SyntheticSlime

SyntheticSlime t1_j825feb wrote

Reply to comment by garlicroastedpotato in Deforestation in Brazil falls by 60% in first month under Lula by Competitive-Wall2473

It can also be people reading the winds. The argument for crediting Trump with the stock market is that it’s based on expectations. Similarly, maybe knowing there’s a new boss in charge caused some illegal forest clearing to stop. Loggers might have been more confident under Bolsonaro because they thought they’d be less likely to be prosecuted. It’s all pretty nebulous. There are so many factors at play at any given time it’s really hard to know how import any one thing is.

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SyntheticSlime t1_j7jf3wu wrote

Reply to What weak signals or drivers of change—that receive limited attention today—are most likely to create signifiant impacts over the next 10-20 years? Where are the black swans hiding? by NewDiscourse

Space travel. Right now we are on the cusp of having incredible new launch capabilities. SpaceX’s Starship is the most well developed example, but there are others maybe a few years behind. But when you listen to people talk about the opportunities that will open up they don’t really seem to get it. They’ll talk about satellite constellations, or space tourism, or even mining asteroids, but that’s just small potatoes. Once we have a little experience with industry in space you’ll be looking at exponential growth with practically unlimited resources in an environment where energy is free and space is limitless. Will governments be able to enforce laws in a theater a quadrillion times the size of the earth? What politics or institutions would or could govern such an environment. There are so many questions about how things will unfold and nobody is an expert. Nobody has anything but almost baseless guesses. I can’t even tell you if humans will play a major role or if it will be almost entirely robotics. Musk might be thinking about Mars colonies, but what actually comes next isn’t up to him. It’s going to be driven by economic forces, technological ability, and quite possibly geo political interests that nobody fully understands. It’s gonna be wild.

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SyntheticSlime t1_j6aa4bk wrote

Reply to Earth's inner core may be slowing down, but “Nothing cataclysmic is happening,” says Hrvoje Tkalcic, a geophysicist at Australian National University. “The inner core is now more in sync with the rest of the planet than a decade ago when it was spinning a bit faster.” by clayt6

Is this why days have been shortening slightly? We used to need leap seconds at regular intervals, but they’ve been less common recently.

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SyntheticSlime t1_j5yuc0t wrote

Reply to comment by AMcMahon1 in Electric Bill for an Apartment in an Old Home by micahdash

I’m not saying it’s a bad idea, but that’s only gonna save about $10/degree. OP should also look into plugging up drafts around windows and doors and then maybe putting plastic over windows. The other question is, what kind of heating it is. Electric (aside from heat pump) is crazy expensive, not that you’re going to overhaul the heating system in an apartment.

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SyntheticSlime t1_j4yohfa wrote

Reply to Scientists Make Major Breakthrough In Sustainable Hydrogen Production by BernieEcclestoned

9% doesn’t sound like much (and in outdoor conditions it was only 6.1%), but keep in mind that this is turning sunlight into fuel. Your input is free, do the real questions are about cost and logistics. 6.1% is plenty good if the price per panel is low enough, and it sounds like they made strides in reducing that as well.

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