During the filming of The Lord of the Rings, someone asked why the night scenes were being lit. "It's supposed to be dark," they said. "Where is all this light coming from?"
The cinematographer replied, "The same place the music in that scene comes from."
i'm obsessed with what's happening in AI reforestation right now
this Franco-Brazilian startup called MORFO took a patch of land in Brazil that was rock-hard and compacted from years of cattle farming. they replanted it using a single drone. months later the ground was covered in grass, bushes, and small trees. the land came back to life.
here's how the whole thing works.
1. drones scan the terrain with high-resolution cameras and sensors
2. AI analyzes the imagery alongside soil samples, moisture levels, slope, and surrounding vegetation
3. the system picks from a catalog of 300+ native species, deciding exactly which plants will thrive in which specific spot
4. the drone fires biodegradable seed pods packed with seeds, nutrients, and moisture at 180 capsules per minute
5. satellite and drone imagery monitors regrowth over time, with AI tracking vegetation cover and biodiversity
6. two people and one drone cover 50 hectares a day. a person planting by hand manages about one hectare.
and MORFO isn't alone. AirSeed in Australia drops 250,000 seed pods per day into bushfire-scarred koala habitat, replanting swamp mahogany that koalas depend on to survive. Flash Forest in Canada fires 50,000 pods daily into wildfire-destroyed boreal forest, planning the replanting alongside Cree Indigenous communities. re-green won Prince William's Earthshot Prize after planting 6 million seedlings across 30,000 hectares of Amazon and Atlantic Forest.
five companies across four continents built this same approach independently. nobody coordinated. the physics of the problem demanded it.
knowing which seeds belong in which soil used to require years of ecological fieldwork, manual planting crews, and budgets that made large-scale restoration nearly impossible. now two people with a drone and an AI model trained on local soil data can replant 50 hectares before lunch.
this is the AI work that'll still matter in 50 years.
It would take far more than a month to honor the contributions of queer and transgender New Yorkers.
From the Cercle Hermaphroditos in 1895, the first trans advocacy group in the United States, to the drag balls of the Harlem Renaissance, to the Stonewall uprising, to the Lesbian Herstory Archives, to ACT UP!, founded in 1987 as queer people fought for their lives while the Reagan administration looked away, New York City's history has long been shaped by queer and trans New Yorkers.
To all our queer and trans neighbors: you deserve a City where you can afford to live safely, openly, and joyfully.
Happy Pride, New York City.
New York City Mayor, Zohran Mamdani says one month isn't enough to celebrate the impact of the LGBTQ community to the society:
"It would take far more than a month to honor the contributions of queer and transgender New Yorkers. To all our queer and trans neighbors: you deserve a City where you can afford to live safely, openly, and joyfully."
Hace 6 años empecé a sacar fotos y un poco me obsesioné con las fotos de ventanas a edificios. El fin de semana pasado me senté a juntarlas todas. Dejo hilo de 59 fotos de ventanas de Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata, Lima, San Pablo, Río de Janeiro, Madrid, Bilbao y Londres.
@thejovians lol no hate! But I think your taste leans more minimalistic because Latin households (papás, tías y abuela’s homes) were so maximalist. I think both aesthetics are cool, it just depends on what you’re into! I lean more maximalist because it feels cozy and brings me comfort :)
A busy first day as your Mayor-elect: early morning interviews, transition announcements and meetings. More to say on all of it tomorrow.
But a highlight was lunch with my Congresswoman @AOC at Laliguras Bistro in Jackson Heights.