JoeSchmuckatelli

I think that's fairly easy to deal with. The thing is... the OOA theory is getting some modifications since the Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA studies, along with finding out there was at least one other population we haven't found bones of (yet). They're all precursors to the modern human; and sharing DNA means we're related. The modern telling begins to follow one of a couple of different lines; Neanderthal and Denisovan left Africa first and later were met by OOA modern humans who mated with and out-competed them leaving only one human species one the planet, or, (more rarely) precursors to the human species populated much of the world, were isolated and enjoyed parallel evolution until modern humans migrated out of Africa mated with and out competed them leaving only one human species on the planet. The simplest deterrent to polygenism is the fact that every human mating has the potential of producing a human child; not a mule.

How many wildflowers bloom in the back of caves? This field is so full of people leery of admitting Neanderthals were human.

What is "Io's Footprint"?

I remember reading that, too!

That's a really cool way of looking at it /describing what is going on!

I'll add: I'm also in my 50s and have been inoculated against a whole host of diseases that the Average American is unlikely to ever hear of, much less be exposed to... And similarly I was largely unconcerned about any threat to myself. But I also had elementary / middle school aged kids when Covid started and two very at risk in-laws,and a wife who works in health care. So we took all the 'reasonable' precautions (I'm using the Midwest definition of reasonable, not the NY / SF virtue signaling definition.) The last guy who I would have thought would get Covid was one of the first - and he had a rough go... Medically induced coma, last rights - and then after a while, got better... But it was a long process for him. Other guys my age who I served with had massive chest pains and breathing difficulties. So my skepticism and belief in my own immortality were tested by personal observation. Still - we likely lost my MIL a year or two before she would have /should have died were it not for the Covid isolation and other stresses associated with the pandemic response. Even with us keeping the kids relatively insolated and zoom schooled for a year and knowing that it was bad for them - the irony was that as soon as we let them 'go back to normal'... The very first middle school BBall game... My kid caught Covid and gave it to me. He had fever and body aches for a couple of days and bounced back. I never felt too bad, but the unique headaches, loss of smell and taste were weird and disturbing. I'm left with a very mixed feeling of how we did as a nation - and would have to violate forum rules to explain further. I remember similar - tragic sense of loss of something so simple and joyfilled as eating became a mechanical process.

Chicken Pot Pie, for me. Just texture and heat - it was weird!

Chips smell like chemicals. Bunch of food smelled like rotting cucumber. OTOH - I couldn't smell the dog's farts, so... Bonus!

Yep - I'm thinking this means I don't have to drive something down to the water to see if it floats!

All this - and still no one addresses the 'Moat' around KSC? It's all "Runways" and "Landing Pads"... what about the Moat!?!

Mixed here; I know quite a few who were hospitalized, put on ventilators, had rough runs. I know many, many who were not; but my experience early on was that caution was (esp. with at-risk people) warranted. I know a very, very few for whom Covid was just one straw too many... but know (personally) no-one who was otherwise healthy and got it and died directly from it.

AI generated... Won art competition. https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/09/03/tech/ai-art-fair-winner-controversy/index.html

Hope your run is better than mine (which I sorta blogged here in Feb 21)! My totally non-scientific belief / observation is that people who have been inoculated generally fare better and have fewer lasting symptoms. Losing smell for a year was weird. Headaches were not fun, either. Here's hoping you have the minor and short lived run my neice and neighbor had last month!

Entitlement police? 'hope' does not fit your narrative

Disagree! - how you leave Tom out of the story is odd. You have to put him in, even if merely an 'unexplained cameo' - readers will get the reference, explain it to the casual film goer and it doesn't leave the gaping hole. (Part of the wonder and oddity of the world - the beginning needs wonder, frivolity and oddness to counter later grittiness with the darkness of Sauron and the Nazgul.) I brought my in-laws to the first. None of them had read any of the stories. My FIL summarized it as "Run-run-run... Fight-fight-fight". He never knew what was going on, or why. Still - I thought PJ did a really good job of bringing the story to the big screen, and the use of New Zealand was brilliant!

There was a lengthy argument in another thread a while back about all this (assuming everyone's aware...) The thing I get from the articles is that if you are standing on the surface of an airless body during daylight; there's likely enough reflective energy to wash out most of what you'd see. At night; it will be a better show than standing in the Atacama Desert. For folks on a space station; during daylight you're between the sun and planet-sized reflective body; maybe that's enough to get your eyes adjusted so much that you don't see stars... maybe not; I don't remember that being mentioned. Probably could see stars if you look perpendicular to the sun/planet line. The question becomes; what do you want from the game? To simulate the problems with using an electric camera when looking at your ship? (I like seeing the stars when I'm looking at my crafts.) Having the view glare out, then slowly resolve (simulating pupils contracting) might be cool the first time; but is it really necessary?

Going off of 35 year old memories; IIRC, they were there from the beginning and supposed to be care-takers or something. Then all the other races either arrived (Humans, Hobbits) or were created to compete (Orcs, etc.)... or am I misremembering? They were there - it was a place to exist and effectively be immortal; but going West was when they'd finally realized the world had moved on and they were superfluous or something. I don't really remember them having a migratory phase to Middle Earth

DebDeb could still be binary, correct? Kerbol (the star) is, by cannon, a single star. However - as I re-read your post, you're saying the chroma effect is why people are saying DebDeb is a close binary; in that case, yeah, I don't think the chroma is good evidence for that... but I'm still hoping that DebDeb is binary. If for no other reason than it's cool.

There is a strong misperception that stars cannot be seen from space due to the exposure settings used by cameras. That's among people who've only looked at pictures of stuff. People who've actually been to space report the stars as breathtaking; the articles I link above explain.

Ummm, no. Can You See Stars In Space? Why Can't You See Them In Space Pictures? (scienceabc.com) Can You See Stars in Space? (nightskypix.com) Why are there no stars in most space images? | The Planetary Society ... ... ... Anyone else notice there's a moat around KSC? (Or is that a nearby 'something else'?) See vid at 0:20-25

IIRC that's the 'Going West' thing the Elves were doing. @kerbiloid - were you talking about this? The Silmarillion - Wikipedia... oh wait, no... no, it's not. (Can't link to the translation b/c of forum language rools.) But... this excerpt? Is it accurate?

FWIW - it has taken me this many days to un FUBAR my rail network. (There may have been side projects along the way) Glad to report, I'm no longer trying to build super-computers with Coal and Steel Pipes.

Passive system - Mission Control determines atmospheric density via crash report.

Heh - that is one of the frustrating 'features' of this forum! Edit: I missed this during my first read through: 8o

It takes MOXIE to make air this fresh! https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theregister.com/AMP/2022/09/01/perseverance_mars_moxie_oxygen/ (From the nerds: https://news.mit.edu/2022/moxie-oxygen-mars-0831.)