gattr

9 ms·

91.
by gattr 3y ago
Another fun fact: there are more trees on Earth (3×10¹²) [1] than stars in the Milky Way (1-4×10¹¹). [1] "Mapping tree density at a global scale" https://www.nature.com/articles/nature14967
92.
by gattr 3y ago
Or we could mark the Earth-facing side of the Moon somehow; that would endure over geological time scales. Maybe not via massive excavations with nuclear charges (sounds like vandalism to me), but, say, hundreds of kilometers long figures&#
93.
by gattr 3y ago
Hopefully, in a few decades: got cancer? Go for a biopsy, wait a week for a personalized vaccine. Even if some cells survive, mutate and start growing again, just repeat the procedure. Cancer becomes a somewhat annoying chronic illness.
94.
by gattr 3y ago
He could have been using small earplugs - I hope!
95.
by gattr 3y ago
As a side note, Terminator: Future Shock ([1]) had 3D enemies in '95 - but still 2D-sprite explosions and weapons. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Terminator:_Future_Shock
96.
by gattr 3y ago
Here's an interesting view I've encountered somewhere: yes, complex (not to mention intelligent) life might be very rare, but simple life might be extremely common (either easily arising from primordial soups, and/or trivia
97.
by gattr 3y ago
But as soon as you can run an open-source model privately on your workstation, laptop, eventually a phone - common man's position might get somewhat improved.
98.
by gattr 3y ago
Let's not forget about San Escobar: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Escobar Unofficial map: https://joemonster.org/p/1595265/size/oryg/san_escobar_map_J...
99.
by gattr 3y ago
I love the idea of LLMs being super-efficient language tutors. And you have a good point; coming soon: "We've been getting a lot of these tourists here lately, they're eerily fluent, but all seem to have the same minor speech
100.
by gattr 3y ago
When I got older, I realized the sneakiness here (shortening and quoting from memory): > Trurl realized that a poet's mind is shaped by the civilization that produced him, and that civilization - by the one before it, and so on. So
101.
by gattr 3y ago
I hope we'll get a screen adaptation of HL/HL:OpFor/HL2, at least as good as HBO's "The Last Of Us" (I loved it, and haven't even played that game).
102.
by gattr 3y ago
Thanks, good to know! Looks like I'll switch to dump1090_rs.
103.
by gattr 3y ago
Just a few weeks ago I got interested in this as well ("where does FR24 get its data from?"). I ended up buying a cheap RTL-SDR dongle (R820T2) and a small outdoor antenna. I run the free dump1090 tool (I'm on Fedora) to deco
104.
by gattr 3y ago
Just a side note: for torque it's very emphatically "times", not "divided by": lb⋅ft (or N⋅m).
105.
by gattr 3y ago
I agree. We'll have life-like androids for all kinds of entertainment (not AGI-controlled, just some fancy future-generation LLM) sooner than direct neural interfaces for full-immersion VR or stuff like that.
106.
by gattr 3y ago
Good point! I guess a properly shielded drone would work. This way you could wear the defenders down, just send in a swarm after swarm.
107.
by gattr 3y ago
Tangentially related: in Joe Haldeman's SF novel "The Forever War", at some point "stasis field generators" are added to the arsenal. They limit the maximum speed (of matter and photons) inside a small volume of spa
108.
by gattr 3y ago
The hand-to-hand combat at the China-India LAC ([1]) features prominently in one of the plotlines of Neal Stephenson's "Termination Shock". [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_of_Actual_Control
109.
by gattr 3y ago
Similarly in Polish ("judasz"). The more formal term is "wizjer", though that can also refer to "helmet visor" or "camera viewfinder".
110.
by gattr 3y ago
In this vein, I can recommend the "Axis of Time" novels ([1]). The novels deal with the radical alteration of the history of World War II and the socio-historical changes that result when a technologically advanced naval task for
111.
by gattr 3y ago
But the SW sliders are much more convenient; say, at work the desirable blue light level varies quite a lot (e.g., a sunny afternoon with blinds half-closed vs. a rainy morning), and a smooth adjustment is very nice to have.
112.
by gattr 3y ago
I've been using dark themes whenever possible for a few years now, but recently realized much of unpleasantness of light mode comes for me from it being too blue w.r.t. the ambient lighting conditions. Playing with the slider in "
113.
by gattr 3y ago
I don't believe haptic suits will be it. Either we'll get direct neural interfaces for all-sense simulation, or (sooner and easier) motorized lifelike androids (don't have to do much, just assume some poses and move a bit dur
114.
by gattr 3y ago
To capture material similar to TFA, a 5" diameter (127 mm) telescope would do (here perhaps a larger one was used, but in bad seeing conditions [1]), e.g. a cheap $100-$200 Newtonian. Add a reasonable mount (~$400) and a camera (one ca
115.
by gattr 3y ago
The logical conclusion (maybe in quite a near future) will be something like the space opera engagements in Honorverse ([1]). TL;DR: space battles involve fighting typically beyond the ship's main directed-energy armaments' range.
116.
by gattr 3y ago
Check out Wolf-Rayet stars ([1]); effective surface temperature from 10,000 to 210,000 K. Tungsten melts at 3956 K, hafnium carbonitride ([2]) at 4370 K. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf%E2%80%93Rayet_star [2] h
117.
by gattr 3y ago
On a side note, I enjoyed Joe Abercrombie's "The First Law" cycle. It subverts the "wise old man enlists young hero's services for a lofty endeavor" trope to great effect.
118.
by gattr 3y ago
That's (hopefully) not necessary. The main idea for braking is detaching the sail from the payload, then the sail focuses the light on a smaller sail/surface on payload's forward end to brake it. Besides, let's not get a
119.
by gattr 3y ago
No; instead, I use Maxima on Android (and on desktop Linux too).
120.
by gattr 3y ago
This (unplanned loss of superconductivity) sometimes happens to accelerator magnets in LHC. To prevent stuff from melting/blowing up, there's an elaborate protection system integrated ([1]). [1] LHC Magnet Quench Protection System

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