Jay Werber
@jaywerber.bsky.social
Asst Prof., Chem Eng @ University of Toronto. Research on membranes for water and sustainable production of metals and chemicals. Passionate about housing, cycling infrastructure, and people-focused urban development.
Reposted by Jay Werber
I am shocked -- shocked! -- to learn that housing prices fell the most in metros where inventory of homes increased by a lot. via @harvard-jchs.bsky.social
www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/home-pr...
www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/home-pr...
September 11, 2025 at 4:38 PM
I am shocked -- shocked! -- to learn that housing prices fell the most in metros where inventory of homes increased by a lot. via @harvard-jchs.bsky.social
www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/home-pr...
www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/home-pr...
I'm always sad after finishing my last coffee of the day.
September 11, 2025 at 6:37 PM
I'm always sad after finishing my last coffee of the day.
Thinking about solar panels and how they are getting trivially cheap, but installation remains a big challenge. I hope that as pre-fab/modular housing becomes more of a thing that designers can incorporate an insane amount of solar panels. They should be on vertical walls and roofs at this point.
August 15, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Thinking about solar panels and how they are getting trivially cheap, but installation remains a big challenge. I hope that as pre-fab/modular housing becomes more of a thing that designers can incorporate an insane amount of solar panels. They should be on vertical walls and roofs at this point.
I have found that I have mostly still used LinkedIn, rather than bsky, but I want to use bsky more. I'm going to be posting lots of random thoughts here.
August 15, 2025 at 4:50 PM
I have found that I have mostly still used LinkedIn, rather than bsky, but I want to use bsky more. I'm going to be posting lots of random thoughts here.
Reposted by Jay Werber
Trump administration is terminating $2.7 billion in research funding to Harvard:
Work on breast cancer, impact of nutrition on fertility, antibiotic resistance and hundreds of other topics all dead
“It feels like the academic equivalent of nuclear war"
www.wbur.org/news/2025/05...
Work on breast cancer, impact of nutrition on fertility, antibiotic resistance and hundreds of other topics all dead
“It feels like the academic equivalent of nuclear war"
www.wbur.org/news/2025/05...
Feds yank funds from Harvard breast cancer, fertility, antibiotics research
The Trump administration is following through on threats to terminate $2.7 billion dollars in federal grants and other funding at Harvard University, punishment for alleged antisemitism on campus. One...
www.wbur.org
May 17, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Trump administration is terminating $2.7 billion in research funding to Harvard:
Work on breast cancer, impact of nutrition on fertility, antibiotic resistance and hundreds of other topics all dead
“It feels like the academic equivalent of nuclear war"
www.wbur.org/news/2025/05...
Work on breast cancer, impact of nutrition on fertility, antibiotic resistance and hundreds of other topics all dead
“It feels like the academic equivalent of nuclear war"
www.wbur.org/news/2025/05...
Reposted by Jay Werber
RIP American science: NSF faces radical shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions, layoff staff, and terminate more funded grants.
Exclusive: NSF faces radical shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions
Changes seen as a response to presidential directives on what research to fund
www.science.org
May 9, 2025 at 6:44 AM
RIP American science: NSF faces radical shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions, layoff staff, and terminate more funded grants.
Reposted by Jay Werber
Since Trump took office, his family has made $2.9 billion in crypto.
Again, this is a level of corruption so cartoonish, so obvious & on the surface, that it seems to have stunned everyone to silence.
Again, this is a level of corruption so cartoonish, so obvious & on the surface, that it seems to have stunned everyone to silence.
Trump family's net worth has increased by $2.9 billion thanks to crypto investments, new report says
As the Trump family's crypto ventures increase their wealth, the president's administration pauses a dozen federal crypto probes.
www.cbsnews.com
May 6, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Since Trump took office, his family has made $2.9 billion in crypto.
Again, this is a level of corruption so cartoonish, so obvious & on the surface, that it seems to have stunned everyone to silence.
Again, this is a level of corruption so cartoonish, so obvious & on the surface, that it seems to have stunned everyone to silence.
