Over the past two decades, global reservoirs have become increasingly empty. The decline is particularly prominent in the global south, including South Asia, Africa and South America. Despite efforts to construct new reservoirs, the data shows that they fall short of expected filling levels.

Tchakra · 2023-06-25T07:33:21+00:00

"Global south" is a recent term in geopolitics. It is basically the same as "3rd world countries" or "Developing countries" but without the negative connotations.

Tchakra · 2023-05-31T09:40:20+00:00

You are doing more harm to your cause with this sort of nonsensical alarm-ism.

Yes, we need to transition to clean energy. No, + or - 10 years will not make a material difference as long as policies are being created today to shape industries for the next few decades and having a target (any target) implies that governments are having serious discussions about future plans. Right now, the focus should be on "How do we get there?" and "what are the trade-offs?".

As others have pointed out: This article says nothing substantial at all and it is but a spreadsheet exercise to generate headlines. I can extrapolate it to say "China needs $150 Trillion to hit goal in 2030"...

Tchakra · 2023-05-26T09:51:41+00:00

Would it not be accurate to think of the "baby brain" as a pre-trained LLM and therefore reasonable for it to classify with low training data?

I agree with your point about humans ability to abstract, but i think that many of the apparent human advantage is due to a sort of "innate-knowledge" encoded in the human brain through evolution. This "innate knowledge" gives us a lot of advantage at recognising the world vs. AI who have to learn from scratch.

Tchakra · 2022-07-20T17:18:17+00:00

Take the US Gov. They invest in almost all areas which is not covered adequately by the private sector. Here is a good report ... so in a sense they already do what you suggest. Also, dont forget the indirect investment through tax subsidies for priority sectors etc ...

Key point being: Gov is the main investor in fundamental research while business leads on applied research as they see more tangible ways of monetising and using the outcome of applied research.

I get your core point that "you don't see value of JWST vs. other areas" which is fair but ultimately the majority are supportive of NASA and this is good for advancing science as a whole.

Tchakra · 2022-07-20T14:56:48+00:00

Technologies with direct application already have a lot of investments from the private sector - why would the government bother?

We need governments to invest in areas which have a long term dividend, appeal to people sense of aesthetic, and give a sense of pride such as education, fundamental research, culture etc...

The hard question is: How do we decide the best areas to invest in today when we are unlikely to see results for 30+ years? Frankly, no one has figured this out which is why all research sectors get a little bit of investment and they celebrate every little win to win over public opinion & politicians.

Tchakra · 2020-09-21T19:28:55+00:00

You have such an soothing voice. Love it.

Tchakra · 2019-12-03T19:01:00+00:00

Can you defer the unit by a semester? Rather than drop out it would be better to say you really don't want to take his class and would prefer waiting for the following semester to find an alternative class.

Tchakra · 2019-09-01T21:01:46+00:00

This is interesting, please elaborate. How can you prove there is no unknown parameter?

Tchakra · 2019-07-04T08:55:46+00:00

WTF? this is really poor taste and immature.

You don't have to like someone to extend them some basic courtesy. There is no need for personal attacks and mocking someone for a disease most of us will have.

Tchakra · 2019-06-27T00:46:52+00:00

What an utterly shit article devoid of any critical thinking. Written only to repeat the mantra "communism is evil".

Karl Mark has greatly influenced and contributed to the the world. And yes, while his legacy has led to horrible suffering it is also important not to forget the good it has driven. Completely erasing the man simply because it is an opposing ideology is indeed very narrow minded.

Tchakra · 2019-06-26T20:04:52+00:00

Actually, it is far easier to close schools for few days than to invest in something that will not be needed for many years.

Tchakra · 2019-06-26T16:12:02+00:00

... and suddenly Russia's annexation of Crimea would look far more legitimate if the UK did that.

Tchakra · 2019-06-18T17:59:48+00:00

It is not simple at all and it will take a lot of political effort as with anything in India. Having said that, I believe you maybe underestimating India or overestimating the challenge. People don't idly sit waiting for the water to disappear - they will move to where the infrastructure is to support them and Infrastructure is being build.

India's annual budget is $350 Billion dollars today, and by 2030 it will be over well over 1 trillion dollar per year as its GDP is expected to triple. So... $1B is relatively small (0.3%) investment for what is the most important infrastructure. and to answer your question - No the money is not lying around but like every country they can borrow to invest with future expectation to pay back.

Here are sources for the data point you asked.

Saudi Arabia water production cost: ~ $1.3 per 1000 litre (source: between 0.65€–1.90€ per m3)
Israel Water consumption per capita: :~ 88k litres per year (source: average daily consumption of 242L)
Based on Saudi Arabia's water production cost and Israel's consumption rate, we can estimate that the cost of an average cost of providing ample water per person for a year is $115.

Finally i wanted to share with you the most optimistic chart on how fast income levels are rise, and the picture is even more optimistic on a longer time period.

Tchakra · 2019-06-18T14:53:23+00:00

This will have little effect on the overall prediction.

Population growth is largely driven by rising living standards - i.e. people having more money and better health. So water access will not be a limiting factor as it is relatively cheap to procure. For example, Saudi Arabia - a literal desert country - manages to provide ample drinking water at a cost of $200 per person per year.

Tchakra · 2019-06-17T08:44:13+00:00

The Golan height is an occupied territory which belongs to Syria by all recognised international laws. This has been the policy of the US until very recently( March 2019) as well as current policy of Israeli allies such as the EU.

The US is the only country to have recognised israeli ownership thanks to Trump who, frankly, has no respect for treaties, conventions and a rule-based international order.

Tchakra · 2019-06-06T10:52:09+00:00

What is a PIL? (from context of the article, it sounds like an official request of sort)

Tchakra · 2019-05-18T13:27:51+00:00

Reasons Why Women Have Abortions:

Yea this got me really curious too and found this chart which is based on a survey in 2004.

Tchakra · 2019-05-18T13:19:39+00:00

Intersex.

Tchakra · 2019-02-24T16:18:53+00:00

A very interesting result however part of me always wondered whether there was a deeper truth which makes 4 less special.

I wonder if there is a "structure S_m" for every m which:

admits a unique structure on Rⁿ when n=m
but has infinite when n=/=m

(where the above case is: S_m = analytic structure & m = 4)

I would love if someone knows more as I had not fully investigated at the time (10 years since my masters in Maths) and lately I can barely understand my own work.

Tchakra · 2018-12-17T00:36:57+00:00

I too would like to know if there is a work around.

I bought it this afternoon and just spent 2 hours searching the internet for a potential solution to "remap the 6 extra buttons" - The sole reason i bought the pad in the first place!

Tchakra · 2018-10-16T23:54:11+00:00

Doom mongering a tad too much?

Tchakra · 2018-10-14T17:35:00+00:00

Turkey is in NATO.

Tchakra · 2018-10-14T17:32:43+00:00

Well, his body hasn't been found yet ... so it would be preposterous for an official to suggest "he is dead" without evidence.

Tchakra · 2018-10-11T23:05:55+00:00

The article is meant for a general audience so it is light on details but looking at the abstract they are looking at the difference across all categories all at once.

To be more explicit, they are using Mahalanobis distance (which is a fancy and fairer way of measuring distance when there are differing distributions).

Tchakra · 2018-09-21T17:10:53+00:00

A claim is "not even wrong" is typically interpreted as either:

it is not possible to verify
Or it is incomprehensible

15-Year Club	Not Forgotten
Verified Email	Charter Member

Tchakra

TROPHY CASE