carsonc's recent activity
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Comment on Motorola and GrapheneOS Foundation partnership announced in ~tech
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Comment on Photons that aren’t actually there influence superconductivity in ~science
carsonc Link ParentSo I can't comment on all of it, but although photons do have momentum (the quotient of Planck's constant and the photon's wavelength), they do not have mass. This is what allows them to travel...So I can't comment on all of it, but although photons do have momentum (the quotient of Planck's constant and the photon's wavelength), they do not have mass. This is what allows them to travel at, well... the speed of light without requiring infinite energy to get there.
Lacking mass, it is very difficult (likely impossible) for light to exert gravitational effects. Furthermore, as mentioned, light has a much larger effect pushing outward than pulling inward. Of course, cosmologically, this effect is also deeply attenuated at distance, as the expanding universe causes the wavelength to become redshifted, decreasing its aforementioned momentum, in the process, so it can't contribute anything to the dark energy side of the equation, either.
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Comment on The first fully general computer action model in ~tech
carsonc Link ParentThis looks really amazing, but I don't know enough to be able to gauge what this means. Could you provide some thoughts about this?This looks really amazing, but I don't know enough to be able to gauge what this means. Could you provide some thoughts about this?
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Comment on Help me untangle my 3d printer filament in ~tech
carsonc LinkHow about 3D printing an adapter for an egg beater to a filament spool? Then you can hook one end of the filament in, maybe keep tension with your other hand or foot and spool it in that way....How about 3D printing an adapter for an egg beater to a filament spool? Then you can hook one end of the filament in, maybe keep tension with your other hand or foot and spool it in that way.
Would that work?
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Comment on Swedish heavy metal band Avatar cancel London concert mid-performance after the stage at Exhibition White City became electrified, shocking two crew members in ~music
carsonc Link ParentIts a good thing that they weren't accompanied by an orchestra. I can only imagine what would have happened if there was a good... conductor!Its a good thing that they weren't accompanied by an orchestra. I can only imagine what would have happened if there was a good... conductor!
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Comment on Swedish heavy metal band Avatar cancel London concert mid-performance after the stage at Exhibition White City became electrified, shocking two crew members in ~music
carsonc LinkImproper electrical grounding is very dangerous, especially around... Metal! 🤘Improper electrical grounding is very dangerous, especially around... Metal! 🤘
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Comment on I built a space simulation that runs in the browser and it feels good enough to share it now in ~space
carsonc LinkThis is really an accomplishment. I don't think I ever predicted that I would be able to play Universe Sandbox on a mobile phone. This is going to be a wonderful teaching tool. One of my personal...This is really an accomplishment. I don't think I ever predicted that I would be able to play Universe Sandbox on a mobile phone. This is going to be a wonderful teaching tool.
One of my personal hobby horses is the Gaian Bottleneck hypothesis and how, unfortunately, stellar evolution proceeds much faster than biological evolution. As a result, stars move their Goldilocks Zones faster than life can evolve, adapt, or respond beyond early stages. The reason that we exist at all to have this conversation is more a matter of speculation, rather than settled science.
You have a habitability index on your app. Stellar evolution is slow on human time scales. What if you gave the user the ability to shift time forward and see how a star will evolve in 500 million or a billion years and how that will change habitability on a planet?
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Comment on I built a space simulation that runs in the browser and it feels good enough to share it now in ~space
carsonc (edited )Link ParentYou are not alone. A colleague recently asked me about how much time a geostationary satellite would spend eclipsed by the earth during the night. When I said practically none, he thought I had...You are not alone. A colleague recently asked me about how much time a geostationary satellite would spend eclipsed by the earth during the night. When I said practically none, he thought I had over-estimated the size of the geostationary orbit. Then he also had to look up the angle to convince himself that, yes in fact, geostationary satellites spend vanishingly small amounts of time, if any, in earths shadow, due to that high angle.
Edit: I think the confusion comes from the inclination of Earth's orbit relative to the Sun's equator of 7.15°.
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Comment on The physics of dub techno — a musicologist explains in ~music
carsonc Link ParentBut, "music" is the Greek root that means music. Etymonline It seems to be a pretty well-preserved word.But, "music" is the Greek root that means music.
[F]rom Greek mousikē (technē) "(art) of the Muses," from fem. of mousikos "pertaining to the Muses; musical; educated," from Mousa "Muse"...
It seems to be a pretty well-preserved word.
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Comment on Norah Jones and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) play together during Norah's podcast (2026) in ~music
carsonc LinkThis was beautiful. I didn't know that I was a QotSA fan, but I guess I am now.This was beautiful. I didn't know that I was a QotSA fan, but I guess I am now.
