Latest news with #RobinDunbar
Kiwiblog
16 hours ago
- General
- Kiwiblog
Why economists should like booze
The Economist writes: Consider the economics of the restaurant industry. Alcohol offers higher profit margins than food as it requires less labour to prepare. Indeed, using official American data, your columnist estimates that booze accounts for all the profits of the restaurant industry. Drinkers subsidise non-drinkers. Those who order sparkling water can feel sanctimonious in the short run. But if no one orders a bottle of Bordeaux, many restaurants will go under. Be interesting if this data is the same for New Zealand. Second, abstinence makes people lonelier. For centuries alcohol has served a social function. It helps people relax. Taking a drink also signals to others that you are happy to be slower and more vulnerable—that you have left your weapon at the door—which puts them at ease. A study from 2012 in Psychological Science found that alcohol increases social bonding. Robin Dunbar of Oxford University and colleagues find that frequenting a pub improves how engaged people feel with their community, in turn raising life satisfaction. It is not a stretch to say that alcohol has played a big evolutionary role in fostering human connection. Many couples credit alcohol, at least in part, for bringing them together. So it may not be a coincidence that the alcohol-shunning young are lonely. People do drink to relax and socialise. For centuries creative folk, from Aeschylus to Coleridge to Dickens, have relied on alcohol for inspiration. In the 1960s, when productivity was soaring, everyone was drunk all the time. No other drug has played such a consistent role in human innovation. Being intoxicated opens up the possibility of accidents of insight. Purely rational, linear minds have fewer of the flashes of brilliance that can turn an art form or an industry upside-down. It allows brains to disconnect. A study of American painters in 1946 by Ann Roe of Yale University noted that 'a nightly cocktail before dinner may contribute to the avoidance of a state of chronic tension, especially…when creative activity is at its height.' Studies suggest that alcohol, deployed judiciously, can aid the creative process. Andrew Jarosz of Mississippi State University and colleagues have found that intoxicated people solved problems faster and 'were more likely to perceive their solutions as the result of a sudden insight'. Fascinating.
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
The lost art of cleaning out your feed
Have you noticed that the internet is less fun lately? You're not alone. There are all kinds of reasons for this, many of which I can't begin to unpack here. At least part of the problem, though, is that we all stopped tidying up our feeds. Social media is only fun if you like the posts you're seeing. What kind of posts you see depends on which social media site you're using, but generally there are two categories of timelines: the reverse chronological, which you can directly control, and the algorithmic, which you can only sort of steer. In both cases, though, there are things you can do to see more of the things you like and less of the things you don't like. With that in mind let's rediscover the lost art of tidying out your feeds. Here's a few routines I try to stick to when I notice a lot of gunk—hopefully they're helpful for you. The British anthropologist Robin Dunbar suggested in a widely cited paper that there's a cognitive limit to the number of people with whom a person can maintain a relationship, proposing that the number is around 150. The theory, which he arrived at by observing primates and scaled based on the relative size of human brains, is that we can't really handle more relationships than that. While the exact number is debated the general concept that there is a limit is referred to as Dunbar's Number. You might remember failed social network Path was based on this concept. Basically you, as a single person, can't keep up with everyone. Your brain literally can't handle it. Following hundreds of people on social media means setting yourself up for feeling behind—you can't possibly keep up with all of those people. This is why I try to routinely do what I call The Great Unfollowing. I'm a fairly generous follower. If I read an article I like I'll try to find a newsletter link or RSS feed so I can keep up with the author. The same goes on social media: I try to follow people whose work I want to see more of. Over time, though, I become overwhelmed with the sheer volume. This can be a particular problem on social networks like Mastodon or Bluesky's 'following' tab, which have a reverse chronological timeline. It's also true of my RSS reader. That's because these services use a reverse chronological timeline. Put simply: These show you every post by the people or publications you're following ordered from most recent and scrolling down from there. The idea is that you can keep up with every post stop when you get to something that you've noticed before. The simplicity is the appeal here but it has some downsides. For example: If someone you follow posts a lot they are going to be overrepresented in your timeline. This is where The Great Unfollowing comes in. Basically I, on a routine basis, will open the following list, look at each one, and decide whether I want to keep following them. Back when Twitter was a thing I did this every time I noticed I was following more than 150 people—more than that, I'd noticed, and keeping up shifted from fun into an overwhelming firehouse. In order to keep up with the accounts I value most I need to occasionally unfollow the accounts that, to paraphrase a book you've heard of, aren't sparking joy. Another option is organizing your followers into groups or creating different accounts for different interests (for example: an Instagram account for following people you know in real life and one for sports or celebrities or food, whatever your interests). Now, I only heard about Dunbar's number after I started doing this. And I