#energy conservation

[unbfacts]

At depths of around 50 feet (15 meters), humans experience negative buoyancy and start to sink. Freedivers use this point to "freefall," where they stop swimming and let gravity pull them deeper.

[bigfootbeat]

Bigfoot Winter Survival

Winter is often seen as the ultimate test of survival, yet stories of Bigfoot suggest a being well suited to endure even the harshest cold. Descriptions consistently emphasize a thick, dense coat of hair and a large, powerful build—traits that would naturally conserve heat and reduce energy loss. In cold‑adapted animals, size and insulation are key advantages, allowing warmth to be retained even in deep snow and freezing temperatures.

Seasonal movement plays an important role in this idea. Rather than remaining in exposed high elevations, the creature is thought to shift into lower valleys and dense evergreen forests during winter months. These areas offer natural wind protection, cover from snowfall, and easier travel beneath the tree canopy. Such routes would also help explain why sightings become rarer, as movement happens far from roads and human activity.

Shelter is believed to rely on the landscape itself. Caves, rock overhangs, fallen trees, and simple windbreak structures made from branches are often mentioned in reports. Notably, there is little emphasis on fire use. Instead, insulation, natural cover, and body heat are thought to provide sufficient protection without leaving obvious signs like smoke or ash.

Food sources would also shift with the season. A winter diet is commonly imagined as opportunistic—small animals, fish, carrion, and whatever plant matter remains available, supplemented by high‑calorie foraging. Conserving energy would be essential, favoring fewer meals with greater nutritional value and minimizing unnecessary movement.

Taken together, these ideas form a picture of a creature shaped by adaptation rather than comfort. If such a being exists, winter would not be an obstacle but another environment it has learned to navigate quietly. Survival would depend on intelligence, patience, and deep familiarity with the forest—allowing it to remain hidden, even when the world is locked in snow.

[rjzimmerman]

Why did energy-saving tips disappear from the Energy Department website?

As the country sizzled through heat waves, the government removed some of its most actionable advice about how to conserve energy.

Excerpt from this story from Grist:

If you wanted to save some money by learning how to check your home for air leaks, poor insulation, and power-hungry lightbulbs, the Department of Energy’s website was ready to help. And if you needed an expert, the site guided you to another page for help lining up a professional energy assessment, a well-established first step to cut utility bills and curb pollution at the same time. 

That is, until this summer, when both of those resources vanished from the agency’s site, each now redirecting to “Page not found.” They were taken down by July 3, around the same time that the Department of Energy deleted more than 1,600 pages from the Energy Saver section of its site, gutting a resource for people looking to conserve energy and lower bills.

“I can’t remember another time that, with DOE specifically, we’ve seen an entire domain go down the way that [it] has been reported on now,” said Izzy Pacenza, who monitors government websites for the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative. Over a 30-day span this summer, as swaths of the country suffered under heat waves, more than 300 of the webpages had received 160,000 page views, according to an analysis from The Guardian.

The news coverage of the missing websites has focused on the disappearance of one recommendation in particular. Ahead of a heat wave that roasted New York City with 100-degree temperatures earlier this month, Mayor Zohran Mamdani asked businesses and residents to set their AC to 78 degrees to conserve energy, drawing the ire of Republicans who mocked the restrictions as “socialism.” Internet sleuths were quick to notice that similar guidance had vanished from the Department of Energy’s website, which used to direct people to keep their thermostat between 75 and 78 degrees. The timing suggested that the agency might have removed the pages as a rebuke to Mamdani’s advice.

The purge looked suspiciously timed for another reason:  On July 2, the Energy Department announced a proposed rule to make it harder for future administrations to approve energy efficiency standards for household appliances, saying it would “permanently end Green New Scam appliance mandates.” The move was part of the Trump administration’s broader attack on energy efficiency requirements.

The Environmental Data and Governance Initiative has argued that Trump’s federal agencies tend to remove information from their websites related to regulatory changes they just announced, which limits access to information people could use to oppose agency proposals during the legally required public comment period. But the facts that would be most relevant here — the agency’s information about its Appliance and Equipment Standards Program — remain on the site, pointed out Andrew deLaski, the executive director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project. “I haven’t seen things come down that are directly related to the appliance standards program,” he said.

[pisceanpharies]

God-Man: The Word Made Flesh, by George W Carey & Inez Eudora Perry (1920)

[midnightinjapan]

[X]

I hope he always has an itchy anus.🙏

[dankmemes23]

[hheckk]

Household Conservation Checklist

Hey all! I know it's not much in light of... everything, but I made a checklist of things you can do in your own home to conserve water, energy, etc! I've done this in my house and not only has it reduced my bills but also my personal waste, so please feel free to copy and download it for self-use!

[edsandco]

Shout out to my Occupational Therapist for:

Trading fun/weird facts with me.

Helping me out with using my metalsmithing skills to make myself ring splints and for being willing to combine the brace making stuff she has with the metal pieces I'm making to create what will hopefully be the perfect brace for me to wear while I crochet.

Never batting an eye at my weird goals or hobbies.

Listening to me!

I called my right arm my hammer arm today, and she not only accepted that statement but knew what I meant.

Already alerting the physical therapist I'll be seeing in late October to the fact that they need to work together to figure out getting me a wheelchair that fits better and that has a good back and cushion.

Trying to get insurance to start covering my compression wear so I can get properly fitted good quality gloves & sleeves.

Going down rabbit holes with me but also getting me back on topic eventually.

Making OT fun.

For not judging me for talking to someone else with EDS in the waiting room for like 20 minutes after my appointment.

Not being mad that sometimes IBS and/or ADHD make me late and for being understanding about the 2 last minute cancelations I had after I was covid negative but still struggling too much with fatigue to drive safely.

Giving me movie recommendations.

Lastly, for being great at her job and helping me meet objectives we set.

She's great even though penguin x-rays now haunt my dreams.