FlowVoid @ FlowVoid @midwest.social

Posts

0

Comments

466

Joined

2 yr. ago

A key issue, often overlooked, is that US law imposes significant restrictions on the export and sale of military hardware.

Starlink is currently not considered military hardware. SpaceX is desperately trying to keep it that way, their ultimate goal is to sell subscriptions to civilians. Thus they get anxious when it is openly used for military purposes.

In this regard Starlink is somewhat similar to civilian GPS receivers, which automatically shut down at 1200 mph so they can't be used in missiles.

If we had a policy of nationalizing contracted military infrastructure, then nobody would make a contract with the military.

And while this may sound good to some, it sure wouldn't be in Ukraine's interest. Unreliable Starlink access is better than no Starlink access at all.

All those satellites fall back to earth after five years

This NGO has been in Afghanistan for >50 years and provided medical care and education to underserved communities, including women. In 2010, ten of their doctors were murdered.

While it's possible that all 18 employees in Ghor suddenly went rogue and started trying to convert people to Christianity, I think it's more likely that the Taliban took the opportunity to crack down on education of women.

That's almost certainly what his lawyers are going to do. But I think that it will be the appeals court that pisses off the MAGA idiots, and that the SCOTUS will not take the case.

The system may be failing, but "infinite growth" is the natural result of inflation which is intentionally targeted to a positive number.

If you think your salary should keep up with inflation, then you too need infinite growth.

You don't need to know anything about American units. But rest assured that those who do use them still haven't found a good reason to switch to French units.

A scale that typically goes from -20 to 40 is less practical than a scale that typically goes from 0 to 100.

Humidity is irrelevant. Celsius is useful only when measuring the liquid phase of water.

Venezuela has been selling oil in euro and yuan since 2018.

Celsius is only practical if you measure the temperature of water more often than the temperature of air.

But most people never measure the temperature of water, and frequently measure the temperature of air. For them, Celsius offers no advantage.

The American pint is 473 mL.

The Imperial pint used to be that much too, hence the old saying "A pint is a pound the world around". Then the Imperial pint was increased by 25%, but Americans kept the old amount.

Actually, Fahrenheit uses a 180 degree gap between water boiling (32) and freezing (212).

Anyone familiar with geometry knows that 180 degrees is much easier to divide than 100 degrees. That's why we rarely measure angles in gradians.

C stands for Celsius, which is a deprecated measurement system that was replaced by kelvin in the SI (metric) system.

Water boils at 99.9839 Celsius. Water does not freeze at zero, but actually slightly below zero. It was once considered clever, but scientists recognized the problem with negative numbers in a temperature scale and have since moved on.

Celsius is still in use among those who are not quite as scientific as they think they are.

Water boils at 99.9839 Celsius, not 100. What so confusing about that?

The SI unit of temperature is kelvin, not Celsius.

If people don't want to use kelvin, does that mean they are stupid?

Fahrenheit and Celsius both have the exact same issues. Which is why there isn't much reason to switch.

Kelvin is clearly superior to Celsius for scientific purposes.

I'm always amused when those who urge Americans to switch to Celsius because it's "more scientific" are simultaneously unwilling to switch to kelvin because it's not worth the effort.

That's an approximation. Celsius is no longer defined in terms of water boiling and freezing, and they are no longer exactly 0 and 100.

The modern definition of Celsius is based on absolute zero and the triple point of water. And those are also the basis for the modern definition of Fahrenheit.

One pint of water or milk without extra dish-washing? Easy you just put it on the scale and pour one pound.