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Comment Re:Reporters have zero clue, News at 11 (Score 1) 230

Or perhaps the reports here have a bigger clue than you. Yes, jet fuel is kerosene, but not all kerosene is jet fuel. If they were, in fact, using jet fuel, using the more specific term would be more accurate. Do you have some reason for thinking they got their facts wrong here?

Jet fuel is liquid, too. They could have reported that they used liquid, which would be equally true... but even less specific and thus less informative. The more specific you can be, the better.

Comment Re:units (Score 3, Interesting) 67

Only that was what was said. They said they were the same size as a basketball court...

Actually, that's not what they said. They said that the probe would not have been able to power itself even with solar panels the size of a basketball court. It's a hypothetical statement. My car would not be able to lift itself, even if it was filled with hydrogen. This is true, but in saying this, I'm not saying my car is actually filled with hydrogen, just pointing out that it wouldn't have enough lift even if it was.

Granted the way they said it unfortunately implied what you said. But it's not what they actually said.

Comment Re:Need for materials (Score 1) 265

. (And then there's the environmental advantage of mining asteroids over terrestrial mining.)

What, pray tell, might the advantage be? I dare say that creating a rocket and fuel to launch tones of stuff far enough into space to reach an asteroid is going to be pretty rough on the local environment. Then add the ability to return at least some recovered mass and I'm thinking we are nowhere near an environmental wash for quite some time.

You are either overestimating the environmental impact of a rocket, or way, way, way underestimating the environmental impact of mining on Earth. Also, "far enough into space to reach an asteroid"? The fact that you thought this worth mentioning, rather than simply saying "launch tons of stuff into space", makes it sound like you mistakenly believe it takes a lot more effort to send something to an asteroid than it does to get it into orbit, which is pretty much the exact opposite of the case. Get to orbit, and you're nearly done. The amount of fuel you'll expend getting to an asteroid is just a few extra percent on top of what it took to get to orbit. In any case, you'd have a near impossible task to design a rocket that had as much environmental impact as a mine.

Comment Re: Side-effects (Score 1) 139

[Citation needed]

"Most mammals normally cease to produce lactase, becoming lactose intolerant, after weaning,[4] but some human populations have developed lactase persistence, in which lactase production continues into adulthood. It is estimated that 75% of adults worldwide show some decrease in lactase activity during adulthood.[5] The frequency of decreased lactase activity ranges from 5% in northern Europe through 71% for Sicily to more than 90% in some African and Asian countries.[6]"

70% would mean that 7 out of every 10 people I know would be lactose intolerant. However, that ratio for me is more like 1 in every 100.

So either I'm an extreme statistical outlier or you're spouting bullshit. Guess which one I'm betting it is?

Do not try to generalize from personal experience: you are not the center of the universe. (You are, in fact, a moron.) The human mutation that allows some adult humans to continue to tolerate lactose into adulthood, an extremely abnormal trait for mammals, is only common among those of northern European descent, becoming an increasing smaller minority the further afield you get from northern Europe or its colonies.

Comment Re:Brand (Score 1) 804

Of course you pay for the brand, what do you think Apple is, a charity?

Are you saying other businesses are charities, or are you misunderstanding what people mean when they talk about "paying for the brand" (i.e. paying more for a machine with the "Apple" logo than you would for an equivalent machine from someone else)?

And these comparisons are always stupid. You can get incredibly cheap hardware for windows/linux, or you can get really expensive hardware.

They have a point. It's often claimed that you're paying extra just for that little Apple logo on the computer, but whenever anyone attempts to justify this, they point to a barebones machine missing half the features and note it's half the price. Well, yes, comparing Apples and oranges... when you actually compare equivalent machines, you get roughly equivalent prices. You're not paying extra for the Apple sticker, you're paying for that particular collection of components, the same as you would if you bought them from someone else. Sure, you could buy something cheaper, but that's not the same thing. You could buy a pen and paper for much cheaper, but also not the same, and equally utterly beside the point.

Comment Re:Nokia? (Score 2) 78

I need a phone not a damned computer.

Precisely. My Nokia is a much better phone by virtue of the fact that it doesn't try to be anything but a phone. It has one job to do, and it does it well with a much more compact and energy efficient package than a "smartphone" that is neither as good a phone as my Nokia nor as good a computer as my PC, compromising its ability to do either well by trying to be both at once.

Comment Re:Can someone who knows about astronomy fill me i (Score 1) 129

Nice article, but that only says how they get the age of a star. I suppose that puts an upper limit on the age of the planet.

More than an upper limit. Unless the planet is a captured rogue, knowing the age of the star gives you the age of the planet, pretty much. If you know the age of someone's heart, you know the age of their head, too (transplant patients excepted).

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