FirstTiger's recent activity
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Comment on Long presumed dead, a thriving coral reef is discovered in West Africa in ~enviro
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Comment on European Parliament approves new rules for gene-edited plants in ~enviro
FirstTiger LinkI wish I could feel more optimistic about this rule change. There's such an opposition to genetically modified organisms in the EU regulatory landscape that virtually no plant GMO created within...I wish I could feel more optimistic about this rule change. There's such an opposition to genetically modified organisms in the EU regulatory landscape that virtually no plant GMO created within the EU has received permission to be grown commercially.
I don't see how even with a new standard how that opposition would change.
Also, "edits that could have occurred through conventional breeding"? That feels like a difficult argument to make. How would that even be proven? -
Comment on Wildfire smoke from Canada will soon spread across the Midwest and East United States in ~enviro
FirstTiger LinkI'm hoping this isn't going to affect western North Dakota too much. My in-laws run a street vendor business, and today a big street fair in Fargo is supposed to start. They aren't rich people,...I'm hoping this isn't going to affect western North Dakota too much. My in-laws run a street vendor business, and today a big street fair in Fargo is supposed to start. They aren't rich people, and if people don't go out to the fair because of poor air quality, they could really be in the hole.
Climate change has all these big consequences like a degraded environment and worsened health outcomes, but the economic effects leave me especially sour today. This is all happening because people wanted to make gobsmacking amounts of money off of burning fossil fuels. Unfortunately, the people who lose money because of the downstream consequences are rarely the same people, and can much less afford the loss.
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Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: June 2026 in ~games
FirstTiger Link ParentIf possible, I would like Spirittea please. I played mostly little educational PC games as a child, though there was an exception- the original Myst on CD-ROM. In theory, it was my stepfather's...If possible, I would like Spirittea please.
I played mostly little educational PC games as a child, though there was an exception- the original Myst on CD-ROM. In theory, it was my stepfather's game, but he rarely played it. Managed to get through about ~40% of the game before getting completely stuck (didn't get at-home internet until well after I had given up the game).
Maybe not a weird choice for its era, but compared to how most games are constructed these days, it's architecturally kinda out there
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Comment on Not alive, but not dead: disembodied human brains used for drug testing in ~health
FirstTiger LinkHaving read the description of the company's process for drug testing on human brains, I can't say I really feel any concern for the experience of those organs. Firstly, they are under anesthetic,...- Exemplary
Having read the description of the company's process for drug testing on human brains, I can't say I really feel any concern for the experience of those organs. Firstly, they are under anesthetic, and secondly, they are completely disconnected from the corporal feedback loops that inform the usual human experience of fear or pain- no racing heart, no increase in cortisol or epinephrine from the kidneys, no tingling, sweating skin- also, without sight, hearing, smell, or positional awareness. And the drugs that are administered to the brains are ones that ultimately are being developed for use in living, fully corporal humans. They aren't employed to cause suffering or degradation of tissue. Especially in the case of Alzheimer drugs, they are meant to heal, or at least halt the progression of disease.
I think people fail to consider their bodies and brains as deeply intertwined entities that, when separated, become less than their sum.
Not to say there are no ethical lines being crossed here, though. Whenever there is organ or tissue donation there is the possibility of insufficient consent or preying on vulnerable people. I would feel more concern for the families and friends of whoever the brains formerly belonged to, if they can be at peace or content knowing that some portion of the one they loved still "lives". Grief is an awful thing to go through, and if any part of the process with these brains leaves those persons with a sense of disrespect or inhumanity, that only serves to compound that grief.
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Comment on [PL] Brutal selection on the front lines. Study: War rapidly changing Ukraine's dog population in ~life.pets
FirstTiger Link@kjw Could you please include a link to the original source?@kjw Could you please include a link to the original source?
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Comment on US Army garrison directs soldiers to German food banks - then deletes it in ~society
FirstTiger LinkCame across the website for the US Army garrison in Bavaria while searching for a different local news update. Contained plenty of resources for soldiers to help them through the current...Came across the website for the US Army garrison in Bavaria while searching for a different local news update. Contained plenty of resources for soldiers to help them through the current government shutdown... and links to local German food charities.
That has since been disappeared since I last looked at the page overnight.
