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 Discussion on question by uhoh: What …

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Eth
Mar 8, 2023 20:05
Note that small flyers like birds have a lower mass per wing surface because of the square-cube law: wing surface increase with the square of size, while mass increase with the cube of size. So for the same shape, a bigger plane has a higher mass per wing surface. As such, a plane with the same ratio than a bird needs to have much wider wings, or be made of lighter materials like aerogel.
 

 Discussion on question by johannfowl:…

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Eth
Jul 5, 2019 07:23
This is a standard tactic for small kingdoms wanting to conquer the world in many grand strategy games, sometimes referred as "blobbing". Some games attempt to counter this with a coalition system, where AIs will create an alliance against fast-expanding kingdoms, but this will only slow down a canny, patient player.
 

 Discussion on answer by StephenG: At …

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Eth
Jun 16, 2019 04:19
Comparing not-my-problem-let-my-grandchildren-cope-with-it climate change response to I-am-going-to-die-in-a-year oven is pretty much dead wrong. Sure, there will be denial among some (and possibly more now than 30 years ago, given the rise of flat-earth and anti-vax), but the entire political spectrum would be very motivated by the perspective of imminent death.
 

 Discussion on answer by JBH: What doe…

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Eth
Apr 30, 2019 14:50
@JanHudec unfortunately found a fatal flaw in that answer. Also, I wonder how much of the knocking-down effect was due to the eddy currents from the massive magnetic field generated by a lightning strike. It has been known to electrocute cows at those distances on occasion, by creating electric arcs between their legs.
 

 Discussion on question by Noah: Is a …

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Eth
Apr 11, 2019 12:02
@AlexP One-party-state, check. Calls itself Communist and People's Republic, double check. Great Leader, past or present, double check. State propaganda, check. Historical revisionism, check. Political repression, check. Political purges, check. Destroying books and other media that diverge from the party line, check. Red as the State color, hammer and sickle, Marxism used in the propaganda, triple check. State antitheism, check. Five-years-plans, check. Massive spy network, check Large bureaucratie, check. Giant reeducation camps in the desert far-end of the country, check.
Eth
Apr 11, 2019 12:02
@AlexP It's like asking for a communist society with widespread capitalism. China, Vietnam? Unless you mean the Utopian post-Great-Day Communism, as opposed to the supposedly transitional Socialism?
 

 Discussion on question by Vakus Drake…

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Eth
Apr 5, 2019 02:06
What happens when you heat it so much all the electrons are stripped? Do you have a solid block of insanely charged plasma?
 

 Discussion on answer by o.m.: Why zer…

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Eth
Feb 28, 2019 09:46
@Nobody You're right that the biggest danger is fecal microparticles, much more than urine, especially as it is full of bacteria - you really, really don't want that stuff in your lungs. I suspect it may also contaminate surfaces or (if there is) exposed food, but breathing it is probably the worst. Especially as flatulences will throw them around, so there will be much more of those than urine floating around in the first place. Still, breathing urine doesn't seem that good an idea either.
Eth
Feb 28, 2019 09:46
Another important point: without underwear, fecal and urine microparticules will be sent floating around, which is bad for lungs.
 

 Discussion on question by ghosts_in_t…

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Eth
Feb 13, 2019 19:37
The UK is busy implementing an unconventional solution: stop being a great power
 

 Discussion on question by Nyakouai: H…

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Eth
Feb 7, 2019 10:38
The gunnery chief is greatly exaggerating: the probability of the slug hitting anything before the heat death of the Universe is negligible. In our universe, that is. In the Star Wars universe, space friction will solve that problem instead.
 

 Discussion on answer by Ash: Scientif…

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Eth
Nov 11, 2018 13:23
Then again, maybe Greg (or whoever did it to him) only needs a few years to attain his goals, and doesn't care if dementia awaits him after that...
Eth
Nov 11, 2018 13:23
Careful with brain damage though, they often have nasty unexpected side-effects down the line. I have heard about a case where this procedure was used - with success - on a terminally ill patient as last-ditch pain mitigation as no other had worked. But apparently it also causes dementia a few years later, which is why it would never be applied on a non-terminally ill patient.
 

 Discussion on question by Onyz: Makin…

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Eth
Aug 23, 2018 05:32
Real life example: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Terrail,_seigneur_de_Bayard - Despite probably some, ah, embellishments, he did apparently manage to defend a bridge alone against 200 opponents. But as this is real life, he ended up killed by a bullet in the back.
 

 Discussion on answer by Gianluca: In …

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Eth
May 4, 2018 15:50
If your wind turbines are efficient enough, you're better off getting rid of the sails altogether and use an electric engine powered by the turbines. We are barely at the required tech level today, though.
 

 Discussion on answer by Cort Ammon: D…

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Eth
Mar 22, 2018 02:53
It seems that Heisenberg has something to say against copying the pattern anyway. Which means this system is only temporarily turning your body into an alternate, easier to move form. So don't worry, your soul is safe. For the moment.
 

 Discussion on question by TPK: Does m…

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Eth
Mar 22, 2018 02:48
Also, photons aren't the only massless (and thus light-speed) particles. Graviton, while hypothetical, is the most famous one. You can always hint that other particles are used as well, while avoiding giving details as much as possible.
Eth
Mar 22, 2018 02:48
You don't necessarily need a receiving station. Given that we are dealing with absurdly advanced tech here, we can imagine that they found a way for the beam to concentrate back into matter at arrival. The trick is, the beam isn't strictly parallel, for example it may converge very slightly and at some specific convergence, coalescence happens. Photons used are probably very energetic and the emitter gigantic in order to have small enough minimal spot size at interstellar range, though.