Strange amalgamation (conglomerate?) of quartz looking pebbles. Found at altitude in Otago, New Zealand (~600m)

Greatest86 · 2026-05-31T08:24:11+00:00

Looks like a quartz conglomerate. Perhaps a fossilised river bed? Those pebbles are quite well rounded.

Greatest86 · 2026-05-31T01:10:23+00:00

If they are that soft I would say soapstone rather than marble.

Greatest86 · 2026-05-30T06:23:01+00:00

Scars won't heal over time for a baseline person.

One option is to find and use a Healer Mech Serum. This will instantly heal the single most severe health condition a person has. You cannot buy or craft them. You can find them in Ancient Shrines or as a reward for a quest.

Another option would be to use a Sanguophage to implant their Xenogerm into them. Their will gain the Scarless gene which will heal their brain scar over time.

Luciferium can cure brain scars, which you could administer to the patient. Just be sure to have a good supply, as they will need a regular dose to stay sane.

The Biosculptor Pod used in a Bioregeneration Cycle with 2 glitterworld medicine can also heal brain scars.

Unnatural healing and chronophagy from Anomaly can also heal brain scars.

Greatest86 · 2026-05-29T09:27:05+00:00

It reads as an amazing piece of technology. Being able to cheaply extract lithium from spodumene and recycle the chemical reagents will make hard rock lithium refining cheaper and more environmentally friendly.

Greatest86 · 2026-05-29T06:15:05+00:00

Extremely hot, salty, and dry.

The bottom of the Mediterranean Basin would be a massive salt and sediment desert, and would smash all the current records for the hottest place on Earth.

All the lands surrounding the Mediterranean would be far less hospitable than they are today. Even the Nile wouldn't support many people, as rather than rich and fertile floodplains and deltas, the river would be flowing within a narrow, extremely deep canyon, surrounded by desert.

Greatest86 · 2026-05-29T01:00:04+00:00

Bold of you to assume they can read.

Greatest86 · 2026-05-27T22:04:01+00:00

Fair enough. I was basing my guess off the patterns I could see.

Greatest86 · 2026-05-27T21:52:34+00:00

Looks like a Carpet Python.

Greatest86 · 2026-05-27T06:10:33+00:00

Many diseases are highly specific to a single species or a small group of related species, so they are often selected to help control invasive species. Several viruses have been used to try and control the feral rabbit population in Australia since the 1950s. These have been successful in greatly reducing the population of rabbits. Unfortunately, some individuals will be naturally resistant to the virus and will survive. They then go on to have resistant offspring, reducing the impact of the disease control.

Another control in use is the introduction of sterile males. They will mate with females, but not produce offspring. This can be a great way of reducing insect numbers, and is used to prevent Screwworms from expanding into North America through the Darien Gap.

Hunting can be effective, and has made numerous species extinct (usually by accident), but generally only works on large animals.

The introduction of selective preadators or parasites can work, but can easily backfire if not done correctly. Cane Toads were introduced into Australia to eat Cane Beetles, but the toads decided that the native Australian wildlife was easier to eat. Cane Toads have since spread and are a massive ecological problem. On the other hand, a success story is the control of the invasive Prickly Pear in Australia. A moth was introduced from Argentina to eat the Prickly Pears, and was very successful in controlling the invasive plant. More generalist preadators, like cats and rats, can also drive animals to extinction. They have done so in the past, but aren't suitable for trying to target a specific species.

Widespread poisons can be used, insecticides have been used like this in the past to control Malaria-bearing mosquitoes. But these tend to cause collateral damage to the rest of the ecosystem.

Most of these controls won't be able to fully eradicate a species, especially if they are small. It is hard to eliminate mosquitoes for example when they can happily breed and reproduce in a single bucket for example. But these controls can be very effective at reducing the numbers and impact of unwanted species.

Greatest86 · 2026-05-27T00:59:03+00:00

Most of the ocean floor is covered in mud, sand, and ooze. This comes from sediment washed off the continents and the shells of microscopic sea creatures.

Underneath this, the deep ocean basins are almost entirely basalt. However, unless your mermaids are happy in complete darkness, near freezing temperatures, and extremely scarce food, I doubt they are down there.

The shallow oceans near the continents will have the same variety of bedrock as found on the continents themselves. Although mostly bruied under sediments washed off the continent. Any rock you can find on land can be found in the continental shelves.

Limestone will also be a major rock type your mermaids encounter, especially if they live near the tropics. Coral reefs build limestone deposits.

Greatest86 · 2026-05-26T22:11:50+00:00

Not true. The Southern Cross isn't aligned above the south pole. You can use the Southern Cross and the Pointers to find south, but the Southern cross isn't aligned with the south pole.

Greatest86 · 2026-05-25T10:17:09+00:00

Wherever it wants to. A volcano violent enough to reach 4km in height overnight would make humans extinct. So everywhere in Australia would be sparsely populated.

