Don Osborn
@donosborn
Africa agriculture Baha'i China development environment food ict4d justice L10n language policy research rural security systems. JHU, MSU. RPCV. PhD.
Are biomass, and bioenergy generally, lumped into the category “renewables”? If so, it would be helpful to separate them out.
Beaumont Tower, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 9 July 2023. An iPhone shot in the afternoon from a path near the library. Cc @msulisap.bsky.social
So the question I have is how, in theory and application, Bahá'í teachings on cleanliness and refinement (and by implication hygiene, as in the case of the old Iranian bathhouse example above) could - and might logically should - intersect with the overlap of applied IAQ and airborne epidemiology.
In that overlap. there are innovations & uses of them such as: * Portable CO2 monitors (high CO2 in a crowded space is a proxy for infection risk) * Improved HEPA filter designs & C-R boxes * Germicidal UVC devices * Apps to evaluate room IAQ * On the horizon, devices to detect pathogens in the air
So, where did this come from? First of all, observation of the intersection of two fields (as I see them from outside) that have developed and become more prominent since the onset of COVID-19: * Science & engineering of indoor air quality (IAQ); and * Epidemiology of airborne viral transmission
This is a personal perspective. An interesting example of application of Bahá'í teachings on cleanliness & refinement comes from Iran over a century ago. Banned because of their faith from public bathhouses, which were common at the time, Bahá'ís developed their own, more hygienic bathhouses.
“How respiratory viruses transmit” is a very nice summary of the subject. The table below, from the article, is a helpful summary. www.forceofinfection.com/how-respirat...
If AI reduces time spent working on jobs, that frees up time not only for leisure, but for working on personal & community projects, citizen science, etc. - service broadly speaking Work is more than employment & people are not given to idleness In this sense, how do work & leisure fit together?
Ajami is still used by some for these languages. There are usage conventions, but lack of standardization limits utility. There are recent efforts to standardize (but at least one was based on systems outside of Africa) Fwiw, in 1986-7 I studied Ajami for Pular using Arensdorff's 1913 (1966) book:
My son and I walking tall at Corey Marsh, 9/14/25 www.canr.msu.edu/cmerc
Sunset-lit cloud over tree. Thought the symmetry of this was interesting.
Stir-fried leafy vegetables: (l.) collard greens w/ dried red chilis (c.) kale w/ Sichuan peppercorn (r.) bok choy w/ dried red chilis Heat clear (olive) oil in wok w/ salt & choice of pepper. When very hot, add progressive amounts of the veg. while stirring. Temper heat slightly to avoid burning.
Could it help to use loanwords, like proso, to help establish identities for #millets as crops & foods? E.g. * bajra/bajri (India) = pearl millet, Pennisetum glaucum * xiaomi (China) = foxtail millet, Setaria italica * ragi (India) = finger millet, Eleusine coracana Fwiw, these names in a mnemonic
Interesting item (among many) reflecting evolving public understanding of #millets. First time I've seen "proso" listed rather than "proso millet" in a diagram of grains. No problem (see 🧵). But then noted "millet," separately, w/ image resembling pearl millet Source: www.freepik.com/premium-vect...
Remembering my parents on what would be their 70th anniversary today, April 16, 2025. This photo was taken in 1985, I believe, at the Cadet Chapel, West Point, where they were married one fine spring day.
This document makes many good points. Thank you, Biofuel really isn't "green." It's a very inefficient conversion of solar energy, and land & water resources into potential energy, which is released by burning - with many of the same downsides of fossil fuel, plus environmental externalities.
Laura Freele Osborn (c.1866-1955), long-time member of the Detroit Board of Education. "I believe in #publiceducation - I believe in it passionately. My teaching certificate has inscribed on it 'The common school, the hope of our country.' It meant just that to me then, and it has ever since."
Some events or outcomes are tragic, but of those, some result from evil intent & maybe illegal actions. For these, the word "tragic" by itself seems wholly inadequate. Could "tragicriminal" be a better term for such situations? (Cf. "tragicomic.") Possible first use in 2018: x.com/Rey_Brazil/s...
Altho never employed by #USAID, I was connected with USAID projects in one capacity or another over the years. This agency was no more perfect than any other, but had many positives & many good people (US & HCN). Definitely not "evil." The way it & its people are being treated now is unconscionable.
I had nuclear in its own category, since it has its own advantages & problems. Fwiw, here's an exploration done a few years ago (on a blog I haven't maintained consistently): donosborn.org/blog/2018/re... In this diagram I attempted to regroup a range of energy categories. Other approaches possible