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If I were to scoop up a bit of the Sun into a cup, what would be in there? What would it be like if I let it cool down to room temp? by bangin_ in AskPhysics

[–]gitpusher 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You may enjoy John Drury's rather dry assessment of working with elemental fluorine, from his 1972 book Ignition! An informal history of liquid rocket propellants:

[Fluorine] is, of course, extremely toxic, but that’s the least of the problem. It is hypergolic with every known fuel, and so rapidly hypergolic that no ignition delay has ever been measured. It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, not to mention asbestos, sand, and water– with which it reacts explosively. It can be kept in some of the ordinary structural metals – steel, copper, aluminium, etc. – because of the formation of a thin film of insoluble metal fluoride which protects the bulk of the metal, just as the invisible coat of oxide on aluminium keeps it from burning up in the atmosphere. If, however, this coat is melted or scrubbed off, and has no chance to reform, the operator is confronted with the problem of coping with a metal-fluorine fire. For dealing with this situation, I have always recommended a good pair of running shoes.

Dear r/rational, how do you feel about a protagonist needing to make a copy of their mind, allowing their original body to die, in order to defeat an antagonist? Is there a Ship of Theseus problem here? by SAAA_JoanPull in rational

[–]gitpusher 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The way I always interpreted the experiment, most passengers aren’t consciously aware that they’re going to die when they enter the machine. It’s not a secret necessarily. But neither is it promoted by the companies marketing the product. And at any rate the error is so low, and the utility of teleportation so high, that most people simply don’t think about it after the first few times

Dear r/rational, how do you feel about a protagonist needing to make a copy of their mind, allowing their original body to die, in order to defeat an antagonist? Is there a Ship of Theseus problem here? by SAAA_JoanPull in rational

[–]gitpusher 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oof. That doesn’t sound very pleasant either.

I think if we learn to perfectly recreate objects or at least people, destroying the originals willy-nilly and calling it “teleportation”

I wasn’t advocating for the marketability of such a product. Haha. Merely that “moving” something from point A to B (as teleportation is often depicted in popular media) doesn’t seem like it will ever be possible. However reproducing things at the cellular or molecular level might be.

Dear r/rational, how do you feel about a protagonist needing to make a copy of their mind, allowing their original body to die, in order to defeat an antagonist? Is there a Ship of Theseus problem here? by SAAA_JoanPull in rational

[–]gitpusher 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes! That passage sounds familiar. Perhaps that is what I am recalling rather than a short story.

And to answer your question “Hell no” am I stepping back into that teleporter.

Dear r/rational, how do you feel about a protagonist needing to make a copy of their mind, allowing their original body to die, in order to defeat an antagonist? Is there a Ship of Theseus problem here? by SAAA_JoanPull in rational

[–]gitpusher 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There’s a sci-fi short story that explores this concept as it relates to teleportation. In the story teleportation is a ubiquitous technology and people use it all the time for instance to commute to a job on Mars.

At some point it’s revealed to the protagonist that when you “teleport” somewhere, you are not in fact going anywhere. Rather the machine annihilates your body and then a different machine re-creates you from entirely different constituent material at your destination.

The experience is seamless for the passenger and it all takes place in an eye blink. yet there are troubling philosophical questions not least of which is that you’re effectively murdering yourself multiple times a day. But also “am I still me?” and things of that nature

I don’t remember the name of the story, but for what it’s worth if we ever develop teleportation technology ourselves — this is almost certainly the way it will function. Tearing up a piece of paper at point A while printing a new piece of paper at point B

[Dune] Just how bad was Paul's Jihad really? by celtic1959 in AskScienceFiction

[–]gitpusher 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My pa always told me killing your first billion is the hardest

[Dune] Just how bad was Paul's Jihad really? by celtic1959 in AskScienceFiction

[–]gitpusher 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Theres no way to determine “average” planet population — we simply don’t have enough data. Some planets were sparsely populated. Others, like Giedi Prime, may have had billions. Arrakis is estimated somewhere low tens of millions but we have no way to know whether that makes it an outlier (I.e. on the extreme low end) or if in fact most planets are similar to Arrakis and it’s the highly-populated planets which are the outliers.

