C-Cab's recent activity
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Comment on The cycling revolution in Paris continues: Bicycle use now exceeds car use in ~transport
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Comment on The cycling revolution in Paris continues: Bicycle use now exceeds car use in ~transport
C-Cab Link ParentI'm an avid proponent of cycling for practical reasons (as opposed to hobbyists/sports), but even I don't think that there would be no place for cars. And most people that I talk to that are in...I'm an avid proponent of cycling for practical reasons (as opposed to hobbyists/sports), but even I don't think that there would be no place for cars. And most people that I talk to that are in favor of moving towards more bike friendly infrastructure are talking about in cities. It simply wouldn't be feasible in rural areas when necessities are so spread out.
But there are lots of times in cities where we really don't need a car that I think a bicycle, hell even a motorcycle or scooter, would work just as well and would free up congestion and land away from parking. Hopefully with the freeing up of land we could build more high density housing and that way more people could live closer to work so that they could bike/walk in.
I think it's tough for many people to view it as viable option because we've become so accustomed to a car-centric culture that it's hard for people to imagine how it would work, but we have always adapted to our situations.
Regarding your post-script, I think it's tough to draw conclusions about how many people are using a cycling lane, especially if you are driving by. Bike lanes don't usually get backed up with traffic, so there is less opportunity to actually see someone in it. Additionally, if it's the standard bike line in many U.S. cities, which is just a line of paint on the ground, it doesn't exactly provide a good sense of safety. I've been forced to get too close to the curb or even jump it a few times due to inattentive/malicious drivers.
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Comment on The cycling revolution in Paris continues: Bicycle use now exceeds car use in ~transport
C-Cab Link ParentI think a good work around for that, at least for the hills, is investing in an electric bike. Right now I'm in a relatively flat area that regularly gets up to mid 40sºC in the summer and when...I think a good work around for that, at least for the hills, is investing in an electric bike. Right now I'm in a relatively flat area that regularly gets up to mid 40sºC in the summer and when I'm actually moving the heat doesn't really bother me (granted it's low humidity, but anything over 40ºC is miserable, I don't care what anyone says).
But the hills really are killer. Where I used to live I would bike home from work and it was a gradual incline that would knock me out the first few weeks, and it still wasn't pleasant after I was conditioned towards it. I've heard really good things about e-bikes helping to offload some of that work, and it's something I'm considering doing if the area I move to is hilly.
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Comment on What if we discover the answers of the Universe, eliminate cancer, halt aging. What's next? in ~humanities
C-Cab LinkThere's a great scifi book by Arthur C. Clarke called "Childhood's End" which touches on some of this. Essentially, some aliens come to Earth and put a stop to war, famine, and all of the other...There's a great scifi book by Arthur C. Clarke called "Childhood's End" which touches on some of this. Essentially, some aliens come to Earth and put a stop to war, famine, and all of the other issues that humans deal with such that we can live in a utopia. It touches on some ideas of spirituality and humanity that I think make it a great read.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club - Next up The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin in ~books
C-Cab LinkOh I just read this last year! Looking forward to joining in on the discussion.Oh I just read this last year! Looking forward to joining in on the discussion.
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Comment on Fellow hardline materialists, how do you "enchant" the world? in ~talk
C-Cab Link ParentI share a similar sentiment as you do, which I think can be summarized quite succinctly as "Life is stranger than fiction". Looking at the mechanics of our universe and thinking about how these...I share a similar sentiment as you do, which I think can be summarized quite succinctly as "Life is stranger than fiction". Looking at the mechanics of our universe and thinking about how these emergent properties arise from particles/waves interacting all the way up to conscious thought is absolutely awe inspiring for me.
I can watch a hummingbird with elaborate displays perform a courting ritual and get mesmerized by the sheer beauty of evolution. I can see footage of a the coordinated development of a fruit fly embryo and be captivated by the intricacies of genetics and cellular processes. I am dazzled by time scales much slower than we are used to when I consider the formation of bodies of water. I am absolutely bewitched thinking about the radiation of particles and how this is happening constantly all around, just out of sight.
So for me, the world is full of enchantment. Just because we can grasp small bits of the mechanics doesn't make it any less entrancing.
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Comment on Man sets himself on fire near courthouse where Donald Trump is on trial (gifted link) in ~news
C-Cab Link ParentSo I think, like many things in life, that states and politics are like a spectrum. For me, one of the main things that define a kleptocracy is no formal repercussions for politicians after they...So I think, like many things in life, that states and politics are like a spectrum. For me, one of the main things that define a kleptocracy is no formal repercussions for politicians after they have been found out for corruption. We have several examples of this in recent years.
Now, certainly it's not as bad as other countries, but I think it's a matter of degree. And I think the more blatant instances could slide us further in the scale towards an all out kleptocracy.
