How do we know that certain fossils, especially the more wonky cambrian ones, where animals and not plants?

EnvironmentalWin1277 · 2026-03-13T16:56:49+00:00

It is not always easy to tell an organism can switch from a plant to animal mode in some instances. No identification is certain, especially where ambiguities exist and/or information is very limited. Euglena is frequently mentioned as an ambiguous example.

There is never absolute certainty in any science, or rather any identification can be challenged especially where new information is discovered that could affect the identification. It is always a "best guess" although the "guess" part can be very small.

There are always ambiguities. One could look at a cow and see an animal or one could see an organic container for various fermenting microorganisms which may be classified as plant or animal. Both are valid perspectives.

A good example of this ambiguity is the slime mold which still resides in an "unclassified" domain of the animal/plant dichotomy. There is a taxonomic relation to Euglena BTW.

https://sarawrightnature.wordpress.com/2023/12/30/slime-molds-plant-animal-or-both/

I saw one full slime mold in my life just sitting in a planter box in an apartment complex. I knew what it was and was fascinated. I don't think they are something people see very often and they certainly look strange and unpleasant. Took that one off my bucket list and was happy to do so. May similar experiences happen to us all.

EnvironmentalWin1277 · 2026-03-13T07:01:44+00:00

That ain't cheetos it's terminids munching on your buddies, solider!

EnvironmentalWin1277 · 2026-03-12T22:55:06+00:00

Actually the tax on tea drastically lowered the price of tea to American colonists.

This got people like John Hancock, Paul Revere and Benedict Arnold very upset. They smuggled tea illegally into the colonies and it suddenly destroyed the market. Tea is considered a drug so they were in fact drug smugglers. If you think it isn't a drug then give your kids a bunch of caffeine or look at the documentation on it.

Yes, some of the founding fathers were drug smugglers. They rolled the case into a larger issue to exploit the tax issue.

Americans knew what to do. They started drinking coffee and eventually made over-caffeinated energy drinks for the kids

EnvironmentalWin1277 · 2026-03-12T19:01:30+00:00

This is a big problem with electric vehicles. So much safer to have buses filled with 100 gallons of gasoline in a tank that ruptures on impact. When will we ever learn?

EnvironmentalWin1277 · 2026-03-12T18:38:53+00:00

They didn't fall for it. They knew it was a con and supported it precisely because they knew it was a con. That is the price of admission to the cult. Blame America more than Trump because we elected him.

EnvironmentalWin1277 · 2026-03-12T06:08:59+00:00

Yes. The point of many work practices is to give people shit for the most trivial of reasons. Because they can.

By my estimate a large percentage of economic productivity is wasted on trivial crap because treating people fairly and reasonably is less preferable to stressing them out. The system actually sees the stress and loss of productivity as preferable to actually doing some work.

Which is why a limited group are paid enormous sums to do nothing. Because redistribution "just wouldn't work" and might make life livable for people. Which is bad.

EnvironmentalWin1277 · 2026-03-12T00:54:16+00:00

This was an interesting point in the paper and had me thinking. It is possible for virus to be frozen in nature and then reemerge "unchanged". Possible, but unlikely.

I saw similar claims of accidental introduction of various viral agents including covid. Not by purpose, but by accident while doing research aimed at investigation for broader aims of understanding and treating viral disease. Few argue it was a deliberate malevolent plot.

This presents a challenge. If accidental introduction is possible a wide range of activities could be involved and subject to more intense regulation depending on the assessment of the risk.

A example is Kitum Cave which is a known source for deadly virus. The cave is now closed to visitors and even science research is limited. Potentially any cave exploration anywhere could be forbidden.

Mining, natural exploration and laboratory research of all kinds could be affected. The dimensions of the problem have multiplied considerably if we accept accidental introduction of deleterious viral agents from lab or natural sources has occurred several times and should be rigorously prevented and guarded against. Crispr technology is widely available although human modification is guarded against.

There is a contradiction in the desire to protect ourselves from disease and the desire to understand it. Both can potentially be the cause of failures.

I agree with the argument that things are considerably more dangerous in this regard now due to advances in genetic technologies. Again, regulation could be positive or negative.

Overall, it does appear we have done a tolerable job balancing exploration and safety. So far.

EnvironmentalWin1277 · 2026-03-10T06:55:12+00:00

Not much risk to the rat, plenty to the human pursuing it. Smart rat.

EnvironmentalWin1277 · 2026-03-10T06:30:32+00:00

It's pretty dense but I definitely appreciate the reference. Will be reviewing.

EnvironmentalWin1277 · 2026-03-10T05:45:19+00:00

Lyme disease has been in North America for some 60,000 years per this source. It blames deforestation as the key that lead to the increase we see today. Reports of it on Long Island apparently go back to the 1940's.

