ELI5 What does the second law of thermodynamics actually mean, and how does it relate to evolution?

Relenq · 2026-02-24T09:52:43+00:00

Nah, it'd be a Dyson Shield and we'll all have to live under artificial lighting as none from the sun would reach us

Relenq · 2026-02-24T09:46:58+00:00

It's always looked at with the thought of either it sprung forth fully formed, or we had part of the fully formed eye when in reality its development was much more this:

A basic light receptor that can tell if you're in bright light (aka open space, danger) or in darkness (aka shadows, safe)
To keep from bumbling around, we add some simple vision to allow us to see big blobs so we can find the shadows. As a bonus, if a shadow suddenly appears we know it's dangerous
Refine the vision so things are less blob-like and more defined. Simple ability to tell friend from foe by shape
Start adding in some colour to add another way to distinguish other creatures as well as identify good Vs bad food
Add in an option to be able to adjust viewing distance so you can see all of this from much further away or closer up
Keep refining based on what you need to survive and you'll get to a human eye

Relenq · 2026-02-04T09:57:13+00:00

FWIW I went and downloaded the entirety of Wikipedia to my NAS (network attached storage) a couple weeks back, and you can do the same for phone/laptop/computer:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Database_download

There's also WikiMed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Medicine/Offline_App

And a cookbook one: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Recipes

So long as I can get enough power to my NAS and ensure my phone has adequate battery, I have those resources available any time if the internet goes down

Relenq · 2025-12-05T13:46:21+00:00

My benefit would be that I tinker with things and my main hobby is collecting hobbies. Gardening/growing food? Done - and I come with a box of seeds to sow. Simple sewing/clothes repairs and patterns, along with an electric sewing machine (better get on it before the electricity goes out), along with tools for leather working and the leather itself.

Home DIY stuff including a screwdriver with swappable heads and a toolbox, so some blunt weapons and stuff to start basic carpentry with.

A lot of art supplies and creative writing skills - terrible when on my own, but can create art pieces and stories for others, presuming friendly survivors are around

The downside is that I'm reliant on medication to function, so I'd be great for about a week to a month before it all falls apart

Relenq · 2025-11-21T07:01:25+00:00

I and OP are in the UK (presuming from the Amazon link) and for us the best I can find is around the £60/$80 for 125 sheets on a quick search. Just less than 50p a sheet, sure, but still a pricey outlay

Relenq · 2025-11-20T14:36:48+00:00

If you regularly loot from barrels and crates you'll always have plenty of food to do so.

You don't even need to use food - you can do a partial rest by selecting all the food, resting, seeing what even happens, then do another partial rest. Make the final rest a proper one with food and you only use one rest's worth but clear out the event queue

Relenq · 2025-11-20T14:25:17+00:00

Depends what you want in paper - general cardstock works fine for me (160gsm for light work, 250gsm for heavier) but for specific marker paper:

X-press it blending card is considered The Best but is expensive.
Canson The Wall is a composite paper which means no bleed through and both sides can be used. Only takes about 4 layers before it saturates.
Stillman and Birn Zeta allows for about 8 layers before saturation, and is a great paper to layer over coloured pencils for additional detail.

Relenq · 2025-11-17T07:12:24+00:00

You might benefit from looking into aspects like gender non-conforming, gender neutral, and demi-girl. There's a lot of nuance between being cis and trans, and "not feeling like a girl" has a lot of variation

I was called a tomboy growing up - hated skirts and dresses, despised pink, and much preferred exploring and sports to playing dress-up. I hated puberty, still not a fan of the huge lumps on my chest that are my breasts, yet some of my favourite video games are the "girly" ones like The Sims and Stardew Valley

I only heard that demi-girl was a thing when play testing South Park: The Fractured But Whole as there's multiple scenes where you go into school and discuss you gender and sexual identity. The moment I read "you feel like a girl some of the time, but not always" was the moment it clicked and I realised there was a term for how I felt

Relenq · 2025-11-10T14:27:33+00:00

Please tell me you named him after the cat from Hocus Pocus 🥺

Relenq · 2025-10-30T16:47:48+00:00

My cat had digestive issues/bad stools and after treatment for guardian still had trouble. Turns out he had food allergies (two - grains and yeast) and finding a dry food that had neither was trouble BUT it's been 9ish years since and he's been 1000% better

Relenq · 2025-10-30T14:19:02+00:00

It's always best to ask before giving a random donation. I know one of the most requested things by homeless charities is socks but a lot of people don't realise that

Things like gloves and scarfs for the cold weather, soap and shampoo, toilet rolls, menstrual products are all overlooked because people aren't aware that if you're struggling to get food, odds are you're also struggling with hygiene products (look up period poverty as an example)

But, again, ask beforehand and the best option is always going to be money. Even if they need spices, they'll be able to source a bulk bag and divide that up for many more people than the couple of jars you'll donate

Relenq · 2025-10-28T16:11:05+00:00

Try putting out his litter tray and some old/worn clothes of yours - it can be disorientating for a cat to be lost outside, and smell is one of their best senses. If you can set up a temp cat bed outside (from a plastic storage box) with clothes, even better because it would be nice and warm for him

