Time https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/treetops-emit-ultraviolet-sparkles-during-thunderstorms-researchers-just-filmed-it-in-nature-for-the-first-time-180988275/ #science

(UPDATE: I think i've got this one answered, thank you everyone!)

People of mastodon!

Super weird question, but ...

... is anyone out there conversant in Assembly for a 1960s-era IBM 7090, or machines of that lineage?

I'm working on an article that includes some Assembly of that vintage ...

... and want to make sure I'm describing what it does correctly

if this describes you or someone you know ...

... hit me up, I'd love to tap your expertise!

clive@clivethompson.net is the fastest

Anyone have friends in Yerevan, Armenia? Asking for a story.

If not, will you repost for signal boost?

#PPOD: Korea’s Kompsat-2 satellite captured this image over the sand seas of the Namib Desert on 7 January 2012. The blue-and-white area is the dry riverbed of the Tsauchab. Black dots of vegetation are concentrated close to the river’s main route, while salt deposits appear bright white. Running through the river valley, a road connects Sossusvlei to the Sesriem settlement. Credit: KARI/ESA

#space #science #planetaryscience

Got to page 109 of *A Grim Reaper's Guide To Cheating Death* and just couldn't stand the main character anymore. Sorry, author, DNF.
#reading #book #bookstodon

As teenage-me used to wonder, was Robin called Dick Grayson because he was very well-endowed?

#batman #robin #bad #joke

The part about the pot-smoking relatives reminded me of a man I met at university. He was a friend's landlord. He was about 20 years older than we were.

He spent all day in the common living room rolling and smoking joints. By himself. No social life, no friends.

Remember: While not physically addictive, pot can be addictve psychologically.

Dear Abby: Visiting relatives stayed high the whole time - Chicago Sun-Times

https://chicago.suntimes.com/dear-abby/2026/02/28/dearabby-today-dear-abby-visiting-relatives-were-high-the-whole-time

#substance #marijuana

One more towel is stitched.
This is a new towel I just unpacked and washed.
The fabric is thicker and more tightly woven than the previous towels.
I am building up the strongest fingers ever with this exercise. I will have to see who is next on the list and if this towel is acceptable.
Three more to go.

@NorcalGma2 What a lovely towel!

When the berries are in the tree, the sound of the waxwings can reach SPLs rivaling the parrots (although at a higher frequency). They’re usually up there too high though, so I rarely bother to try for a photo. But with the sun already so hot at 7:30, the shade was clearly the best place to be. Every once in awhile a waxwing would drop down to snatch a berry and after dozens of frustrating attempts, I finally got one!

Nature endures….

🎶 Click me baby click me baby all night long! 🎸 🎵

RE: https://vis.social/@infobeautiful/116092915176228917

Gotta get those clicks!

Dad's dahlias 1/2 #BloomScrolling #SouthernHighlands

I got Mint reinstalled.

Installed Steam after I got Vivaldi browser up and running and synced.

And, kids....if you want to install Steam in Mint or Ubuntu, don't use the software manager. Open a command prompt and use the following:

sudo apt install steam-installer

From the Reddit comment I found on this:

"steam-installer is a meta package (collection of packages) that includes a handful of recommended dependencies in an Ubuntu/Mint environment.

It includes the steam-installer script that is responsible for downloading the latest steam client on first execution and setup up the environment, steam-libs, steam-libs-i386, debconf, lsof, and zenity (a tool for displaying graphical dialog boxes from shell scripts), and any dependencies required for those packages (like steam-devices for example). It basically does everything needed and recommended for Steam to work except add the i386 architecture, which Mint already has enabled."

My first test of Steam, post-install, was to install Skyrim. It ran BEAUTIFULLY in high graphics mode.

Next up, Elder Scrolls Online..which has been downloading FOREVER...

On another note, this has me wanting to do more stuff in command line. 😁 ⌨️

#Linux #GamingOnLinux #LinuxMint #Steam

The Great Streaming Exodus - Why 2026 Might Be the Year We Take Music Back https://write.as/vinterkarusell/the-great-streaming-exodus

#Newsletter

Anyone got a specific brand of battery-powered lawn mower and love it? My twenty-year-old Enviromower is losing its strength and it might be time to replace it; spare parts are unobtainium. Battery power is non-negotiable.

#ScribesAndMakers ☼ 2026.02.27 — Splat?

Imagine a world where light can act as a liquid and you create a rainbow just before someone startles you? I wrote that. A scene in a three-story atrium. At a school. Splattering the person who did the startling (drenching them in a rainbow) and splattering the school banners hanging down in the atrium, the banisters, floors, and stairs. All the way down to the basement level. Splat! Plenty of students on said stairs, some with open lockers, all splattered—and a few humorless teachers who immediately give chase! It was a funny outbound scene employed to end an epilogue of a fairly heavy and serious novel.

[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
photographer chef cooking
#sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSInklingsStory #RSReluctanceStory
#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory

#ScribesAndMakers 2026.02.27 — Splat?

The sound Batman makes shortly after the Joker cuts the bat-rope while Batman is climbing up the side of a building????

#writerscoffeeclub 2026-02-28 How well did this (short!) month go for you, in terms of writing?

The president of Hawaii Fiction Writers wanted us to write a humorous drabble with a surprise ending. He's a dog lover, so I wrote a piece about what dogs talk about at their masters' funerals, and what they do about dealing with their grief. It has a surprise ending. I sent it to him but never got a response, so I don't know if it was funny enough for him. My humor is much darker than his!