We make our own myth, we don’t wait for the oracle

Over fifty years of data show a peak in PFAS (also known as "forever chemicals") content in seabird eggs in the 90s, followed by a decrease as regulations went into effect. The most recent findings show a 70% decrease of most common PFAS.

We are making genuine progress! Producers are dramatically altering how much they use PFAS and how much gets released in effluent, but also there's a lot better understanding of how to remove PFAS from the environment!

「水音に眠る」

---story--- ここは水が豊富で溜めていた洗濯物を洗うにはもってこいの場所だ。 日差しはたっぷり入るし通り抜ける風は心地良い。

今では何に使われていたか分からないこの機械たちが、色とりどりの洗濯物で何だか可愛く見えてきた。

my partner was a TA for an intro-to-subject course in grad school. finals week rolls around and the students are required to submit this big module assignment they've had like a month to do for a decent chunk of their grade. if you've submitted everything, you'll see a summary screen with a star beside each module name showing it's been completed.

an hour before the assignment deadline, he receives an email from a student claiming they completed the assignment, but the system is not allowing them to submit. there's an image attached to the email. partner goes to open what he assumes is a screenshot of that summary page.

instead, he sees that the student has taken a photo of their laptop from about 2 feet away, with that page open. strange, but it wouldn't be the first time a college freshman has lacked the tech literacy to take a screenshot. he almost doesn't look twice at it, but he realizes something about it just feels a little bit...off. so he zooms in.

the student had CUT STARS OUT OF CONSTRUCTION PAPER and TAPED THEM TO THEIR LAPTOP SCREEN BESIDE EACH MODULE NAME. you could see where they actually had completed the first couple of modules, but the stars for all the subsequent ones were like, double the size of the first two and exactly as uneven/irregular as you'd expect if you were freehanding them with scissors.

[If you follow this link, you can download a PowerPoint presentation with voice over. If you just look at it in Google Slides, you won't be able to listen to it. Don't worry, though, you can still read everything I say in the transcript below each of the slides!]

Hi All!

About 40 years ago, lay (home) nursing quietly disappeared from common knowledge. I'm trying to bring it back. This is a course of about 10 presentations designed for someone who wants to learn more about lay nursing care for themself or loved ones.

Currently, the plan is for the following lessons:

Pre-Home-Nursing

Basic Anatomy and Physiology

Basic Nutrition

Common Illnesses, Injuries, and Conditions

Basic Assessment Skills

Home Nursing:

Adaptive Activities of Daily Living

Home Care and Treatment 1

Home Care and Treatment 2

Documentation

Medication Use and Safety