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Comment Humans are animals too (Score 2) 23

Makes sense, so many other animals have ways of perceiving the world that kick in as soon as they're born, baby turkeys for example know as soon as they venture out for the first time which plants to eat and which not to eat, and even which snake species they should stay farther away from than others or which raptor call they should freeze for. This is just one example but there are countless out there which seem mind-blowing to us at first, but then consider the fact that these bits and pieces of knowledge have been selected for millions and millions of years, and it makes sense for any trait that gives a young animal a better sense of its surroundings earlier to be very valuable. The animals also don't have to be animals we consider to be more intelligent, this phenomena exists across the board, it doesn't matter if you're talking about a turkey or a rhino or a deer. Of course, there is a possibility that the young just heavily mirror and pay attention to their mother as soon as they're born, and that certainly happens too and is a big part of the learning curve, but the sheer amount of knowledge about their surroundings that they possess from birth is absolutely incredible, and makes you wonder about "instinctive" feelings we experience subconsciously such as that strange feeling you get when you're around someone who doesn't appear creepy in any way but just is, or perhaps even the feeling of being watched. IMO, knowledge from birth is one of the most fascinating topics in biology, and we have A LOT to learn.

Comment Efficiency (Score 1) 86

It is also very important to note that not only are EVs becoming less and less harmful to the environment to manufacture as time goes by, but using electricity is simply a more efficient way to convert potential energy into kinetic energy. The U.S. Department of Energy states "EVs convert about 59%–62% of the electrical energy from the grid to power at the wheels. Conventional gasoline vehicles only convert about 17%–21% of the energy stored in gasoline to power at the wheels." When electricity is used to power cars rather then gasoline, you simply get more bang for your buck in terms of actual energy used.

Comment Re:"Knee jerk food web bunk" (Score 1) 28

Okay all I'm saying is that mosquitos are a part of the food web and removing that could potentially have consequences, and I read that too about Gambusia, however I also read about how Gambusia caused issues because they out-competed other species for mosquito larvae and that in turn had negative consequences. I will admit while mosquitos aren't as large of a part of the food web as I once thought, they do participate in it and I do think that there are plenty of areas where the food web could be harmed if mosquitos were to be completely removed.

Comment Re:"Knee jerk food web bunk" (Score 1) 28

There is plenty of a need for mosquitos in the food web, I really don't see how that could be disputed and it's not hard to see. First of all, there are many species of birds who eat mosquitos, not only when they are in the air but when they are in their larval stages in the water. Mosquitos are at the very bottom of many food webs, and thus are consumed by a variety of species. While there aren't any birds who exclusively eat mosquitos, they still serve as a direct food source to many. Furthermore, mosquito larvae are a significant food source for lots of species of fish, the most obvious being the mosquito fish. Not only that but dragonflies and species of aquatic beetles both prey on mosquito larvae. While they aren't a major food source for the majority of animals that eat them, they still matter and killing them all would cause harm. It wouldn't destroy an ecosystem but it might not be preferable to simply killing off 1 or 2 species. As I mentioned above they are also pollinators and getting rid of pollinators always had adverse effects on plant populations.

Comment Re:Fucking kill them all! (Score 4, Informative) 28

Truly killing all mosquitos will do much more harm than good. There are thousands of species of mosquitos out there, yet only a few species serve as vectors for human diseases such as dengue fever and malaria. Targeting just those specific species would be challenging but I think we could do it, however it is important to remember that the vast majority of mosquito species fill a valuable ecological niche -- they are pollinators and a major food source for hundreds of other animals -- so we have to be careful when we talk about killing all of the mosquitos because we don't want to do that, we just want to kill a few species.

Comment It's different (Score 1) 114

I will admit that the design is very out there, but the thing I like about it most is the fact that it is imply different. With a few exceptions, it feels like many of the new cars in the price range of the cyber truck that come out these days all look so similar in their designs. I see the same with pickup trucks, almost every new pickup truck I've seen advertised seems to have a design that is very similar to the others on the market. The largest reason I like the design of the cyber truck is because it's different and unique. There are no other trucks designed remotely like it, especially in it's price range. The uniqueness of it is really what catches my eye.

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