jenpalex
jenpalex t1_jdqde6v wrote
Reply to Longest lasting item in your life by SamuelsSteel
My British Services brand wrist watch.
It was a present for my 14th birthday, which I wear every day, now well into my 71st year.
It runs from -1 to +1 minutes fast or slow. So that makes life just that little bit more exciting.
jenpalex t1_izcr37n wrote
Reply to comment by blue_field_pajarito in Researchers co-led a large genetic study that identified more than 2,300 genes predicting alcohol and tobacco use after analyzing data from more than 3.4 million people. They said a majority of these genes were similar among people with European, African, American and Asian ancestries. by Wagamaga
I knew I was treading on delicate ground here, hence the caution.
jenpalex t1_izbarjh wrote
Reply to Researchers co-led a large genetic study that identified more than 2,300 genes predicting alcohol and tobacco use after analyzing data from more than 3.4 million people. They said a majority of these genes were similar among people with European, African, American and Asian ancestries. by Wagamaga
Australian aborigines seem to have a greater tendency to problems with alcohol (sorry, I can’t back this up with scientific evidence, so great with caution).
I wonder what a similar study here, would reveal.
jenpalex t1_iwhtlv6 wrote
Reply to Most cosmologists say dark matter must exist. So far, it’s nowhere to be found. Examining the philosophy of science behind two rival theories can explain why. by ADefiniteDescription
I would have thought that each of the competing theories could be tested in another way-by asking the question:
If theory X is true, how did the effect originate, and develop, in the Big Bang and its aftermath?
jenpalex t1_iwhrt7s wrote
Reply to Most cosmologists say dark matter must exist. So far, it’s nowhere to be found. Examining the philosophy of science behind two rival theories can explain why. by ADefiniteDescription
“ Since only one (at most) of these two cosmological theories can be correct, you might expect that only one of them (at most) manages to achieve correspondence with the facts in the preferred way. ”
What rules out the possibility that both effects could be operating?
Occam’s Razor is a guide to theory making, not a rule.
jenpalex t1_iwg7n3n wrote
“We’ve been working on advanced configurations for 20 years, but last time I went to the airport I didn’t see any of them flying around,” says Brent Cobleigh, NASA’s flight demonstrations and capabilities project manager.”
People have worked on heavier than air flight since Da Vinci. During all that time, people didn’t see them flying around.
jenpalex t1_iv6pk48 wrote
Reply to Carnegie Mellon researchers claim they have used new AI techniques to train much cheaper robot dogs (approx $6,000 cost) to reproduce the advanced functionality of the Boston Dynamics Spot robot. by lughnasadh
This is so cute. Can it be trained to bag and pick up its own poop too?
jenpalex t1_iv6pe2z wrote
jenpalex t1_iuvrow5 wrote
Reply to If forced to choose, I would choose for one random human to die instead of all pandas by PrettyText
This thought experiment can be compared with a real world one.
The (White?) Rhino is an endangered species due to armed horn poachers. Armed Game Wardens, financed by foreign governments and NGO’s, try to stop them, with, I believe, loss of life on both sides.
In this case the humans are willing participants. It doesn’t ‘feel’ wrong to me: either to submit to the risk of death as a warden, or to kill poachers.
Why do we feel repelled by murder in the Panda case, but, somehow, it is justified in the Rhino case?
Is it due to the relative moral weights of Pandas, Rhinos and humans? I don’t think so. The Utilitarian stance of the protagonist seems to be undermined, as it so often is, when we try to justify another human’s murder “For the Greater Good.”
jenpalex t1_iuah3zm wrote
Reply to Scientific Integrity Requires Publishing Rebuttals and Retracting Problematic Papers. by lonnib
I would love to see, at the top of every statistics based paper, a star rating for reliability.
It would take into account sample size data quality, and methodological rigour.
A pipe dream, I guess.
jenpalex t1_iu0lwnn wrote
Reply to comment by marvbinks in Apple Is Working on a 16-Inch iPad, Further Blurring Line With Laptops by SilverCarbon
Thanks for that.
jenpalex t1_itw8c73 wrote
I can’t get round the paywall with either Internet Archive or 12 ft Ladder.
Anyone else have better luck?
jenpalex t1_je85aks wrote
Reply to comment by PyrateLyfe in Longest lasting item in your life by SamuelsSteel
Thank you kindly.