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Comment on Human-driven global warming could cause the collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, a powerful ocean current system, and throw Iceland into a deep freeze in ~enviro
carsonc Link ParentI definitely do agree with @DefinitelyNotAFae that there is no consensus. The issue balancing economic and ecological interests is not alone in this though; there are many such issues on which...I definitely do agree with @DefinitelyNotAFae that there is no consensus. The issue balancing economic and ecological interests is not alone in this though; there are many such issues on which there is no consensus. The absence of consensus on so many issues of such great importance is one of the defining features of this this time.
From that perspective, the thing that "the masses" or anyone else for that matter can do improve affairs is to build consensus. Historically, "consensus" was indistinguishable from the will of whatever ruler happened to be in charge at a given time. Over the past 2 - 3 centuries, societies have moved away from this model towards a model of collective decision-making: from monarchs to parliments, from mayors to councils. In this context, building consensus is a difficult and essential activity.
Unfortunately, people still view these bodies as vehicles to accrue power and influence. So we saddle otherwise free polities with coalition-building party systems, not for the purpose of improving their outcomes, but to advance a priori interests and agendas. While often preferable to rule by decree, it may as well be such for the ousted party.
The move from coalition-building to consensus-building may still be a ways off, but it would prevent the worst of what could occur from coming to pass. Personally, though, my belief is that humanity will probably have to learn how to build consensus by experiencing the worst of what could come to pass.
Giving yourself, your family, neighbors and associates a head start can't hurt though.
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Comment on Elon Musk says SpaceX will prioritize a city on the moon instead of a colony on Mars in ~space
carsonc Link ParentThere is something very Aperture Science about this, no? Well, whether or not ground up moon rocks are pure poison, as Cave Johnson claimed, moon dust is catastrophic for equipment. It rains dust...There is something very Aperture Science about this, no? Well, whether or not ground up moon rocks are pure poison, as Cave Johnson claimed, moon dust is catastrophic for equipment. It rains dust continually on the moon due to the photovoltaic charging of dust during the lunar daytime. The solar wind then blows this back to the nighttime side, where it rains a constant shower of weakly charged, insulating, jaggged, microscopic, silica particles. Each particle carries a large electrostatic dipole, the remnant of the photovoltaic charging which launched it into the lunar sky.
As it settles, it coats everything. Right now, that just other dust, but equipment or machinery would be a different deal. Thermal radiators for cooling radioactive thermal generators or fully fledged nuclear reactors see their emissivities decrease as the dust piles on. Solar panels see their efficiency drop as they get covered in dust. Any bearings or sliding surfaces would quickly see their mechanisms fouled by the the abundance of microscopic abrasives entrained between mating countersurfaces.
Removal is expensive, difficult, and potentially futile, given the continual nature of the cascade, non-existent atmosphere, miniscule gravity, and highly attractive nature of the particles of dust themselves. Did I mention the tribocharging? Yeah, the dust is electrostatically charged to beging with, but there is a way to make them even more charged and sticky: touching and moving them. If you try to brush off the dust, it will tribocharge to a higher electrostatic voltage than it did before you touched it.
Oh, I almost forgot: it permeates and destroys clothing and fabric. The orthofabric used for the space suits is really remarkable stuff, but lunar dust will happily waft through it like a breeze through a freshly napalmed forest (apologies to Neal Stephenson). However, it absolutely destroys Tyvek bunny suits. So disposable bunny suits would work, but unless we figure out how to establish a petrochemical industry on the moon, we would need to send a steady stream of care packages to avoid trucking it back inside after any kind of extra-vehicular activity.
As to the health claims, I am inclined to take the precautionary principle and assume that lunar dust is more harmful than benign. I don't want to be breathing it, and I don't think anyone else should either.
So, if we can solve all those problems: let's do it. But it is far, far easier said than done.
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Comment on Elon Musk says SpaceX will prioritize a city on the moon instead of a colony on Mars in ~space
carsonc LinkLunar dust is utterly fascinating. There is a nice article in IEEE Spectrum “Dust is probably one of our greatest inhibitors to a nominal operation on the moon,” Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan,...Lunar dust is utterly fascinating. There is a nice article in IEEE Spectrum
“Dust is probably one of our greatest inhibitors to a nominal operation on the moon,” Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, said during a postflight debriefing. “I think we can overcome other physiological or physical or mechanical problems, except dust.”
Frankly, if anyone thinks they can solve the lunar dust problem, I will be extremely impressed. I have worked on this and, while my solution worked, it was also wholly impractical, so I'm not holding my breath for a callback from NASA. But hey, go ahead and ship infinite bunny suits to the moon. I'm sure the cost of transport to the moon will enjoy similar reductions in cost to LEO transport and then, well, it would be foolish not to. What could go wrong?