don't mean to suggest that there is scientific evidence that you should only ever follow 150 people, or any precise number. For one thing, following someone on social media isn't the same as having a relationship with them, a point that needs to be stated clearly. Most of my close relationships happen entirely outside of social media and I hope the same is true for you. All I mean to suggest is that there's probably a limit to the number of people, publications, and meme accounts that you can keep up with. Rather than feeling overwhelmed you should take the time to cut things back from time to time. The alternative is getting burnt out on your feeds and not following anyone anymore. The above section was all about pruning back reverse chronological feeds, where you see all of the posts from all of the people you follow. Many modern social media services, however, barely take which accounts you follow into account. TikTok, famously, uses an algorithm to feed you videos you might be interested in based on your past behavior. The YouTube homepage works the same way: it's based more on which videos you spend time watching than on which channels you've subscribed to. In both cases hitting the subscribe button may increase the odds of seeing videos from someone but it's not a sure thing. Threads works the same way. Instagram and Facebook, meanwhile, show you a few recent posts from your friends before turning into an algorithmic feed. In all of these cases you can't quite take the same approach as you can with reverse chronological feeds—unfollowing someone may not have any impact on whether or not you see those posts in your feed. But there are things you can do to help direct the kinds of content that shows up. The first: don't click videos you don't want to see, or if you do leave as quickly as possible. If you want to take more direct action most apps provide tools for that. On YouTube, for example, you can click the three dots next to a video titled and click the 'Not interested' button. There are similar buttons on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads. Now, how effective these buttons are are the subject of some debate—sometimes it doesn't seem to make any difference. If you truly despise a particular creator and don't want to see their stuff at all, well, there's always the mute or block button. The point is to think actively about what you're seeing in your timeline and attempt to take active steps to align it with what you want to see. Sometimes nothing seems to work, though, which is when it might be best to start over entirely. The simplest way to do this is to make a new account but you don't necessarily have to. We've written about how to reset the YouTube algorithm and reset the Instagram algorithm, so you can try those guides first. There's also a handy Mozilla guide if you want to reset the TikTok algorithm. Just keep in mind that, after you reset, your choices will shape the algorithm you get next. Some reading this might think this is all a bit extreme, and I will grant you that it doesn't exactly sound relaxing. But there is arguably nothing more important than what you pay attention to. The things you read and watch will shape the person you become in a very real way. It is worth thinking critically about that and, if possible, trying to direct it. I hope the above tips help you, in some small way, to do that.
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Grid Metals Corp. Signs Cesium Agreement with Tanco
TORONTO, ONTARIO / / February 18, 2025 / Grid Metals Corp. (TSXV:GRDM)(OTCQB:MSMGF) ("Grid" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has signed a cesium supply agreement (the "Agreement") with the Tantalum Mining Corporation of Canada Limited ("Tanco"). The Agreement provides funding for Grid to drill for cesium at its Donner Property. If sufficient resources are delineated by drilling, the Agreement provides access for 10,000 tonnes of Grid's cesium material to be processed at the Tanco Cesium Plant which is the only cesium processing plant in the western world. The Agreement is a unique opportunity for Grid to kick start exploration and potentially development for cesium - a rare critical metals. The drill target at Donner is the High Grade ("HG") Dyke which is a highly fractionated pegmatite dyke with documented high grade cesium values in the mineral pollucite. The HG Dyke is located approximately 35 km from the Tanco Cesium plant at Bernic Lake. Key Terms of the Grid Metals / Tanco Agreement An initial prepayment advance of CAD$300,000 will be provided by Tanco to Grid for drilling at Donner. If drilling is deemed successful (by the parties), a follow up prepayment advance of CAD$900,000 will be provided by Tanco to Grid for project development activities. In exchange, Tanco will have the right to purchase 10,000 tonnes of cesium-bearing material from Grid at a predetermined price. Pricing for cesium material grading at least 5% Cs2O will be US$1,500 per tonne (set price of US$300/t per 1% Cs2O) with deductions applied for transport The prepayment advances are repayable from the proceeds of future cesium or lithium sales to Tanco. Benefits of Agreement to Grid Shareholders Collaborative agreement providing capital and technical processing expertise for one of the world's rarest critical metals. Immediate funding for first phase cesium drill program at Donner Committed development capital for resource development/permitting Access to Tanco technical expertise and toll milling access at favourable terms Potential for the Agreement to generate near-term cash flow Opportunity to leverage other cesium occurrences in Grid's property portfolio, particularly Falcon West Robin Dunbar, Grid's CEO & President, stated, "Consistent with our focus on our Bird River property portfolio and partnering with industry leaders, we are excited to announce this agreement with Tanco, the world's leading producer of cesium products. This agreement provides the foundation to kickstart cesium exploration with the objective of near-term cash flow generation through