stevenjgarner

Aren't "public services, facilities and infrastructure" provided by government?

Taxes are to fund government. Isn't the idea for AI and robotics to replace government? No taxes.

"Researchers have uncovered surprising evidence that the deep ocean’s carbon-fixing engine works very differently than long assumed. While ammonia-oxidizing archaea were thought to dominate carbon fixation in the sunless depths, experiments show that other microbes—especially heterotrophs—are doing far more of the work than expected. This discovery reshapes our understanding of how carbon moves through the deep ocean and stabilizes Earth’s climate."

Paper reprinted/syndicated:

[1] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/12/251210092024.h...

[2] https://news.ucsb.edu/2025/022270/mystery-missing-deep-ocean...

[3] https://paper.sciencenet.cn/htmlpaper/2025/9/202592617385476...

For the first time, researchers have observed live and in high resolution how influenza viruses infect living cells. This was possible thanks to a new microscopy technique, which could now help to develop antiviral therapies in a more targeted manner. [1]

[1] Enhanced visualization of influenza A virus entry into living cells using virus-view atomic force microscopy : https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2500660122

Microsoft users need to accept that Windows has transitioned from being a tool designed to serve the user to a "cash extraction exercise" designed to maximize shareholder value by pushing users into Microsoft's profitable online ecosystem.

The heart attack danger is a perfect storm of two factors that do not normally occur together:

1) Extreme physical exertion - sudden, intense arm-heavy exercise often as a Valsalva maneuver (straining and holding the breath). This dramatically increases blood pressure, which puts acute stress on the heart and arteries.

2) Exposure to cold air exacerbating the strain on the heart with vasoconstriction (blood vessel constriction). Cold temperatures cause peripheral blood vessels (arteries and veins) to narrow. This forces the heart to work harder to pump blood through the constricted vessels to keep the body warm, leading to an increase in blood pressure. The combination of constricted vessels and high physical exertion means the heart needs significantly more oxygen to function, but the cold and high pressure can limit the blood and oxygen flow (myocardial oxygen demand is increased). Breathing cold air can also trigger constriction in the coronary arteries that supply the heart muscle itself, further increasing the risk of reduced blood flow and a heart attack.

How deep is the evolutionary continuity of voice processing mechanisms shared across closely related primates?

This video explores the theoretical framework for the phenomenon: Theory of the electron-phonon interaction and superconductivity [1]

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXhLcIXTfrc

Since this study reveals that certain RNA tags change in brain regions and genes connected to disorders, can scientists develop new medicines that target these specific chemical tags to halt or reverse neurological diseases?

See also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvahPQdbOrg

Can this technique using engineered molybdenum disulfide nanoflowers to boost cellular repair be safely and effectively implemented inside the human body for long-term treatment without causing toxicity or unwanted side effects?

What is the crowd process to upgrade/correct this? I notice massive errors in small Midwest US towns (multiple buildings being combined/ommitted, etc)?

Results reported in the journal Communications Earth & Environment [1] submitted to HN [2]

[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02964-0

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46151324

This is great! I would love to see this method extended to the full Pasterski–Strominger–Zhiboedov (PSZ) triangle, where Fourier transforms are the binding relationships tying together soft theorems and memory effects. Such an extended guide would be a powerful interaction encompassing also vacuum transitions and Ward's identities. A "smoothie" combining the theory of relativity, quantum field theory and quantum gravity might make those subjects more accessible.

Would you be willing to elaborate?

I am not an attorney, but given that Dollar General and Family Dollar are highly likely to serve a much larger percentage of SNAP-eligible customers, isn't there a far more serious FEDERAL crime being perpetrated here of retailer abuse and fraud in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), often referred to as food stamp fraud? That is, if the SNAP customers have no other means of purchasing food (living in a food desert), and the retailer is intentionally charging more for food items, isn't the retailer committing fraud against the US government? Federal criminal prosecution of SNAP violations could result in fines up to $250,00 and imprisonment up to 20 years. More significant consequences than otherwise being reported here.

It is important to understand that Dollar General and Family Dollar serve thousands of flyover communities where there are no Walmart stores or other viable market access. Dollar General has stated that it can generate profits in communities with fewer than 1,000 homes. Walmart generally requires a much larger population base for its stores.

Dollar General is the largest retailer in the US by number of locations, with over 20,000 stores across 48 states. Family Dollar operates over 8,200 stores. Walmart's U.S. store count is significantly smaller (around 4,700 U.S. Walmart stores and 600 Sam's Clubs as of 2024).

Dollar stores are frequently found at the heart of "food deserts," which are often rural communities located more than 10 miles from a grocery store selling fresh produce—a gap often created when a community is too small to maintain a supermarket or attract a retailer like Walmart.

Can the algorithm maintain its claimed energy savings and quick responsiveness when facing the unpredictable, messy reality of a live system, where task loads, deadlines, and internal communication delays change constantly?

If you've been there 16 years, I'm sure you employer feels your impact has been worth the investment. Are you really saying that you don't feel you have made the impact you would have liked to make? Do you feel under-utilized?

My understanding is that this is primarily hitting DDR5 RAM (or better). With prices so inflated, is there an argument to revert and downgrade systems to DDR4 RAM technology in many use cases (which is not so inflated)?

Not intending to offend, but aren't exceptionally gifted students (i.e. outliers) by definition neuro-divergent? Disclaimer: I am neuro-divergent, but not exceptionally gifted.

Did an environmental disaster inadvertently deliver the Black Death to Europe by forcing trade partners to rely on the very route that carried the plague?