It's quite sobering to have the shutdown affecting people this far away from the US. It puts the service members and contractors out here that draw their paycheck from the US government in a difficult situation, and I can't imagine that the German authorities are too pleased either.
Apologies if you get hit by the softwall, 404 Media doesn't appear to give a way around making a (free) account.
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US Army garrison directs soldiers to German food banks - then deletes it
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Comment on Global Anglicanism split in two today in ~humanities
FirstTiger LinkUnfortunately, this split has been many years in the making. It's less that this specific Archbishop of Canterbury was so objectionable, but more that she was the final straw after several decades...Unfortunately, this split has been many years in the making. It's less that this specific Archbishop of Canterbury was so objectionable, but more that she was the final straw after several decades of disagreements around same-sex marriage, abortion, and the role of women in the church.
This news saddens me most directly because of how it may affect members of the Episcopal congregation I currently attend. Many members and a couple of the supply priests come from Nigeria, and their national Anglican church is the largest member of GAFCON. I'm afraid that they may be required or pressured into no longer engaging in fellowship with us by their national church leadership...
Breaking relationships over doctrine or policy decisions is never clean. This decision will be the source of a lot of grief, and by severing bonds will ultimately weaken the overall Anglican world, simply by depriving us of each other's mutual support through our common life.
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Comment on EU hits Google with €2.95bn antitrust fine despite trade tensions with US in ~tech
FirstTiger LinkI was concerned that this enforcement action wasn't going to be taken, and leave everyone out in the cold with Google.. given the recent decision regarding the antitrust against Google in the US,...I was concerned that this enforcement action wasn't going to be taken, and leave everyone out in the cold with Google.. given the recent decision regarding the antitrust against Google in the US, this is really good news!
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Comment on What are your favorite and least favorite airports? in ~transport
FirstTiger LinkI think I'm nowhere as well-traveled as some of the other commenters on this topic, but let me throw in my two cents: Favorite airports? Fairbanks International (FAI) in Fairbanks, Alaska and...I think I'm nowhere as well-traveled as some of the other commenters on this topic, but let me throw in my two cents:
Favorite airports? Fairbanks International (FAI) in Fairbanks, Alaska and Hector International (FAR) in Fargo, North Dakota. Not because they have good amenities or amazing architectural design, but because they address my root problem with air travel- having to be inside an airport at all.
Both are small on the commercial side- just 5-6 gates each, with no more than 10 destinations (even counting seasonally). But, the way both their 'departure' flowthrough works, I can literally can get dropped off at the front door, check in, go through security, and be ready at my gate in just 30-45 minutes. Minimal time in terminal purgatory!Least favorite? Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). I will loathe that rat's maze until the last atom in the universe stops vibrating. No part of it makes sense, there are no amenities when you truly need them, and if somehow your sanity remains intact, your legs will still have given out from underneath you for all the endless walking between terminals. Forget making your connection if you don't have an EU passport, either! The internal customs line will make sure you will become intimately familiar with the scratched chrome during the remainder of your sentence.
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Comment on Chappell Roan says her second album ‘doesn’t exist yet’: ‘It’s probably going to take at least five’ years in ~music
FirstTiger LinkIt feels a bit parasocial for me to say this, but I'd much rather she take the time to write & produce a full album if it means she makes something 'authentic'. I enjoy her music (in part) because...It feels a bit parasocial for me to say this, but I'd much rather she take the time to write & produce a full album if it means she makes something 'authentic'. I enjoy her music (in part) because it seems to stem from her personal life experiences- if what she has going on now doesn't lead to a whole album's worth of songs, then so be it.
It worked out well for Adele, why not Chappell Roan?
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Comment on Christian missionaries are using secret audio devices to evangelise Brazil’s isolated peoples in ~humanities
FirstTiger LinkMysterious, out of context voices in the rainforest, repeated endlessly? That sounds beyond creepy..Mysterious, out of context voices in the rainforest, repeated endlessly? That sounds beyond creepy..
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Comment on New DNA map of the pistachio could create better varieties in ~food
FirstTiger LinkIt was rather neat to read through the article (esp. nice little infographic about pistachio development in the latter half), but dunno if this better, more detailed sequencing of the most common...It was rather neat to read through the article (esp. nice little infographic about pistachio development in the latter half), but dunno if this better, more detailed sequencing of the most common pistachio cultivar is going to be very helpful to current growers of 'stachios.
