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Comment Re:Wrong question. (Score 3, Insightful) 75

If you haven't read the interview, in it she relates a story where her young daughter's teacher asked her to write three things that made her child special. Apparently she is such an awful mother that she couldn't do that, and turned to AI for assistance. The AI shat out some generic Hallmark style platitudes, and she was delighted.

People like her want to dehumanize all of us to that level.

Comment Re:Pluto is a planet (Score 2) 70

Thank god for that. It was hard enough to learn 9 (now 8) planets at school. Can you imagine having to learn all the names if the hydrostatic equilibrium definition held?

Since when does science work by a standard of "what is easy for children to memorize lists of"? Do we say "There are 8 rivers in the world, and all others are dwarf rivers, which really aren't rivers" to make it easier on kids? Do we say "There are 8 bones in the human body, and all others are dwarf bones, which don't really count as bones"?

That's not how science works. Science is focused on practical distinctions about how things developed and their physical properties relative to each other. Hydrostatic equilibrium is a very practical definition. The process of undergoing relaxation induces metamorphism and releases heat, altering bodies. You go to non-equilibrium bodies if you want to study the primordial makeup of our solar system. You go to equilibrium bodies if you want to study tectonics, volcanism, non-primordial chemistry, and search for past or present life. The boundary could not be more meaningful. Yes, there is a bit of fuzz between equilibrium and non-equilibrium, but the same applies to pretty much all scientific fields.

Comment Re:10000 a year! (Score 1) 25

It probably does cost Google something. They scan apps and devices for malware, and anything that increases the number of apps and ways to distribute them will increase the cost. They also have to certify these app stores, they aren't just going to let anyone set one up and start distributing malware or pirate streaming apps.

It feels calibrated to deter unserious applicants, but not cause further legal woes.

The real issue is F-Droid and similar open source app stores. It remains to be seen exactly how it is going to pan out.

Comment Re:Pluto is a planet (Score 2, Interesting) 70

Supporters of the IAU definition (which I should add was a deeply biased sample, in that it looked like they were headed toward no definition or a hydrostatic equilibrium definition, so most supporters of that left, but the people trying to switch it to an orbit-clearing definition stayed) will argue that it's cleared if the remaining objects are trivial transients or in orbital resonance. But that's not what the IAU definition says. Also they'll point to the Stern-Levison parameter, but (A) that was based on the ability to scatter today's distribution of asteroids, not the primordial distribution, which included outright planetissimals**; and (B) Mars didn't even clear it's own orbit, Jupiter did. Also, in the paper that introduced the Stern-Levison parameter, they argued for a better definition where you combine adjectives and nouns (each with specific implications about the body) as needed to describe its size, composition, etc.

But the OP's point stands, in that it's stupid to say that something is a "dwarf planet", yet not a planet. It's like saying dwarf stars aren't stars or dwarf galaxies aren't galaxies or whatnot. An adjective-noun is almost always a noun, that's how language works. In the cases where an adjective-noun isn't a noun - say, "shooting star" or "slow worm" or whatnot - we treat these as scientifically erroneous colloquialisms, and formalize corrected scientific terminology. We don't do literally the opposite and have science codify misleading language.

Comment Re:moon (Score 4, Interesting) 70

Speak for yourself, Pluto is fascinating. Tectonically active. Cryovolcanism so abundant it appears to have formed large mountains by the merger of individual domes. A gigantic scar exposing its mantle, which over time roils in massive convection cells, pockmarked in sublimation pits. Mountains drifting like icebergs and accumulating on the shore. Penetentes (sublimation ice spikes), the size of large hills. A multilayer blue atmosphere, in which organic chemistry occurs, depositing not just organic matter onto its own surface, but that of its moon as well. Active glaciation. A probable subsurface ocean, in contact with rock. Conditions suggesting it was habitable when it formed.

IMHO, it's way more interesting than a number of recognized planets.

(Also, I'm confused by your response. This isn't about the moon, and the moon has no atmosphere for flying)

Comment Re:Terrible feature (Score 1) 173

How does it work for an outage? With solar inverters they need to have a special island mode where they disconnect the grid, so there is no chance of backfeeding power into it and electrocuting the technician who is trying to fix it. Most inverters don't support that and have an automatic cut-off if they don't detect the grid is up (i.e. there is already 110V 60Hz there).

If you have Vehicle 2 Load you can just plug appliances directly into the car.

Comment Re:New Nuclear Please (Score 2) 91

Many of the nuclear fanatics want it because they think it means they don't have to change their lifestyle, or because they are NIMBYs and fear wind turbines and solar farms appearing near them (but don't care about nuclear plants near someone else).

Renewables and storage are by far the cheapest and fastest option now. Nuclear is just kicking the can down the road, not doing anything for another 20+ years because "nuclear is coming".

Coincidentally published today: https://www.theguardian.com/bu...

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