Maybe we could establish a simple template for the reviews?

Something like x/5 ratings for a few criteria :

• Communities
• Culture
• Moderation
• Availability
• Performance
• Federation

This won't replace a written assessment of course, it's just an at-a-glance view.

cross-posted from: https://infosec.pub/post/47675011

That does it, get the constable!

Source

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/47812532

The adder (Vipera berus), also known as the common adder and the common European viper, is a species of venomous snake in the viper family, Viperidae. It occurs across much of Europe (where it is the most widespread snake species) and northern Asia, including Great Britain, Scandinavia, and parts of Russia and China. In several European countries, the adder is the only extant venomous snake. Usually growing to around 60 cm (24 in) in length, it has a dark zigzag stripe along the back, though colour varies considerably, including completely black melanistic forms. The adder inhabits a wide range of environments such as heathland, woodland edges, moors, and wetlands. It feeds mainly on small mammals, amphibians, and lizards, and is ovoviviparous, giving birth to live young. Although its bite can be painful, fatalities are extremely rare. The species is protected in several countries because of habitat loss and population declines.

Photographer: Charles J. Sharp

CC BY-SA 4.0

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/43366952

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/47586531

With tentacles extended in all directions, the Rhopalonematid jelly Crossota millsae is caught in a very interesting natural pose by the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Deep Discoverer’s cameras in waters south of La Parguera on the southwestern shore of Puerto Rico at a depth of 1,015 meters (3,330 feet). Moving just above the seafloor, ROV Deep Discoverer came across this jellyfish hovering with its tentacles extending outward in all directions. Looking into known accounts of jellyfish similar to this one, it appears the jellyfish shown is a male individual of Crossota millsae, a jellyfish in the Family Rhopalonematidae.

This is not the first time we have encountered a specimen like this – other species in this family of jellies have been caught by our ROV’s cameras. Certainly psychedelic, the video shows a jelly in a very interesting pose, suggesting this jellyfish may feed by hovering above the seafloor with stinging cell-loaded tentacles extended and waiting for prey. In other dives, these poses were followed by rapid swimming.

Known from the Atlantic as well as the Pacific, jellies similar to these have been found not too far from the seafloor, suggesting a linkage between the benthos and the water column. Recording seemingly natural behaviors and stances by deep-ocean life in high-definition has given us the ability to not only identify these organisms, but learn a little about how they live.

Author: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/11704518

New winter homes built for Scotland's rarest amphibian on the Solway Coast | Species On The Edge

New wintering habitat has been built for natterjack toads at a Scottish Water wastewater treatment works at Powfoot on the Scottish Solway Coast.

The natterjack toad (Epidalea calamita) can only be found at a handful of locations in Scotland, all on the Solway coast; it is now Scotland’s rarest amphibian. Natterjack numbers have declined dramatically in recent years, largely due to habitat loss caused by sea level rise, coastal erosion, agricultural intensification, urban expansion and commercial forestry.

To help address this decline in habitat, Scottish Water, NatureScot, Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC), and Hoddom and Kinmount Estates have joined together to build hibernacula, specialist structures designed to provide natterjacks safe spaces to shelter in winter. The project has been funded by Species on the Edge, an endangered species conservation programme funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The construction of the hibernacula has been carried out by environmental services and ground maintenance company, Ground Control.

Each hibernaculum is built by digging pits into the earth and filling them with large rocks. Sand is packed into the spaces between. The natterjack toad is the only amphibian in the UK with the ability to burrow, and the structure creates a network of cavities and crevices with varying microclimates into which the natterjacks can burrow, shelter and regulate their body temperature during winter.

The design takes inspiration from features of the traditional farmed landscape – such as dry-stone walls and dust baths – which natterjacks once relied on but which have largely disappeared due to the intensification of modern agriculture.

Liam Templeton from Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) said: “We’re incredibly fortunate to have the iconic natterjack toad on the Scottish Solway Coast. The species was once abundant here, particularly at locations like Powfoot; local residents speak fondly about times when natterjacks could be heard chorusing on warm spring and summer evenings. It is our ambition for the species to return to its former glory so that such experiences can be enjoyed by future generations to come.

By constructing these hibernacula, we are providing a key habitat requirement for the species and ensuring that they have every opportunity to thrive as they have done before.”

Terri Ward, Biodiversity & Natural Capital Leader at Scottish Water, said: “Scottish Water is delighted to be working on this project alongside ARC, NatureScot and Ground Control. Healthy, well-functioning ecosystems are key to supporting the resilience and sustainability of water and wastewater services. These habitat improvements are part of a wider focus on treating nature as a vital asset in responding to challenges such as climate change.”

To find out more visit: www.speciesontheedge.co.uk/natterjack-toad or www.arc-trust.org.

