Doubtful. The human lifespan was never long enough for it to matter until recently. Most people were dead in their 30s.
This is a myth. In earlier times, average lifespan was short because of high childhood mortality. But if you made it past 5, you were likely to live to 50, 60, or 70.
The presence of a maternal grandmother in the household is correlated with better child and maternal health. Interestingly, the presence of a paternal grandmother has an overall negative effect. So women actually have a scientific basis for hating their mother-in-law.
A better question is if Maxwell's tech is real and as revolutionary as claimed then why sell the entire company and all IP for a measly $200 million?
Because they have good researchers, but nobody with the skills to turn their IP into commercial products and manufacture at scale.
According to their financial statements they are all but bankrupt. Doesn't add up.
There is no magic machine that turns great ideas into piles of money. Plenty of brilliant people go broke. Having a PhD is negatively correlated with business success.
Good predictive science is about making the best extrapolations you can with the data and theory you have.
Except that is not what they did. Taking a ruler and drawing a tangent to a curve is drafting not science.
Nothing is linear over an 80 year timeframe. If you look at CO2 emissions, they are rising overall. But they are falling in some developed countries, and have reach an inflection point in many more. The technology that has made this possible will spread, as it always does, to the rest of the world.
If instead of a simple linear projection, the first derivative and (especially) second derivative, are taken into account, the projection looks very different. But not as scary, which was the whole point.
But, you'll still need to convince both governments that it's a problem.
You don't need to convince China's government. China takes AGW seriously. They have more installed solar capacity than any other country, and much more under construction. They are building nukes, installing wind turbines, and investing in electric cars.
India... not so much. Democracies have difficulty dealing with long timeline problems.
Waterboarding also works very well, and leaves no marks. Just a bit of duct tape to cover the nose, and a trickle of water into the back of the throat is all it takes.
The only risk of marks is the suspect struggling against the restraints, so always use plenty of padding.
No, China is not catching up, they are way ahead. I was in Shanghai for 8 weeks in Sept and Oct, and I don't think I saw anyone use cash for anything even once.
Even the bums on the street have QR codes on their signs. Just scan it with your phone to donate.
When cryptocoins are lost, the value of the remainder go up. The net loss is zero. If your coin stash was at QuadrigaCX, you lost. If it wasn't, you win.
The Greeks and Romans weren't destroying entire ecosystems
Yes they were. North Africa was known as "the breadbasket of the Roman Empire". Today it is the Sahara Desert. Destructive farming practices destroyed millions of tonnes of topsoil. They also exterminated many species, including the North African Elephant.
I lived for several months in a hutong with no running water. I would go to the well pump twice a day to fill a 20 liter container, and there was a latrine shared by several families.
It was no big deal. I would much rather give up indoor plumbing than internet.
Yes. Read the Los Angeles Times. There are articles about local pollution all the time. If you don't live in LA, then it is unlikely you will see these articles or hear anyone discussing them.
Local pollution is a LOCAL problem (duh), so it doesn't make the national news. Most people in developed countries are not much affected by it. LA is affected because everybody drives, and the city is surrounded by mountains that trap the dirty air.
I live in the SF Bay area, and local pollution is not an issue here, because we get regular breezes that carry it away, and nearly all the cars are Priuses, Teslas, or newish gas cars with the latest emissions controls. If you can't afford a new car, you can't afford to live here.
But you hear "climate change" being talked about everywhere. I wonder why.
Climate change is a global problem, so news about it gets widely reported.
You need to go further than Mars. Calvera is the closest neutron star, located in Ursa Minor, about 1000 LY from earth. A neutron star is basically a giant nucleus, so it is technically an element.
though I'd still like to see a comparison of environmental impact
You can get a rough idea of the resources consumed by looking at the cost. If it is expensive, then it is either consuming a lot of resources or generating a lot of profit. I doubt it is the latter for reusable containers.
Is the cost of making, transporting, cleaning, inspecting, repairing, sterilizing, refilling, and redelivering these containers really a win for the environment? How many times do they have to be used to break-even, before they are dented, damaged, or thrown away by a Republican?