Like, it takes 7-10 years for a tree to reach maturity & start producing nuts. If you need trees that are better adapted to warmer winters, the time to be working on that was several years ago.
But hey, maybe this group has other publications detailing other cultivars that are less stressed by heat? That, I think, would be more valuable to growers. -
Comment on The mysteries of Roman inscriptions are being solved with a new AI tool in ~humanities.languages
FirstTiger LinkThis is precisely the use of machine learning I want to see. Human beings have spent years generating these research datasets, but searching through them and making comparisons from them was...This is precisely the use of machine learning I want to see. Human beings have spent years generating these research datasets, but searching through them and making comparisons from them was always the friction point. This AI tool really seems to be that- a tool. Something to aid in human discovery (esp. here, where someone still needs to uncover the inscribed artifacts), not making grandiose claims about replacing it.
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Comment on Parenting is not just for pronatalists: the progressive case for raising kids in ~society
FirstTiger Link ParentThe way you put this, it seems like progressive movements like women's rights, abortion rights, LGBTQ+ rights are more likely to fail... If people with progressive views and childcare...The way you put this, it seems like progressive movements like women's rights, abortion rights, LGBTQ+ rights are more likely to fail...
If people with progressive views and childcare responsibilities are too tired to go protest and are likely to stay home, then the movement is going to have to rely more on people either with exceptional stamina or who don't have children.
Makes it seem like the potential coalition just splits itself around life experience/personal resources in ways that are just detrimental to the movement...
So what then? How do progressive movements close that gap & make their social/political goals more likely to happen? -
Comment on Elon Musk calls for US President Donald Trump to be impeached as extraordinary feud escalates in ~society
FirstTiger Link ParentYeah, that's a line from his novel The Fault in Our Stars from the character of Hazel Grace. I believe the whole line is: "I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once."Yeah, that's a line from his novel The Fault in Our Stars from the character of Hazel Grace. I believe the whole line is:
"I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once." -
Comment on <deleted topic> in ~life
FirstTiger LinkI keep mine in the same folder as the rest of my "important papers"- birth certificate, passports, transcripts, etc. Though, this is a more recent arrangement, as I needed to present it to attend...I keep mine in the same folder as the rest of my "important papers"- birth certificate, passports, transcripts, etc. Though, this is a more recent arrangement, as I needed to present it to attend graduate school in Germany, but prior to that it was kept in a storage tote in the garage along with my other college paraphernalia.
I might've been more inclined to keep it in a more prominent place if it had the name of my full degree on it, but it was just a generic "Bachelor of Science" degree instead. It would've been nice to have that little bit more of recognition for something I put so much effort in to earning.. -
Comment on What hard scifi books could you recommend? in ~books
FirstTiger LinkTwo recommendations: The Expanse series by James S.A. Corey- this one I can credit with both really compelling characters & worldbuilding and (largely) realistic space travel physics. It also...Two recommendations:
The Expanse series by James S.A. Corey- this one I can credit with both really compelling characters & worldbuilding and (largely) realistic space travel physics. It also covers a kind of gap that most space travel sci-fi doesn't cover- the societal transition between humanity being able to traverse only our native solar system and the wider universe.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir- if you like The Martian I think you'd have no problem enjoying this one. The main character(s) definitely spend most of their time actively thinking through how to solve technical problems, but the underlying plot conflict is fascinating too.
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
FirstTiger LinkI recently saw the sci-fi classic "War Games" (1983) from my partner's personal movie collection. Aside from the helicopter chase towards the end of the movie, so much of the film felt so real! I...I recently saw the sci-fi classic "War Games" (1983) from my partner's personal movie collection.
Aside from the helicopter chase towards the end of the movie, so much of the film felt so real!
I had heard about phone phreaking as an early hacking method, but never really understood how it might work- it was an incredible plot point!
I could do with the love interest character (played by Ally Sheedy) either being recast as a dog or rewritten to actual have a human personality, though. Which is a problem I have with a number of older sci-fi movies, which leads me to enjoying the genre less than I would like :/
I'm grateful that local scientists were able to secure the funding and equipment needed to make this finding, it is just frustrating that it required so much effort to get there.
But, hopefully, with these positive results they should be able to continue further work in this beautiful MCE.