Pleb Lab is a new boiler room and @k00b is nesting which means @k00b is extra kar3n.

The new lab resides in a windowless, basement-like commercial area immediately adjacent to the office we were in in 2024. I always felt tired in that environmentally identical office and attributed it to the lighting. In the old office, I swapped my 4200K fluorescent tubes for 5000K LEDs but didn't notice much difference in my lethargy other than things being slightly and literally bluish.

The real problem seems to be poor ventilation. Outdoor C02 levels average ~400ppm and the CDC considers 800ppm and lower to represent "good ventilation."

In the office, after we've been huffing and puffing and coding and ranting about shitcoins and how nostr cures hemorrhoids all day, the C02 reaches nearly 1400ppm.

At 1000ppm, research shows that decision-making performance declines in a concentration-dependent and statistically significant way compared to a baseline of 600ppm. This review found that even regular exposure to 700ppm results in "building-related symptoms," which if not directly related to C02 levels could be caused by high C02 being correlated with the presence of other air pollutants.

Our short-term solution is to keep our office door open to the lobby, which has ~700ppm. A few hours after that small change, we're almost at normal indoor levels. With only @Car and I as subjects, we both noticed a difference in how we felt. The air also feels a lot less stuffy.

Car is already working on a long-term solution. And it feels good to know those extra naps I used to take weren't only caused by my poor lifestyle.