Kid threatens to shoot up school. Kid faces charges. As it should be.
Unless the threat/joke was actually credible, the kid should not have been charged. Believe it or not, there are ways to discipline children without involving the police and courts.
A major problem in America is that we are over-policed. Crime rates have fallen dramatically over the last three decades, due mainly to demographic, economic, and environmental factors. Yet we have more police than ever. This surfeit of police without enough real work to do, leads to criminalization of silly things like inappropriate teenage social media posts.
Arthur C. Clarke was far better at predicting than most people, especially about the future.
Some things he predicted: 1. Malware 2. Tablets 3. GEO comm sats 4. Skype/Facetime 5. Networked home computers 6. Email 7. Mobile phones 8. Telecommuting
Where's that orbiting space wheel?
A space wheel is a good design. It is not Arthur's fault that we haven't built it yet.
Slashdot Mirror
Doubtful. The human lifespan was never long enough for it to matter until recently. Most people were dead in their 30s.
This is a myth. In earlier times, average lifespan was short because of high childhood mortality. But if you made it past 5, you were likely to live to 50, 60, or 70.
The presence of a maternal grandmother in the household is correlated with better child and maternal health. Interestingly, the presence of a paternal grandmother has an overall negative effect. So women actually have a scientific basis for hating their mother-in-law.
Arrested, tried, convicted, sentenced and appealed all in a little over two months?
The justice system works swiftly in China.
As it should. Do you think America's system is better, where accused, and presumably innocent, people sit in jail for months or years awaiting trial?
America uses the long delays to pressure people into accepting a plea bargain, by admitting to a crime they didn't commit.
Per capita, America incarcerates four times as many people as China.
A better question is if Maxwell's tech is real and as revolutionary as claimed then why sell the entire company and all IP for a measly $200 million?
Because they have good researchers, but nobody with the skills to turn their IP into commercial products and manufacture at scale.
According to their financial statements they are all but bankrupt. Doesn't add up.
There is no magic machine that turns great ideas into piles of money. Plenty of brilliant people go broke. Having a PhD is negatively correlated with business success.
Good predictive science is about making the best extrapolations you can with the data and theory you have.
Except that is not what they did. Taking a ruler and drawing a tangent to a curve is drafting not science.
Nothing is linear over an 80 year timeframe. If you look at CO2 emissions, they are rising overall. But they are falling in some developed countries, and have reach an inflection point in many more. The technology that has made this possible will spread, as it always does, to the rest of the world.
If instead of a simple linear projection, the first derivative and (especially) second derivative, are taken into account, the projection looks very different. But not as scary, which was the whole point.
... but they won't do nuclear power.
There are more than 150 nuclear reactors under construction or on order, with a total estimated power production of 160GW.
The future of nuclear is dim in America, the EU, and Japan. The rest of the world is more bullish.
Plans for new nukes
But, you'll still need to convince both governments that it's a problem.
You don't need to convince China's government. China takes AGW seriously. They have more installed solar capacity than any other country, and much more under construction. They are building nukes, installing wind turbines, and investing in electric cars.
India ... not so much. Democracies have difficulty dealing with long timeline problems.
Even the IPCC is targeting a 1.5C rise... Not 4C.
The IPCC's "target" is an absurd fantasy. There is absolutely no way we are going to limit GW to 1.5C, or even 2C.
Even a 3C rise will require some big technological breakthroughs.
Either good science or huge conspiracy...
Linear extrapolations 80 years into the future are never good science.
No marks when done by a professional
Waterboarding also works very well, and leaves no marks. Just a bit of duct tape to cover the nose, and a trickle of water into the back of the throat is all it takes.
The only risk of marks is the suspect struggling against the restraints, so always use plenty of padding.
China is catching up fast on that front.
No, China is not catching up, they are way ahead. I was in Shanghai for 8 weeks in Sept and Oct, and I don't think I saw anyone use cash for anything even once.
Even the bums on the street have QR codes on their signs. Just scan it with your phone to donate.
