Scotius

Pretty good. Old, solid plate means there wasn't much volcanism going on over the millennia. But... not every circular geological structure is an impact crater. There are processes that create such things without burning rocks falling from space.

Very cool I'm glad we didn't get a repeat of Chelyabinsk event.

Sooo... what could met its end in the black hole to generate so much energy? Did entire galaxy fall into the event horizon?

Welp... there was a "low flying aircraft" after all. But it's fine - it's what prototypes are build for. Moar data for engineers.

Just put a spring-loaded container full of "fighter"drones stacked like Starlink sats on one or two soldiers per platoon. At the sight of incoming danger he will deploy protective umbrella of mini-bots specialized in killing other drones, Just another chapter in endless weapons race.

Sea horses: Camouflage 100% efficient. Achievement unlocked: Invisibility.

This bias against daughters was present for a long time, and is rooted in economy. Eldest son was an inheritor of the land, house, livestock etc. Spare sons were semi-free workforce. But daughters? Sure, they helped with some of workload, but ultimately became a burden when family had to provide them with dowry and marry them out to another family, which then reaped the benefits of additional pair of hands. Net loss for parents Sure, we know such trend is unsustainable and leads to huge problems down the line - but explain that to a pair of uneducated Chinese peasants. Paradoxically, Western civilization avoided this trap partially thanks to feudalism, of all things. Of course - sons, especially the eldest one were more important. But a daughter - pretty, well groomed and educated one was a valuable "commodity" too for her family. Good political marriage led straight to alliance and increase in power, prestige and wealth. Such attitude eventually trickled down to middle and lower classes and became a social norm.

Now that's a tall order. Vaccine(s) for normal flu are available every year before the season, yet every year thousands of people flock to clinics for help. "Eliminated within a month." - i'll believe when i'll see it

Too much money and manhours invested in outdated disposable rockets This story repeats itself around the world - national agencies sank so much resources in old technologies, they are highly reluctant to start basically from ground zero. Taxpayers will pay, after all

Fine control of the suckers puts a lot of load on nervous system. Which happens to be already quite expensive for the organism in terms of energy and resources necessary to grow and maintain it properly. Sure, i can see an organism evolving in that direction, but probability of this particular evolutionary path being taken would be low IMO.

So, it's just a shell. Legal, placeholder entity with very little substance inside? Eh

So, could it be re-set for thrust generation and used as a spaceship engine? I know, I know - a lot of extra bells and whistles would be needed. Plumbing, magnetic nozzle etc.

That's... not a lot of money for a high tech, space related company operating a sizeable asset.

Which is easier when you know there is a full tanker waiting for you at the end of the trip It gets even better if budding colony already can make their own propellant.

You are thinking too small. Way too small. https://what-if.xkcd.com/1/ Start from there... and add ludicrous amount of imagination.

Garbage management would become a lot easier. Trash comes in, useful materials come out.

Ouch! Straight in the pocket. Banks gonna love it And how many people in China use cards or phone payments? Probably most of the young generation, but elders will be in trouble.

LIGO detected a spike or pulse of gravitational waves coming from that area of space during the dimming. But it is unclear if there is any connection to Betelgeuse, or just coincidence.

And if ground-orbit connector could be miniaturized to fit in, say... a smartphone? Yowzers!

So, i took a look. Moon is nearly full, so it's not a perfect night for stargazing. Still, Betelgeuse was noticeably dimmer than Rigel. Which made me think... When Betelgeuse finally pops, what will astronomers do? Neutron star that will be most probable remnant of supernova, can't possibly keep the designation of Alpha Orionis. Will all the stars in the constellation be reassigned? With Rigel becoming new Alpha, Bellatrix new Beta etc.

I wasn't doing this! Mostly because weather was typically atrocious It's sunny and cold today, though - if it holds, i will certainly take a look tonight.

I wonder... Astronomers have been observing fluctuations of Betelgeuse's brightness for at least couple of hundreds of years. Yet this one minimum is something new - something unobserved before. Could it indicate growing instability of the star? Maybe we are witnessing beginnings of agony... which can still last for couple hundreds of years

Eleven spare boosters. About 100 potential launches. Less if some of them will be non-recoverable (mission requirements or malfunctions\bad landings) I'd say SpaceX is well stocked for quite some time

True. But still... it was a massive outbreak. It wiped out a significant portion of population of Europe, after sweeping through Asia and Northern Africa. It took centuries to recover from long-term aftereffects on demographics, economy and culture. To this day Black Death is a yardstick we apply to similar disasters... and for good reason.

Cui bono... as always. ("Who benefits")