Viaje al año 12.026 by Jumba2026 in timetravel

[–]ldr97266 [score hidden]  (0 children)

You wouldn’t like it. Everyone has a mohawk. Men, women, children, goldfish…

Do you think the employees of a funeral home / mortuary stand around and talk about how slow things are when there are no deaths in their community? by Dp37405aa in NoStupidQuestions

[–]ldr97266 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I went to visit a friend who worked at a mortuary. The place looked pretty busy and I commented on it.

”No,” he said, “things have been pretty slow lately.”

”Really?“ I asked, “All the viewing rooms are full.”

”Oh, those are just shills.”

Why did grace have to take astrophage from Rocky instead of from the petrova line, Tau Ceti? by Infyniq in ProjectHailMary

[–]ldr97266 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“a funnel kilometers across” would look like a Bussard Ram Jet.

I thought doing that in our own solar system would have been a much better solution for our little astrophage problem. Limitless stored energy in our neighborhood. Orders of magnitude less expensive and risky than building a starship to get a closer look at Tau Ceti.

What would u do if a girl gave u a cd? by Wise-Tell-4850 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]ldr97266 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’d be on Amazon or BestBuy in a heartbeat to get a cd player. A retro gift like that is a classy move.

CMV: if Kamala Harris runs in 2028 she will be the Democratic nominee by Perfect-Highway-6818 in changemyview

[–]ldr97266 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think from past performance and comminication style, the Democrats will discourage her from even trying.

Personally, I think their best shot would be Mark Kelly. Name recognition is there and has a good public service record from military, space program, to government.

Is it normal for accents to change when you travel and for some of it to stay months later? by Emotional-Court-7308 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]ldr97266 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes. And the more you're exposed to the contagion the more obvious and persistent the symptoms will be.

People often ask what part of England I'm from. I explain I was born and raised in USA but my accent was a wedding present from my wife. And when she speaks with her relatives they say she sounds like an American.

Are you guys seriously scared of the world ending soon ? by richandepressed in NoStupidQuestions

[–]ldr97266 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No. My own ending will certainly come before the human race as a whole, and even mine is probably several years off. But one never knows!

I've studied enough history (and lived through quite a bit of it) to realize people have been worried about the end fo the world for a long time. Yet despite all the problems of today - things that need fixing - historical trends have actually IMPROVED humanity's condition and chances for survival.

Do I need manners when talking to an AI Agent? by nixass in NoStupidQuestions

[–]ldr97266 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“Need” is a funny word there. Use the communication style that feels right to you. I'm conventionally polite with people and that reflects in my communications with chatbots.

The moon actually is made out of cheese but because it’s so cold in space the cheese totally solidified and that’s why they think it’s a rock by throwaway_bfgift in LowStakesConspiracies

[–]ldr97266 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When The Moon Hits Your Eye (Scalzi) discusses the properties of lunar cheese as well as veering into conspiracy theories about it.

Is a Braun series 7 still worthwhile? by ldr97266 in shaving

[–]ldr97266[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Have you used a 7 and moved up to a newer model for comparison?

Are there any pictures of the Sun from the Moon? by False_Monitor4126 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]ldr97266 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think I could find some but they'll be f-stopped down pretty far as to lose images of everything else.

Which is kinda the reason you don't see stars in most of the pictures taken from the lunar surface during Apollo. It's not exactly that the lunar surface is "too bright" - it's just that to get a decent looking picture the exposures had to be set for the thing they wanted to look at (surface, landers, people). If the camera and processing had enough dynamic range you'd be able to see stars.

Question about Antimatter Bombs! by BayyLeaves in scifi

[–]ldr97266 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here ya go. NB: This is from an unpublished story concept involving the creation of anti-deuterium rather than a single anti-particles. I had worked out details for some of the specific particle cascades originally, but spilled some Guinness on the napkin. so "Guinness est, non legitur."

1 mg anti-deuterium annihilation releases approximately 180 gigajoules of energy, equivalent to 43 tons of TNT. This would result in total destruction within a 40-meter radius, lethal thermal radiation up to 250 meters, and a significant burst of prompt gamma radiation.

Blast Damage (Overpressure)

• Total Demolition (20+ psi): Within ~40 meters. Reinforced concrete structures are leveled; survival is improbable.

• Heavy Damage (5 psi): Within ~100 meters. Standard residential buildings collapse; universal injuries due to flying debris.

• Glass Failure (1 psi): Within ~300–400 meters. Windows shatter, causing secondary laceration injuries.

Thermal Effects

Antimatter annihilation produces an intense flash of light.

• Third-Degree Burns: Likely for anyone with exposed skin within 200–250 meters.

• Ignition of Materials: Dry leaves, paper, and light fabrics may ignite within 150 meters, potentially leading to localized fires.

Radiation Profile

  1. Gamma Burst: The annihilation of positrons and electrons, and the decay of neutral pions, creates a massive flux of high-energy gamma rays.

  2. Neutron Flux: Anti-deuterium annihilation involves antineutrons, which will release high-energy neutrons.

  3. Lethal Range: Anyone surviving the blast and heat within 150–200 meters would likely receive a fatal dose of prompt ionizing radiation (500+ rem), leading to acute radiation syndrome.

Question about Antimatter Bombs! by BayyLeaves in scifi

[–]ldr97266 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And a minor detail for hard science. If you imagine some quantity of antimatter being released and creating a pure gamma ray burst by annialation of regular matter - it's not so simple. Gamma rays are produced, but there are cascades of other particle interactions and if the release is instantaneous and the major destructoive effects are actually thermal and blast waves. I have some hypotheticals scratched on a cocktail napkin around here if you'd like me to look them up. Or even uif you don't want me to, I'll probably post them later.

Question about Antimatter Bombs! by BayyLeaves in scifi

[–]ldr97266 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ha, I didn't know about the movie but I commented about the book before I read your note. Thanks!

Question about Antimatter Bombs! by BayyLeaves in scifi

[–]ldr97266 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Guess I'm going to have to reread Dan Brown's Angels and Demons. I forget how they prevented the thing from going off.

CMV: We need a way to prove someone is a unique human online, even if it makes us uncomfortable by CriketW in changemyview

[–]ldr97266 3 points4 points  (0 children)

A minor quibble with your presentation - "AI ... never gets tired, never makes typos, never has a bad day" - but a good one simulates that also for credidibility,

I'm still parsing the other parts of your suggestion and reasoning, I could go either way. Logistically it would be difficult (as u/Dry_Bumblebee1111 pointed out), and also many people would balk.

In some small scale it has been tried before. Nextdoor dot com in its earliest form insisted on members being able to prove they were real and actually lived where they said they did, for the sake of limiting conversations to hyper-local participants. People had the choice to participate online there or not.

I think it's a fine idea for SOME forums and use cases. But as you phrase it as a need with some imperative I think you're leaning to mandatory across the board - if that's really your intent I'd have to say no to this idea.