cowboysauce

The release likely happened during fuel reprocessing. Since fuel is left to cool for at least several months before reprocessing, there’s essentially no I-131 left at that point.

That's a completely nonsensical test. I grew up in a small mountain town. Are you telling me that all those people who would flood in during winter weekends and holidays to drink, party and go to the packed ski resorts were introverts?

I remember reading about these years ago and I'm surprised that they're still in use. There's definitely a need to control wildlife populations, but doing it with devices that are akin to cyanide landmines seems like a bad idea.

The people in the article were unaware that one of these devices was placed a few hundred feet from their property. The signage on these devices also seem to be very small. I'm wondering if medical services are given any training or a heads up when these devices are placed. Cyanide poisoning is not the most common thing and I'm wondering how quickly medical services would recognize it.

These devices also seem to contain a large amount of sodium cyanide (880 mg). This is definitely enough cyanide to kill a child and even some adults. Though it seems like the release mechanism would make it difficult for a person to actually ingest all of the cyanide.

I think you're drastically underestimating how stupid and over-confident people can be. He had a college education, but that doesn't teach you the survival skills needed to live in the wilderness. McCandless spent a few years bumming around the United states before traveling to Alaska which likely gave him a false sense of security in his survival abilities.

Most people living in western nations have no idea of how unforgiving the wilderness can be, nor do they understand the amount of effort that it can take to survive. The amount of tourists who think that national parks are just the outdoor equivalent of Disney Land is shocking.

The national parks are one of the crown jewels of American culture. They manage to hit a sweet spot of ease of access, preservation and diversity in a way that seems to be very rare in the world.

>I do have a hard time believing that such a beam can dump enough neutron radiation into a subcritical bomb core to trigger a meltdown or fizzle detonation without also giving a dangerous exposure to any human who is in the way of that beam.

Particle beams act in surprising ways. For example, proton beams are used to treat tumors because they end up dumping most of their energy in a small volume when fired into matter. This allows you to do things like delivering very high doses of radiation into a brain tumor while the tissue along the path of the beam receives a very low dose.

This occurs because at high enough energies, the protons are essentially traveling fast enough that they don't have time to really interact with anything in their way. But as they lose energy they begin to interact more, which causes them to lose more energy, making them interact even more, etc.

The difference is that protons are charged particles while neutrinos are not, but I don't find it surprising that a neutrino beam would act in a similar fashion.

Not really, this is more akin to using a laser to destroy something at a distance. The neutrinos would interact with soil near the weapon, some of these reactions would produce neutrons which would go on to induce fission in the weapon, destroying it.

The idea that solar neutrinos impact decay rates generally assumes that neutrinos are directly interacting with radioactive isotopes (usually through some unknown physics).

You don’t need to mention sexual orientation at all. It’s illegal to fire a woman for being married to a man. If it’s legal to fire a man for being married to a man then you’re discriminating based on sex. The sexual orientations of the people involved are irrelevant.

> I do actually but it's not that much work

It apparently is, given that D only supports x86 assembly, doesn't support all instructions and has idiosyncrasies like requiring prefixes to be written as separate instructions.

I've used both Unity and Unreal in a professional capacity. The best way to describe Unreal is that is has a specific way that things should be done and once you stray from that, it gets painful. But a lot of the time, you don't know what that way is.

Unreal is extremely powerful, but horribly documented. You know the blueprint editor? The same APIs are available for your own use if you want to make a similar graph editor, but you're on your own. You're best bet is generally to look at the editor source or a plugin that uses the APIs that you're interested in. That really applies to most of the API. If you want to use it, the documentation is generally of little to no help.

Blueprints can easily call C++ functions, but the opposite is extremely painful to the point that you shouldn't do it if you have any other options. But it's incredibly annoying to see that there's a blueprint function that does exactly what you're looking for when you're working with C++. If you're lucky, the BP function will actually be implemented in C++ and you can figure out the actual class name and call it directly. If not, then you'll either have to rewrite that functionality in C++ or attempt the aforementioned horror of trying to call into a blueprint from C++.

Blueprints are powerful, but they quickly become convoluted when doing non-trival things. If I have a blueprint function with more than ten nodes, I'm itching to rewrite it in C++. Doing things like loops and complex flow control is just so much easier and compact in C++. Need to set a couple of variables? Enjoy having that take up half of your screen.

Did I mention the lack of documentation? It took me an embarrassingly long time to write some code to figure if a targeting reticule widget is over a specific point in the world. The relevant functions were vague on exactly which coordinate space they use. It took a while to figure out that when one function projects a world location onto the screen, it actually means the viewport. While the widget absolute positions are actually relative to the overall window/screen, which matters in the editor because the viewport doesn't take up the screen and there's UI scaling on top of that.

