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Comment Re:The "record" only goes back 75 years (Score 1) 74

It sure is a pity that there's not multiple types of evidence from biological and geological data that corroborates and extends thermometer readings.

Oh wait, there is.

Let me save you the effort of your predictable reply: "I don't believe any of it. It's all bullshitt!!!!!!! Naah naah!!!"

Comment Re:Maybe the Marshal Islands should go nuclear (Score 1) 18

This great conflation of fission power generation with nuclear weapons is the reason the only realistic solution to climate change is sitting on a dusty shelf.

Historically, any given nation's level of interest in the former has been strongly correlated with their desire to develop the latter. It's been means to an end.

Comment Re:Will this make glowing watched cheaper? (Score 3, Informative) 51

If you want a fusion power reactor, by far the most viable fuel is D+T. You'd need orders of magnitude more tritium than is could ever be extracted from trace fission byproducts.

The idea to obtain this much tritium is to use the extra neutrons from the fusion reactor itself to breed it from lithium. This is supposedly a demonstration of that process.

Comment Re:But not in the US (Score 4, Insightful) 229

In fact, it is UNETHICAL to use a placebo control in any clinical trial of an investigational product for which the existing standard of care already includes a product on the market.

In plain English, it is entirely unethical to give participants a placebo to test the efficacy of a new flu vaccine when we already have existing vaccines on the market. Doing so denies participants in the study from accessing effective treatment. If you have to test against a placebo, it will be impossible to recruit participants, because nobody will take the chance to receive placebo when they could just go to the pharmacy and get vaccinated.

There are only two possible explanations for such a position: either gross ignorance of basic scientific and ethical principles for conducting medical research in humans, or deliberate malicious intent to stop all research of investigational drugs. It doesn't actually matter which one is the reason. Both are entirely unacceptable.

The fact that a huge segment of the American population does not understand even the most basic scientific principles is the reason why many people will die needlessly.

Comment Re:Resonate with customers (Score 1) 79

This was a pre-emissions model (the car wasn't new when I got it). The only pollution control I remember it having was a PCV valve. After adjusting net vs gross HP, the 5.7L engine was rated for similar power as my current (non turbo) 2.5L. It also probably burned through 2.5X the fuel, and produced orders of magnitude more smog.

The new car is probably heavier, but I assume that a wider power band and more efficient transmission give my current car the overall edge in performance specs. The old car probably had better bottom-end torque, so it could do burnouts easier. That, along with the loud noise, rattling chassis and very scary handling characteristics probably made it feel faster than the current car, but that's nothing but psychology.

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