Paper widely syndicated:

CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/04/science/black-death-volcanic-...

EurekAlert!: Volcanic eruptions set off a chain of events that brought the Black Death to Europe (https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1107493?)

Science News: A volcanic eruption might have helped bring the Black Plague to Europe (https://www.sciencenews.org/article/volcanic-eruption-black-...)

SciTechDaily: A Forgotten Eruption Could Rewrite the Black Death Origin Story (https://scitechdaily.com/a-forgotten-eruption-could-rewrite-...)

Discover Magazine: Volcanic Eruptions May Have Been Responsible for the Spread of Black Death in Medieval Europe (https://www.discovermagazine.com/volcanic-eruptions-may-have...)

University of Cambridge: Volcanic eruptions set off a chain of events that brought the Black Death to Europe (https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/volcanoes-black-death)

Scientific American: How an Overlooked Eruption May Have Sparked the Black Death (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-black-death-m...)

What is the fundamental physical limitation (termed "acoustic collapse") that causes multiple, simultaneously levitated objects to spontaneously cluster together, and how can this attractive force be effectively counteracted to achieve stable, independent, and controllable manipulation of multiple particles?

Non-syndicated publication: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2516865122

Great intention, but too simplistic. The lawmaker has a third party set up a trust for the benefit of his children and the trust owns a company in yet another jurisdiction that just happens to not only take a position in a certain stock, but probably provides "consulting services" for a healthy fee. And that is the simple version. By the time the lawmaker's interest is fully obfuscated, the legal structure is fully compliant with every letter of the law, just not the intention. Better to have fewer laws that are actually enforceable.

"Sorry, the file you have requested has been deleted."

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46112906

The required revision that current physics models use to forecast tsunami hazards is to move away from the classic assumption that great tsunamis are largely non-dispersive waves that travel as a single packet, as the new satellite data shows a complex, dispersive pattern of energy spreading across the ocean. Tsunami forecasting models must now be revised to incorporate dispersive effects and quantify this energy to more accurately predict the wave's timing and force as it approaches the coast.

Research paper: SWOT Satellite Altimetry Observations and Source Model for the Tsunami from the 2025 M 8.8 Kamchatka Earthquake https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa/tsr/article/5/4/341/718...,

How is it "grossly incorrect"? Using both taxonomic and size classification, is it not accurate to refer to a blue-green alga as a "microbe" or "microorganism." [1]

A microbe (or microorganism) is generally defined as an organism that is microscopic—too small to be seen clearly by the naked eye. Blue-green algae fit this definition as they are single-celled or form microscopic colonies.

The scientific name for blue-green algae is cyanobacteria, which are technically a type of bacteria, universally classified as microbes. [2] They are prokaryotes (lacking a nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles), and the two prokaryotic domains of life (Bacteria and Archaea) are composed entirely of microbes.

[1] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9025173/

[2] https://doh.wa.gov/community-and-environment/contaminants/bl...

IMHO I feel the title is appropriate. They are not claiming to have found life on Mars, they are making the very pivotal claim that there are forms of life that can turn liabilities on Mars into assets.

This is so inspiring. It has become almost axiomatic that Martian regolith is toxic. [1] This microbe research represents a move in thinking from planetary protection (protecting us from Mars) to In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), using Mars to support us. The microbe turns two liabilities — the high perchlorate ClO4 mineral content and the atmospheric CO2 — into the two necessities for a colony: building material and breathable air.

[1] References:

Davila, A. F., Willson, D., Coates, J. D., & McKay, C. P. (2013). Perchlorate on Mars: a chemical hazard and a resource for humans. International Journal of Astrobiology, 12(4), 321–325. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1473550413000189

Oze, C., Beisel, J., Dabsys, E., Dall, J., North, G., Scott, A., Lopez, A. M., Holmes, R., & Fendorf, S. (2021). Perchlorate and Agriculture on Mars. Soil Systems, 5(3), 37. https://doi.org/10.3390/soilsystems5030037

Perchlorate on Mars – Overview and Implications. (2019). (NASA Technical Report).

Perchlorate-Reducing Biofilms Open a New Avenue for Martian Agriculture. (n.d.). Current Trends in Biotechnology and Bioengineering Sciences, 1(1).

Potential Health Impacts, Treatments, and Countermeasures of Martian Dust on Future Human Space Exploration. (n.d.). Life.

Here we are 35 years after the invention of the web browser, and now browser fingerprinting is an exact science. [1] I'm guessing 35 years from now toilet bowl fingerprinting will be an exact science. Claims of "de-identified and/or anonymized data" are reckless and naive.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46016249

If it's not obvious, Steve's quote is ENTIRELY about capex ROI, and I feel his quote is more relevant to what is happening today than anything Arvind Krishna is imagining. The quote is posted in my comment not to grandstand Apple in any sense, but to grandstand just how consistently wrong IBM has been about so many opportunities that they have failed to read correctly - reprography, mini computers and microcomputers being just three.

Yes it is about ROI: "IBM enters the personal computer market in November ’81 with the IBM PC. 1983 Apple and IBM emerged as the industry’s strongest competitors each selling approximately one billion dollars worth of personal computers in 1983, each will invest greater than fifty million dollars for R&D and another fifty million dollars for television advertising in 1984 totaling almost one quarter of a billion dollars combined, the shakeout is in full swing. The first major firm goes bankrupt with others teetering on the brink, total industry losses for 83 out shadow even the combined profits of Apple and IBM for personal computers."