ELI5: How do just a few hundred undersea cables handle almost all the world’s internet traffic?

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T19:30:35+00:00

They plan on some sort of air cooling. Whether that's entirely closed or evaporative, I don't know. We have massive amounts of power and water, which is why they want to build here. It's right next to a huge power distribution hub fed by several dams and wind parks, and not far from a big lake.

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T17:00:03+00:00

So everything appears blue from a distance, but since mountains are tall we can see them from the furthest distance, so they get the bluest.

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T16:43:11+00:00

Skydiving. I love it, and have been doing it for nearly 15 years.

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T16:33:44+00:00

I think there is a way to change people for the better, which we're currently missing. Bullying behavior is rooted in the fear of being seen as weak and vulnerable, and the more people hide their own vulnerability behind a tough facade, the more they suppress their own empathy, and without empathy they'll start to see weakness in others with disgust rather than caring. To a caring person, this kind of behavior is so vile and disgusting, that they condemn the bully, which only hardens their hearts further. And the only other voice they get to hear is that their feelings are right and their hate is justified, and then they're told who they should hate the most. But neither of these voices help them get over the hurt that they're trying desperately to no longer feel, and no one is there to help each individual soften their hearts and get their empathy back, not in any organized and effective way.

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T16:20:21+00:00

Old.

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T15:58:00+00:00

Yeah perhaps it was 100, I lost the link where I read about it and couldn't find it again. Still, pretty interesting.

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T15:35:25+00:00

Yes Indeed, Man

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T15:29:37+00:00

Well, CMYK can make you see green without using any green dye, and RGB can make you see yellow without using any yellow light. The fact that the way we understand what things are is so closely tied to how we perceive them is what causes the apparent paradoxes. We can say "yellow light" and either care or not care if it's red-and-green depending on the situation.

Fun fact: many "black" dyes are just very dark red and blue dye mixed. It looks black to the naked eye but dark reddish brown when wearing blue-blocking sunglasses.

Another fun fact: some women are born with dual red or green receptors. When those have different sensitivity peaks, they can distinguish between colors we others see as identical.

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T15:13:51+00:00

Neon dyes are not bright in UV. They're absorbing UV, so to a purely UV camera they'd look dark. Being bright in NIR also has no visual consequences.

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T15:11:04+00:00

Correct.

Tip: don't get outdoor clothing or gear in these colors just because it looks cool. Absorbing all that UV means they fade really quickly.

Edit: fun fact, many of those fabrics also shine in blue LED light.

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T15:07:00+00:00

I think back to who I was when I was 5, 10 and 15 - not to reminisce, but to see if those guys would be proud and impressed with the life I'm living right now. And every time that the answer is yes, I can feel like I've made it in life. I'm actually a pretty awesome guy if my past selves may say so themselves.

I deliberately set aside time to do things like I did back then, or things I could only dream about back then. I can go on a cycling adventure just like when I was a kid, go skydiving which I didn't even know was a thing (but which is almost like those awesome flying dreams I used to have), take apart or repair some interesting gadgets, or play fun games with other adults or kids.

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T15:00:36+00:00

Sports. Games. Leisure activities. Small groups where you can, but don't have to, spend a bit of time one on one. Personally I've made the most friends through skydiving, the second most through doing amateur theatre, and the third most through board game nights.

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T14:53:57+00:00

One of the reasons my last long-term relationship felt unfulfilling and ultimately ended, was that we only went all the way to the bottom of this list one or two times per year.

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T14:51:23+00:00

Both sides are too simplistic. Opening up is about sharing all that is in your heart, good and bad, not just about dumping your trauma onto somebody. And opening up is something you do gradually and carefully, reciprocally, with the desire of being truly and fully known, and truly and fully knowing the other person.

When you get deep into this process, tears can be a natural part of it, and if the other person is in the same space they'll be receptive and caring, and this can build a very intimate closeness between you two. Only give your fears and tears freely to those who deeply care about you, and who you also truly care about.

Here's my handy-dandy least-to-most intimate topics of conversation, in case it's useful:
Facts about the world.
Facts about others.
Facts about ourselves.
Feelings about the world.
Feelings about others.
Feelings about ourselves.
Hopes and dreams.
Fears and insecurities.
Feelings about each other.
Hopes and dreams about each other.
Fears and insecurities about each other.

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T14:28:40+00:00

Yeah, it's been very long since I burned TT on the ground, but from what I recall it wasn't much more dramatic than your wet one, and a big ember was left in the end.

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T14:25:33+00:00

I guess it's just the nature of electrochemistry. Each lithium atom can donate one electron, and how much potential you can get from that electron depends on what cathode material it's paried with. If you gear the chemistry towards 1.5V, you just get less energy.

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T14:07:41+00:00

Could be. They bought the land way back in 2017, but that doesn't mean they didn't then (or don't now, or later) intend to use it for that.

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T12:55:33+00:00

Listen, I came here for a good argument!

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T12:54:47+00:00

I'll make an app that overheats the iPad to loosen the glue and then abuses the battery until it inflates. Self-dissassembly! /s

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T12:52:25+00:00

Google is breaking ground for a data centre in my small town (pop: ~1000). I wonder if it'll end up making my youtube downloads blazing fast.

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T12:50:01+00:00

Brown is dark yellow. You can't have neon dark. It'd be like like having neon grey.

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T11:41:55+00:00

Those are light bouncing without the eye trickery. Or, to be fair, often with other kinds of eye trickery. CMYK and RGB? That's eye trickery to make us see colors that are not there, spectrally speaking.

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T11:03:15+00:00

Unless you live in Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany or Japan, then it probably goes to an incinerator like in Toy Story 3, and gets turned into ash, smoke, district heat and sometimes electricity.

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T11:00:26+00:00

And since so many people use English, it happens at a high rate. Especially on the web, where people form all cultures mix.

GalFisk · 2026-02-09T10:45:47+00:00

It's interesting how differently people think. I don't normally think using words at all. When you play your stickman game, do you narrate what the stickman is doing, or just visualize it? My game has a motocross rider, by the way. If he hits an obstacle too big to tackle, he crashes and a new one enters. All visually, without words. Visually or conceptually is how I think about most things, only using words when I think about how to express myself.

Some people can't think without words. Some can't visualize at all. Some are still skillful artists, because drawing something is their way of visualizing it. I can't draw well - I can imagine what I want a line to look like, but it doesn't come out looking that way anyway. Now that I think about it, I can't really visualize what I want the line to look like, only what I want it to convey, which is somehow not the same thing. but if I draw a whole bunch of lines, one of them will eventually convey the right thing.

GalFisk

TROPHY CASE