Tom's Blog on Life and Livingness
While this is crafted to be humorous, there is more than a grain of truth in the advsibility to extrovert ones’s attention if you feel down. While a run is ultimately desirable (Wingate sprints are apparently the best exercise one can do) I believe it is best to increase one’s activity on a gradient. Start with a walk and look at things while you do.
For more information on Wingate sprints: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wingate_test
Pretty intuitive animation explaining seasons, equinox, solstice, length of day and night.
Australia’s railways just got a clever sustainability upgrade—using scrap rubber to reinforce train tracks. In a two-year field trial on Sydney’s Chullora freight line, researchers from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) tested a recycled rubber underlay made from old truck tyres and mining conveyor belts. The results? Tracks with this rubber system showed significantly less wear and tear compared to conventional tracks.
The rubber layer cushions the impact of passing trains and spreads their weight more evenly across the track. This helps protect the crushed stone (ballast) underneath from breaking apart—a major reason tracks often need costly repairs. With less damage to the ballast, the tracks stay level longer, reducing the need for maintenance and shutdowns.
Beyond the economic benefits, the innovation also diverts end-of-life tyres and waste materials from landfills, offering a solid environmental win. Backed by AU$740,000 in new funding, the team is now scaling up trials in more extreme locations like bridges and junctions.
If successful, this low-cost, low-impact solution could change how rail networks around the world handle heavy freight—and waste.
Mike Rowe: “We’ve been telling kids for 15 years to learn to code.”
“Well, AI is coming for the coders.”
“It’s not coming for the welders, the plumbers, the steamfitters, the pipefitters, the HVAC, or the electricians.”
“In Aspen, I sat and listened to Larry Fink say we need 500,000 electricians in the next couple of years—not hyperbole.”
“The BlueForge Alliance, who oversees our maritime industrial base—that’s 15,000 individual companies who are collectively charged with building and delivering nuclear-powered subs to the Navy … calls and says, we’re having a hell of a time finding tradespeople. Can you help?”
“I said, I don’t know, man … how many do you need? He says, 140,000.”
“These are our submarines. Things go hypersonic, a little sideways with China, Taiwan, our aircraft carriers are no longer the point of the spear. They’re vulnerable.” “Our submarines matter, and these guys have a pinch point because they can’t find welders and electricians to get them built.”
“The automotive industry needs 80,000 collision repair and technicians.”
“Energy, I don’t even know what the number is, I hear 300,000, I hear 500,000.”
“There is a clear and present freakout going on right now. I’ve heard from six governors in the last six months. I’ve heard from the heads of major companies.”