Unity's documentation is great compared to Unreal. It also has the benefit that searching for most things will generally bring up a relevant forum post somewhere. There's also only one way to do things in Unity. You don't have to deal with trying to find out something for C++, only to have all your results be about blueprints.

It really depends on what you're using. Most microcontrollers don't require external memory to store their program because it's stored in on-chip flash memory. Additionally, you can generally order microcontrollers from a distributer that are already flashed with your program. Though this may require ordering 1000+ units. If that isn't an option then you'll have to ensure that the pins used for programming are exposed in some fashion and then you'll flash it. The exact details are dependent on exactly which microcontroller and toolchain you're using.

It mostly comes down to reading the documentation for the specific microcontroller that you're using.

To play devils advocate, cells use RNA and DNA so an alien virus that uses a different type of genetic material would likely be unable to reproduce in cells that use such a strikingly different biochemistry. Detecting such viruses would be incredibly difficult especially since our biotech is focused on DNA and RNA.

I don't think you'd even have to look at extinct life. There's so much life that hasn't been categorized. You can basically take a soil sample from anywhere in the world and find new microorganisms in it. Archea are a great example of this. They're small, single celled organisms. They're best known as being extremeophiles, but exist basically everywhere. But the majority of them are difficult to culture and study. What's particularly interesting is that viruses that infect archea are known to be very different from other viruses.

It seems like the arguments made in the article would more readily support the idea that viruses are spontaneously forming on Earth than in space. If viruses are spontaneously forming on other planets or in interstellar space directly, then they should be forming on the Earth as well. I think the Earth is more likely for a number of reasons.

To start, viruses are generic material wrapped in proteins. The functionality of proteins depends on their shapes and the environment strongly affects the shape of a protein. Viruses that exist on Earth have proteins that are stable on Earth. A virus that comes from a different environment would be liable to fall apart on the Earth. RNA itself is pretty unstable by itself (hence why cells use DNA), but there are plenty of viruses that use it as their genetic material.

Infecting host cells is another matter. Viruses are generally pretty specific with their host cells. They enter host cells by binding to specific proteins on their surfaces. Once inside they take advantage of the specific cellular machinery present. For example, the polio virus has a single strand of RNA that codes for a single long polypeptide that is then sliced at specific point by host enzymes to produce the final viral proteins. Some viral proteins act to suppress the defenses of the cell and the immune system in general. An alien virus would be insanely lucky to be able to infect local life at all, let alone reproduce and spread. Unless life across the universe is incredibly similar.

Given these thoughts, it seems like it would be more likely for viruses to spontaneously form on Earth than another planet (or interstellar space). Viruses forming on Earth would have the advantage of starting with organic materials that already work with existing life. The Earth is generally protected from harsh radiation and extreme temperatures. The most important thing is that any forming viruses would have immediate (relative to crossing space) contact with host cells to infect and evolve.

The only reason it wouldn't be happening on Earth is if the Earth is completely unsuitable for it. Even if both are happening, the vast distances and harsh nature of space should shift the equilibrium strongly towards native viruses. But if the Earth is unsuitable for it then how are viruses able to survive and reproduce on a planet that's so unsuitable for them?

in theory it's possible, in practice it's not. DNA encodes the information on how to produce to proteins. Proteins can catalyze chemical reactions. But there's no straightforward to look at a nucleotide sequence and figure out what it's corresponding protein does. Nor can we design proteins with arbitrary functions.

The entire thing is so unimaginably complex. For example, for a lot proteins that are catalysts (aka enzymes) the actual catalytic part is a metal ion and the protein mostly provides scaffolding. A nucleotide sequence alone doesn't directly tell you what ion is needed. In some cases, multiple ions can fit, but only one actually results in the protein work. This the basis for how a lot of toxic metal exert their toxic effects.

It's also not as simple as a nucleotide sequence codes for a protein and that's it. Proteins fold into their final shape from the chain of amino acids that DNA encodes. Protein folding in general is a hard problem. Biological proteins may have other proteins (called chperonins) that help them fold into their proper configuration. Then proteins may also be modified after they've folded (again by other proteins). Some proteins are made up of multiple sub-units as well.

Actually game theory is probably the better place to look. Though the concept of natural selection already tends to cover the big picture. Organisms need resources to reproduce. Those that can obtain more resources (or use what they have more efficiently) reproduce more and eventually drown out those who cannot reproduce as much. Taking from another organism (whether by hunting, parasitism, etc) is just one way of obtaining more resources.

Definitely not. Viruses perform key roles in ecosystems, particularly in ocean ecosystems. Their infection and subsequent killing of organisms provides a vital mechanism for cycling nutrients. They also help keep algal blooms in check. Viruses kill 20% of bacteria in the oceans everyday.

