StrandedonEarth

Domestication of wolves/dogs probably started independently in a few places (my conjecture). It may well be that it started with friending a injured animal, and once it was proven it could be done, they started trying to friend the camp followers ( probably not tried before as they wouldn’t want to encourage vicious animals to hang around). Another likely method would be finding a litter of pups after having to kill the dam, or wiping out the pack. That may have been how they were first domesticated, and most likely the main method of friending more animals once they got the hang of it and wanted to friend more. I prefer to use ‘friend’ instead of ‘tame’ because IMO, historically, animals are tamed by force and fear, and will turn on you if given a chance. A friended animal, again IMO, is much less likely to turn on its human

Today I found out that a coworker’s long-time gf was pregnant. The funny part is after that when I got to my post, plugged my phone into the stereo, and hit shuffle, the first song to play was...

And then you run into the timewarp problem. But there's another thread for this discussion.

It's an Amazon Studios thread, so not that off topic. IMDB has Ringworld's status only as announced, written and produced by Larry Niven. No other cast or crew listed. It says TV series or TV movie in different places, so probably a miniseries. I look forward to that. Hmm, they also have a video game listed, "Ringworld: Revenge of the Patriarch" (1992). 1992.... NES? Sega? Never heard of it so... pass. Wrenching myself fully onto topic, I really need to read that Culture series....

Fair enough. It seems to me that that's what most people wanting MP want it for. I've yet to hear of another good reason for MP, since... Long ago, when we had DevNote Tuesdays and Harvester ran the show, there was mention that there was work being done on MP, getting the back-end server code written. But that seems to have died a natural death when the dev team experienced a lot of turnover.

I finally went to see Jumanji last night, and it was great! Karen Gillan was kickS, Jack Black nailed it, Kevin Hart was hilarious, and Dwayne Johnson simply, uh, smouldered. But what really caught my attention was the trailer for the prehistoric flick Alpha. It basically sounds like Seems like it's been in the can for awhile, not sure what the holdup is. Release is in September 2018. I think Hollywood is overdue for a prehistoric epic like the old Quest for Fire. Hopefully it'll be as good as I think it could be.

Blackbird cockpit? Okay, here ya go, trainer version.... (California Science Center, L.A.)

There's a fourth option T2 could exercise: Announce the start of development of Kerbal Flight Program, a new game in the Kerbal franchise. It would be based on building aircraft Kerbal style, and using them to engage in multiplayer air combat. While reaching space may be possible, travel between bodies will not be. The only warp allowed (all that's needed) would be 4x physics warp, if necessary, to get the combatants in range of each other. Of course, combat could be initiated on the planet or moon of choice, but it would stay there. There. Kerbal Multiplayer, with no warp issues. Because really, isn't that what most MPer's are after? Combat? IMO, anything else would tend to be boring. And trying to turn KSP into an MMO is simply unworkable due to the need to warp. But canon kerbals are peaceful, so it would have to go by a different name. Gerbil Flight Program.

Only if we find some latinum to press inside some (worthless) gold It would appear not, however, processing the REE's in space has the advantage of unlimited solar power, and no environmental harm to dear ol' Earth. Environmental penalties might make it worthwhile. Perhaps it would be possible to use the microgravity to an advantage, perhaps not. Also, efficient use of space depends on robotics, so it could drive the creation of ever more versatile robotics. And once the machines are built, operating costs should be minimal (monitoring, remote troubleshooting, and comms).

Yep, that's the one, the one all the Belters are hunting for. There was a tale from a Man-Kzin Wars anthology about an unlikely team of prospectors wandering around Wunderland. An ex-Belter got all excited when he spotted a platinum pebble in a stream, only to be told that during the Occupation, the Kzinti had shoved a platinum 'roid into low orbit, making the stuff as cheap as dirt. Nope, keep looking for gold...

Likewise, which is why I think some entity needs to begin hunting for that legendary million-ton platinum lump of neutron-star fragment.

Hmm, I didn't word my OP properly / clearly enough. Part of the plan would require dumping enough on the market to crash the price, making the quoted scenario unprofitable

Nope! AD / HD - Highway to HEY LOOK A @Squirrel‘

“Some boats were in the no-go zone, so we’re telling them to leave by dropping boosters on them” “We’re allowing SpaceX to launch Falcon 9s and Falcon Heavies from mountaintops in Colorado, with booster landings in Kansas”

When I was a kid, pay phones cost a dime (although not for much longer. That’s right, there were pay phones all over the place!

* not responsible impact delivery site damage Palladium is roughly the same price as platinum atm, although I don’t know how much is consumed worldwide. As for jewelry, the inertness of platinum is also prized. After all, silver is relatively cheap and yet widely used in jewelry. And a unique lustre can always be marketed

Eventually. Eventually. The first thing some entity needs to do is start mass producing cheap ion-powered (is platinum useful in ion engines?) prospector probes (launched in bulk on cheap re-usable boosters) to get some good in-situ data at what is actually out there (Edit: and where). Then some geniuses can figure out how to harvest the riches. The phrase "It's not rocket science" will be replaced by "It's not 'roid mining."

Fair enough, but OTOH,* maybe that sort of early vertical integration was instrumental in bootstrapping up a major industrial operation, and once the industry was fully matured and demand had been sated, it made more sense to break up the operations. The need to replace old facilities with modern ones in a mature industry probably also played a part in the divestment *I'll admit I'm no economist, just a speculating layman

I just did..

He always says things like “Aspirational” timeline. Meaning if all goes according to plan. Everyone knows that no plan survives contact with reality.

That would be ideal. The lack of transit in some areas around here is appalling, including an industrial area beside a highway with absolutely no bus service. Which forces anyone working there (like myself) into a car. I can't believe the lack of planning there. I wonder how suitable the Fraser Valley is for tunnel boring, as there's a lot of aquifers to avoid. A lot of it could be cut/cover or at grade, but it would be handy to bore through some ridges. And it would be great to avoid something as expensive as SkyTrain, when nobody around here can agree on how to fund anything anyways.

Which is what I’m aiming at. Finding a ten ton chunk of platinum probably wouldn’t be cost-effective. Finding a million ton chunk likely would be. Edit: It's the same sort of planning that led Henry Ford to build the Rouge River Plant: