Comment Re: This is the plot for "The Blob", isn't it? (Score 1) 48
Progress is a wonderful thing, but let us not be lackadaisical about inherent risks.
Comment Re:The reason I got it (Score 4, Informative) 44
I save a bit of gasoline on the 15 or so days I'm without power. I already had solar, so it seemed a little silly sitting in the dark with nothing to run my water pump to flush the toilet. I was also in a situation where the inverter on my solar system had died and the original manufacturer was out of business. There was not a huge cost difference in getting an refurbished identical replacement versus something fancier that switches between house battery, EV battery, generator, solar, and grid tied. Pays for itself in 60 years, if I go by time of use billing, but I arranged to keep net metering so it's more like a 27 year break-even for me in part because my battery system is oversized and expensive.
For rural living, it's worth it, makes a huge difference for us. As an investment that saves you money, it depends, answer is often "no". But it is insured and warrantied. So not really so much of a gamble, most scenarios are covered.
Comment The reason I got it (Score 1, Interesting) 44
It got a lot cheaper compared to what it cost 5 years ago. Also, for people who don't have net metering, it's often (always?) better to charge your own battery than sell solar back to the power company.
Comment Re: Why your wife died? (Score 1) 45
Meh. Everyone is already using this shit in automotive and aerospace. Probably used by medical equipment vendors as well. The AI agents are not set it and forget it, they are not a short cut around safety processes, and they do not permit you to handwave your way past bidirectional traceability principles.
Submission + - Scientists say they have built a cell from scratch for the first time (cnn.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Scientists built first fully synthetic cell ("SpudCell") from scratch using non-living chemicals. It feeds, grows, and replicates (fragile, ~5 generations, slow). Major synthetic biology breakthrough for engineering custom organisms.
Humans did not create life. Researchers call it a constructed cell, not "life created." It lacks full autonomy (needs feeding, no independent evolution). Milestone, but not synthetic life.
Humans did not create life. Researchers call it a constructed cell, not "life created." It lacks full autonomy (needs feeding, no independent evolution). Milestone, but not synthetic life.
Comment Good (Score 1) 120
Would you want a county karen telling you you can't have an air conditioner in your house?
Comment How will its images compare to Hubble? (Score 4, Informative) 49
Wider field of view, vastly more data (time-lapse survey of entire sky every few nights), but lower angular resolution than Hubble's sharp, targeted deep-space images.
How does it compare to other ground based telescopes?
Largest wide-field survey telescope (8.4m mirror, 3.2 gigapixel camera). Faster and broader than most ground-based (e.g., Subaru, VISTA), but lower resolution than adaptive-optics giants like Keck or ELT.
Submission + - DOT announces "Return of Supersonic Flight" for commercial airlines (faa.gov)
schwit1 writes: Gemini summarized ...
The FAA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), released on June 30, 2026, marks the first formal regulatory step toward lifting the 53-year-old ban on civil supersonic flight over the continental United States.
Core Objectives of the Proposal
The FAA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), released on June 30, 2026, marks the first formal regulatory step toward lifting the 53-year-old ban on civil supersonic flight over the continental United States.
Core Objectives of the Proposal
- Replacing Speed Limits with Noise Standards: The proposal would replace the current, blanket speed-based ban (dating to 1973) with a performance-based noise standard. Aircraft would be permitted to fly at speeds exceeding Mach 1 over land, provided they do not generate surface-level noise (sonic boom overpressure) exceeding a specific threshold of 0.11 pounds per square foot (psf).
- En-Route Focus: This specific proposal addresses en-route cruise noise. It does not set standards for takeoff and landing, which the FAA plans to address in a separate proposal later this year.
- Implementation of Executive Order 14304: This action fulfills part of the June 2025 Executive Order signed by President Trump, which directed the FAA to modernize aviation standards to ensure the U.S. remains a leader in aerospace innovation.
Why Now?
The FAA is citing significant technological advancements as
the justification for this shift, specifically:
- Aerodynamic Innovation: New airframe designs and propulsion systems—exemplified by testing of NASA’s X-59 "quiet" demonstrator—can now break the sound barrier while reducing the sonic boom to a low-intensity "thump" that is manageable for ground-level communities.
- Operational Techniques: The use of "Mach cutoff" flight techniques, where speed, altitude, and atmospheric conditions are synchronized to ensure sonic booms refract back into the atmosphere rather than reaching the ground.
Next Steps
- Public Comment: The proposal (Docket FAA-2026-6935) is now open for a 45-day public comment period.
- Future Regulations: The FAA intends to finalize both the en-route noise standards and the upcoming takeoff/landing noise standards by mid-2027.
- International Alignment: The FAA is working alongside the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and foreign aviation authorities to ensure that these domestic standards eventually align with global frameworks for international supersonic operations.
By establishing these metrics, the FAA aims to provide
manufacturers—such as those developing next-generation supersonic
transports—with the clear regulatory guidance needed to finalize aircraft
designs and move toward commercial certification.
Submission + - New Florida Law Bans Local Net-Zero Emissions Policies (insideclimatenews.org)
An anonymous reader writes: A new state law limits Florida communities’ aims to offset greenhouse gas emissions that are warming the global climate and intensifying disasters such as hurricanes. Specifically, HB 1217 prohibits local governments from pursuing net-zero emissions goals. At least 10 cities and counties have implemented such policies, including Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando and Leon County, where Tallahassee, the state capital, is located. But the new law will not necessarily upend these policies, said Bradley Marshall, senior attorney at Earthjustice, an advocacy group. “It’s certainly meant to scare municipalities and local governments from trying to do things to further net-zero policies,” he said. “Now, its exact impact and what it exactly prohibits is probably up for some debate. Things that are adjacent to it—emissions reductions and even climate change reduction policies—on their face will not run afoul at all of a ban on adopting a net zero policy.”
The measure requires local governments to submit an affidavit annually to the state Department of Revenue verifying compliance. Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed the measure on April 22, Earth Day, and the law will take effect July 1. It states that “net zero policies, carbon taxes and assessments, and emission trading programs are detrimental to this state’s energy security and economic interests and inconsistent with the energy policy and the environmental policy of this state.” [...] HB 1217 also prevents local governments from purchasing items such as vehicles or appliances based on the fuels they use or production of the items. Local governments may not participate in carbon-trading programs or use public funds to support other organizations with net-zero policies. Cities and counties also may not charge a tax or fee tied with carbon emissions.
The measure requires local governments to submit an affidavit annually to the state Department of Revenue verifying compliance. Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed the measure on April 22, Earth Day, and the law will take effect July 1. It states that “net zero policies, carbon taxes and assessments, and emission trading programs are detrimental to this state’s energy security and economic interests and inconsistent with the energy policy and the environmental policy of this state.” [...] HB 1217 also prevents local governments from purchasing items such as vehicles or appliances based on the fuels they use or production of the items. Local governments may not participate in carbon-trading programs or use public funds to support other organizations with net-zero policies. Cities and counties also may not charge a tax or fee tied with carbon emissions.
Comment Re: Famine or Feast? (Score 1) 20
I think the chip companies have a lot of contracts, default clauses, and prepaid NREs. Extraction of wealth from AI investors is what most chip companies practice right now, they are not intending on being left holding the bag (or paying for the warehouses full of components)
Comment Re: Why your wife died? (Score 3, Insightful) 45
Typos are not usually a big deal because of how tokens work. Letting AI flatter you so you will accept every edit it makes is the real risk. It will go off plan without warning, it will forget important requirements or prohibitions. And it will subtly alter goals in order to retroactively support its poor activities, that includes gaslighting you about the whole thing.
Submission + - California Requires Proof That You're Gay to Get These Taxpayer-Funded Contracts (townhall.com)
An anonymous reader writes: A questionnaire to certify the applicant’s status as a legitimate member of the gay or trans community included probing questions regarding marriage licenses, “completed or attempted parenting efforts,” evidence of a transition surgery, or a letter of approval from a “recognized LGBT organization.”
Comment Humanoid (bipedal) robots are dumb (Score 1) 20
We would have evolved wheels and rotor blades if there was a practical path in biology for it. Mechanical systems should not be burdened by our biological limitations. Wheel and axle systems are cheap, efficient, and reliable, and offer greater carrying capacity for their weight. But all of you already know this because you're not idiots and not part of the tech grift.
Comment Re:Rock vs Ice (Score 1) 42
The lack of phase change made them not terribly practical for keeping anything cold. Chilling the glass is more effective, since the mass of the glass is so much higher than a few little stones.
Comment Ukrainian Spitfire FPV interceptor is out to 84km (Score 2, Interesting) 84
Ukrainian Wovkulaka Spitfire FPV interceptor is out to 84km
https://x.com/LetsArmUKR/statu...
This weekend a Ukrainian crew pushed the Wovkulaka Spitfire FPV interceptor out to 84.7 km before it smoked a SuperCam whose operators thought they were safely parked somewhere in the south. Manufacturer's previous record was 69 km. That is not a incremental upgrade. That is the kind of leap that rewrites operational math on the entire theater.
Every extra kilometer we add to the reach of cheap, mass-produced Ukrainian drones is another chunk of Russian rear area that stops being a safe haven. It is not glamorous. It is not the kind of thing that gets NATO generals excited in PowerPoint slides. But it is exactly the asymmetric grind that turns Moscow's quantitative advantage into an unaffordable liability. They lose more meat trying to take villages that had fewer residents before the war than the monthly body count we are stacking with systems like this. Their "meat is cheap" doctrine only works until the bill comes due in rubles, barrels, and replacement pilots they no longer have.
