vikramkr

58 ms·

721.
by vikramkr 6y ago
Looks like there's some renewed importance to that rocketlab venus prove then! I wonder if they'll modify their mission parameters to look for signs of life now - part of the flexibility of doing interplanetary research as a priva
722.
by vikramkr 6y ago
While there might be eartg life that can live in those extreme environments, that type of life usually can't live at what we consider more comfortable temperatures and couldn't survive being on the probe while it was on earth bein
723.
by vikramkr 6y ago
I don't think they're being as coy as the phrasing "in a way accusing" suggests. This is a very direct accusation that Bytedance is not on board with changes for privacy, security, etc.
724.
by vikramkr 6y ago
This has more to do with the synthesis process itself, but here's a good read [0]. Youll notice most of the problems are around cost and logistics, but if we had the funding of the human genome project, that would be a non issue. I don
725.
by vikramkr 6y ago
Just synthesizing a genome isn't going to get us to designer humans - frankly its already well within the reach of modern technology to synthesize 3 billion bases. You cant just bootstrap from the nucleotide sequence - even in really s
726.
by vikramkr 6y ago
I think your ecology textbooks are a few decades out of date. Monoclimax theory is obsolete[0]. Its much more accurate to consider the equilibrium state than to imagine an ecosystem as working towards some idealized climax. And "better
727.
by vikramkr 6y ago
The example I had in mind was the Sahara, or even just the evidence that the U.S. modwest has gone through significant periods of time as a desert. In ye olden days there might have been rainforest at the poles, but near the equator things
728.
by vikramkr 6y ago
Still not pedantic enough. Ecosystems aren't designed and they aren't trying to reach levels of organization - they just are. There's no concept of "better." The current equilibrium for the climate in these regions
729.
by vikramkr 6y ago
by the point we leave the ice age, there's no guarantee that there'll be anything left to burn - the whole place could undergo desertification well before the ice caps melt.
730.
by vikramkr 6y ago
the statement isn't that Mediterranean climates burn. The statement is that a Mediterranean climate, California's climate, is a climate that is designed to burn. If you are going to be pedantic, do it right.
731.
by vikramkr 6y ago
I think the point was more about the attitude- instead of walking in and going "my teeth are screwed up, help!" - they're walking in thinking it's a good thing they haven't brushed their teeth. The lack of recogniti
732.
by vikramkr 6y ago
Usually successfully arguing that it was mental health gets you institutionalized anyway [0], so its not always as simple as saying rich people get to get off easy with the insanity defense. They've got to avoid the consequences of tha
733.
by vikramkr 6y ago
Used to be on the FAQ page (web archive link linked below) they were pretty firm on the idea that remote could not work because they "tried it once" and what they do they "have to do in person"[0]. Interesting to see the
734.
by vikramkr 6y ago
they just moved to another central hub - Denver has tons of defense contractors. Does it count as decentralization if a fintech moves from palo alto to New York City?
735.
by vikramkr 6y ago
Colorado in general has a ton of defense contractors. It's probably easier to find talent that has the necessary clearances and experience working with government agencies there versus in the bay.
736.
by vikramkr 6y ago
There are LOTS of defense companies there. You'll probably find it easier to hire and find talent when you're in a defense hub (your employees will need clearances and stuff to be able to do work for the DoD).
737.
by vikramkr 6y ago
A hedge fund was involved, maybe this is a preparation for an IPO? Get some institutional public investors on board?
738.
by vikramkr 6y ago
Its not like they have no competition- if people end up trusting walmart more than amazon we could see a shift happen. And again - HQ2. That was a huge miscalculation that resulted in actual problems for them - they're not able to get
739.
by vikramkr 6y ago
Whoever is running Amazon's PR is either really good and has determined this won't matter, or is really really incompetent. Based on how the PR for HQ2 in NYC went, I'm suspecting the latter.
740.
by vikramkr 6y ago
Compared to their peers in northern Europe that fared far better, the data does not suggest vindication. They have 5x the number of cases per capita compared to countries with similar social/economic/geographic conditions.
741.
by vikramkr 6y ago
The minimalist attitude to reading in medicine was a disaster. For centuries "doctors" only studied the classic texts (inaccuracies and all) and reading widely or seeking new medical knowledge was discouraged or made illegal. Medi
742.
by vikramkr 6y ago
Management left unchecked just does what they're incentivized to do. You can't pass on the blame as shareholders when shareholders create incentive packages that reward getting a bonus today for an acquisition instead of not reall
743.
by vikramkr 6y ago
Yeah - its some unprecedented stuff for a vaccibe. One important thing to remember is that its impossible to test two important factors for vaccines in a short trial - long term side effects and durability of the immunity. I mean, it'
744.
by vikramkr 6y ago
The usual protocols have been well and truly thrown out the window, so I don't know what the comparison point would be. Moderna didn't even finish animal trials before giving their vaccine to humans.
745.
by vikramkr 6y ago
because she's a public leader and vaccines dont work if people don't take them, and if people see people in positions of power avoiding the vaccine, they're going to be inclined to do the same. The science of getting the vacc
746.
by vikramkr 6y ago
If the statistics warrant it then yes, but for a vaccine, even waiting to finish these trials is an incredibly rushed schedule. This isn't even about stopping the trial early - this is about approving it conditionally before the trial
747.
by vikramkr 6y ago
It's from a UK institution. I'd be surprised if the average member of that institution could distinguish US cities either. I assure you that people in coastal US cities are fully capable of distinguishing the mountainy place where
748.
by vikramkr 6y ago
I used the scare quotes for a reason- Belarus definitely isn't the only dictatorship in Europe, but its a common enough nickname for it that you really should be surprised if a country that's nicknamed the "last" dictato
749.
by vikramkr 6y ago
It was already authorization- its the "last dictatorship in europe" - what did they think it was before?
750.
by vikramkr 6y ago
Its ironic that a flag designed to support a land rights movement ends up in a situation where the indigenous peoples are fighting for the rights to it. Is there some deeper reason behind why the designer of the flag would claim copyright a

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