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Comment on What's something you've moved on from? in ~talk
carsonc LinkDwarf Fortress. I haven't touched it since my oldest was one year old. And I miss it still, but I think it's better this way. I still have the memories -- not nostalgia, something else, the...Dwarf Fortress. I haven't touched it since my oldest was one year old. And I miss it still, but I think it's better this way. I still have the memories -- not nostalgia, something else, the sentiment of losing myself in that world. The memory evokes the feeling, but without the need to waste so much copious time on the actual experience.
I still play video games, both too much and not enough (it never is, of course). But I'll let go of these when the time comes too.
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Comment on Let's talk orchestrated objective reduction! in ~science
carsonc Link ParentSpeaking of free will and quantum mechanics, I recently came across the Conway and Kochen Free Will Theorem: I left the field of physics after my undergrad and have been happily at play in the...Speaking of free will and quantum mechanics, I recently came across the Conway and Kochen Free Will Theorem:
Do we really have free will, or, as a few determined folk maintain, is it all an illusion? We don’t know, but will prove in this paper that if indeed there exist any experimenters with a modicum of free will, then elementary particles must have their own share of this valuable commodity.
I left the field of physics after my undergrad and have been happily at play in the fields of chemistry and material science ever since. Also, my quantum was terrible, so I never felt comfortable with bras and kets. Maybe that's why the theorem appeals to me.
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Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative
carsonc Link ParentThank you for posting this! I would have blown right past this topic because I am not writing a novel or perfecting my blown glass spheres, but yeah, I can totally post a design project here or...Thank you for posting this! I would have blown right past this topic because I am not writing a novel or perfecting my blown glass spheres, but yeah, I can totally post a design project here or there. I'll see if I can get something together to post.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club - A New Year - Fire on the Mountain by Terry Bisson in ~books
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Comment on BYD overtakes Tesla as China reshapes the global electric vehicle race in ~transport
carsonc LinkHere is a link to The Musk Partisan Effect on Tesla Sales, the paper referenced in the article. Fascinating how one can be rewarded so generously for demonstrably hampering sales so dramatically....Here is a link to The Musk Partisan Effect on Tesla Sales, the paper referenced in the article. Fascinating how one can be rewarded so generously for demonstrably hampering sales so dramatically. The paper doesn't mention BYD and we can imagine a world where BYD enters the US market and cuts into Tesla sales by the same amount in the absence of partisan activities, but I doubt that the current administration was eager to encourage a Chinese entrant to the US auto market.
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Comment on What video games would you say have the best stories? Feel free to suggest more than one. in ~games
carsonc LinkI have to make a pitch for Chrono Trigger, which had portions that gave me chills when they happened. Also Portal 2, mostly for the story of Aperture Science and the booming voice of Cave Johnson...I have to make a pitch for Chrono Trigger, which had portions that gave me chills when they happened.
Also Portal 2, mostly for the story of Aperture Science and the booming voice of Cave Johnson echoing through the facility after all those years.
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Comment on The paperclip problem in ~tech
carsonc Link ParentThe Bobiverse connection is apt. I'm unsure about the conclusion and about the premises. This appears to be a thought experiment based entirely in fiction. Whereas, other thought experiments, say...The Bobiverse connection is apt. I'm unsure about the conclusion and about the premises. This appears to be a thought experiment based entirely in fiction. Whereas, other thought experiments, say Schrödinger's cat or Zeno's Paradox, take their premises in reality, the paperclip "problem" takes it's premise of super-intelligence from fantasy and then claims to derive a "real-world" conclusion. If the premises are founded in make-believe, then so are the conclusions.
In His Master's Voice, Stanislaw Lem imagines a message containing such super-intelligent message being beamed to earth from the stars. Far from using such an event for the betterment of humanity, the Great Powers try to discover its martial capabilities. Ultimately, they fail at this as well. In the end, our inability to understand the message blinds us to the potential benefits of this message, but thankfully, also prevents us from destroying ourselves with it.
This interpretation of the paperclip problem is wrong, of course. But, in my opinion, so are all such approaches. The premise is fictive, so all conclusions from are it also equally fictive.
If it's any indicator, we have had Motorola phones for the past 5 years. I am writing this message on a Motorola 5g Supra 2022. I got my mom a late model Razr flip phone and she likes it. This might not sound like much, but my mother is over 80 years old and has had life-long rheumatoid arthritis. Her marginally functional hands have difficulty operating most phone screens. She no longer has legible fingerprints that can unlock the phone on the fingerprint reader. However, the flip phone folds into a shape that is easy for her to hold and operate. Better than anything else she has tried in the past few years.
Honestly, I'm a little jealous. I might get a flip phone when I finally decide that my current Motorola has completed its service. But, now that I know about this, it seems like a good reason to hold out and see if can get something with a GrapheneOS.