JoeSchmuckatelli

I'm surprised that they started with plants. I'd think they'd seed it with lichen and rock eating fungi and perhaps some bacteria to transform the regolith to soil... But then what do I know - I'm not a biologist

Plants grown in Lunar Regolith: Germination readily occurred on all samples between 48 and 60 hours after planting, and all lunar seedlings exhibited normal stems and cotyledons (Fig. 2a), indicating that nothing derived from the full contact with the hydrated regolith interfered with the complex set of signaling events required for early aerial development Plants grown in Apollo lunar regolith present stress-associated transcriptomes that inform prospects for lunar exploration | Communications Biology (nature.com) however: by the sixth day, the plants in lunar soil began to grow differently than the control group of thale cress. Researchers found that the lunar regolith plants grew slower and displayed "stunted roots," NASA said. "Additionally, some had stunted leaves and sported reddish pigmentation." After 20 days, RNA sequencing of the plants revealed that those grown in lunar soil were under stress and reacted in ways the plant typically would in harsh environments, NASA said. "At the genetic level, the plants were pulling out the tools typically used to cope with stressors, such as salt and metals or oxidative stress, so we can infer that the plants perceive the lunar soil environment as stressful," Scientists grow plants in soil from the moon for the first time in history - CBS News

That first reply, tho (Waiting for KSP2) Seeing as how Multiplayer is confirmed... I'm blaming that for all delays. (because, why not. Phhbbbbbtttt!) neener.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/12/asia/tonga-eruption-biggest-in-more-a-century-scn/index.html As big as Krakatoa Winds actually had an effect in space: the Tonga volcano also created havoc in space, spurring hurricane-strength winds, based on data from NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, mission and the European Space Agency's Swarm satellites. The giant plume of gases, water vapor and dust pushed into the sky by the eruption created large pressure disturbances in the atmosphere, leading to strong winds, NASA said in a statement. As these winds expanded upward into thinner layers of the atmosphere, they began moving faster. "Upon reaching the ionosphere and the edge of space, ICON clocked the windspeeds at up to 450 mph -- making them the strongest winds below 120 miles altitude measured by the mission since its launch," NASA said.

Side question - Max Payne remaster? As in a complete remake with modern design tools or just something to help it play on Win10? Back to the topic: I'm with you - the last EC we went off of referred to quarters not halves.

Ok That is so... You... No. No. No. No. No. That is so wrong Too much on point Douglas Adams referencing too early. Stahp it.

Maybe. Earnings reports aren't the best for granularity, but at this point anything that helps resolve the speculation will be appreciated

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.inverse.com/science/watch-stars-orbit-around-the-milky-ways-black-hole/amp

The gross thing - given the speculation - is the guy who tasted the meat

Not sure this is fun - but it's apparently true, and made it to Scientific American I bring you: the Kentucky Meat Shower https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_meat_shower (thanks, xkcd)

Sauce? Also: https://xkcd.com/1525

So there's a cross section to mass effect going on here? The dense, unbroken satellite can effectively power through the thin wisps of atmosphere without dropping velocity - whereas the broken parts, effectively sheets, are more like the feather (light weight compared to surface area) and so the effect is greater?

Interesting that they claim it as a first confirmation. I don't remember the name of the researcher but IIRC she confirmed the BH at SagA via stellar images and exceptionally tight orbital paths. I'll try to find it.

Grin - I also had that worked into the story. Classic 'sub warfare' deception stuff!

"By December 2011, many pieces of the debris were in an observable orbital decay towards Earth, and were expected to burn up in the atmosphere within one to two years" Really? I was under the impression that it would take longer for stuff at that altitude to decay... If true - why aren't more defunct satellites dropping out of the sky and the orbits getting cleaned up?

I know you know this - but so much of earthquake damage depends on the local terrain. (plus distance etc) I've been in 5s that really shook and some that barely registered

I worked on a story idea like this several years ago... The economy had a strong space based component with lots of commercial traffic reentry - and the stealth pilot would shadow a drone ship to 'share the plume' then peel off once in atmospheric flight. As for limiting the likelihood of being spotted via this method - I'm confident that it is 'a way' (especially if over the Pacific) ... But I don't know whether it's technically possible or even a good idea given turbulence

I know people like this. They collect figurines

Necessity is the mother of invention! (I know people who have flown PC simulation and said that it helped them when they started learning to fly. ... I also have military pilot friends who have never played a PC game and who scoff at and scorn the very idea.) My wife and I had a great conversation about this last night - one of her fears of flying is that exact situation... And I'm someone who for whatever reason has never had a problem landing a pixel plane in any simulation or game... So I said I 'got it' and would have done the same thing (or tried to). Thing is - in emergency situations, different people react in different ways. Some freeze. Some act. Sounds like this guy was one of the latter.

Any billionaires out there who want a chunk of history? https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/11/world/dinosaur-apocalypse-tanis-fossil-site-scn/index.html Iridium layer asteroid piece found (?)

Puns and sarcasm are signs of intelligence, actually. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-surprising-benefits-of-sarcasm/#:~:text=“Sarcasm is the lowest form,this particular form of expression. "our research suggests, there may also be some unexpected benefits from sarcasm: greater creativity. The use of sarcasm, in fact, promotes creativity for those on both the giving and receiving end of sarcastic exchanges. Instead of avoiding sarcasm completely in the office, the research suggests sarcasm, used with care and in moderation, can be effectively used and trigger some creative sparks" Also: *Importantly, however, Filik found that the sarcasm also triggered greater activity in semantic networks involved in general language processing, and the brain regions involved in humour, compared to the non-sarcastic irony – which she takes to be a sign of its overall complexity. "It's more challenging to work out what the beliefs of the other person were, why they said that, and whether they're trying to either be mean or be funny." This mental workout may come with some surprising benefits. Working with colleagues at Harvard and Columbia Universities, Li Huang at Insead’s business school in Fontainebleau, France, has shown that both expressing, receiving, or recalling sarcastic comments can help to catalyse creative thinking" https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20211110-your-teens-being-sarcastic-its-a-sign-of-intelligence

Fun fact: puns are painful. https://xkcd.com/2607 https://www.thecut.com/2016/12/heres-what-happens-in-your-brain-when-you-hear-a-pun.html

An argument can be made that many already are... But who's being left out of the advances and how unhappy are they about it?

The more the merrier! Go for broke, fellers!

Grin - unless you are part of the Giant Radioactive Spider lobby