---

Gallery

Two hibernacula at Powfoot (c) Liam Templeton Amphibian and Reptile Conservation

Powfoot hibernaculum (c) Liam Templeton Amphibian and Reptile Conservation

Natterjack toad (c) Chris Dresh

Male natterjack toad (c) Chris Dresh

---

About Species on the Edge

Species on the Edge is a multi-partner species conservation programme dedicated to working with communities across Scotland’s coasts and islands to help them secure a future for their local nationally and internationally vulnerable species. Funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the partnership consists of Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, Bat Conservation Trust, Buglife, Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Butterfly Conservation, NatureScot, Plantlife, and RSPB Scotland. The programme is active across seven landscape-scale areas in Scotland: Argyll and the Inner Hebrides; Outer Hebrides; North Coast; Orkney; Shetland; East Coast; Solway Coast.

About Amphibian and Reptile Conservation

Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) is a UK based wildlife charity dedicated to two important groups of animals. Its mission is to safeguard healthy populations of amphibians and reptiles and the habitats on which they depend. ARC’s team work to conserve green spaces, enthuse and involve more people in their conservation through its custodianship of over 80 nature reserves, spanning across 2000 hectares. The trust takes forward conservation directly through its team of over 50 employees along with 1000 volunteers. These include governmental and NGO bodies partners to influence others through advocacy, education and increasing awareness. In addition to its work in the UK, ARC also works to make a difference for amphibians and reptiles further afield, across Europe and internationally.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/11704518

New winter homes built for Scotland's rarest amphibian on the Solway Coast | Species On The Edge

New wintering habitat has been built for natterjack toads at a Scottish Water wastewater treatment works at Powfoot on the Scottish Solway Coast.

The natterjack toad (Epidalea calamita) can only be found at a handful of locations in Scotland, all on the Solway coast; it is now Scotland’s rarest amphibian. Natterjack numbers have declined dramatically in recent years, largely due to habitat loss caused by sea level rise, coastal erosion, agricultural intensification, urban expansion and commercial forestry.

To help address this decline in habitat, Scottish Water, NatureScot, Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC), and Hoddom and Kinmount Estates have joined together to build hibernacula, specialist structures designed to provide natterjacks safe spaces to shelter in winter. The project has been funded by Species on the Edge, an endangered species conservation programme funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The construction of the hibernacula has been carried out by environmental services and ground maintenance company, Ground Control.

Each hibernaculum is built by digging pits into the earth and filling them with large rocks. Sand is packed into the spaces between. The natterjack toad is the only amphibian in the UK with the ability to burrow, and the structure creates a network of cavities and crevices with varying microclimates into which the natterjacks can burrow, shelter and regulate their body temperature during winter.

The design takes inspiration from features of the traditional farmed landscape – such as dry-stone walls and dust baths – which natterjacks once relied on but which have largely disappeared due to the intensification of modern agriculture.

Liam Templeton from Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) said: “We’re incredibly fortunate to have the iconic natterjack toad on the Scottish Solway Coast. The species was once abundant here, particularly at locations like Powfoot; local residents speak fondly about times when natterjacks could be heard chorusing on warm spring and summer evenings. It is our ambition for the species to return to its former glory so that such experiences can be enjoyed by future generations to come.

By constructing these hibernacula, we are providing a key habitat requirement for the species and ensuring that they have every opportunity to thrive as they have done before.”

Terri Ward, Biodiversity & Natural Capital Leader at Scottish Water, said: “Scottish Water is delighted to be working on this project alongside ARC, NatureScot and Ground Control. Healthy, well-functioning ecosystems are key to supporting the resilience and sustainability of water and wastewater services. These habitat improvements are part of a wider focus on treating nature as a vital asset in responding to challenges such as climate change.”

To find out more visit: www.speciesontheedge.co.uk/natterjack-toad or www.arc-trust.org.

---

Gallery

Two hibernacula at Powfoot (c) Liam Templeton Amphibian and Reptile Conservation

Powfoot hibernaculum (c) Liam Templeton Amphibian and Reptile Conservation

Natterjack toad (c) Chris Dresh

Male natterjack toad (c) Chris Dresh

---

About Species on the Edge

Species on the Edge is a multi-partner species conservation programme dedicated to working with communities across Scotland’s coasts and islands to help them secure a future for their local nationally and internationally vulnerable species. Funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the partnership consists of Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, Bat Conservation Trust, Buglife, Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Butterfly Conservation, NatureScot, Plantlife, and RSPB Scotland. The programme is active across seven landscape-scale areas in Scotland: Argyll and the Inner Hebrides; Outer Hebrides; North Coast; Orkney; Shetland; East Coast; Solway Coast.

