In other news today...
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The form Wein submitted to the web site identified her former spouse as the intended victim, prompting Rent-A-Hitman’s operator to contact the Michigan State Police since it appeared Wein was serious about soliciting a murder.
An undercover trooper subsequently met Wein in a parking lot near her home in South Rockwood, a village about 25 miles south of Detroit. Wein allegedly offered the supposed hitman $5000 to kill her ex, and gave him an upfront payment to cover travel expenses since the target lives in Tennessee.How STUPID do you have to be to believe anyone would kill someone for you for 5,000 bucks plus travel expenses?
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@boomzilla said in In other news today...:
@MrL said in In other news today...:
@boomzilla said in In other news today...:
@Benjamin-Hall said in In other news today...:
@boomzilla "safe". In the same way that those food products made with sawdust are "safe".
Eating sawdust sounds a lot better than hanging out downstream of that dam right about now.
It's China, they don't give a flying fuck about people living downstream.
OK, but how many of their factories would it wipe out? Pretty sure they care about their income stream.
They can spin it as "we took care of your covid problem".
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@Dragoon said in In other news today...:
In fairness, space is the best place to fire a satellite weapon.
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https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/our-first-direct-look-multiplanet-system-around-sun-star
That is cool
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If this system is going to evolve into something like ours over the next several billion years, astronomers have got some explaining to do.
What are they accusing the astronomers of?
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@hungrier said in In other news today...:
If this system is going to evolve into something like ours over the next several billion years, astronomers have got some explaining to do.
What are they accusing the astronomers of?
Immortality, from the sound of it.
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Who had "actual plague" on their 2020 Bingo card?
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@Mason_Wheeler said in In other news today...:
Who had "actual plague" on their 2020 Bingo card?
There are somewhere from five to ten cases of plague every year in the U.S., IIRC. So that would essentially be a "free space" on the Bingo card.
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@izzion said in In other news today...:
The form Wein submitted to the web site identified her former spouse as the intended victim, prompting Rent-A-Hitman’s operator to contact the Michigan State Police since it appeared Wein was serious about soliciting a murder.
An undercover trooper subsequently met Wein in a parking lot near her home in South Rockwood, a village about 25 miles south of Detroit. Wein allegedly offered the supposed hitman $5000 to kill her ex, and gave him an upfront payment to cover travel expenses since the target lives in Tennessee.How STUPID do you have to be to believe anyone would kill someone for you for 5,000 bucks plus travel expenses?
Well, depending on how easy it is to get at the target, you can get a desperate drug-addict with a sledgehammer for about $1000, plus a $200 referral fee for the (drug)dealer.
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@boomzilla must be
femalesTDWTF members.
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@Dragoon now make that ethanol and we’ve got a deal.
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@topspin said in In other news today...:
@Dragoon now make that ethanol and we’ve got a deal.
But all the other (non CO2 stuff made by the current catalytic converters would make you go blind if you drank it.
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@topspin said in In other news today...:
@Dragoon now make that ethanol and we’ve got a deal.
We need to find a chemical reaction which consumes 2 methanol and produces 2 ethanol + 1 M&M.
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Virginia explores the concept of 'bartering with money.'
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This is a different look at solar power:
Cross-posted for here: https://what.thedailywtf.com/topic/20970/fire-climate-change/2249
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@PJH said in In other news today...:
Virginia explores the concept of 'bartering with money.'
Inside the article, it's slightly less ridiculous than the headline makes it look:
For every $10 in rolled coins that are exchanged for the same value in paper money, a card for a free original or spicy sandwich, original or grilled nuggets, or grilled chicken sandwich will be given out.
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Alexa, play taps...
Guess business realities have reasserted themselves now that Intel isn't just crushing AMD.
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@izzion Yeah; Intel have just not managed to make the 7nm mode work for them, at least not at defect rates that would allow their manufacturing division to be profitable, despite a great amount of effort and money. By contrast, TSMC (who are manufacturing specialists and have no consumer-visible IP) have the 7nm stuff working in volume and reputedly have 6nm in an advanced enough state that they can consider taking on the business that Intel will send their way. It'll take a bit for the transition to happen (as Intel will need to redo and revalidate their designs for the TSMC macrocell library) so actual volume production by that route is probably a couple of years out.
It's been fascinating to follow. This probably means that Intel will survive overall, but who knows what their market share will be?
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@PJH said in In other news today...:
Virginia explores the concept of 'bartering with money.'
Yet another tax evasion attempt.
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Thus concludes my lunchtime science perusing.
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Maybe I should start a new thread for science news? but
I still think the stellerator is a better bet for fission, but iter is still hella cool.
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@Dragoon said in In other news today...:
Maybe I should start a new thread for science news?
Why? All the other types are either bits of local no-consequence fun or massively depressing.
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and we are aware of the irony
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@DogsB ME TOO!