Reposted by Jay Werber
The UK's high-risk research agency will fund £56.8 million worth of projects in the controversial area of geoengineering — manipulating Earth’s environment to avert negative effects of climate change
https://go.nature.com/3Sv3fA1
https://go.nature.com/3Sv3fA1
UK funds controversial geoengineering projects to trial Earth-cooling tech
The Advanced Research and Invention Agency is investing £57 million to study climate-manipulating technologies, but says it is taking a cautious approach.
go.nature.com
May 7, 2025 at 9:04 AM
The UK's high-risk research agency will fund £56.8 million worth of projects in the controversial area of geoengineering — manipulating Earth’s environment to avert negative effects of climate change
https://go.nature.com/3Sv3fA1
https://go.nature.com/3Sv3fA1
Reposted by Jay Werber
If your main concern is *jobs*, import restrictions on solar panels are crazy. Even if you create a few manufacturing jobs, you lose way more installation jobs, which are far more numerous.
@hannahritchie.bsky.social runs the numbers.
@hannahritchie.bsky.social runs the numbers.
Do imports of cheap solar panel and other technologies help or hurt domestic jobs in clean energy?
Without a comparative advantage, cheaper energy imports often help domestic jobs.
www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com
April 21, 2025 at 7:26 PM
If your main concern is *jobs*, import restrictions on solar panels are crazy. Even if you create a few manufacturing jobs, you lose way more installation jobs, which are far more numerous.
@hannahritchie.bsky.social runs the numbers.
@hannahritchie.bsky.social runs the numbers.
Great article about Bluesky
April 20, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Great article about Bluesky
This is the energy Canada and the US need
It’s time to build a Canada you can afford.
My government will make Canada the world’s leading energy superpower, build homes at a pace not seen since WWII, and train thousands more skilled trades workers.
My government will make Canada the world’s leading energy superpower, build homes at a pace not seen since WWII, and train thousands more skilled trades workers.
April 20, 2025 at 7:55 PM
This is the energy Canada and the US need
Reposted by Jay Werber
Apparently the "realist" position is to ... ignore this?
Exceeding 1.5°C global warming could trigger multiple climate tipping points
Global warming greater than 1.5°C could trigger multiple climate tipping points.
www.science.org
April 9, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Apparently the "realist" position is to ... ignore this?
I learned today (just YouTube feed) about how there used to be millions of penguins (the Great Auk) in the Arctic, until Europeans and European settlers just killed them all. Super sad way to start the day.
March 10, 2025 at 1:21 PM
I learned today (just YouTube feed) about how there used to be millions of penguins (the Great Auk) in the Arctic, until Europeans and European settlers just killed them all. Super sad way to start the day.
Reposted by Jay Werber
Fun video about the Telo, a new electric minitruck that's the size of a two-door Mini Cooper.
The Telo's standard bed is 5 feet (same as a Ford Ranger). Its back seats can fold down to make a 8-foot bed (same as the F-150 "long bed" option).
The Telo's standard bed is 5 feet (same as a Ford Ranger). Its back seats can fold down to make a 8-foot bed (same as the F-150 "long bed" option).
I Drive the Most Revolutionary Truck In Decades: Meet the Telo MT1!
YouTube video by The Fast Lane Truck
www.youtube.com
March 10, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Fun video about the Telo, a new electric minitruck that's the size of a two-door Mini Cooper.
The Telo's standard bed is 5 feet (same as a Ford Ranger). Its back seats can fold down to make a 8-foot bed (same as the F-150 "long bed" option).
The Telo's standard bed is 5 feet (same as a Ford Ranger). Its back seats can fold down to make a 8-foot bed (same as the F-150 "long bed" option).
I had high hopes for this article. My biggest politics is that we need to build. More housing. More transit. More renewable energy. Make it all happen!
But BWW seemingly equates what Trump/Musk are doing as the same but without equity. This is wrong. 1/2
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
But BWW seemingly equates what Trump/Musk are doing as the same but without equity. This is wrong. 1/2
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Do Democrats Need to Learn How to Build?