About Amphibian and Reptile Conservation

Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) is a UK based wildlife charity dedicated to two important groups of animals. Its mission is to safeguard healthy populations of amphibians and reptiles and the habitats on which they depend. ARC’s team work to conserve green spaces, enthuse and involve more people in their conservation through its custodianship of over 80 nature reserves, spanning across 2000 hectares. The trust takes forward conservation directly through its team of over 50 employees along with 1000 volunteers. These include governmental and NGO bodies partners to influence others through advocacy, education and increasing awareness. In addition to its work in the UK, ARC also works to make a difference for amphibians and reptiles further afield, across Europe and internationally.

https://www.colorado.edu/polisci/2025/04/01/uss-responsibility-destruction-haiti

I've been using Librewolf on my Linux box for years, but my work PC had Firefox portable on it. I want to make the switch there, but FF isn't listed on the browsers to import from.

I could copy the profile folder, but I'm afraid of overwriting the sane LW defaults with less private FF settings.

How can I solve this? Is there a way to import stuff (plugins, history, etc) without overwriting privacy and security settings? Or perhaps a way to reset privacy and security settings without losing the rest of the preferences?

Edit: I also asked this on LW's official Matrix support channel, and it looks like my fears are mostly unfounded. Thanks to any1here who answered this, and is the Setting Maintainer for the project and overall chill chihuahua.

-- You would only be copying over user prefs, which are things you explicitly set in Firefox, not the Firefox default settings

-- When I create a profile, my user prefs are blank, the defaults are not copied over to the profile at creation? So the only thing that is written there are the prefs I change away from defaults?

-- Basically yes. There are a few things that get written by itself, but nothing important

Found through this Vice article: https://www.vice.com/en/article/scientists-finally-identified-that-weird-golden-orb-they-found-in-the-deep-sea/

One the key mechanisms science stays healthy is skepticism. This article throws some over a recent sensational paper published on Science.

A while ago I got myself an used business desktop to turn into a NAS. Put a couple memory sticks in it, a small SSD to run TrueNAS, filled it to the gills with HDD. Filled to the gills, in this case, means using all 3 of its drive bays and onboard SATA connectors with two 3.5" HGST 4TB drives and one 2.5" Seagate 4TB drive. The drives were all used, the HGST bought on a used server parts website (they now have 9 years of power on time), the Seagate through eBay (and reporting almost no usage time, which of course was false). This is all too high-stakes gambling for this group, so I spared you this story.

A couple weeks ago the Seagate small drive was no longer answering SMART diagnostics. And now it really started crapping out. So I thought I'd be less of a cheapskate and buy a brand new drive. Even spinning drives have gone up in price nowadays with the gestures broadly at everything going on. 2.5" maximum size means I can't really put a server-grade HDD in, so another "notebook" Seagate BarraCuda is what I got that fit my budget. 5TB this time. Seller seems legit, what I could understand from what smartmontools spat out, it seems kosher. Not like I know what else I could do to check the authenticity of the drive / make sure it's actually new.

So, conveyance test passed, short test passed, and overnight long SMART test passed too. It's now re-silvering the RAID.

Following two persons advice, I've got some oat milk to put in my coffee. They both said they prefer it to milk.

I thought it was too watery. I wonder if the grain juice I got wasn't very good. It's "Planet Oat" oat milk original unsweetened. It barely adds any color, texture or taste to the coffee.

So, coffee drinkers: do you like your bean tea with oat juice? If so, is it supposed to be that watered down? If not, what brand of grain juice do you prefer?

Do I despise them more when they insist in this failed narrative? Also yes.
And the people that can't seem to talk in any other way? They're the worst.

The new pop up to ask of you really want to go back to the communities list and lose progress is great, but out doesn't prevent or show up in this case.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Open the picture of a picture post (i.e. zoom the picture without opening the post page).
2. Edit zoomed picture view (whether by "back button" gesture or by pulling down on the picture).
3. On about 25% of the time, it will behave correctly and go back to the post list. 75% it will go back "twice" to the communities list, without triggering the prompt and losing place in the scroll.

Environment:

• Android 16 (GrapheneOS latest)
• Pixel 8
• Voyager 2.43.2 from GitHub

cross-posted from: https://lemmings.world/post/40006929

Those strange red dots in James Webb images finally have an explanation

cross-posted from: https://piefed.zip/c/nonpolitical_comics/p/950414/brrr

Brrr.

cross-posted from: https://piefed.zip/c/comicstrips/p/950376/brrr

Source

Alt Text: A cartoon illustration of a person and their pug walking outside in the winter, using a scarf wrapped around both their heads as a leash. Caption reads "It was too cold to even bother with a leash that day."