Moontanman

The USA should be placed under Canada's legal guardianship until a competent adult can be found to take it over...

11 hours ago, TheVat said:

The bobbles?  I read the one (Marooned) that was serialized in Analog.  Good stuff.  

He died of Parkinson's last Spring, RIP.  I also liked A Fire Upon the Deep, in his Zones of Thought series.

A former GF met him at a sci-fi conference, apparently by means of squeezing through a crowd and under David Brin's armpit en route.  I cannot vouch for the veracity of this account.  

I thought the bobbles was a great plot idea as well, such a simple device to form a story around. 

 I am rereading The Across Real Time series By Vernor Vinge 

4 hours ago, m_m said:

I think my explanation would be off-topic. I only want to say about slavery.  In biblical times, slavery was more of a social status. And the punishment suffered by the Egyptians shows how God views racial slavery.

 

The Bible clearly states that owning people as property is allowed and beating then as long as they don't die within a day or two is ok. Slaves could also be passed on to your children as property. 

I am quite sure owning slaves was a social status flex but the fact remains that slaves were property, I am sure the people who were enslaved benefited little from the social status it gave their owners. 

We are currently seeing the evil that religion supports, White Christian Nationalism is a racist off shoot of Christianity and shows just how religion can be used to support evil by undermining the pluralistic nature of our culture and the tolerance of our culture or aspects of our culture they do not agree with all with the perceived authority of a god. This authority has been transferred by the leaders of this religion to Donald J Trump demonstrating yet again the danger of an authority driven mindset shared by those who worship an authority figure. 

These people have occupied many positions of authority and influence in our government for no other purpose than bending our government to their own agenda and society falsing claiming the moral high ground for immoral purposes protecting a racist and bigoted portion of our society that only wants control of the population and the wealth that control brings... and you want to defend slavery by doing the very thing they are doing.

You claim the Bible has ethics, I'd have to agree if by ethics you mean normalization and tolerance of immoral behavior by the ruling class. By claiming the Bible is ethical while ignoring the immorality and lack of ethics allowed by this religion you are supporting the agenda of these dangerously amoral, power, and money hungry people who want to set up an authoritarian society and take away the freedoms, rights and protections of the people. 

Personally I think the things I mentioned as unethical in the Bible are spot on topic and show just how morally bankrupt the Bible is as a moral or ethical guide and show how religions should never be allowed to dictate governments.  

I think this is quite pertinent to this discussion...

"In every country and in every age the priest has been hostile to liberty; he is always in allegiance to the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection of his own." ~ thomas jefferson

17 hours ago, m_m said:

Yes, but how would you distinguish  ethics from Christian values? 

Ethics exclude slavery from ethical behavior.

16 hours ago, m_m said:

Exactly, "Love thy neighbor".

"Be under obligation to no one — the only obligation you have is to love one another. Whoever does this has obeyed the Law. "

The thing is you are doing this because you are willing in your heart to do so, or you were told to do so. 

This is absolutely necessary, because this difference distinguishes Christianity from ethics and morals. 

Cherry pick much?

16 hours ago, m_m said:

No, I am saying that there is the difference between Christianity and ethics. Ethics is people's words, and the Bible is the Word of God. 

Yes, the word of God asserts that a woman who is not a virgin on her wedding night should be stoned to death, slavery is ok, unruly teenage boys should be killed, teasing a man of "God" for being bald deserves being torn apart by bears, getting your father drunk and having sex with him... do I really need to continue about the word of God? 

3 hours ago, dimreepr said:

Why is America particularly prone to this type of thinking?

Rural revivalism sweeping across the vast numbers of undereducated, magical thinking, religious fundamentalists? 

On 1/23/2025 at 7:42 PM, Janus said:

Using my new found skill set, I went back to revisit an old animation. It actually was the first ones I did using a bone rig to do a "walking" animation. I chose it because it was both simple and from one of my favorite cartoons growing up; Jonny Quest. While my original merely had it walking across the frame, this time I added an element from the actual episode, where it takes a hit from a tank, recoils, shakes it off, and then continues on. (And in case you're wondering, the heroes were able to defeat it in the end) I've added some sound effects to up the ante.

 

Johnny Quest? 

16 hours ago, J.C.MacSwell said:

(Do we tell him?)

 

just kidding!

I know, depends on who is asked, lol

8 hours ago, exchemist said:

Eh? That is what I wrote:”NaCl is progressively converted to NaOH”.

I missed that, evidently I need to relearn the periodic table, sorry

5 hours ago, exchemist said:

You're not wrong, it's just that you've forgotten about the hydrogen:-

 2Cl⁻(aq) -2e⁻ -> Cl₂(g) ; 2 H₂O(l)+ 2e⁻ -> H₂(g) +2OH⁻(aq)

So the hydroxide anion takes the place of the chloride anion that has been converted to chlorine gas, i.e. NaCl is progressively converted to NaOH. But with evolution of both chlorine and hydrogen.

As @TheVat says, at higher dilutions there is competition from direct electrolysis of the water itself.

