Snippets: Salt-based cell charges in seconds. AI is Taking over Humanity.

This weekly Snippets column is a collection of short items: responses to posted articles, practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. Note that we may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters.

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Scientists design super-battery made with cheap, readily affordable chemical element, Na — Salt-based cell has surprisingly good energy density and charges in seconds.

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Over at the great Rural Revolution blog: Poliphobia?

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Reader R.K. suggested a DIY YouTube page called Invention Incarnate that includes these two interesting videos:

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Reader D.S.V. mentioned this news published at a substack: Britain Refuses to Sign WHO Pandemic Treaty.

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SaraSue sent this snippet:

“Nothing is worse than hearing ‘a PDS (highest degree of destruction) tornado is headed straight for you.’ Thankfully, it lifted before it got to my property. I was in my ‘safe plac’, but I was pretty shaken up. A PDS tornado will flatten everything, not just tear your roof off. I and my family were completely untouched as the storms ripped across Tennessee for 12 hours. I decided to do a write-up of what all worked and didn’t work during this ‘tornado emergency’ because it applies to everything we do here in the preparedness community.”

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What could possibly go wrong? The city of San Francisco is purchasing shots of vodka to give to homeless alcoholics. (Note that this is a real news story — not a parody.)

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Richard T. wrote us:

“Not long ago I read this article in the Survival Blog about the importance of little things. Too often little things are neglected, especially when it comes to prayer. We don’t consider praying about little things because they seem so insignificant compared to the miraculous healings and events in the bible, but if it is big enough for us to be concerned about, it’s not too little to pray about. ‘Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?’ (Matthew 6:26.) It is a mistake to think that it has to be something big to be prayed about and that little things are too little to pray for.

One does not have to be a special person, especially good and wholesome to have prayers answered. A giant in getting results to prayer was George Muller. He operated an orphanage in Britain on prayer. As a boy, George Muller described himself as a thief and a liar. There is no secret formula for praying; Jesus’ instruction for prayer was simple: ‘Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil’. (Matthew 6:11-13.) Praying to God is nothing more than having a conversation. What I want to convey is that you should pray regardless of how insignificant it is or how imperfect you feel you are, just talk to God. I recall a prayer I made when I’m not sure I even believed in God at the time and certainly didn’t know what prayer was or the bible; I just simply said within my heart ‘God, please help me’, and he did. I like this video a lot, a humorous look at prayer.

I know that there are many who will read this who would concur on how readily and willingly God answers prayer. I can almost hear what they are saying, how thankful they are for how God has answered their prayers, little ones and big ones. I also am thankful for prayers both big and small that have been answered

I conclude with a quote from George Muller: ‘Where faith begins, anxiety ends; where anxiety begins, faith end.’ “

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David Haggith: AI is Rapidly Taking over Humanity.

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Reader L.E. sent these snippets:

“Taurine capsules work better than Advil, with no side effects, and they are also less expensive.

If you have an old yellowing ripped mattress pad, cut the elastic off the sides and sew a new cover on it for a child-size quilt

Old flat cotton sheets bought at the thrift store have a myriad of uses: Diapers, menstrual pads, bandages, arm slings, dishtowels, cut in strips and braided to sew together for rag rugs, and can be hung on thumbtacks or nails from the ceiling or in front of a doorway to keep warm air in a smaller enclosed room, I look for older 1980’s American made king size sheets. One sheet can also make a simple skirt and top, or window curtains, as they have a ready-made hem to put the curtain rod through.

Seed viability – I recently opened a vacuum-sealed set of survival seeds, they were about 10 years old. I tested the tomato, spinach, beet, and pea seeds, and found they still have about a 25 percent sprouting rate, so that’s good to know.

Scavenging at the landfill – If you have a landfill near you and they have a pile of freezers or refrigerators, then see if you can scavenge the freezer wire storage baskets and the tempered glass fridge shelves, the baskets make excellent root crop storage baskets and the tempered glass fridge shelves can be used to make a simple cold frame for starting out garden seeds. Just put one large tote inside another large tote with saved bubble wrap as insulation between them, then lay the glass shelves over the top outside in the sun–you can slide the shelves back and forth to adjust for airflow and to release heat/condensation.

Natural tranquilizers – Valerian tea works like Valium without needing a prescription or paying a high price. If you have a family member that freaks out after TSHTF, this will temporarily calm them down.”

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Mike in Alaska wrote:

“I have three of the Suunto MC-2 compasses sold by Coleman’s; one for my wife and two for my personal use. I keep one in my BOB and one in my battle rattle vest, I also have a military issue lensatic compass as back up in both my carry items. They are the older ones and the tritium has worn out but they still function good. I prefer the Suunto as my go to compass.

Here’s a link to a great site for learning the Suunto MC-2 and he has several other more longer landnav videos based upon that bad boy compass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6MHD6QTfgM

I thought that Tunnel Rabbit did a really great job in his article today: Low Tech Unconventional Radio Techniques.”

Mike also wrote:

“Imagine the things someone (good or bad) could do with one of these RFID reader boards, some free software, and a Linux based computer program that can translate UPC coding into readable English … oh my.”

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Reader H.C. had these comments about the recent solar storms:

“We went outside a couple of times last night to look at the sky. It was definitely different, although we didn’t see any green rippling curtains, or similar classic evidences.

At about 10:30, the moon was setting in the west. However, it looked like it was rising in the east. The brightness was not properly distributed, but was in bands and streaks.

At around 3:00 AM, the brightness was more obvious in the west. Again, it was not in the predictable places. Stars shown dimly, in general, and it looked like the Milky Way had gotten a pink tint.

These solar storms carry our minds back to the Carrington Event of 1859, when a solar storm was observed by astronomers, and then the effects were felt on earth–including some incineration of telegraph lines, and rail-road rails becoming hot enough to ignite the wooden ties.

One thing we often fail to remember is that back then, houses did not have wiring in the walls. If they had, what would have been the result?

God’s mercies are great, and we know that He will only allow the judgments that will work together for good to those who love Him.

At the same time, those who hate Him will find themselves without shelter.”

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And, finally, an inspirational home tour video: Family builds luxury Cave Home (1,500 sq ft) in Ohio.