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Comment on Man sets himself on fire near courthouse where Donald Trump is on trial (gifted link) in ~news
C-Cab Link ParentI think I am making an assumption about a common understanding of kleptocracy that we may not share based off your response here. If we're going to have a discussion I'd like to know what your...I think I am making an assumption about a common understanding of kleptocracy that we may not share based off your response here. If we're going to have a discussion I'd like to know what your operating definition of a kleptocracy is.
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Comment on Man sets himself on fire near courthouse where Donald Trump is on trial (gifted link) in ~news
C-Cab Link ParentI don't think it makes sense to compare the United States to other countries to rule it out as a kleptocracy. Sure, there are other countries where the corruption is much worse, but we most...I don't think it makes sense to compare the United States to other countries to rule it out as a kleptocracy. Sure, there are other countries where the corruption is much worse, but we most definitely have bribery, kickbacks, and insider training that is utilized by politicians because of their power. That doesn't seem hyperbolic at all to me
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Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
C-Cab LinkI'm about 3/4 of the way-through Revolutionary Girl Utena and I am loving it. I'm in the middle of the Apocalypse Saga and the story-telling and symbolism has really picked up and is blowing my...I'm about 3/4 of the way-through Revolutionary Girl Utena and I am loving it. I'm in the middle of the Apocalypse Saga and the story-telling and symbolism has really picked up and is blowing my socks off!
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Comment on Human brains and fruit fly brains are built similarly – visualizing how helps researchers better understand how both work in ~science
C-Cab LinkThis article is from a great researcher using tools to map out functional networks in the brain of Drosophila melanogaster. This fruit fly is a model organism which has provided a wealth of...This article is from a great researcher using tools to map out functional networks in the brain of Drosophila melanogaster. This fruit fly is a model organism which has provided a wealth of information on numerous genetic, physiological, and neural processes. We're getting to the point now that we can label specific neurons in the brain and use markers to see the networks they reside in. Some of Dr. Scaplen's work has been looking at ways of modeling alcohol use disorder in fruit flies to understand how the neural circuitry shifts from aversion towards alcohol to a preference for it.
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Human brains and fruit fly brains are built similarly – visualizing how helps researchers better understand how both work
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Comment on The best way to help bees? Don’t become a beekeeper like I did. in ~enviro
C-Cab (edited )Link ParentJust to confirm what Axelia mentioned - most insects will not bother you as long as you don't bother them. In fact, the majority of bees and wasps will ignore if you aren't around their nest. Here...Just to confirm what Axelia mentioned - most insects will not bother you as long as you don't bother them. In fact, the majority of bees and wasps will ignore if you aren't around their nest. Here is a video I took of a wasp, maybe a couple of inches away, harvesting some wood from a dowel rod in my backyard. The only reason they might sting you while out foraging is if you squish or strike them. Foragers really are largely docile. But certainly be careful approaching a nest.
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Comment on The best way to help bees? Don’t become a beekeeper like I did. in ~enviro
C-Cab (edited )Link ParentThere is more and more mounting evidence that honey bees are displacing native pollinators. Plants can only produce so much nectar and pollen within a given time frame. They are a limited resource...There is more and more mounting evidence that honey bees are displacing native pollinators. Plants can only produce so much nectar and pollen within a given time frame. They are a limited resource in the environment - if one pollinator forages from a given flower, it cannot replenish the pollen or nectar stores immediately. And at a certain point it will simply stop doing so. Additionally, honeybee colonies number in the tens of thousands and can forage at scale for a single community, whereas the majority of bees are solitary or live in much smaller social groups, such that they can only forage a limited number of food sources relative to a single honeybee hive. So literally, the honeybees are eating the wild bees' food.
I do agree with you that the real culprit is humans, but in addition to pesticides, we also domesticated honeybees to help us pollinate at a massive scale. Our massive fruit agriculture is really only possible because of honeybees. So yes, honeybees aren't causing the global insect decline, but they certainly aren't helping to prevent it.
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Comment on The best way to help bees? Don’t become a beekeeper like I did. in ~enviro
C-Cab (edited )Link ParentI'm not really seeing how your disagreement with the article isn't actually addressed. They mention that to support native pollinators you should cultivate wildflowers in your area which will...I'm not really seeing how your disagreement with the article isn't actually addressed. They mention that to support native pollinators you should cultivate wildflowers in your area which will flower seasonally, but they also mention the evidence that honey bees outcompete native pollinators - this is becoming more and more evident with the data we're collecting.
From my perspective, there's no clear indication that people keeping bees necessarily leads to a better environment for native bees. I don't doubt that many hobbyist bee keepers try to cultivate a yard rich in plant diversity, which is good in its own right for factors beyond pollinators, but honeybees do not and can not rely solely on the flowers in my immediate backyard. They will expand beyond that area as they quickly deplete the pollen and nectar stores of the nearby plants, and this will have cascading effects on other pollinators that do not have the scale to compete with honeybees.
