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australopithecus

@australopithecus@mastodon.social

Highly-miscellaneous queer identity-anarchist from the "Oregon Trail generation"
Currently teaching myself to program

Neurodivergences: ADD (non-H), major depression, oppositional defiant, "third culture"

Interests: very yes, especially deep theory into anything

Recreational interests: video games (playing and making), anime/manga, hard sci-fi, cooking, ceramics, DIY

Philosophical: non-evangelical anti-theist, with Rinzai zen flavorings and phenomenological epistemology

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

ElleGray , to random

[Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @ElleGray ok I personally enjoy all the various edible flowers, and roses in particular are even good with savory dishes if you're doing middle-eastern flavors (esp cardamom and/or saffron), but wtf kind of monster puts them on a BLT?

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    I'm surprised that so many people don't know this.
    https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @lowqualityfacts This is incidentally why forming bricks of fat is illegal: they weigh more than themselves, causing local disruptions in space-time.

    futurebird , (edited ) to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    Which of the following must a computer have? (choose as few items as you possibly can for it to be a valid computer)

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @futurebird
    Babbage's designs really only had a processor and I/O, and technically the O is only necessary for it to be useful to the human. But in addition to the bare minimum of a processor, I would also argue that a variable input system is strictly necessary for it to be considered a computer, rather than a machine.

    Also, the mere fact of existing in time and space with a physical state definitely doesn't count as having a clock or memory system.

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    You can easily tell if you look closely at the knucklestrokes.
    https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @lowqualityfacts fun art history fact: Francisco Goya also painted Saturn Devouring His Son with DaVinci's knuckles

    futurebird , (edited ) to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    Which decade had the most “modern-sounding” pop music?

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @futurebird I say 80s because the Idea of being "modern" was most in-fashion at the time. The rise of punk (in pop) and grunge reversed that trend in the 90s, and that carried forward.

    On fundamentals, there's probably also a case for 70s music on that line of argument (in many ways it was the sci-fi decade), but everything 70s has become a whipping boy for "dated aesthetic" jokes at this point, so contextually it's not really in the running.

    futurebird , (edited ) to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    I had to delete the post on ant biomass because I keep finding conflicting information.

    Are Ants 20 percent of human biomass? Or do they beat humans by an order of magnitude?

    I don't think anyone even knows.

    Estimates of global ant abundance and biomass. (A) The pie chart at center shows the global abundance of epigaeic foraging ants in the leaf litter and the contribution of each biome to the epigaeic ant fauna. The bars on the right show the relative contribution of each biome to global epigaeic ant abundance and land cover. Note that not all biomes are included. The area of the larger gray circle in the background corresponds to the total global abundance of all ants, including arboreal ants and nonforaging individuals. (B) The biomass of the total global ant population in comparison to other selected taxa (data for other taxa from Bar-On et al. (43)). Note that the uncertainty of the terrestrial arthropod biomass estimate is ∼15-fold and that of wild bird biomass is ∼twofold). Biomass values are in megatons of dry carbon (Mt C).
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    • australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @futurebird All three are sourced from Bar-On et al (2018), so somebody just fucked up. Here's the paper:
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6016768/

    ElleGray , (edited ) to random

    you look sad here's a picture of a boxer crab a very grumpy crustacean who with minimal provocation will grab two anemones and use them like fists to fight

    photo by Bruce Shafer

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @ElleGray They do say to keep your friends close, and your anemones closer.

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    Is it possible to devise a kind of encryption that will grow easier to break based on the passage of time? A key that can be reliably produced with enough calculations could be a start, but you can’t account for faster computers. Maybe a system that has a host of parameters based on other computers and sensors? but inputs can be faked. I don’t know if this question really even makes sense: it seems to bush against something fundamental and impossible.

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @futurebird

    1. Use a very large number of short keys with some kind of checksum
    2. Periodically copy/paste all the keys to a new sector, delete the originals, and discard rather than recopy any that fail checksum (ie no longer test against those keys)
    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    “Fluent Python” is an excellent example of a “good programming language book” — it’s not cluttered with “enterprise examples” it’s focused on how python works and goes into detail on edge cases. This lets one write code with real confidence that you know everything it’s doing. It is also written with the aim to justify why python is the way that it is. Which I need or I get irritated.

    If you like python you should probably have a pdf or buy a copy.

    Now which book on Java is analogous?

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @futurebird
    Java is also good for Android app developers (Kotlin is a superset of Java). But yeah, I kinda hate it.

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    This morning the South Bronx smells like summer. There is a perfume in the air— a sigh of the earth, the smell of mosses life. Birds are making a huge racket— blossoms dance their way down from the trees. I didn’t need a coat today! Today is a great day to find a queen ant!

    It’s incredible to me that there is no way as of yet to scan the air and identify smells. I wish I could pinpoint, name the elements of this smell of summer— all I want is a universal identifier for millions of chemicals!

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @futurebird
    Gas-chromatography-mass-spectrometry is what you're looking for. Unfortunately it's not really portable yet, but it does the job you're asking for and we're maybe getting pretty close to portable.

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    This is my second most popular post on tumblr and I think it explains tumblr better than anything.

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @futurebird
    ❌ decline

    futurebird , (edited ) to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    Which of the following did you feel most often growing up? If you were "an almost only child" eg you had siblings but they were much older or younger... or you had siblings but didn't grow up with them most of the time answer as if you were an only kid.

    This is about if you had company in your family near your own age, and if you wanted more company like that or less.