Liberals have long emphasized protections over progress. Champions of the “abundance agenda” think it’s high time to speed things up.
www.newyorker.com
March 8, 2025 at 8:25 PM
I had high hopes for this article. My biggest politics is that we need to build. More housing. More transit. More renewable energy. Make it all happen!
But BWW seemingly equates what Trump/Musk are doing as the same but without equity. This is wrong. 1/2
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
But BWW seemingly equates what Trump/Musk are doing as the same but without equity. This is wrong. 1/2
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Reposted by Jay Werber
they have no idea they're playing with fire here
March 7, 2025 at 6:49 PM
they have no idea they're playing with fire here
Reposted by Jay Werber
The Stone Age didn’t end because we ran out of stone.
Society has changed before at the scale we need it to today: but that change was never catalyzed by presidents, PMs, or CEOs of the richest companies of the time.
The fossil fuel age won’t end until we ordinary people demand it does.
Society has changed before at the scale we need it to today: but that change was never catalyzed by presidents, PMs, or CEOs of the richest companies of the time.
The fossil fuel age won’t end until we ordinary people demand it does.
BP shifts course, boosting fossil fuel investments and cutting renewables
BP said on Wednesday it would increase annual oil and gas investment to $10 billion, returning the focus to fossil fuels, as part of CEO Murray Auchincloss' efforts to boost returns and improve financial performance.
www.reuters.com
February 26, 2025 at 1:36 PM
The Stone Age didn’t end because we ran out of stone.
Society has changed before at the scale we need it to today: but that change was never catalyzed by presidents, PMs, or CEOs of the richest companies of the time.
The fossil fuel age won’t end until we ordinary people demand it does.
Society has changed before at the scale we need it to today: but that change was never catalyzed by presidents, PMs, or CEOs of the richest companies of the time.
The fossil fuel age won’t end until we ordinary people demand it does.
This is even dumber than the bike lane nonsense. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Doug Ford's 401 tunnel vision could come with a nearly $100B price tag, expert says | CBC News
Doug Ford’s Highway 401 tunnel has gone from a surprise announcement to a full on re-election pledge — and according to one expert’s cost estimate, it could be a near $100 billion promise.
www.cbc.ca
February 21, 2025 at 2:57 PM
This is even dumber than the bike lane nonsense. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Reason #4822 why it's difficult to work from home:
how can I say no to the toddler waddling up carrying a book?
how can I say no to the toddler waddling up carrying a book?
February 18, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Reason #4822 why it's difficult to work from home:
how can I say no to the toddler waddling up carrying a book?
how can I say no to the toddler waddling up carrying a book?
15% is kind of insane, but there being some sort of rational indirect cost maximum honestly makes sense. The US does all sorts of weird, backdoor things to fund universities. Things would be much better if we just straight-up funded universities. Right now, most policies incentivize bloat.
February 10, 2025 at 2:13 PM
15% is kind of insane, but there being some sort of rational indirect cost maximum honestly makes sense. The US does all sorts of weird, backdoor things to fund universities. Things would be much better if we just straight-up funded universities. Right now, most policies incentivize bloat.
I wonder if anyone uses an Aeropress for organic chemistry. Pretty convenient way to filter solids!
February 10, 2025 at 2:06 PM
I wonder if anyone uses an Aeropress for organic chemistry. Pretty convenient way to filter solids!
Reposted by Jay Werber
February 9, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Canadians are super mad.
February 3, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Canadians are super mad.
Reposted by Jay Werber
It's amazing how badly most congressional Democrats are misreading the mood of their base.
On the bright side, if you're ever considered running for Congress, the 2026 Democratic Party primaries are going to be a prime moment for "throw the old guard out" insurgents.
On the bright side, if you're ever considered running for Congress, the 2026 Democratic Party primaries are going to be a prime moment for "throw the old guard out" insurgents.
January 31, 2025 at 5:56 PM
It's amazing how badly most congressional Democrats are misreading the mood of their base.
On the bright side, if you're ever considered running for Congress, the 2026 Democratic Party primaries are going to be a prime moment for "throw the old guard out" insurgents.
On the bright side, if you're ever considered running for Congress, the 2026 Democratic Party primaries are going to be a prime moment for "throw the old guard out" insurgents.