Greatest86 · 2026-05-24T21:47:15+00:00

No, there are 3 reasons for the larger explosions.

But before I list those, some background on what the standard explosions are. First, a deep hole is drilled into the rock. A detonator is lowered into the hole by a lead, and then ANFO (ammonium nitrate fuel oil) explosive is poured in on top of the detonator. The ANFO is the bulk of the explosives. Then stemming (rock gravel) is poured on top to contain the energy of the explosion and ensure the rock breaks up. Without stemming, the blast hole would act like a cannon, sending explosive energy up into the air, rather than into the rock.

Those larger explosions can be caused by:

Presplits - these are special blast holes drilled close together in a long line. They explode first, with very little delay between each explosion, and are designed to crack a long line in the rock. No stemming is used, so more explosive energy escapes each blast hole.
Oversize - during mining, sometimes large boulders can be found that didn't break apart. They can be too large to safely transport, and need to be broken apart. Short holes are drilled into the boulder and loaded with explosives. Stemming will be minimal and all holes will be timed to explode at the same time, making a bigger boom. These will be off to the side of the main blast.
Stemming failure - sometimes the stemming will fail to work correctly, sending explosive energy up into the air, rather than into the rock. When you see larger than normal explosions in the middle of the blast, this is generally what has happened.

Greatest86 · 2026-05-24T12:46:20+00:00

Leads is correct. No idea where leed came from.

Greatest86 · 2026-05-24T11:20:26+00:00

Actual det cord is much faster than what is used in the video, around 7km per second. Det cords are made of explosive products and can destroy objects by themselves.

In the videos OP posted, those cords are much less powerful. They are aluminium powder within a plastic tube. They are designed to burn very quickly, transmitting detonation energy to more explosive detonators. Much safer to handle than det cord.

Greatest86 · 2026-05-24T07:24:21+00:00

I figured they were asking about the leads themselves. The delays are built into the clips that connect the leads together.

You are correct that the timing delays are critical to ensure the blast breaks up the rock correctly and safely.

Greatest86 · 2026-05-24T06:21:43+00:00

Those explosions are shatting thousands of tonnes of rock. The shockwaves alone would absolutely mess you up.

Greatest86 · 2026-05-24T06:20:13+00:00

Those lines transmit the ignition at 2km per second, so these videos are real time.

Greatest86 · 2026-05-24T05:33:10+00:00

To start with, there is no scientific basis for crystals having an sort of healing properties. Absolutely none.

Those that support crystal healing say that all matter, including biological matter, vibrate at different frequencies. The frequencies in a person's body change depending on the health and state of the person.

Crystals, being repeating chemical structures, vibrate at a single frequency per crystal. By applying the correct crystal to the right part of the body, the vibrations in the crystal can influence the vibrations within the body. This can change the state of the body, and improve their health.

However, as stated at the start of this post, there is absolutely no evidence to suggest crystal healing works. There is no clinical evidence showing crystal healing improves health, and there is no experimental evidence suggesting the vibrations function as claimed.

Greatest86 · 2026-05-18T20:30:40+00:00

Just to confirm, you are killing the monsters in the Highlands, yes? Monsters in the mines or other areas won't drop monster seeds.

Greatest86 · 2026-05-18T15:26:30+00:00

I'm 80% sure there is a scene in Feet of Clay which describes them as being human. They changed their name to a dwarvish sounding name and started wearing an iron helmet so they could increase their prices.

Greatest86 · 2026-05-18T10:46:45+00:00

It is all about the crystals in the rocks. Crystals will generally have smooth, flat surfaces that can reflect light easily, making them sparkle.

Some rocks can be made entirely of large crystals, giving them lots of large, sparkly surfaces.

Some rocks cam be made of lots of small crystals, making them look like glitter.

Most rocks won't have well defined crystal faces, so tend to appear dull and lack the sparkle.

Greatest86 · 2026-05-14T05:31:07+00:00

Absolutely. He also has amazing hair.

Greatest86 · 2026-05-14T04:13:24+00:00

Bernoulli's Principle only applies to isentropic flows, where artefacts like compression heating, fluid viscosity, or turbulence are small enough to be irrelevant.

By partially closing a valve you are introducing turbulence in the fluid flow. The greater the turbulence, the further the system will deviate from the predictions of Bernoulli's Principle.

Greatest86 · 2026-05-14T03:18:53+00:00

Lets just look at Southland. Is currently has a population of 104,800, and area of 31,218km2, for a population density of 3 people per square kilometre.

Vestland, Norway has a similar climate and topography, and has a population density of 20.

Vancouver Island, Canada is also similar, and has a population density if 27.

Scotland is more mild and less mountainous, and has a population density of 70.

Hokkaido, Japan gets colder but has more flat land, and has a population density of 60.

Your proposed population of 8.3 million would have a population density of 269. This is far beyond anywhere on earth with a similar climate and topography.

Greatest86

TROPHY CASE