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that reveal 500 addresses
Well, I won't be able to contribute to the overload then. My ISP won't let me sent to more than 100. (Yes, I found that limit - I run dog shows for our club and we often have that many people entered)
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@Dragoon said in In other news today...:
This is pretty cool. I saw a bit about this yesterday. In the ISS test mentioned in the article, they found that a 1mm layer of this stuff can reduce radiation by about 2%. If they were use this to add radiation shielding to, say, a Mars habitat, they would need something like 20cm of this stuff to reduce radiation levels down to what's normal on Earth. Mixing it with other materials, such as Martian dirt, could reduce that to as little as 9cm.
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@DogsB said in In other news today...:
It's not clear how a pilot could successfully assume a flight attendant's role, especially with just two days' notice.
It's also not apparent if such a setup is legal in the regions in which Icelandair flies, including the US and the European Union.
There must be a flight attendant per 50 seats on flight carrying passengers (except under 10 or 20 seats depending on other conditions). And it's seats. And it's seats; a 160-seat (e.g. B738) must have 4 flight attendants on board even if it carries just 10 passengers on the flight. And required flight crew is required in cockpit, so they can't double as flight attendants. Definitely illegal.
Also
As the airline is not an American carrier, the Federal Aviation Administration does not have regulatory authority over it, an FAA spokesperson said.
It still does have regulatory authority over any flights made to and from USA though. And the rules about flight attendants are the same all over the world anyway.
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@Dragoon said in In other news today...:
Sounds interesting, but the article does not really have much details. I especially found none about how it is powered (since burning methanol with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water is exothermic, and law of conservation of energy still held last time I checked, the reverse must be endothermic and therefore requires power to run) and how high the “high” efficiency actually is.
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@Bulb said in In other news today...:
how high the “high” efficiency actually is.
High as in mushrooms!
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@Bulb said in In other news today...:
Sounds interesting, but the article does not really have much details. I especially found none about how it is powered
Look at the picture. The inputs are CO2 and H2; that's significant as it means that they're starting with a highly energetic input and they're going from two moles of gaseous inputs to one mole of methanoic acid (a liquid at STP). The pressure drop will provide plenty of power for the reaction if a suitable catalyst is available (which it sounds like has been found). The big problem is where to get the hydrogen gas from. Right now, the main source is from natural gas, which is a really dumb input for this particular process as you'd just use the gas directly instead
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@boomzilla said in In other news today...:
better than hanging out downstream of that dam right about now.
China won't let you enter now, anyway. So you are really safe.
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2020 continues apace...
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@boomzilla Hmm... knives, sure, but how dangerous is a chainsaw in the hands of a baboon? If you're not able to start the motor and then hold it effectively and operate the trigger, they're basically harmless.
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Seems LEGO is about to release the most expensive child piano ever:
It's based on a fan-made piano model (BookFace link) which they've apparently revised to make it official.
It's a very nice design as the piano chair is adjustable and the keys can all move, but it doesn't make any piano sounds.
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@JBert said in In other news today...:
but it doesn't make any piano sounds
It looks like there's space to fit a small speaker and circuit board; a fan mod will be able to fix the playing sound issue (rather than relying on an app for it, which is the official approach). Alternatively, rebuilding the interior to use actual strings and piano mechanisms would be cool but much more difficult. I've no idea whether a suitable soundboard can be made at all (well, in a reasonable size).
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@dkf said in In other news today...:
@Bulb said in In other news today...:
Sounds interesting, but the article does not really have much details. I especially found none about how it is powered
Look at the picture. The inputs are CO2 and H2; that's significant as it means that they're starting with a highly energetic input and they're going from two moles of gaseous inputs to one mole of methanoic acid (a liquid at STP). The pressure drop will provide plenty of power for the reaction if a suitable catalyst is available (which it sounds like has been found). The big problem is where to get the hydrogen gas from. Right now, the main source is from natural gas, which is a really dumb input for this particular process as you'd just use the gas directly instead
Ok, so basically the efficiency is given by the efficiency of the electrolysis of water needed to get pure hydrogen from it (that's the only source of hydrogen that would make it a renewable fuel). Well, given how much hassle handling hydrogen as fuel is if this can provide basically the same efficiency and much simpler handling, it is a considerably superior option.
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@dkf said in In other news today...:
@JBert said in In other news today...:
but it doesn't make any piano sounds
It looks like there's space to fit a small speaker and circuit board; a fan mod will be able to fix the playing sound issue (rather than relying on an app for it, which is the official approach). Alternatively, rebuilding the interior to use actual strings and piano mechanisms would be cool but much more difficult. I've no idea whether a suitable soundboard can be made at all (well, in a reasonable size).
Somehow, I just don't see Legos withstanding the forces needed to use actual strings. There's a reason there's a massive hunk-o-metal in a piano!