toll milling. Our proximity to the only cesium operation in the western world is a unique feature of the Tanco collaboration. We note that we have a second cesium property (Falcon West) where we have obtained significant cesium results in drilling including 3.3 m at 10.3% Cs2O and 3.2 m at 4.6% Cs2O." Dr. Dave Peck, P. Geo., Grid's Vice President of Exploration, stated "The high-value and geological scarcity of primary cesium ores combined with the known surface exposure of pollucite at the HG Dyke provides strong motivation for the proposed exploration drilling. The partnership agreement with Tanco gives Grid direct access to the world's principal cesium processing plant - eliminating most of the technical risk for future cesium development project(s). The focus of the drill programs at Donner and eventually Falcon West will be to adequately characterize the potential for meaningful tonnages of near surface pollucite-dominant, high-grade cesium mineralization." Figure 1: Map of the Grid's projects in southeastern Manitoba Figure 2: Aerial view of Tanco mine site, including cesium chemical plant High-Grade Dyke Overview The High-Grade Dyke is located on the Donner lithium/cesium property, approximately 35 km from the Tanco Mine site. The dyke has seen limited exploration with drilling completed in the 1980's for tantalum. The HG Dyke contains the rare cesium mineral, pollucite - the preferred feedstock for the nearby Tanco cesium plant. Pollucite is only formed in the most fractionated LCT-type pegmatite bodies and is only known from a very small number of localities. A select composite surface grab sample from the High-Grade Dyke taken in 2024 returned 17.5% Cs2O associated with coarse-grained pollucite. The Company plans closely spaced drilling over a ~200 m strike length to test for any continuity of pollucite to a vertical extent of 30-50 m. By nature of its extremely fractionated nature, the HG Dyke has been the subject of multiple academic studies by world-renowned pegmatite researchers. Figure 3: Map of the Donner project with location of HG Dyke Cesium Overview Cesium is a rare earth metal that is defined as a critical mineral by the US and Canadian governments. The largest application of cesium is as cesium formate for drilling fluids, but it is also used in atomic clocks, photoelectric cells, glass production, vacuum tubes, and radiation monitoring equipment amongst other uses. Next generation solar panels (Perovskite solar cells) can use cesium to improve their efficiency, stability, and thermal properties. Only 3 mines globally have ever produced cesium including Tanco in Manitoba (producing), Bikita in Zimbabwe (producing) and Sinclair in Western Australia (formerly producing). The price of cesium carbonate on the Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) is currently US$120,000/t. Qualified Persons Statements Dr. Dave Peck, is the VP Exploration of Grid and is the Qualified Person for purposes of National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical content of this release. About Grid Metals Corp. Grid Metals is focused on exploration and development in southeastern Manitoba with four key projects in the Bird River area. The Makwa Property (Ni-Cu-PGM-Co), which is subject to an Option and Joint Venture Agreement with Teck Resources Limited ("Teck"). Teck can earn up to a 70% interest in Makwa by incurring a total of CAD$17.3 million, comprising project expenditures (CAD$15.7 million) and cash payments or equity participation (CAD$1.6 million) with Grid. Makwa is located on the south arm of the Bird River Greenstone Belt. The Mayville Property (Cu-Ni) is located on the north arm of the Bird River Greenstone Belt. Grid owns 100% of the Mayville Property subject to a minority interest. The Donner Property (Li-Cs) is adjacent to the Mayville Property, and Grid owns 75% of the project. Grid expects to commence a cesium focused drill program in the next few weeks. The Falcon West Property (Li-Cs) is located 110 km east of Winnipeg along the Trans-Canada highway and contains highly anomalous cesium values in a number of historical drill holes including 3.3 m at 10.3% Cs2O and 3.2 m at 4.6% Cs2O. All of the Company's southeastern Manitoba projects are located on the ancestral lands of the Sagkeeng First Nation with whom the Company maintains an Exploration Agreement. On Behalf of the Board of Grid Metals Corp. For more information about the Company, please see the Company website at or contact:Robin Dunbar - President, CEO & Director Telephone: 416-955-4773 Email: rd@ Smith - Chief Development Officer - bsmith@ Black - Investor Relations Email: info@ We seek safe harbour. This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and forward-looking information within the meaning of the Securities Act (Ontario) (together, "forward-looking statements"). Such forward-looking statements include the Company's closing of the proposed financial transactions, sale of royalty and property interests. the overall economic potential of its properties, the availability of adequate financing and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward- looking statements to be materially different. Such factors include, among others, risks and uncertainties relating to potential political risk, uncertainty of production and capital costs estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, physical risks inherent in mining operations, metallurgical risk, currency fluctuations, fluctuations in the price of nickel, cobalt, copper and other metals, completion of economic evaluations, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, the inability or failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis, and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis for the most recent financial period and Material Change Reports filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available at Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. SOURCE: Grid Metals Corp. View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire Sign in to access your portfolio