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @futurebird
    2nd of 7(!), most of us with adhd, from before diagnosis was a thing. It was pure chaos and we fought constantly. Impossible to find a quiet moment, ever. 10/10, no comments. Would not recommend.

    futurebird , (edited ) to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    What was was a bigger blow for the long-term prospects of complex, large, diverse, life on earth? Which one was closer to the brink of planet sterilization, or a planet with few prospects for anything like complex life?

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @futurebird
    None of the suggestions, even humanity, really touch geothermal vents much, and all are temporary or reversible via biological processes, so on a geological timescale complex life was always going to redevelop.

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    There is this Fermi Paradox "solution" that's all about how it's not possible to create controlled fire on many planets. Too much or too little O2. Life that lives in water or other liquids has no access to fire. And the logic goes: no fire, no metal working, no technology, no space faring life.

    But hold on just a damn min. Is fire the only way to heat metal to work it? Is fire the only way to control heat? Fire is a controlled oxidation-- but oxidation has many forms.

    I don't buy it.

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @futurebird
    It goes a bit deeper than that; too much or too little O2 and it's unclear whether you could even have complex multicellular life, much less technology. This isn't really limiting since oxygen is extremely abundant, though.

    Water on the other hand is fire suppressing partly by virtue of being a very good conductor of heat, which does indeed rule out all forms of heating, esp since water boils way before metals even soften. Plus it conducts electricity, too, so none of that.

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    That's so interesting.
    https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @lowqualityfacts
    This is a documented safety feature to prevent illegal cosmic memory access, please stop submitting PRs

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    I'm surprised that so many people don't know this.
    https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @lowqualityfacts
    Not to be confused with All-Seeing Eye dogs, who are physiologically blind but perceive everything everywhere in their service to the The Ceaseless Watcher.

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    Happy National Potato Month everyone!
    https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @lowqualityfacts
    You know I'm something of a potato myself

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    That's so interesting.
    https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @lowqualityfacts
    Neat associated real fact: Bob Marley legit kept a bee hive at his home.

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    Entropy distinguishes future from past. Entropy is defined as decreasing order.

    Order is defined in multiple ways, at multiple scales. Matter with more lines of symmetry has greater order; periodic repetition is more orderly.

    Consider an ant: The body of the ant consists of repeated patterns. Molecules of DNA & RNA, clusters of similar cells form organs.

    Consider a deconstructed ant; a symmetrical array of perfectly sorted plies of elements.

    Which one is more ordered?

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @futurebird
    Entropy is much more rigorously defined than "order", so if the premise is that order is being defined as the opposite of entropy, then the sorted piles are decidedly lower entropy and therefore more ordered. The macrostate of the system (ie all those interesting structures that we can observe in the ant) has very little impact on the discussion compared to the available microstates.

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    Can some real biology people weigh in on how you feel about calling a stem group, now extinct "evolutionary dead ends" or "dead branches on the tree of life" etc?

    To me it's clear and evocative, but it also feels like the kind of glib phrase that is perpetuating some misconception about how evolution works.

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @futurebird
    IMO "dead branches" is a more properly neutral tone for the general case, since a lot of species die out from accidental events rather than selective pressures. But I've also got zero skin in the game, so ¯_(ツ)_/¯

    futurebird , (edited ) to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    "10 days without food and over 80 percent of people commit cannibalism"

    • Some Terminally Online Creep

    Ten days?
    Jesus fasted for 30 days. (ETA: correction 40 days) Brah.

    What is wrong with you?

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @futurebird Attn weird Twitter creeps: humans can survive as long as 2 months without any food. If you turn to cannibalism before at least day 30, you're not staving off death, you're just a long-pork enthusiast.

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @lienrag @futurebird
    Stranded at sea is potentially a different situation because you're not getting enough water intake either, and humans are 70% water. You'll only last about a week without fluids, which lines up with their timeline.

    Supplemental: if you can catch fish, you can drink their blood for the water in a pinch, as fish internals are way less salty than sea water. Since we're taking about starvation, I assume no fish are being caught.

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    All of them. Every single one.
    https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @lowqualityfacts
    All these worlds are yours. Except Ontario. Ontario is for the birds. Attempt no landings there.

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    NYC needs a cryptid. Why can't we have a cool sneaky creature that people keep seeing? Maybe it steals lobster rolls or something. It's gotta fly obviously and run over rooftops.

    And it makes cellphones loose signal and electronics go haywire.

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @futurebird
    Be the cryptid you want to see in the world

    jeffowski , to random
    @jeffowski@mastodon.world avatar

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @jeffowski
    Tax code details aren't really the problem here. Billionaires don't have mortgage payments in the first place because they pay cash (lower price) or "own" the property by proxy through a business they own.

    Don't let the ruling wealthy classes distract you by pitting the working poor classes against the working comfortable classes.

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    Incredible.
    https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @lowqualityfacts
    This makes more sense when you consider that for every human an oat has, it will implicitly have several nerve endings contained within that human as well

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    I believe they start to develop them around the age of 12.
    https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @lowqualityfacts
    This is because cats do not simply grow whiskers naturally, but must earn each one by defeating an enemy in live combat.

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    Well you can't be good at everything.
    https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @lowqualityfacts For those in the know, this includes the Seven Forbidden Forms, as well as von Strauss's Final Testament.

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    Obviously.
    https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @lowqualityfacts
    Dang, I assumed it was "buy your own brachiosaurus". I've been using it wrong this whole time, that's super embarrassing.

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    I want one.
    https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

    australopithecus ,
    @australopithecus@mastodon.social avatar

    @lowqualityfacts technically only true because the infamous One With Everything pizza is literally priceless, as both you and anything you might try to pay for it with are also on the pizza

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