There is approximately 18 tons of pressure being exerted by the stretched steel piano strings. In a concert grand, it is close to 30 tons of pressure. The average string having about 160 pounds of tension. There are 230 strings inside a typical piano.
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@Dragoon said in In other news today...:
Microsoft is joining the Blender Foundation's Development Fund as a Corporate Gold member!
So we can expect the next version of Blender to be called Blender 10, and there will never be another "major" release?
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@Mason_Wheeler said in In other news today...:
@boomzilla Hmm... knives, sure, but how dangerous is a chainsaw in the hands of a baboon? If you're not able to start the motor and then hold it effectively and operate the trigger, they're basically harmless.
Not really. A properly maintained chainsaw will still have sharpened teeth, which can still cause lacerations if the chainsaw is swung like a mace. On the flip side, holding the blade end would turn the motor into a decent bludgeoning instrument.
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@HardwareGeek said in In other news today...:
So we can expect the next version of Blender to be called Blender 10, and there will never be another "major" release?
Blender Core, where long time support will be 3 years.
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@Bulb said in In other news today...:
@dkf said in In other news today...:
@Bulb said in In other news today...:
Sounds interesting, but the article does not really have much details. I especially found none about how it is powered
Look at the picture. The inputs are CO2 and H2; that's significant as it means that they're starting with a highly energetic input and they're going from two moles of gaseous inputs to one mole of methanoic acid (a liquid at STP). The pressure drop will provide plenty of power for the reaction if a suitable catalyst is available (which it sounds like has been found). The big problem is where to get the hydrogen gas from. Right now, the main source is from natural gas, which is a really dumb input for this particular process as you'd just use the gas directly instead
Ok, so basically the efficiency is given by the efficiency of the electrolysis of water needed to get pure hydrogen from it (that's the only source of hydrogen that would make it a renewable fuel). Well, given how much hassle handling hydrogen as fuel is if this can provide basically the same efficiency and much simpler handling, it is a considerably superior option.
Pretty much. I'd hazard the catalysed process is exothermic, but the waste energy can be fed back into the electrolysis process (since using higher temperature water reduced the required electricity).
I've read of similar processes in the past; I believe that mentioned the electrolysis can also quickly adjust to available energy, so it can be used to compensate for fluctuations in green energy production and/or energy use.
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@dkf said in In other news today...:
@JBert said in In other news today...:
but it doesn't make any piano sounds
It looks like there's space to fit a small speaker and circuit board; a fan mod will be able to fix the playing sound issue (rather than relying on an app for it, which is the official approach). Alternatively, rebuilding the interior to use actual strings and piano mechanisms would be cool but much more difficult. I've no idea whether a suitable soundboard can be made at all (well, in a reasonable size).
It's hard to tell the interior dimensions from the photos and the lego page only gives exterior ones, but I think it's around 20cm by 20cm. The battery box they show is 3.2cm wide; the available height would be at least that. You'd probably want to use an arduino or similar to monitor a separate pressure sensor for each of the 25 channels. No clue how large the electronics typically are but I suspect it's doable.
The keys look to be 2 studs or 16mm wide. About ⅔".
If you want to be certain, it's releasing this saturday so building instructions will be up for free by next week.
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@dcon said in In other news today...:
Somehow, I just don't see Legos withstanding the forces needed to use actual strings. There's a reason there's a massive hunk-o-metal in a piano!
There is approximately 18 tons of pressure being exerted by the stretched steel piano strings. In a concert grand, it is close to 30 tons of pressure. The average string having about 160 pounds of tension. There are 230 strings inside a typical piano.
Oh, you'd certainly not be using metal strings! The volume would need to be a lot lower as a consequence. I was instead thinking about using various weights of ordinary string, but I've not run the numbers to see if that could produce the right range of pitches. It would also need a sounding board, but that's much more like a real piano.
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@dkf said in In other news today...:
@dcon said in In other news today...:
Somehow, I just don't see Legos withstanding the forces needed to use actual strings. There's a reason there's a massive hunk-o-metal in a piano!
There is approximately 18 tons of pressure being exerted by the stretched steel piano strings. In a concert grand, it is close to 30 tons of pressure. The average string having about 160 pounds of tension. There are 230 strings inside a typical piano.
Oh, you'd certainly not be using metal strings! The volume would need to be a lot lower as a consequence. I was instead thinking about using various weights of ordinary string, but I've not run the numbers to see if that could produce the right range of pitches. It would also need a sounding board, but that's much more like a real piano.
I had a brief look and it appears that, for guitar strings, at least, the lowest tensions you're looking at are in the region of:
- 9.8 lbs with a .008" metal treble E, or
- 17.21 lbs with a .028" nylon treble E.
I expect that, even accounting for the shorter string lengths, stretching a number of strings tight enough to produce a range of defined pitches is outside the tolerances of a LEGO set.
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