Alex Cunningham

The personal twitter of a Pine Chemicals expert and amateur astronomer , trying to understand how things work...

[Cosmos Archive @cosmosarcive]

How our understanding of the atom evolved over 123 years.

• 1803 — John Dalton
• 1904 — J.J. Thomson
• 1911 — Ernest Rutherford
• 1913 — Niels Bohr
• 1926 — Erwin Schrödinger

Five models. One atom. A century of discovery.

[Ben Noll @BenNollWeather]

An El Niño Costero is rapidly strengthening near Peru, with the Niño 1+2 Index approaching +3˚C.

Water temperatures have so far reached a maximum of 6.4˚C above average about 90 km offshore of Santa Rosa, Peru.

A similar situation was unfolding at this time in 1997.

[Brilliant Maps @BrilliantMaps]

The 3 Regions Account for Half Of World GDP

Credit: @xruiztru

Where does 50% of the world live? https://t.co/fDnDUziLNU

[Matheus R @MatheusWR]

We have now +5°C showing up offshore Peru's and Ecuador's coasts...

Buckle up fellers, it's showtime!

[Visual Capitalist @VisualCap]

The U.S. recorded 181 space launches in 2025, nearly double China’s 93 launches and far ahead of Russia’s 17 🚀

This graphic, created in partnership with the @hinrichfdn, charts annual space launches by superpower from 1957 to 2025, highlighting how launch dominance is shaping the global space economy.

https://t.co/1x8HYHbHZr #hf09

[Ryan Maue @RyanWeather]

Concise map showing typical El Niño wet/dry preciptation patterns from @climatehazards

https://t.co/4uNaPOFzrs

[Global Statistics @Globalstats11]

One Dot Represents 100,000 People

[Tansu Yegen @TansuYegen]

Unboxing a humanoid robot shipped from China in Malaysia makes the future feel weirdly close 🤖

[Ben Noll @BenNollWeather]

The El Niño signal from CanSIPS has intensified, with the latest run peaking at 2.6˚C above average during December — an increase of 0.6˚C compared to last month.

Some extreme scenarios reach 4.1˚C above average.

It also shows a stronger positive Indian Ocean Dipole.

[Gaurav kochar @gaurav_kochar]

🚨 Extraordinary El Niño signal emerging?

Today’s CFSv2 update (30 May 2026) for the Niño 3.4 region is raising eyebrows.

📈 Ensemble mean (black line): ~+3.8°C
🔥 Latest members (blue lines): breaking above +4.0°C

If such projections hold, this would point toward an extremely powerful El Niño event — well beyond normal thresholds.

The atmosphere–ocean system may be heading into dangerous territory.

What does this mean for India’s monsoon, global heat, droughts, floods, agriculture & food markets?

The world is watching.

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

This is genuinely incredible and says SO SO MUCH about the perception of China in the West.

This is the #1 news show in France, and the host - David Pujadas - asks the pundits around the table (a sample of the top media figures in France) if they can name 3 living Chinese people.

That's it: they just need to say the names of 3 living Chinese people, anyone. This should be extremely easy.

Yet not of a single one of them can name a single Chinese beyond Xi Jinping. They do not know a single living Chinese person beyond the president.

That's the level of ignorance of China we're dealing with in the West today, in 2026.

This is the source for the video: https://t.co/9UnWyu63g8 Aired live yesterday 28th of May 2026.

[🇨🇳XuZhenqing徐祯卿 @XueJia24682]

✨🇨🇳Remarkable changes have taken place in this Chinese district during the 15-year period from 2009 to 2024.

China's Five-Year Plans and institutional advantages provide a solid guarantee for urban development.

If your perception of China remains what it was over ten years ago, it is time to experience the real China.

[Simone Conradi @S_Conradi]

My chaotic attractor.
Made with #python #numpy #matplotlib and #marimo (and also #wigglystuff)

[Science girl @sciencegirl]

Tapping a tree for pine resin

[Richard @ricwe123]

Here we have Victoria Nuland in 2016, bragging to US Congress about how thoroughly Washington had taken over Ukraine after the 2014 coup.

She spelled it all out without shame:

🔴US operatives embedded in a dozen Ukrainian ministries.

🔴American-trained cops patrolling 18 cities.

🔴The US Treasury gutting 60 Ukrainian banks while sparing depositors to keep people quiet.

🔴Hundreds of millions of dollars funneled into molding Ukraine’s military.

This wasn’t "assistance", it was a takeover dressed up as aid.

"Unprovoked"
😂😂😂😂😂

[GEOPOL 21 @Geopol21]

🇪🇸Hablantes de español en el mundo.

🇺🇸Estados Unidos se ha convertido en el segundo país del mundo con más hispanohablantes, suponiendo casi 60 millones y hasta casi un 20% de la población.

🇲🇽Lidera #Mexico con más de 130 millones.

[Megatron @Megatron_ron]

🇺🇸🇮🇷 The war explained in 10 seconds

Venezuelan oil is extra-heavy (very low API gravity, around 8-10° or less), thick like tar/resin, with a high percentage of sulfur, metals and asphaltenes.

It does not flow easily, is difficult to transport by pipeline or ship without heating, and requires expensive refineries for processing. Without dilution, production and exports are limited.

Iran produces light oil (Iranian Light ~34-36° API) and gas condensate (very light and volatile).

This acts as a diluent: it reduces viscosity, increases API gravity and makes the mixture easier to transport and refine.

Typical ratio: 3:1 (3 barrels Venezuelan heavy + 1 barrel Iranian light/condensate) → produces Merey 16 or a similar blend (around 16° API), which is popular with Asian refineries (especially China).

This is what China used to do by importing both of them. Mixing.

This is what the US is now trying to do, huge profits.

[Ben Noll @BenNollWeather]

A 7,000-mile long marine heat wave in the Pacific and another in the Atlantic will shape summer weather patterns across the United States.

Warmth and moisture from these features will most prominently affect the West and South 🧵

[🇨🇳XuZhenqing徐祯卿 @XueJia24682]

✨🇨🇳A Chinese company has launched an automatic pipe welding machine. It’s extremely easy to use.

[Elements @VCElements]

Visualized: Global steel production surge over 50 years 🔩

https://t.co/jOmVYlanPg