 

I'm not sure I understand, shouldn't sodium hydroxide should be in the result? 

I've done the electrolysis of salt water, it was more or less full strength seawater, all I got was sodium hydroxide and chlorine, I'm not sure what I did wrong, it's been 45 years since I did that, my memories of the salt percentage might be off. I'll go with your assessment. 

I have to ask... doesn't electrolysis in salt water result in sodium hydroxide and chlorine gas? 

This is far too good to fact check! 

On 12/26/2024 at 3:58 PM, Skovand said:

Hello. Nice to meet you as well. I am not a member. I actually don’t know much about fish. I’ve never liked eating it growing up and have always been repulsed by fishing. But I like ecology which is how I came to this book. Plus Duncan is from the same area and I often hike the places he mentioned. I’m more into aquatic plants than aquatic fauna. I live on a river though and hope to do some restoration to it down the road. At least in the parts I can. Already moved over 300 invasive plants and dug out a lot of trash. 

Good to hear someone is doing something constructive about stream restoration! NANFA could be a source of info for you!  

I would like to suggest that the oxygenation of Earth's atmosphere wasn't exactly a benign occurrence that life then learned to use. The emergence of free oxygen due to photosynthesis was a devastating mass extinction event! Life didn't just "learn" to use it, the vast majority of life died or was forced into special ecological niches where oxygen didn't or couldn't exist while new organisms evolved to tolerate and then actually use oxygen as a energy source. This mass extinction lead to all complex life on earth. 

On 12/22/2024 at 3:07 PM, DavidWahl said:

 

On 12/22/2024 at 12:53 PM, studiot said:

But it decidedly didn't. Life on Earth emerged in an anoxic atmosphere or ocean.

Metabolism is key. Early life didn't need oxygen but eventually life found an ingenious way to utilize oxygen for metabolism through photosynthesis. 

 I'm not trying to be pedantic but this is just not an accurate description of  how oxygen was or is produced or even what oxygen was. Oxygen was a waste product, life didn't just not need oxygen, oxygen is a poison to anaerobic life! Oxygen caused a mass extinction event!

Also, this is simply not what photosynthesis is, how it works, or how the use of it evolved "but eventually life found an ingenious way to utilize oxygen for metabolism through photosynthesis." this is just backwards and twisted and suggests oxygen was just a benign substance that appeared not to mention that metabolism doesn't always need or even use free oxygen! Also photosynthesis does not utilise oxygen it produces oxygen as a waste product, oxygen metabolism utilizes the oxygen photosynthesis produces.  

15 hours ago, Skovand said:

I’m currently reading “ Southern Rivers “ by Dr. Scot Duncan. A really good book focused on ecology and environmentalism in the southeastern fresh water systems and some about brackish waters and the Gulf of Mexico.  It’s also available as an audiobook on Hoopla Digital. 

Good to meet you, any chance you are  member of NANFA? 

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/CRdoTTgWr4RAXzkZ/

1115697743348812.html

5 hours ago, Genady said:

They have, e.g., Invasive Cup Coral | Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary

I am behind the times, thanks for posting this!

On 3/31/2022 at 3:38 PM, Genady said:

Not a lionfish, but a different invasive fish from the Pacific appeared recently in the Tropical Western Atlantic (TWA) region. Just got this notification:

 

Regal Demoiselle, /Neopomacentrus cyanomos/, a damselfish native to the Indo-Pacific and Red Sea. Experts think that this species was introduced into the TWA by  hitchhiking on relocated oil and gas platforms. It was first reported in the Gulf of Mexico in 2016, and recent reports show that it has expanded its non-native range to southeast Florida.

The species was reported in the Florida Keys in 2020 and has since moved up Florida's east coast to Blue Heron Bridge near West Palm Beach...

Some experts believe that the Regal Demoiselle has the potential to place mild competitive pressure on native fishes, and it is important to track the spread of the Regal Demoiselle to understand the impacts it may have on native species and habitats.

Regal Demoiselle Identification

Similar in appearance to the native Brown Chromis, the Regal Demoiselle is distinguished by a yellow or white spot at the rear base of the dorsal fin, a dark spot behind the gill cover, and yellow or pale rear margins on the fins and tail. In contrast, the Brown Chromis is identified by dark margins on the tail and a dark spot at the base of the pectoral fin. For more information about the Regal Demoiselle, check out this page The Nonnative Regal Demoiselle | Reef Environmental Education Foundation , which also includes a helpful table showing how to tell the difference between it and the native Brown Chromis.

I'm surprised clown fish haven't showed up or invasive corals, spreading animals beyond their native range is one thing humans have been doing since well before records were being kept. Once we domesticated animals and started bringing them with us while we conquered the globe... it's what we do! 

On 12/18/2024 at 1:30 PM, Genady said:

Thanks guys. I think it is important to clarify that my so called "cold water" is much warmer than 15°C.

Me too, lol

Have you considered that holding your breath is part of the mammalian diving response? 

That is an interesting observation, I for one, hate getting in cold water! I have noticed it's better to just jump in than trying to slowly acclimate to the water.