iNow

The brain is not a computer. Analogies are sometimes useful in aiding understanding, but they also often lead to seriously flawed assumptions. https://aeon.co/essays/your-brain-does-not-process-information-and-it-is-not-a-computer

Many of the tests being done are by the military, but we don't generally have access to those results as members of the the public

You can amplify the learning process and enhance long-term consolidation of newly formed memories through techniques like transcranial magnetic stimulation, but you cannot upload memories directly. No, you DON’T know Kung fu. There IS a spoon.

MigL - You’re a good fella

🤣

Our pregnant friend had a sonogram yesterday and there was a Bloomberg 2020 ad on the readout

The peace prize is just one type. Most scientists win prizes relevant to their field

It’s entirely possible to remove a cig from the pack with your teeth, but if you’re smoking then good health is likely not your primary concern or motivator

Which of course makes it taboo and paradoxically MORE likely they will. Humans are dumb

Yeah, when he said utensils, I’d assumed he was speaking of ones that were just used to eat by an ill person.

Utensils, yes. Clothes, maybe, but probably not. Pets, not likely. See here for more: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/myth-busters Similarly, and given your level of concern, information is power: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019 Unfortunately, it is getting worse. https://abcnews.go.com/International/white-house-requesting-125b-part-25b-plan-fight/story?id=69190968

Indeed, and quite fair. Our OP, however, is in the US and is what promoted my introduction of the word hysteria. While the US is way down at 45th on the global press freedom index (and Japan closer to 65th), most here can still access sources of mostly objective numbers and examine the overall risk with reason and perspective. Maybe that’s the better word... many of the posts and comments I keep seeing on this issue seem to lack appropriate perspective. Of course, even the concept of appropriate itself is subjective, so alas... around in circles we continue to go.

Sensei - You’re generally quite calm and logical in threads, yet here you’re coming across as a bit panicked and emotional. You’re also lashing out at folks like me who push back even slightly on the scale, scope, and risk being suggested around this health problem. If hysteria is the wrong word to describe otherwise bright and very rational people like you doing this, then what’s the right word?

Also, because they're xenophobic thugs, but I live in Trump's america so may have a cynical view right now of where our culture stands.

That’s because businesses are stopping shipping and air travel is locked down, not bc people are dying in huge numbers. Apple has already shared earnings will be down and they’re a bell weather. It’s an issue we need to address. It requires focus. I feel compassion for those affected. As of today, I’m still more worried about the hysteria, especially here in the US. YMMV

To be clear, are you implicitly confirming my suggestion that the hysteria on this topic is too high, or are you trying to rebut it? It sure feels like the former.

Okay. You're clearly very emotional about this topic. That sort of adds weight to my suggestion that the hysteria is an issue with this one. Thanks for the exchange. As I already said more than once, my heart aches for those affected. That doesn't mean it's an issue worthy of the anxiety we're seeing. This is my opinion. Feel free to disagree and hold a different opinion, preferably without making it unnecessarily personal or attacking me personally. Not helpful, mate. Again, seems a bit... hysterical.

Lol. Well, thanks for your reasoned and diplomatic response to my post. Perhaps you could tell us all how you really feel next time? Let's look at your numbers. 620 people infected on the ship, most quarantined, 2 died. Now, I'm very sorry for those families and would hate for the same to happen to me, but that's a death rate of only 0.3% (zero point 3 percent). Across the entire planet, something like 2100-2200 people are dead from coronavirus. Meanwhile, according to the CDC this years common flu virus has been remarkably mild yet 14,000 people have already died from it... just in the US alone. Also, 10 million people die from air pollution every year. 1.25 million from car crashes... So, yeah. I'm sympathetic to those people who died from this thing and the families they left behind, but perspective matters. It's important to watch how this thing evolves and progresses, but IMO the hysteria doesn't match the risk. Perhaps if I personally lived in a densely populated area or was regularly visiting China I'd present a different opinion, but I don't. One person across my entire state has been infected and they were okay after quarantine, so my stance is hardly "ridiculous," but you suggesting I'm somehow ignorant or dumb very much is.

It’s not actually humor, but is instead commentary on policy

I suspect this depends on how wet or dry the snow is. Wet snow tends to retain its shape better than dry powdery snow and could maintain shape around the cabin... freeze into that shape and show a flat wall when the door/window gets opened. As you rightly highlight, depth of the snow matters, but I'm not personally aware of any formulas to describe this (though they may very well exist). Also, I imagine the angle of incidence (which direction the light is coming from and how that compares to where the windows in the cabin are) plays a fairly significant role, too.

Perhaps, but rivers freeze in winter. You'd also still have the need for distribution. The current electrical grid couldn't adequately get the power to where it needs to be without significant losses along the way. The right answer here is a mixture of power sources, ideally close to the point where it's needed, and with the ability to share it outward when there's a surplus in one region but a deficit in another.

I'm grateful for your attempt to remain focused on the topic, and I'm happy to discuss it in a serious manner, but Phi is correct. This entire sub-forum was created due to a joking comment I made when someone asked "Why isn't there a forum for [Insert Arcane Unpopular Topic Here]." I replied that the existing categories were more than sufficient, and that if we kept getting more and more granular, soon we'd have a forum dedicated to "Sculptures Made of Amonds." In good fun, I believe it was Hypervalent who went ahead and created it. Then, once it existed, it needed a thread so it wasn't just an orphaned subforum and I created this. It was never meant to be serious or silly, but I'm happy to let it be both... if you are?

As I’ve taken to occasional whittling in my advancing years, I find this enormously impressive.

That’s an interesting observation, though even conscious awareness of the thoughts seems to happen several hundred milliseconds after the thought itself occurs (whether it be something practiced or something novel, the same thing occurs).

I’m more worried about the hysteria than the actual virus at this point