Viruses also provide a mechanism for horizontal gene transfer. A protein that is critical to the formation of the human placenta has a viral origin.

Viruses have a massive impact on life, but we're just now starting to realize it.

> Intoxication has also been reported following skin contact with the plant; a case was reported where a family of five people rubbed the plant onto the skin and were poisoned, with two children dying

From Wikipedia

It's akin to saying "Why is everyone concerned about this Volcano erupting? Plants will flourish in the resulting rich, volcanic soil"

The statement is completely true, but it misses the point as to why people are concerned and glosses over a lot of negatives.

That's not unique to French, nearly every language has some pretty large differences between the colloquial language and the more formal language. Arabic is particularly difficult is this regard because modern standard arabic serves as the official language, but everyday speech is done in the individual dialects. But the differences between the dialects and MSA are pretty large, to the extent that a lot of linguistics think that "arabic" should really be considered as a family of closely related languages. So the situation is akin to the governments and media of France, Spain and Italy working in Latin while people in those countries continue to speak their respective languages.

> Getting an Iranian entry visa as an American without a government minder was bit trickier

How did you manage that? I thought that it was required for American citizens to have a tour guide with them at all times. Did you get some sort of non-tourist visa that allowed that to happen?

>Sure, but we know the flu is deadly and relatively communicable and we certainly don't take this level of precaution.

The death rate for the flu averages around 0.1%. The Wuhan virus is currently just over 3%, the 1918 flu that killed millions had a death rate of around 2%. The flu is deadly, the Wuhan virus is currently 30x deadlier than the flu. Additionally, flu vaccines already exist as well as anti-virals that have been shown to work on the flu. There is no vaccine for the Wuhan virus nor am I aware of any anti-virals that have been shown to work on it.

His story is full of holes. He claims that he has a master’a degree in physics, but cannot produce a diploma, his master’s thesis of the names of any classmates or professors. Furthermore, he has never demonstrated that level of knowledge of physics and the things that he does say are bizarre at best.

There’s no evidence that The facility that he allegedly worked exists. There isn’t any trace of roads or any infrastructure for it. The location that he gives is right on the edge of the restricted airspace surrounding Area 51, which seems odd for a super secret facility.

There are a bunch of little things. In one interview he mentions seeing an alien through a window in a door. His escort guard tells him not to look. Somehow the government is able to secretly reverse engineer alien technology, but can’t spring for some curtains?

To put it simply, there’s no evidence to support it. He has never been able to produce a sample of any extraterrestrial material nor has he shown that he has any knowledge that is beyond current physics.

Personally, I’m fond of [this idea](http://www.otherhand.org/home-page/area-51-and-other-strange...). Basically that Bob Lazar schmoozed his way into a job at Area 51 due to a chance meeting with Edward Teller. He brought people to watch a classified test (of experimental, but completely terrestrial technology) and got into deep shit over it.

I think the big problem is that all those fields are still very new and the thing they're studying is extremely complex and hard to directly study.

I'd argue that chemistry really began with Lavoisier in the late 1700s. Physics? Late 1600s with Galileo and Newton. What about psychiatry? I'd argue that it really got going in the latter half of the 20th century. Freud and lobotomies? They were the equivalent of alchemy. Other fields have been around in a recognizably modern fashion for hundreds of years. The same cannot be said of psychiatry and psychology.

And that's not surprising. The brain and mind are incredibly difficult to study directly. Until the advent of EEC, fMRI, and other modern tools, the only real way to do it was by studying behavior. Similarly, the brain is very complex. We didn't have, what could be considered, a modern picture of the atom until the early 1900s and that was after several major discoveries spread over a few decades. It's not surprising that we're still struggling with the brain.

>Back in highschool we had a massively depressed friend. They tried it all with her: cognitive behavioral therapy, drugs (ALL OF THEM), weed, religion. Tough love. Exercise. Diet. Nothing cured her and her depression killed her via suicide. What's the psych tell me after? Sometimes there's nothing we can do? That sucks. Human genome, done. Prevent HIV from killing someone. Can't do shit about depression sometimes.

That's still the case for a lot of things. You have ALS? On average, you'll be dead in two to four years. 90% of people die within 10 years. Treatment is mainly supportive. Likewise, it's the 1800s and you contract a bacterial disease? Can't do anything about that, antibiotics won't be invented for decades. Drain the pus and hope that you survive.

On ADHD, it turns out that Concerta and Adderall are indistinguishable to me. I take a low dosage and the side effects are basically non-existent and it also gets rid of my anxiety and depression. But it also happens that exercise reduces the intensity of all my symptoms. I only found this out when I stopped going to the gym for two weeks and noticed that my medication doesn't seem to be as effective.

