As we move through the Sixth Extinction, it can be beneficial to examine what caused massive die-offs in the past. Lystrosaurus specimens from South Africa have been found that may help clarify what happened 250 million years ago. [via IFLScience]

The Permian-Triassic Extinction Event, or the Great Dying, takes the cake for the worst extinction we know about so far on our pale blue dot. The primary cause is thought to be intense volcanic activity which formed the Siberian Traps and sent global CO₂ levels soaring. In Karoo Basin of South Africa, 170 tetrapod fossils were found that lend credence to the theory. Several of the Lystrosaurus skeletons were preserved in a spread eagle position that “are interpreted as drought-stricken carcasses that collapsed and died of starvation in and alongside dried-up water sources.”

As Pangea dried from increased global temperatures, drought struck many different terrestrial ecosystems and changed them from what they were before. The scientists say this “likely had a profound and lasting influence on the evolution of tetrapods.” As we come up on the Thanksgiving holiday here in the United States, perhaps you should give thanks for the prehistoric volcanism that led to your birth?

If you want to explore more about how CO₂ can lead to life forms having a bad day, have a look at paleoclimatology and what it tells us about today. In more recent history, have a look at how we can detect volcanic eruptions from all around the world and how you can learn more about the Earth by dangling an antenna from a helicopter.

[MacGyver] would be proud of [Hyperspace Pirate]’s rough and ready method of producing acetylene gas from seashells and driftwood.

Acetylene, made by decomposing calcium carbide with water, is a vitally important industrial gas. Not only as a precursor in many chemical processes, but also as the fuel for the famous “blue wrench,” a tool without which auto mechanics working in the Rust Belt would be reduced to tears. To avoid this, [Hyperspace Pirate] started by beachcombing for the raw materials: shells to make calcium oxide and wood to make charcoal. Charcoal is pretty easy; you just cook chunks of wood in a reducing environment to drive off everything but the carbon. Making calcium oxide from the calcium carbonate in the shells isn’t much harder, with ground seashells heated in a propane-fired furnace to release carbon dioxide.

With the raw ingredients in hand, things get a little tricky. Making calcium carbide requires a lot of heat, far more than a simple propane burner can provide. [Hyperspace Pirate] decided to go with an electric arc furnace, to which end he cannibalized a 120 V to 240 V step-up converter for its toroidal transformer, which with a few extra windings provided the needed current to run an arc through carbon electrodes. This generated the needed heat, and then some, as the ceramic firebrick he was using to contain the inferno melted. After rewinding the melted secondary windings on his makeshift transformer and switching to a stainless steel crucible, he was able to make enough calcium carbide to generate an impressive amount of acetylene. The video below documents the process and the sooty results, as well as details a little of the excitement that metal acetylides offer.

For more about acetylene and its many uses, [This Old Tony] has you covered.

In the past, building construction methods generally didn’t worry much about air quality. There were enough gaps around windows, doors, siding, and flooring that a house could naturally “breathe” and do a decent enough job of making sure the occupants didn’t suffocate. Modern buildings, on the other hand, are extremely concerned with efficiency and go to great lengths to ensure that no air leaks in or out. This can be a problem for occupants though and generally requires some sort of mechanical ventilation, but to be on the safe side and keep an eye on it a CO2 sensor like this unique Pac-Man-inspired monitor can be helpful.

Although there are some ways to approximate indoor air quality with inexpensive sensors, [Tobias] decided on a dedicated CO2 sensor for accuracy and effectiveness, despite its relatively large cost of around $30. An ESP32 handles the data from the sensor and then outputs the results to an array of LEDs hidden inside a ghost modeled after the ones from the classic arcade game Pac-Man. There are 17 WS2812B LEDs in total installed on a custom PCB, with everything held together in the custom 3D printed ghost-shaped case. The LEDs change from green to red as the air quality gets worse, although a few preserve the ghost’s white eyes even as the colors change.

For anyone looking to recreate this project and keep an eye on their own air quality, [Tobias] has made everything from the code, the PCB, and the 3D printer files open source, and has used accessible hardware in the build as well. Although the CO2 sensors can indeed be pricey, there are a few less expensive ways of keeping an eye on indoor air quality. Some of these methods attempt to approximate CO2 levels indirectly, but current consensus is that there’s no real substitute for taking this measurement directly if that’s the metric targeted for your own air quality.

Source

 From my battle to our war, MMORPG MIR4.

Greetings, This is MIR4. 

We confirmed a Server connection issue where Dragonians were temporarily unable to connect to the server at approximately August 28th, 10:00pm (UTC+8). We would like to sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

In order to make up for Dragonians’ time that could have been spent exploring the Mir Continent and further strengthening their Character, we have prepared an apology gift as listed below. We hope Dragonians will be able to continue on and enjoy their journey.

■ Reward

※ Due to this issue, ‘Ranking’ displayed on the forum will display renewed data starting from August 28th, 00:00 (UTC+8). Please note that Ranking will be displayed as normal starting from August 30th, 00:00 (UTC+8)

■ When using the Epic Yellow Dragon's Gift Box (cannot be traded), obtain all of the following.

- Dragon Material Summon Ticket x10

- Dragon Eye Summon Ticket x10

- Dragon Claw Summon Ticket x10

- Dragon Sphere Summon Ticket x10

- Mystical Piece Summon Ticket x10

- Epic Azureum Mineral Fluid x1

- Epic Eternal Snow Panax x1

- Epic Noirsoul Herb x1

We are sorry for this occurrence and we will continue to put all our efforts into providing a stable service for Dragonians.

Thank you.