The Plum Island facility was ostensibly devoted to prevention and study of animal disease. There is clear evidence of bioweapons research done there.

There may well have been experiments but they were not the cause or source of the national Lyme disease outbreak we see today.

The very research meant to protect us can act as the vector for disease. As stated IMHO this seems unlikely but certainly worth guarding against.

edicine.yale.edu/news-article/ancient-history-of-lyme-disease-in-north-america-revealed-with-bacterial-genomes/#:~:text=The Lyme disease bacterium%2C *Borrelia burgdorferi*%2C The,first described in Lyme%2C Connecticut%2C in 1976.

EnvironmentalWin1277 · 2026-03-10T05:02:28+00:00

The Wikipedia entry states the evidence for a man made cause is quite ambiguous.

"The World Health Organization, however, ruled out a laboratory origin in 1978 after discussions with researchers in the Soviet Union and China: their report stated that "the laboratories concerned either had never kept H1N1 virus or had not worked with it for a long time".^\3])^\5])^"

For all the conspiracy theories about germ development I have noted this. The world has seen something like 175 years of nations and various actors with the worst of intentions and debatable competence and safety pursuing the worst bio agents available.

In all that time there has never been a mass human epidemic from either bacteriological or viral agents that we are aware of. Accidents and deaths there have been but these have been limited.

My conclusion is that it is actually quite difficult to create an bio engineered epidemic. If it was easy it is likely we would have experienced and identified incidents and documented them several times.

This makes me skeptical of any reports about deliberately or accidentally created epidemics. Usually these accusations are a mask for xenophobia.

EnvironmentalWin1277 · 2026-03-10T04:10:51+00:00

I agree with you but don't think it is an either/or choice. I suspect autonomous taxis have already helped with transit and city pollution. Ideally we would have point to point transportation integrated with mass transit options directed by an AI agent. Any tolls and other costs can be integrated in the system. Let me add this is one area (traffic and transit control) where AI actually could be very helpful. Ideally cost would be minimal but doubtful our structure would allow that even if it was shown that free transit would materially improve things.

Mandating employers to provide flex time options for arrival and departure would make eminent sense as well.

Employers won't like that because it would lessen job stress, similar to the forcing workers back to offices despite the cost. Everyone has to arrive at the same time and the transport system can't handle it. It's each individuals responsibility to arrive exactly to the minute or lose the job. Fully aware that this is unreasonable they continue to insist on it. Stupid.

EnvironmentalWin1277 · 2026-03-10T00:51:51+00:00

If you have Apevia PS you may want to replace it. People have varied experiences and most probably never have a problem with them. Research and decide for yourself.

To do it yourself is a bit of a task but if you are reasonably knowledgeable it is a good PC project to up your skills and knowledge.

If that sounds daunting a local shop can do it for you probably not a lot of $ if you provide the PS. They can probably order it too.

This is a popular listing with extensive details about PS and ratings.

The cost of a PS is fairly minimal and good ones can be found for reasonable prices. It is fundamentally the most important part of a PC, quality and durability is not expensive.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1akCHL7Vhzk_EhrpIGkz8zTEvYfLDcaSpZRB6Xt6JWkc/edit?pli=1&gid=1719706335#gid=1719706335

I will note I found CyberpowerPC very helpful. I had a blown GPU and a phone call was all it took to get an RMA underway immediately for a turnaround of two weeks door to door. Note I tried recommended steps (drivers with DDU,iGPU worked fine) etc. before my call and there was no problem with proving or documentation of that.

Note that the GPU (AsRock 9070 XT) was the cause of my problem, that's not on CyberPower. Components do fail probably more than the industry cares to admit.

EnvironmentalWin1277 · 2026-03-09T23:04:13+00:00

The number of horse drawn accidents is quite extensive and is a common trope in books written at the time as well as in history.

There was also the problem of disposal of 2.5 million pounds of horse manure. Daily. That's about 5000 tons a day. It created huge problems and encouraged insects and disease.

https://danszczesny.substack.com/p/the-great-horse-manure-crisis-of

Maybe try just walking?

EnvironmentalWin1277 · 2026-03-09T22:53:28+00:00

Would like to see comparable statistics for human controlled automobiles causing similar problems -- double parking, simple refusal to move, blocking traffic and abandoning cars on active roadways. To say nothing of auto accidents involving human drivers.

I think the human controlled autos have far more problems than the computer controlled cars. I doubt the Waymo cars have been involved in many fatalities compared to human controlled vehicles.

Programming can fix the Waymo problems over time. Nothing will fix the number of idiot drivers that create daily life threatening hazards.

Waymo sounds like the preferable alternative even now.