It's quite possible that, if I hadn't been in the habit of exercising regularly, I would've required a higher dosage that would give me severe side effects. It's also possible that I would be fine. How is my psychiatrist supposed to know that? Maybe exercise doesn't work for some people, maybe diet is critical, maybe it's getting enough sunlight. The entire web of interactions is extremely complex and we don't currently have the ability to examine it at a fine level.

Speaking of complex interactions, ADHD is predominantly genetic and there are a number of genes that can contribute to it. For example, a variant of the gene that codes the protein Latrophilin 3 is estimated to be responsible for roughly 10% of ADHD cases. People with this variant are also very responsive to stimulant medication. Given the way that I respond to medication, it wouldn't be surprising if that's responsible for my ADHD.

But other people might have multiple gene variants, each contributing to a portion of the severity of their ADHD. Adequately treating them might require a very specific combination of drugs. The current process is trial and error, but it's possible that you'll never hit that magic combination. Likewise, maybe there is no magic combination in existing drugs or maybe the ideal dose is 6mg, but it only comes in 5mg and 10mg doses.

The medication situation is getting better. There are services that will run a genetic analysis to determine which medications might be most effective. But it's still in its infancy and that's only a portion of the picture.

The brain is complex and our current tools for examining and treating it are still blunt. Don't get me wrong, there are definitely systemic issues in those fields that need to be corrected. But a lot of criticisms seem to boil down to the equivalent of "It's 1819, why haven't chemists invented acrylic to replace the glass in my glasses?"

>do we still need things like VM, paging, and segmentation?

Yes. To begin with, on modern processors, paging is tied with the memory protection system. Memory is protected on a per-page basis. Memory mapped files are implemented through paging. There's also backwards compatibility. Virtual memory allows 32-bit applications to have their physical memory located anywhere. Without that, we'd have to ensure that they reside below 4GB. Programs would start up slower as the executable would have to be relocated every time. Additionally, it's hard to imagine a hypervisor that doesn't use virtual memory. Virtual memory allows hypervisors to present a unified address space to their guests; no matter how fragmented physical memory gets.

Tell me, how do stimulants make someone more compliant? Why is it that when someone comes to the hospital in an agitated state, they aren’t given adderall? Why isn’t ritalin given before surgery? Why are people with schizophrenia given antipsychotics instead of vyvanse? This type of attitude is as ridiculous as it is cynical.

People act as if the idea of a Ritalin zombie is the goal for ADHD medication. It’s not. I’m not going to deny that stimulants do make some people lethargic, but that’s the exception, not the rule.

Do you want to know what it’s like to take medication for ADHD? For the first time in my life I can make choices. I can choose to clean up my desk without something deep inside me rising up to stop me. I can sit down and read a book and not feel the tensions building up inside me until it feels like a rubber band about to snap. I can wait at a restaurant without feeling the need for stimulation itch over me. My mind no longer jumps from idea to idea until I get lost in my own head. I can speak without stumbling over words because my mind is three sentences ahead. I can read a paragraph and actually remember what I just read.

The notion that I’m just some lobotomized zombie shuffling to the strings of my corporate masters is frankly insulting to everyone that struggles to live a normal life with ADHD.

I think you've got this backwards. You don't need to understand the notation, you need to understand the math. If you don't understand the notation then you probably don't understand the math in the first place so learning notation won't help. Learning how a matrix is written is useless without understanding what a matrix is.

You need to find out exactly what type of math is used in the paper and learn that. Learning notation will come along with that. If you're interested in machine learning then you should probably start with:

* Proofs and logic (a general requirement to understanding math) * Linear algebra * Statistics * Some multi-variable calculus

They're completely different. Psychedelics change your perception and thought processes in a way that's completely different than a lucid dream.

I got a feeling of incredulity from reading this article because it seems like the article is saying that sexual fluidity is a sexual orientation, you can be asexual, gay, straight, bi or fluid. But that seems like falling into the same type of rigid thinking that the article decries. I think sexual fluidity is orthogonal to sexual orientation. If right now you're attracted to both men and women, you're bisexual. If, in a few years, you find yourself attracted only to men (as a man), then you'll be gay.

I think the problem arises because most people consider sexual orientation to be an identity, instead of a description. Some languages have multiple verbs that are covered in English by 'to be'. In Spanish, for example, there's ser and estar. Ser is used for things like inherent characteristics, while estar is used for temporary conditions, moods, etc. If you say "I'm tall" you would use ser, if you said "I'm tired", you'd use estar. People tend to think of sexual orientation in the ser sense instead of considering that it can be used in the estar sense.