China is already starting to mandate that citizens keep mandated tracking software installed on their phones.
Do you have a citation for this? RFIDs are required in all cars, but I have never heard of such a requirement in phones.
Mandating the constant possession of a phone
They don't need to mandate this. Nobody in China would even think about leaving home without their phone.
If you swap 2 & 3, you can skip 4.
Virgins or cattle?
A heifer is both.
When cryptocoins are lost, the value of the remainder go up. The net loss is zero. If your coin stash was at QuadrigaCX, you lost. If it wasn't, you win.
The Greeks and Romans weren't destroying entire ecosystems
Yes they were. North Africa was known as "the breadbasket of the Roman Empire". Today it is the Sahara Desert. Destructive farming practices destroyed millions of tonnes of topsoil. They also exterminated many species, including the North African Elephant.
I lived for several months in a hutong with no running water. I would go to the well pump twice a day to fill a 20 liter container, and there was a latrine shared by several families.
It was no big deal. I would much rather give up indoor plumbing than internet.
Ever heard it discussed anywhere?
Yes. Read the Los Angeles Times. There are articles about local pollution all the time. If you don't live in LA, then it is unlikely you will see these articles or hear anyone discussing them.
Local pollution is a LOCAL problem (duh), so it doesn't make the national news. Most people in developed countries are not much affected by it. LA is affected because everybody drives, and the city is surrounded by mountains that trap the dirty air.
I live in the SF Bay area, and local pollution is not an issue here, because we get regular breezes that carry it away, and nearly all the cars are Priuses, Teslas, or newish gas cars with the latest emissions controls. If you can't afford a new car, you can't afford to live here.
But you hear "climate change" being talked about everywhere. I wonder why.
Climate change is a global problem, so news about it gets widely reported.
You need to go further than Mars. Calvera is the closest neutron star, located in Ursa Minor, about 1000 LY from earth. A neutron star is basically a giant nucleus, so it is technically an element.
They could even service lonely housewives, for extra efficiency.
That would make a great porn video. I wonder why nobody thought of it before?
though I'd still like to see a comparison of environmental impact
You can get a rough idea of the resources consumed by looking at the cost. If it is expensive, then it is either consuming a lot of resources or generating a lot of profit. I doubt it is the latter for reusable containers.
Is the cost of making, transporting, cleaning, inspecting, repairing, sterilizing, refilling, and redelivering these containers really a win for the environment? How many times do they have to be used to break-even, before they are dented, damaged, or thrown away by a Republican?
I am skeptical.
In this situation I can understand the police seeking to assure that there is in fact no threat.
Except that is not what they did.
I think they can also play a role in scaring a kid shitless
"Scaring kids shitless" is not what police are for. Nor are they a replacement for parents.
Maybe I expect too much from the police in America.
Indeed.
Kid threatens to shoot up school. Kid faces charges. As it should be.
Unless the threat/joke was actually credible, the kid should not have been charged. Believe it or not, there are ways to discipline children without involving the police and courts.
A major problem in America is that we are over-policed. Crime rates have fallen dramatically over the last three decades, due mainly to demographic, economic, and environmental factors. Yet we have more police than ever. This surfeit of police without enough real work to do, leads to criminalization of silly things like inappropriate teenage social media posts.
People predict a lot of things.
Arthur C. Clarke was far better at predicting than most people, especially about the future.
Some things he predicted:
1. Malware
2. Tablets
3. GEO comm sats
4. Skype/Facetime
5. Networked home computers
6. Email
7. Mobile phones
8. Telecommuting
Where's that orbiting space wheel?
A space wheel is a good design. It is not Arthur's fault that we haven't built it yet.
Battered wife syndrome is the only reason people still use it.
You mean "battered husband syndrome".
70% of domestic violence is perpetrated by women, and men are far more likely to suffer in silence.
Lesbian couples have twice the level of domestic violence as hetero couples. Male-male couples have half the hetero rate.
Why should "society" (i.e.: government) be drawing the line?
Why shouldn't individuals be allowed to make their own reproductive decisions?
Keep your laws off my body.