StringJunky

China has already been taken to task for that because of the orbital debris it causes, if you remember. It seems more and more that Putin is ideologically bound to the idea that Ukraine is an inseparable part of Russia. On my earlier comment about taking out satellites:

Russia appears to be airing the idea of taking out our satellites that help the Ukrainians. Will that cross any militarily agreed red lines?

Try UK politics atm. In fact, look at the state of a lot of international governments. I'm not sure I've seen so much political/existential turmoil in my life

If one don't know the whys and wherefores of distilling and go the pure sugar yeast and water route, methanol poisoning will probably be the outcome.

I have a strong interest in the gut microbiome, but my ignorance of organic chemistry is stumping further progress. Can anybody suggest any good primer titles to get me started. My current level of inorganic'physical chemistry is around 17-18 year old student stuff. It's probably a bit more now as a 60 year old but that's the general idea. @hypervalent_iodine @CharonY

How's it looking from the US side of the Atlantic?

It's matter of principle that science preseves some state of philosophical uncertainty in its confidence level. It's a matter of fact that certain aspects of nature will always be fuzzy in the degree of accuracy that can be attained.

JWT and Hubble are reflectors, and I think, irrc, and these are more suited to panoramic, widefield views.

Like this?

Nice comparison image of the two telescopes together. The improvement is definitely noticeable.

I don't expect a 10 year old to work. They don't owe their parents anything... it was the first-world parents wish, presumably, to have them.

The roots are capillaries; until they are severed they will lift water.

My guess is a settlement is an informal grouping of dwellings that were a precursor to the formation of villages

Given that the US has been hostile to the Nordstream pipelines, could it possibly be them sabotaging?

I thought it coincidental that another pipeline has just come online.

That's a linguistic rabbit hole we don't need to go down.

A sardonically amusing piece from the Moscow Times:

@iNowYes, draft-avoiding has been endemic from what I've been reading, and mostly from the far-flung areas. I've been reading the MoscowTimes, which has more local knowledge of events there, and it's saddening to read the experiences of people being drafted and trying to avoid it. They are just grabbing who they can and the draft wording is apparently deliberately vague to allow the number to be raised. Surrendering is now, or will be, punishable with 10-15 years imprisonment. That could work in Ukraine's favour in time. Now that Muscovites and those from other major cities are liable for draft, things may well start getting internally divisive for the Kremlin. I hope so.

Well, that's a first... you are never not sure. I didn't want a whole course about female pay inequality. Thanks. Even my tutor thought course designers had pushed the subject too much.

I only brought that up because I suffered a maths course that used gender pay inequalities as illustrations in an OU course. I agree though, materials should represent those reading it, if it's appropriate.

I have to say that putting politically-charged subjects into class lessons that don't require them does annoy me. When one starts sliding such materials into coursework, it smacks of indoctrination.

Looks like there was a bit of a rush to get out the country and avoid call up. There's few flights out now and tickets are like 2 grand if you can get one.

Another one 'fell from a great height' yesterday:

Death.