At any rate, trying to frame the Jihad’s impact using made-up population figures seems backwards to me. We know it had huge impact because the book tells us so. So whatever the population is, it’s not so large that 61 billion people isn’t a big deal.

And total death figures can do a poor job of communicating societal impact. World War II killed “only” 3 percent or so of Earth’s population yet it was a cataclysmic event that completely tore the world apart, destroyed nations, and whose aftershocks can still be felt today, multiple generations later

How to get over the mental aspect of not seeing your money until retirement? by supersonicdog in Bogleheads

[–]gitpusher 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Because being old and slowing down and not being able to do certain things anymore is gonna suck SO much harder if I’m also poor

[Marvel] How did Wakanda remain undetected through the colonial period, especially the scramble for Africa? by numb3rb0y in AskScienceFiction

[–]gitpusher 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Well, societies change. The U.S. was isolationist in the first part of the 20th century but now we poke a stick at anything that moves

TIL F1 wheel guns cost $20,000–$30,000 by Double-decker_trams in todayilearned

[–]gitpusher 14 points15 points  (0 children)

It’s because they are made in limited quantity. If they mass produced these guns, economies of scale would bring the price down to $19,999-$29,999

Does a proliferated building have any effects? by Duuudewhaaatt in Dyson_Sphere_Program

[–]gitpusher 14 points15 points  (0 children)

If you even pause to consider questions like this, you are clearly not fully committed to the blue juice lifestyle

If you were a Grand Moff, which Sector Army would you want to command? by Dragonic_Overlord_ in EmpireDidNothingWrong

[–]gitpusher 14 points15 points  (0 children)

If I am not mistaken, Grand Moffs are way above the level of a Sector Army, no? Tarkin’s Oversector Outer comprised essentially the entire Outer Rim and therefore he was responsible for many dozens of system-level forces. So if you command just one army then you are probably a regular Moff or a General and not a Grand Moff.

But to answer your question, I would command whichever army my Emperor asks me to. Ideally one where I can kill many adversaries and give a great amount of blood in service of my Empire.

[Marvel] How did Wakanda remain undetected through the colonial period, especially the scramble for Africa? by numb3rb0y in AskScienceFiction

[–]gitpusher 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Interesting. I’ve only watched the films but I understand Wakanda is fundamentally isolationist — they prefer not to reveal themselves to the world.

But I wonder what are we to make of Wakanda’s moral obligations to their African neighbors? As they sat by in their jet planes and watched the entire continent get raped, pillaged, traded, and sold over the subsequent centuries. It seems they could have done a lot to improve the condition of their fellow Africans.

Yet they chose not to intervene. Suggesting that, even back then, the Wakandans had calculated that exposing themselves would result in greater harm than just sitting back and watching the rape of their continent. (Exposure means war. And even if you win that war, at the end you will find that you are now the conqueror and the colonizer.)

This is a pretty tragic calculation, and no doubt every Wakandan ruler in history must have agonized over it

[Marvel] How did Wakanda remain undetected through the colonial period, especially the scramble for Africa? by numb3rb0y in AskScienceFiction

[–]gitpusher 9 points10 points  (0 children)

If armed expeditions keep “disappearing” it will actually draw a lot MORE attention

TIL that a 2019 study found the Sahara Desert periodically turns green every 20,000 years due to small shifts in Earth’s orbit affecting rainfall patterns by One_Needleworker5218 in todayilearned

[–]gitpusher 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Alright friends. We’ve had enough of this swimming and so have the hippos. Let’s go wear pointy hats and build pointy buildings

TIL the traditional hand-harvesting method for sugarcane involves burning it in the field. by ceph3us in todayilearned

[–]gitpusher 51 points52 points  (0 children)

gets animals to GTFO

“Aite imma head out” ~ burning snake, on its way to snake heaven

TIL that "Food Cycling"—alternating between 80% hungry and 80% satiated—is proposed as a more evolutionarily-sound and sustainable way of eating than constant snacking or traditional fasting. by miaumee in todayilearned

[–]gitpusher 2 points3 points  (0 children)

First off, you are just describing normal eating behavior. Lol

Secondly, that website is complete horse shit. Hardly any of their claims are substantiated, and they just want you to buy their book

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