mermaldad

joined 1 year ago
[–] mermaldad 3 points 3 months ago

One of the key features of scientific studies is that they only go as far as the data and the experimental design can support. Because of this it is not unusual for a study to give results that may be surprising or counterintuitive, but not be able to explain why. This is especially true for complex issues. I'm not trying to dismiss your question, and I think several good ideas and observations have been made in the ensuing comments, but in the end I don't think this study which describes the correlation between two factors, can give you the answer you are looking for.

[–] mermaldad 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I recently switched away from SmartNews because it keeps getting into a mode where it 1) can't load the stories, or 2) seems to load but just shows a black screen beyond a certain point, or 3) crashes. I hung on for awhile, hoping it would get fixed, but once I heard about the internal turmoil, I gave up.

[–] mermaldad 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'm trying to understand how retirement and disability would work in such a monetary system. While the hoarding of wealth by the rich is a problem in the current system, it seems like devaluing all savings would make anyone who can't work worthless.

[–] mermaldad 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Cats, like most animals and indeed people, exhibit a variety of personalities and behaviors. Dismissing them all as "assholes" is like stereotypng people based on race, gender, ethnicity, etc. It's a weak argument. Combined with your "that's not up for debate" makes me wonder if you are just trolling us.

[–] mermaldad 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What doesn't seem sustainable to me is the Repubican party caucus. The right is incensed that McCarthy "caved to the Democrats". I suspect a motion to vacate will be raised.

[–] mermaldad 2 points 1 year ago

Mine's Aachenosaurus. It's such an interesting (if sad) story about how science works.

From Wikipedia: Independently in 1887, the name Aachenosaurus was created by the scientist (and abbé) Gerard Smets based on fossilized fragments of material that he thought were jaw fragments from a duck-billed dinosaur (a hadrosaur). However, the fossils turned out to be petrified wood, to the great embarrassment of the discoverer.

So while he advanced science by reporting his discovery and advancing a theory about what it was, he will forever be remembered mostly for how very wrong he was.

[–] mermaldad 13 points 1 year ago

When I was about four years old, a tornado passed through our town. I remember huddling in the hallway with my family and hearing, "This is a tornado warning" on the radio. I thought a tornado warning was a warning to the tornado not to come through town.

[–] mermaldad 2 points 1 year ago

The sad part is that the phrase "broke the sound barrier", while common, is wrong. There is no sound barrier. There is an increase in drag around Mach 1. There is flutter, which can be destructive, but flutter can occur at any speed.

Unfortunately some early airplane designs failed near Mach 1, someone hypothesized a barrier, and the concept stuck around long after it was disproven.

[–] mermaldad 1 points 1 year ago

Not an unreasonable belief, since eggs are often displayed under a huge sign that says "dairy".