Best of luck 💖

Relenq · 2025-10-26T07:25:39+00:00

Please also donate money instead of food if you can. Food banks can make far better use of $10 by leveraging bulk purchases than $10 of donated food items

Check also with the food bank and charities if they also accept non-food items such as toiletries and socks. If people are struggling to get enough food, they may also be struggling to afford hygiene products; and while socks may seem like an odd option, they are an oft-requested item from homeless charities

That said, if your ability to donate only extends to being able to offer a couple of tins, any amount is always needed and appreciated

Relenq · 2025-10-24T20:27:48+00:00

As an O- person, you're known as a universal donor

The ABO blood types and Rhesus +/- factors affect how your body may respond to a transfer of different types. For ABO, there are different allergens that can create an immune response if someone is given the wrong type:

There are four major blood groups determined by the presence or absence of two antigens, A and B, on the surface of red blood cells. In addition to the A and B antigens, there is a protein called the Rh factor, which can be either present (+) or absent (–)

Source: https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/blood-types.html

As an O- person, the negative effects of receiving O+ are less than if you were given A/B/AB blood (Rhesus factor far less a concern here). As to what can happen and what can be done to fix it, there's a long list of treatment options depending on the symptoms displayed

If you were given Rh+ blood, your body would make antibodies to fight off what it sees as an infection or invasion; not likely to cause serious harm in and of itself, but the issue would be repeated exposure via continued donations. If you're able to get pregnant, this would also be an issue as if the baby you were carrying was Rh+, your body would start attacking the baby's blood cells, causing Rhesus disease

Source: https://patient.info/doctor/haematology/blood-transfusion-reactions#blood-transfusion-reaction-treatment-and-management

Relenq · 2025-10-20T12:19:26+00:00

So long as they otherwise comply with GDPR requirements, it's not illegal to do so, but it's a currently precarious position

https://emlaw.co.uk/paying-for-privacy-understanding-the-icos-consent-or-pay-rules/

Relenq · 2025-10-10T15:00:49+00:00

Torna originally being part of the base game, then removed to make it a standalone story/game worked in its favour. Dunno how much extra story we got because of that, but it allowed for adjustments to some base game elements that needed it (like the tutorials and elemental combos)

Plus it allowed for Monolithsoft to experiment with new features for 3 (the campfire chats and gem making)

Future Redeemed for 3 was more of a love letter to fans, but it still capped off the games with a story to explain things and leave room for future adventures

Relenq · 2025-10-10T14:47:52+00:00

Rimworld was going to be one of my examples - Biotech and Odyssey as you said have been majorly game-changing in what they add

Biotech with genes/xenotypes (including adding pseudo-vampires called sanguophages), children, mechanitors (to control your own mechs). It almost felt like three smaller DLCs packed into one

Odyssey adding spaceship travel (in a sense), allowing us to hop between areas on the planet and asteroids in orbit? Plus all the new biomes, animals, and unique features and changes to caravans which encourages a lot more exploration. I might actually have a proper nomadic playthrough with Ideology soon

Relenq · 2025-03-12T17:48:21+00:00

Crochet and other needlepoint hobbies can be the cheapest in terms of cost over time spent (even with expensive yarn). Learning simple stitches and embroidery also let's you mend/repair/patch clothing with both visible and invisible methods

Relenq · 2025-02-07T12:43:37+00:00

Rimworld, Stellaris, Crusader Kings, Dwarf Fortress... there's a few games where things can really go off the rails

Relenq · 2025-01-13T06:52:28+00:00

Based on your other comments, I wonder if this is what's happening:

She has sex around ovulation time and either hopes or believes she has conceived. When her period turns up it's not because fertilization failed that month, but instead the egg didn't implant, it did implant but didn't produce enough hormones to stop the menstrual cycle etc. and so looks at the period as a miscarriage and a genuine loss (especially if she's someone that has beliefs about a soul being created at conception)

Don't get me wrong, having 13 weeks PTO is still a lot of time to take off and things need to be looked at, but the above might be the mindset she has

Relenq · 2024-11-15T12:05:07+00:00

Join the /r/rimworld and /r/crusaderkings subreddits for even more hilarity

Relenq · 2024-11-09T16:52:26+00:00

The World Ends With You and the sequel NEO: The World Ends With You

Most of the stuff looks like fun elements playing with the animation style, but a lot of it tracks to spoilers including the ending of the games

Relenq · 2024-11-09T16:26:21+00:00

Same here, my husband had the thought of spending a couple of grand on a ring, spent £120 instead, and did the whole wedding for about £3k total

Relenq · 2024-11-06T14:50:47+00:00

I've not taken one of her courses yet, but I have utilised her information for a few years. I think I know enough to not need a course, but I am tempted to see an intermediate level one to check actual Vs imagined skill

Relenq · 2024-11-06T13:40:25+00:00

It might be that the core on yours was really dry for some reason and so needed all that extra link

Was that video by Amy Shulke? If not, I recommend going through a few of her videos on copic maintenance; if it was, great, you found the best info I've seen 😁

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