JoeSchmuckatelli

In 2017, a 10m-long Soviet-era anti-aircraft missile exploded at a recycling centre, apparently after being sold for scrap 8o

So still not talking about aliens: but this does reflect on your concerns... Omicron variant in the U.S.: Omicron cases could fall just as quickly as they rose, CDC says (nbcnews.com) Not like a wave, more like an "icepick"

Never asked this, but: is Booster tall enough to have the leverage to capsize their current drone ships if caught with some kind of upgraded clamp attached to the drone? Is that why they need the oil rigs? Finally - could one of those Russian Heavy Lift helicopters snatch one off a rig and tote it back to land?

Frankly, I'm so tense/excited about this thing... like other's have said: I won't exhale until the pictures start rolling in

Insertion

...or watch and rewatch the glorious slo-mo explosion. Then watch again as they rebuild, and almost get it right. Then watch yet again as they get it right - and then change everything.

I hear you; coming up on 1 year since I had it and still affected.

I honestly think it matters how much atmospheric pressure there is and whether it is toxic, or outside survivable temperatures. If you had a planet with an atmosphere that had similar pressure to Earth, but oddly no O2 (or not enough) and wasn't toxic to skin, I'd think you could get away with only wearing an oxygen tank and a face shield. Where you have little atmosphere - the suit is required not only for breathing, but also pressure and radiation protection. Here's what they're thinking about for Mars: The Advanced Spacesuit Tech For NASA's Mars Mission Looks Futuristic (screenrant.com)

What data are you referring to? This is (mostly) what I hear: "Every patient I’ve seen with Covid that’s had a 3rd ‘booster’ dose has had mild symptoms. By mild I mean mostly sore throat. Lots of sore throat. Also some fatigue, maybe some muscle pain. No difficulty breathing. No shortness of breath. All a little uncomfortable, but fine," Spencer wrote. Omicron Symptoms in Vaccinated Adults: Sore Throat, Fatigue Common – NBC New York “The more we see this virus transmitting around and really not causing serious illness, the more we may be getting to that phase where this virus becomes closer to other common viruses that we see out there that affect humans with very little serious or lethal consequences,” said Wilson. “That could be what the future might look like. Periodically we have to wear a mask and then periodically we have to go get vaccines,” said Michael. Researchers predict what will happen after omicron (abcactionnews.com)

It won't. What will happen is covid will become as commonplace as the flu. Still kills a few each year, sometimes they get out the right vaccine, sometimes they don't... And few if any really worry about it

Russian 'alternative businessmen' are smart enough to use sites in Africa, India and other places - including trailer parks in the US. But why single out just the Russians? https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wlky.com/amp/article/companies-face-lawsuit-from-indiana-ags-office-for-routing-illegal-robocalls/37973455

Were I in the industry, I'd ask the team when they thought they were absolutely 6 months out from publishing - then I'd tell fans the release is 6 months AFTER that date... Then push like hell for the first and call it 'early release' so we can get through patch season without a hitch After the initial round of 'post release' patches then and only then do we go 1.0

My parents moved with their LA soft outdoor cats to Phoenix in the 90s. They decided to try to make the cats be indoor kitties. New house had ceiling fans. Freaked one of the cats out. Like seriously, instinctive, unreasoned fear. We figure the cat thought the fan was an eagle. Cat kept trying to escape to the safety of being outside. ... One of these lived in the saguaro cactus on the hill behind their home https://www.desertmuseum.org/kids/oz/long-fact-sheets/Great horned owl.php Never saw the cat again

"The world’s most sophisticated tripod has deployed,” https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/

As news of Omicron started to spread about it in South Africa, I had the opportunity to chat with a virologist. He said a couple of interesting things: 1. The purpose of vaccination is not to prevent disease outright, but rather to prevent catastrophically bad disease. The vaccinated can still get sick - but because of the vaccine, they don't die: their system has been primed to help them survive. 2. Omicron is the solution to the anti-vax problem and herd immunity. It is so transmissable that everyone who has thus far escaped infection is going to catch it. 'Hopefully, enough people have been vaccinated and already had the disease so that the course is short and deaths are low'. "What about those who've had it, the vaccinated and those with hybrid immunity (both had the disease and full vax + booster)?" Shrug. "Weren't you listening? There is no way to prevent infection - even among them... But those people should be fine." ... And yes, Covid sucks. A year after I caught it and my nose still doesn't work.

Found this interesting: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-10-04/the-big-hack-how-china-used-a-tiny-chip-to-infiltrate-america-s-top-companies It's a good read. At first I thought it explained the JPL hack - but that was 'an unauthorized raspberry pi device attached to a server'. https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2019/06/20/confirmed-nasa-has-been-hacked/?sh=16c68e9adc62 Scary thing is how deep some of it could get ... "The somewhat huge challenge that NASA faces from the cybersecurity perspective shouldn’t be underestimated though. Scientists tend to default to collaboration after all. “Imagine trying to do cybersecurity focused on advanced threat actors when many of the members of the scientific community work in those adversarial countries,” Ian Thornton-Trump, head of security at AmTrust International, says. “You can’t simply turn Russia off at the firewall, for example, when you are partnered with Russia,” Thornton-Trump concludes, “it’s almost mission impossible for NASA from an infosecurity point of view.” "

Heh.

Soviet platoons were 3. NATO 4.

Only quoting the one for brevity - but I truly enjoy your analogies! My instinct tells me that the 'choice' of only certain amino acids out of such a large pool likely has to do with efficiency. "Origin-of-life scientists have long been drawn to intriguing questions surrounding the evolution of proteins. ‘Why does biology use 20 amino acids – why not 12 or 40? And why did nature choose these particular 20 amino acids?’ says Leman. ‘We discovered that there are purely chemical factors, based on higher polymerisation reactivity and fewer side reactions, that might have contributed to this selection process... " https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/why-does-all-life-use-the-same-20-amino-acids/3010824.article We may not yet know the reason - but there is a reason. The weird is certainly possible - but is it probable?

That is certainly one possibility - in fact a quite likely possibility. I've been reading lately about the transition of life from the oceans and seas to land, with bacteria, fungi, algae and lichens populating a very different terrestrial environment and creating the one we know today. Nothing says that some alien environment supporting life has to follow our pattern - but I'm guessing there will be more similarities than not if the environment and chemistry are substantially similar. Think of all the organs most animal life has in common - across class and phyla. It's possible that other solutions to the energy needs of plants and animals might arise elsewhere, but it's also possible that these are really simple solutions and why they are so prolific. Muscle fiber comes in many forms - but in the end it's all mostly edible. Thing is - if the universe is a lot weirder than here... Then getting off this planet is a useless endeavor.

The more I look at that... if it were a game; I'd play it. Probably have to mortgage the house to get a copy - but freaking WOW! I remember when FutureMark put this out, being amazed at the possibility of 3d art and wishing I'd made different life choices back in the 80s!

Fantastic stuff! However... I'm not looking at those pics. I'm out breathing the air, climbing, getting cold or hot and bug bit. Absent brain-jacking... nothing else compares

...and telescopes larger than Webb is part of the reason I'm so excited about the potential of SX and SS. Hoping '22 is a year filled with success for those folks. So much to look forward to!

This is my anti-matrix. No coverage. None. Analog time!

I never knew that part of the story - thanks for sharing! (Starts gooling, ignoring the work that's much more boring)