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Comment on The best way to help bees? Don’t become a beekeeper like I did. in ~enviro
C-Cab (edited )Link ParentThat is certainly something you could argue, and there is good evidence that exposure to the natural world helps promote an appreciation for it. But, I don't think we necessarily need everybody to...That is certainly something you could argue, and there is good evidence that exposure to the natural world helps promote an appreciation for it. But, I don't think we necessarily need everybody to have a hive at home to realize that. And to speak to one of your points - that's exactly why we should concentrate honeybees to apiaries, much like a zoo, where people can get that exposure without them introducing more ecological impacts. We don't want everyone having a hive.
And that's because there are ecological impacts, or at the very least, very good reason to be concerned about it. The big thing, when we start talking about honeybees compared to native pollinators, is that no other native pollinator reaches the level of individuals that a honeybee colony can. Honeybees colonies range in the 10s of thousands of individuals with the higher end being around 80,0000. Typically, the next most populous group are bumblebees, which max out at ~400 individuals. Not all of these individuals are foraging, but if we assume relative numbers of nurses and foragers we are talking about a 200 fold difference in the number of foragers able to collect from finite pollen sources. And there is limited pollen and nectar availability in the environment - this is a fact. We simply don't know about the saturation of pollinators in a given ecosystem. It seems like overall, that the Americas were doing just fine without honey bees for a long time, and now you have an invasive species that can outcompete native species by sheer scale.
It's great that you appreciate honey bees. They are amazing creatures, not just for their ability to make honey, but because they have amazing social structures. In fact, one of the mind blowing things about their communication, which I'm willing to bet you're aware of is, is the waggle dance. The waggle dance encodes information not just about the location of food sources but also the quality. And so in your anecdote, it might be that the honeybees avoid these nearby bushes because they don't provide high quality pollen for provisioning. It could be that they already depleted those bushes and communicated that to the hive. It could also be that they simply just don't prefer those bushes, and natives do. But the important thing is that we don't know which reason is the likely explanation.
Overall, I'm not trying to scold beekeepers. And I don't think that's the goal of many people involved in conservation. The issue is that, with the recent studies on global insect population decline, we are trying to ring the alarm bells nice and loud. Honey bees are doing fine - just like cattle, and chickens, and sheep, and many other domesticated species. I'm not worried about them, they have us to look after them after all. But just like how cattle have displaced many natural grazers, we're seeing the exact same thing with honey bees and native pollinators. I'm worried about all of the other species because we don't fully understand all of the ecological roles they play, especially because of their role as pollinators.
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Comment on The best way to help bees? Don’t become a beekeeper like I did. in ~enviro
C-Cab Link ParentHoneybees are amazing and an important driver of our agriculture, and I'd hate to discourage someone from gaining an appreciation of insects by telling them not to have a hive at home. But it...Honeybees are amazing and an important driver of our agriculture, and I'd hate to discourage someone from gaining an appreciation of insects by telling them not to have a hive at home. But it really is better to minimize the number of honeybee hives out there. We need to promote the native pollinators - not just for the sake of nature, but also we shouldn't put all of our bees in one hive, so to speak.
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Comment on Best "dad" jokes and puns! in ~talk
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Comment on Best "dad" jokes and puns! in ~talk
C-Cab (edited )LinkYou can't plant flowers if you haven't botany. In college I wrote a paper on "Myth of Sisyphus" by Albert Camus. I'd get almost to the end and make a mistake and have to start all over, but I had...You can't plant flowers if you haven't botany.
In college I wrote a paper on "Myth of Sisyphus" by Albert Camus. I'd get almost to the end and make a mistake and have to start all over, but I had a good time while doing it.
I went to the zoo the other day, but there was just a dog in a cage.
It was a Shih Tzu.
Physicists recently discussed the results of a study showing the actual weight of a rainbow.
They said it's pretty light.
What's the difference between a fish, a piano, and a jar of glue?
You can tuna piano but you can't piano a fish.
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Comment on I am moving to New Jersey! Anything I should know? in ~life
C-Cab Link ParentI am originally from the Midwest, but I currently reside in the Southwest. My partner has been here most of her life so I think it will be a big change for her, particularly when winter time hits.I am originally from the Midwest, but I currently reside in the Southwest. My partner has been here most of her life so I think it will be a big change for her, particularly when winter time hits.
I'm certainly speaking from a place of privilege in a developed country. But even then cars themselves (especially good working ones) are a luxury for the rich, if we're speaking globally. All things being equal, I would be more than happy with people, whether in the global north or south, moving towards using motorcycles or scooters more frequently.
Out of curiosity, do you know what the average cost for getting an e-bike might be in a developing country? I know it will vary depending on the country, but if you have any direct experience I would appreciate the trivia.