While it may be 3d-printed, this device isn't quite in the realm of DIY yet thanks to needing some kinda-exotic metal oxide framework (MOF) materials.

Cory Doctorow is rightfully enraged:

This is all downside. If Google complies with the order, it will constitute a privacy breach on a scale never before seen. If they don't comply with the order, it will starve competitors of the one tiny drop of hope that Judge Mehta squeezed out of his pen. It's a catastrophe. An utter, total catastrophe. It has zero redeeming qualities. Hope you like enshittification, folks, because Judge Mehta just handed Google an eternal licence to enshittify the entire fucking internet.

And a much longer interview with Wang on technopolitics, grand opera, China's "industrial party", and why the Chinese and Americans are the two most alike people in the world, here. It's a great listen.

Since this video is an hour long, the result of digging a small bore hole and routing water pipes through, and hooking those up to a slightly modified window AC unit resulted in a 250 to 300% increase in overall cooling efficiency, and effectively turns a 5000btu air conditioner into a 15000btu unit, but with less power draw than an unmodified (control) 5000btu unit.

Chinese producers of polysilicon, a building block for solar panels, are in talks to create a 50 billion yuan ($7 billion) fund to acquire and shut down roughly a third of production capacity and restructure part of the loss-making sector, GCL Technology Holdings said.

The top polysilicon producer told Reuters on Thursday plans were being discussed to acquire and shut at least 1 million metric tons of lower-quality polysilicon capacity.

"It is sort of like the OPEC of the polysilicon industry, wherein total supply for a specified timeframe has to be agreed by the central committee and production quotas to be allocated to producers," GCL's investor relations director Jun Zhu said.

The plan is one of the strongest signals yet that the heightened rhetoric against overcapacity rolled out by the Chinese government this month is translating into action. Chinese industries, from solar to electric vehicles, are grappling with massive overcapacity and vicious price wars that are wiping out profits.

[...]

Compass is an opensource handheld CNC router that you can build from a kit for less than a third the price of industry equivalent, the shaper origin. While this may not be directly solar punk I think the fact that is opensource makes it related. Also, it can enable people to build structures and furniture more easily with plans shared online. I envision making beautiful benches for bus stops and community gardens around my city.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/33224011

The guys at Flow Battery Research Collective have been designing a Redox Flow Battery development kit that you can build yourself using a 3d printer and a few tools. It's a desktop size flow battery that you can use to either do your own research, e.g. on different electrolytes or just to replicate their experimental findings.

Redox Flow Batteries have the potential to become grid scale or home electric energy storage solutions that are way better for the environment than current lithium based batteries. They can often scale power and capacity independently and allow for repairs.

The FBRC project wants to spread the knowledge on RFBs and help kickstart a global community that develops sustainable energy storage technology in an ope source fashion.

Beware that the project is still in its infancy and sourcing the materials can be a bit of a challenge. Be sure to ask around in the forums for help!

This is a cool form of reuse, but there's got to be cleaner ways to do it.

Step into the radiant future of

Solar Gardens!

Coming July 31, 2025

Solar Gardens is a fun-filled, light-hearted tile-drafting board game where each player will take on the role of a visionary architect specializing in carbon neutral engineering to build a rooftop garden in harmony with nature. Guided by principles of sustainability, innovation, community, and strategy, players must work to harness renewable energy to create tranquil garden environments.

In order for your solar garden to be the winner, your goal is to score the most points by building the most aesthetically pleasing solar farms, windmill systems, water filters, and cultural hubs. Solar Gardens is a wonderful opportunity to discover the power of creativity, and optimism where a brighter future is always within your reach.
Can you and your fellow architects create a self-sufficient, resilient garden before time runs out, or will your rooftop paradise dry up?

As a bonus, Solar Gardens is made of biodegradable, plastic-free materials and uses paper stickers to hold the game box together in transit. Also, it is a part of The National Forest Foundation’s Sapling Program where a portion of your purchase of this amazing game will be donated to help plant trees in national parks around the United States–a benefit of the National Forestry Foundation.

DOWNLOAD THE RULEBOOK

Key Details:
2-5 Players
30-45 minutes
Ages 12+

Overview:
Solar Gardens is a tile-drafting strategy game where players compete to create flourishing rooftop gardens by drafting tiles and placing them in their grid, aiming to build the highest-scoring rooftop garden. Each tile represents a different element of a rooftop garden, such as solar panels, wind turbines, plant beds, rainwater collectors, decorative features, and more. In order to win, players must balance aesthetics, energy efficiency, and animal diversity to score more points than their opponents.

Contents:
12 Page Rulebook
Starting Player Token
5 Player Aide Boards
5 Foldable Player Boards
90 Tiles
1 scoring pad
Creative Team:

Game Design: Alex Cutler
Initial Game Development: Eric Slauson
Game Development: Aaron Salmonowicz
Producer: Alex Uboldi
Graphic Design: Bryan Weiss
Art: Daniel Clarke
Editing: Neil Kingham

Really, all this says is "microplastics that fall on soil stay in the soil", but, you know, could be worse?

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/23993774

Practical Retrofitting for Obsolete Devices | Much like classic cars can be fitted with an EV motor, it is possible to retrofit older devices in order to make them usable again in a connected world

From a commenter under the video:

Summarized the measurements, with rough timestamps:

Stock blades (6:43): 1 m/s, 64.3 W,

simple airfoil (7:55): 0.8 m/s, 66 W

modern airfoil (9:12): 1.2 m/s, 64.5 W

stock motor no blades (13:49): 53.8 W

BLDC motor no blades (16:24): 8 W

BLDC stock blades (18:27): 1.8 m/s, 59 W

BLDC stock blades at reduced speed (19:35): 1.0 m/s, 27.3 W