The UK actually has a king, by design; the US not so much.

... as long as they don't store it in a Vatican basement. :-)

While it is an enormous problem, possibly the most significant, we know how to shield against radiation, but it's going to take mass in the form of hydrogen-rich molecules like water or polyethylene (as examples). To solve that problem we are either going to have to make launches a lot cheaper, or figure out how to do it all in orbit.

It's at the edge of our technological capacity to produce such a spacecraft now, so the barrier is economic. That's a massive barrier, but in theory we definitely could, if we put a significant percentage of GDP of the wealthiest nations towards the project, produce a spacecraft that keep astronauts alive and relatively protected from ionizing radiation both on the journey and while on Mars.

As to your general assholery, I guess everyone has to have an outlet, though why Slashdot is a bit mysterious.

Damn, Windows has really improved in the last 25 years. Wouldn't know since my last Windows was Win2k and my computers only run macOS or Linux and have crashed less that 10 times combined in the last 20 years or so. A well, whatever. Good for people still using Windows, I guess.

Yup, 'cause there's no money in porn... /s :-)

From Adult Entertainment Market Report 2026:

(That growth rate is close to the average S&P 500 of 10%.)

If there's one thing this Administration really doesn't like, it's public scrutiny - any scrutiny really. /cynical

I saw two robots. :-)

There's no mystery here. The officer alleged to have verified the decision wasn't doing their job. You can frame this any way you like...the officer is overworked and couldn't keep up with the number of applications they're supposed to verify, or the officer is lazy, or the officer is incompetent, or perhaps the scientist's name identified their ancestry and the officer is a racist.

In my opinion (backed by some experience) the most likely explanation is the department relies on the fact that many applicants who are rejected won't have the means to appeal a decision, and the spokesperson is simply lying when they claim AI isn't used to recommend or make a decision.

Two words: Robot packages. :-)

(Not package robots, which Amazon already has.)

... Fantasy worlds out there that would look epic as a AAA fantasy blockbuster triology. Raymond E. Feist comes to mind. Bernard Hennen, Guy Gavrial Kay, Brandon Sanderson and countless other top-shelf fantasy authors and epic worlds. Can't we just leave LOTR be? It's gotten an excellent film adaption, one that will stand the test of time if it doesn't get diluted with trash like it already partially has. Please stop right now.

I think we may be truly witnessing the dawn of western culture and it effing hurts.

I don't mind an optional fob to open the door, though I rarely use mine. I don't like it being required (no door key) and I don't like keyless ignition.

... to all their competitors, grab the deckchairs and some popcorn and watch everybody else tear each other to shreds. Brilliant move if you ask me. 8-)

... in at least one key aspect: The cash going around is almost exclusively from the deep and wide warchests of large megacorps. Which means if a bubble pops it likely will just be a little fart for regular people and we can get rehired for our bullshit desk jobs.

Shouldn't the super-fast rotation of massive black holes counteract at least some of their gravity vertical to it's axis? Could that - at least hypothetically - eventually cause a black hole to break apart into bits of regular non-black-hole matter, if it spins fast enough?

Sorry if I'm sounding silly here, I'm a 5th-grader when it comes to astrophysics but perhaps someone with knowledge could offer some insight?