home.social

#publicgood — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #publicgood, aggregated by home.social.

  1. Chicago Reader: Chicago has abundant water. Data center developers want a taste. “Waterways in Chicago and northern Illinois have supported industrial activity for more than a century, and now those same bodies of water are drawing an influx of proposed data centers that would tap into the region’s plentiful resources. These proposals have drawn considerable scrutiny, with experts and […]

    https://rbfirehose.com/2026/09/10/chicago-reader-chicago-has-abundant-water-data-center-developers-want-a-taste/
  2. Chicago Reader: Chicago has abundant water. Data center developers want a taste. “Waterways in Chicago and northern Illinois have supported industrial activity for more than a century, and now those same bodies of water are drawing an influx of proposed data centers that would tap into the region’s plentiful resources. These proposals have drawn considerable scrutiny, with experts and […]

    https://rbfirehose.com/2026/09/10/chicago-reader-chicago-has-abundant-water-data-center-developers-want-a-taste/
  3. Chicago Reader: Chicago has abundant water. Data center developers want a taste. “Waterways in Chicago and northern Illinois have supported industrial activity for more than a century, and now those same bodies of water are drawing an influx of proposed data centers that would tap into the region’s plentiful resources. These proposals have drawn considerable scrutiny, with experts and […]

    https://rbfirehose.com/2026/09/10/chicago-reader-chicago-has-abundant-water-data-center-developers-want-a-taste/
  4. Chicago Reader: Chicago has abundant water. Data center developers want a taste. “Waterways in Chicago and northern Illinois have supported industrial activity for more than a century, and now those same bodies of water are drawing an influx of proposed data centers that would tap into the region’s plentiful resources. These proposals have drawn considerable scrutiny, with experts and […]

    https://rbfirehose.com/2026/09/10/chicago-reader-chicago-has-abundant-water-data-center-developers-want-a-taste/
  5. Chicago Reader: Chicago has abundant water. Data center developers want a taste. “Waterways in Chicago and northern Illinois have supported industrial activity for more than a century, and now those same bodies of water are drawing an influx of proposed data centers that would tap into the region’s plentiful resources. These proposals have drawn considerable scrutiny, with experts and […]

    https://rbfirehose.com/2026/09/10/chicago-reader-chicago-has-abundant-water-data-center-developers-want-a-taste/
  6. The Guardian: It’s time for Mark Zuckerberg to resign from Meta. “Ushering in hope for the future of technology requires changing Meta’s leadership now, so that the future is collectively imagined and built upon a new reputation and commitment. Zuckerberg does not deserve another chance simply because he can afford it. We as a society ultimately pay for his mistakes. Now is the time for […]

    https://rbfirehose.com/2026/09/05/the-guardian-its-time-for-mark-zuckerberg-to-resign-from-meta/
  7. The Guardian: BBC chief proposes ‘public service algorithm’ with YouTube-style user-generated content. “The BBC director general has suggested opening up the BBC to YouTube-style user-generated content as he backed the idea of a ‘public service algorithm’ free from the interests of US tech companies.”

    https://rbfirehose.com/2026/08/28/the-guardian-bbc-chief-proposes-public-service-algorithm-with-youtube-style-user-generated-content/
  8. A quotation from Bertrand Russell

    All the governments of the world adopt elaborate methods of concealing truths which they consider undesirable, and inflict various forms of penalty upon those who spread knowledge which is thought bad for the population This applies especially to knowledge of the kind which is considered seditious, and the kind which is considered obscene. I shall not give instances, since, if I did, I should myself fall under the ban of the law.

    Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
    Education and the Social Order [Education and the Modern World], ch. 1 “The Individual versus the Citizen” (1932)

    More about this quote: wist.info/russell-bertrand/853…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bertrandrussell #censorship #control #freepress #freespeech #government #knowledge #obscenity #pornography #publicgood #sedition #suppression #treason #truth

  9. Watching A #NOAA #Webinar on Flash Droughts
    --
    noaaresearch.webex.com/wbxmjs/ <-- shared NOAA Summer Science Series individual webinar
    --
    drought.gov/what-is-drought/fl <-- shared NOAA overview technical article
    --
    star.nesdis.noaa.gov/star/NOAA <-- subscribe to the NOAA Summer Science Series
    --
    doi.org/10.1038/s41612-024-006 <-- shared paper
    --
    communities.springernature.com <-- shared technical article (derived from paper above)
    H/T @Jeffrey Basara PhD, MBA | Chair and Professor - Department of Environmental, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell | Co-Founder - American Prime Sustainable Solutions
    [Flash floods? not TOO hard to conceptualise.
    Flash drought? harder to 'get my head around', but H/T / presenter does an excellent job!]
    "Not all droughts are the same. In some cases, drought rapidly intensifies at subseasonal to seasonal scales with significant impacts to agriculture and water resources along with the increased propensity for heatwaves and wildfires. Like all droughts, flash drought begins with a precipitation deficit. However, both evaporative demand and soil moisture are critical flash drought variables, and identifying and monitoring the desiccation of the terrestrial surface is key for determining flash drought development and associated impacts. While recent advances in knowledge and monitoring of flash drought have occurred, fundamental questions remain in the state of the science. What are the overall mechanistic relationships between atmospheric demand, evaporative stress, terrestrial desiccation, and precipitation that drive the progression of flash drought? Do regional characteristics of the environment impact the evolution of flash drought? What are the scales of predictability for flash drought? Finally, how will flash drought frequency and intensity evolve in a changing climate system"
    --
    "Flash drought intensifies rapidly due to changes in precipitation, temperature, wind, and radiation. These changes in the weather increase evapotranspiration and lower soil moisture. Flash droughts can cause extensive damage to agriculture, economies, and ecosystems if they are not predicted and discovered early..."
    #water #hydrology #fedscience #publicgood #hydrologicdrought #waterdeficit #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #watersecurity #risk #hazard #humanimpacts #streamflow #riverflow #groundwater #surfacewater #climate #weather #climatechange #extremeweather #atmosphere #metrology #regional #global #farming #agriculture #fluvial #pluvial #rainfall #precipitation #cloudcover #energy #heat #temperature #ET #evapotranspiration #farming #agriculture #foodsecurity #waterresources #dynamicsystems #watermanagement #flashdrought #drought #susceptibility #monitoring #prediction #model #modeling
    @noaa

  10. If Acts Happened Today, Would We Call It Communism?

    For many, "communism" has become less a political philosophy and more a conversation stopper. But is every effort to use our shared resources to care for the poor, the sick, and the vulnerable really communism? This article examines the difference between political labels and biblical principles, comparing the teachings of the early Church with today's political rhetoric.

    polymathchristian.wordpress.co

  11. Tech Policy Press: Seeing the Digital Sphere: The Case for Public Platform Data. “In this series, Seeing the Digital Sphere: The Case for Public Platform Data, we asked expert contributors to unpack the state of access to public platform data – that is, the content, data, and information posted to online platforms that anyone can access.”

    https://rbfirehose.com/2025/11/06/seeing-the-digital-sphere-the-case-for-public-platform-data-tech-policy-press/