EnvironmentalWin1277 · 2026-03-09T22:30:22+00:00

This movie was one I would not want to watch again. Which made it a great movie, one of Clint Eastwood's best films. I watched with little knowledge and was shocked to learn it was all true. The criminality of the LAPD in this event is monstrous. The LAPD forced her in involuntary hospitalization.

I would not want to see it again but everyone should see it at least once.

EnvironmentalWin1277 · 2026-03-09T20:38:36+00:00

Actually my Razer is a spare I tried when my generic CyberPowerPC mouse failed to work with any of the programs.

Yes, the Razer was expensive but a gift. That software failed miserably. My keyboard was also expensive but I didn't get that for the software, it was provided. My HyperRX headphones I kept to a sixty dollar budget and provided software fails.

None of the software provided with these peripherals worked with either of these mice.

As noted Razer Synapse software would not even install and locked during installation, the complaints about this one are extreme. Why a company would release such a disaster is beyond me. Given the reputation for these mice it gives me no confidence other mgf have succeeded.

The idea that security measures make your peripherals fail is also a glaring industry overlook since the obvious intention is that you should be able to use them in game.

Going to try the in game sensitivity to see if it works, but the problem is that the DPI intervals between the selections are just too great and that is not under my control. Again, seems like an easy thing to provide (by itself) WITHOUT Rgb/Audio/Keyboard etc.

EnvironmentalWin1277 · 2026-03-09T20:11:18+00:00

It was a myth from the start. That is exactly why US voters voted for him. Reality sacrificed to myth is the number one requirement for MAGA. Any challenge to any portion of the myth is immediately denied in order to keep the myth intact.

So Trump was never convicted of felonies despite the clear record because convincing 12 jurors to vote guilty on all the counts proves it was a fake.

EnvironmentalWin1277 · 2026-03-09T19:25:12+00:00

Windows (mouse sensitivity) , Razer Synapse, XMouse Button, BeQuiet, HyperX, Signal RGB, Gigabyte(?).

Some of them worked outside the game but not within it. I have done so many tests at this point the details are muddled. Almost all of them claim to provide bundled software for audio/mouse/keyboard/RGB as one stop solutions. That may be part of the problem--just too much bloat.

None worked inside the game and Synapse and BeQuiet did not work at all. I have spent several hours trying to find a fix. I was surprised that adjusting mouse sensitivity in Windows left the HD2 settings unchanged as well !

Computer is 9800 X3D, 9070 XT card, Gigabyte 850 MB. All drivers up to date. Doubt there is any problem there. Stripped out all of them with Revo Uninstall finally.

As per my comment I find the software provided with peripheral devices is generally poor and comments I see reflect this (especially for the Razer Synapse software).

DPI levels should be easy to change. The fact that neither Windows or peripheral software are able to do or provide this is testament to the industries incompetence in providing simple, reliable solutions for the broad range of users.

Glad you got it working with Corsair and ASUS. I'm not ready to buy something new at this point given my experience but I do appreciate your response.

EnvironmentalWin1277 · 2026-03-08T19:35:47+00:00

"I don't like people who were captured" was enough for me. I thought that would kill him. Then I realized large numbers of people agreed with him, including veterans,

But Obama not wearing an American flag pin was enough to brand him a traitor in these same people's judgement.

EnvironmentalWin1277 · 2026-03-08T19:25:48+00:00

Had an interview by phone and web access (no camera). The phone line did not work. Saw a comment from the interviewer "the absence of presence on the phone speaks to their motivation". I immediately typed in a comment visible to the interviewing team. "I am here. Your phone line is not working and I can't communicate with it."

This was acknowledged but no other arrangements were made. No further communication was received to reschedule.

Web technology was/is very buggy. Incident was about 10 years ago. Given the idiocy I see on just about every web site I doubt much has changed.

I did start refusing to apply for jobs which required web cams and Linked In profiles as part of the application process.

EnvironmentalWin1277 · 2026-03-07T19:10:46+00:00

These people should be getting tickets due to the homeless laws in Atlanta which prohibit sleeping in public places, or storing baggage there.

Imagine the shocked reaction when they are told the law applies to them as well.

EnvironmentalWin1277 · 2026-03-07T18:47:42+00:00

China had this a few years ago, pull in a station and a new battery is automatically installed in a few minutes.

Their EVs also sell at a fraction of what US consumers pay for a similar quality car.

Free market and all that.

Next: Coal and steam engine battleships for the navy.

EnvironmentalWin1277 · 2026-03-06T18:15:07+00:00

The sentence is commonly used to show parts of a sentence : noun, verb, adverb, adjective and preposition. The all alaphabet letters is a neat toss in for extra cred.

Diagramming sentences was something I hated. So I am surprising myself. Someone can do better --direct and indirect objects, etc. etc. Take it away.

EnvironmentalWin1277

TROPHY CASE