SuperGameTheory

SuperGameTheory t1_je9yel8 wrote

Reply to comment by xopranaut in TIL the milky way was named as such because of Hera's breaskmilk...An infant Hercules tried to nurse from her, and she threw him off. Allowing some milk to splash and creating the galaxy and all its stars... by Themakia

I like the hubris that the ancients had in creating their myths. A baby is pulled away from a teat and innumerable gallons of milk drenches the entire night sky. Or Zeus got angry at Prometheus, so he chained him to a rock and had an eagle eat his liver for thirty years...until he was saved by Hercules.

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SuperGameTheory t1_j94cea2 wrote

Reply to Scientists have figured out a way to engineer wood to trap carbon dioxide through a potentially scalable, energy-efficient process that also makes the material stronger for use in construction by giuliomagnifico

"Right now, there is no biodegradable, sustainable substrate for deploying carbon dioxide-sorbent materials"

Correct me if I'm wrong, but growing vegetation in and of itself is a biodegradable, sustainable, carbon dioxide-sorbent process. Maybe we should look at fast growing, strong plants to harvest for building materials. Also, plant growth is solar powered...so that's neat.

The delignification process they describe sounds like the first steps of paper making, which isn't a pretty process when we're talking about wood prep and digestion. After all that, is this product going to be a net carbon sink? I really doubt it.

Can't we just genetically engineer bamboo for better viability?

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SuperGameTheory t1_j1znxyk wrote

Reply to comment by lilrabbitfoofoo in Some day soon we might be making popcorn with infrared poppers | It's fast, energy efficient, environmentally friendly compared to conventional heating by chrisdh79

A long time ago I won a popcorn popper from a drawing. It lives on my kitchen counter where the device real estate is at a premium. It pulls its weight. Not only is it quick, but there's a lot less waste, no burnt kernels, it can make more in less time, and bulk popcorn kernels are a lot cheaper too. Plus, I can easily flavor the popcorn any way I want. Yesterday I had popcorn with butter, garlic, parm and a little bit of salt.

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SuperGameTheory t1_ixhygi4 wrote

Reply to Sheep flocks operate as a type of ‘collective intelligence’ and elect temporary leaders to guide them while moving. The fluidity of this process is extremely surprising. by nimobo

It's called emergent behavior. The conclusions derived by the authors do more to show their own biases. They see a pattern and ascribe "hierarchy" and "leaders" to that pattern, then wave away those very concepts by admitting that it's all very fluid and organic.

My bet is they're ascribing "leader" to which ever sheep happens to be in the "front" of the motion. That/those sheep are probably emotionally "pushed" by those behind it, and seeks an area to move to. The sheep behind it probably focus on their closest peer and match their trajectory to that peer. Each sheep probably sticks with matching that peer as long as that peer stays within distance and visual range. When the peer is lost, another peer is elected to follow. This all gives the effect of a hierarchy with a leader. The sheep at the front of the flock will just as readily follow another if given the chance.

Source: I've run this flocking simulation before.

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SuperGameTheory t1_ixa5sx6 wrote

Reply to comment by Beli_Mawrr in ‘Without enough Latvians, we won’t be Latvia’: eastern Europe’s shrinking population | Latvia’s population is 30% smaller than it was in 1990 and by 2050 numbers will be in decline in over half of Europe’s 52 countries. by mossadnik

Yeah but why would we want them to? I don't want more people moving into my area, turning forested land into lawns. Screw that noise. There's too many people. The breeders can calm the f down for a change. We already have 8bil people on Earth.

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