The unimportant news thread

[Kalevala]

Vegan burgers are losing the US culture war over meat.



https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/sep/12/vegan-burgers-meat-vegetarian

I haven't tried any products like Beyond, etc. (and this has nothing to do with Pres. T being in office, etc.).  I've heard about products like theirs and others and felt uncomfortable with how they were created/made.  Going back years ago, I used to make a recipe from Moosewood Cookbook for a burger that (if I'm remembering correctly) contained things like lentils and walnuts (They also freeze well).  I enjoyed those--though they do have a tendency to fall apart easier than ones that you can find in the freezer section these days.  I've been tempted to revisit the recipe.  Tried Dr. Praeger's --the one that I had...well, to me it tasted like cardboard.  I do have a different variety of it which I should give it a go. 

There are a fair number of vegetarians, vegans and pescatarians in my neck of the woods.  I do love my veggies and have been cutting back on meat, so it doesn't sound like I fit in with the article's demographics.

In any event, not all hope is lost! 

K

[Todd]

From AI News: AI and Sustainability: Transforming Climate Action

From USA Today: The hidden environmental cost of generative AI and its toll on climate

It's still common to see catastrophists claim that AI represents some type of existential threat to humanity - presumably AI will morph into Skynet or a double WOPR with cheese, or some such - but here's a thought experiment: what if AI determines that AI represents an existential threat to not only ambulatory meatbags known as humans, but also to AI?  AI needs gobs o' energy, but as always, resources are limited, and exponential growth of AI would lead to a depletion of resources needed to power AI.  Would AI slow its own "growth"? 

Of course, there are people who see the technology as grossly oversold in terms of capability and see the current mania as a classic bubble driven partly by nearly two decades of expansionary monetary policy in all advanced economies and partly by good old fashioned Barnumism by leading executives and investors in the space.  Such folks are wrong, of course, and AI will be more socially transformative than the widespread adoption of modern water treatment.

[drogulus]

    A skull was found in China that shows that a sister species to Homo Sapiens may have emerged a million years ago. It's called Homo Longi and it's closely related to Neanderthals and modern humans.

[Todd]

From the WSJ via MSN: Debt Is Fueling the Next Wave of the AI Boom

[drogulus]

    Chinese Premier Premier Li Qiang sent a message to Trump. The message is 1) Xi Jinpeng is no longer in control and 2) China wants to return to the reform path favored by the party elders and 3) Trump is welcome to visit China.

    This happened while Li was supposedly sightseeing in NY and this message is the real reason he attended the UN assembly. The message was received by Trumpist mega-idiot Howard Lutnick. Apparently there were no regular idiots available to meet with Li on such short notice.