wowbagger's recent activity
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Comment on Draw a fish. Go on. Draw one. in ~games
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Comment on Shouldn't somebody *stop* "Meta Superintelligence Labs"? in ~tech
wowbagger Link ParentI'm not convinced Elon himself actually wants to go to Mars, anyway. Crew Dragon has been flying for years, why hasn't he gone to space yet? Branson and Bezos both have...I'm not convinced Elon himself actually wants to go to Mars, anyway. Crew Dragon has been flying for years, why hasn't he gone to space yet? Branson and Bezos both have...
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Comment on The state of American men is — not so good in ~life.men
wowbagger Link ParentI'm also a young man who didn't realize this saying was a quote. It's been recited to me as received wisdom more than once, always from older women (aunts, grandmothers). The worst part is that...I'm also a young man who didn't realize this saying was a quote. It's been recited to me as received wisdom more than once, always from older women (aunts, grandmothers). The worst part is that they're pretty unambiguously calling you unattractive in the process.
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Comment on What's a new skill that you've picked up recently? in ~life
wowbagger Link ParentI took an "Audio Technology" class in high school and this is literally the only useful skill I learned from it. I'll almost certainly never need to adjust knobs on a sound board again, but damn...I took an "Audio Technology" class in high school and this is literally the only useful skill I learned from it. I'll almost certainly never need to adjust knobs on a sound board again, but damn is it cool to be able to toss a coiled extension cord across the yard and have it lay itself out neat and tidy. Over-under is something everyone should know!
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Comment on Georgia woman shares how she survived three weeks lost in the California Sierra Nevada mountains in ~life
wowbagger LinkAccording to the article she last talked to her family on "April 20th, at the start of what was supposed to be a three-day vacation before starting medical school." Yet she's last seen four days...According to the article she last talked to her family on "April 20th, at the start of what was supposed to be a three-day vacation before starting medical school." Yet she's last seen four days later, heading into the mountains. She abandons her bike in a blizzard at high elevation, continues over the pass on foot, is caught in an avalanche and swept off a cliff. She then hikes 17 miles deeper into the mountains with an injured leg.
The survival story is incredible, I'm just wondering what the hell she was doing there in the first place. Seems like maybe she was running away from something.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~enviro
wowbagger Link ParentThis also isn't anywhere near as bad as it can get. This was Magnitude 7.7 or so and averaged 3m of slip along a 500km fault.[1] The last Cascadia megathrust quake in 1700, the type that we know...- Exemplary
This also isn't anywhere near as bad as it can get. This was Magnitude 7.7 or so and averaged 3m of slip along a 500km fault.[1] The last Cascadia megathrust quake in 1700, the type that we know happen in the Pacific Northwest every 500 years or so, is estimated at Magnitude 9 (10x stronger, it's a log scale), averaging 20 meters of slip over more than a thousand kilometers![2]
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Comment on Evidence of controversial Planet 9 uncovered in sky surveys taken twenty-three years apart in ~space
wowbagger Link ParentI like to remind people that before New Horizons flew past in 2015, this was the clearest image we had of Pluto. That was taken with Hubble, the best tool we had available at the time. We...I like to remind people that before New Horizons flew past in 2015, this was the clearest image we had of Pluto. That was taken with Hubble, the best tool we had available at the time. We basically had no idea what it looked like until we sent a probe out there.
The proposed Planet 9 is much larger, yes, but it's 16 times further out than Pluto. That's so unbelievably far away. Even if we locate it definitively we most likely won't know much about it until (if) we can send a spacecraft.
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Comment on Thousands of falling satellites put the atmosphere at risk in ~enviro
wowbagger Link ParentThat 17 tonne number is daily, so roughly 6000 tonnes per year. 15% increase from the 40k annual baseline. And that's just Starlink. There are multiple constellations being built now.That 17 tonne number is daily, so roughly 6000 tonnes per year. 15% increase from the 40k annual baseline.
And that's just Starlink. There are multiple constellations being built now.
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Comment on What is a misconception you are passionate about and would like to clarify? in ~talk
wowbagger Link ParentMach Number is primarily used to identify the flow regime, so you know what approximations to use. The speed of sound is also the speed that information propagates in a fluid, and that heavily...Mach Number is primarily used to identify the flow regime, so you know what approximations to use. The speed of sound is also the speed that information propagates in a fluid, and that heavily influences how it behaves. Different assumptions need to be made depending on the Mach Number. The "Sound Barrier" is the point at which your vehicle is traveling faster than the air can react, which has all kinds of aerodynamic implications.
It's been quite a while since I did any aerodynamics but I seem to remember that it's also sometimes useful to non-dimensionalize the velocity when manipulating the Navier-Stokes Equations.
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Comment on What is a misconception you are passionate about and would like to clarify? in ~talk
wowbagger (edited )Link ParentMach Number is velocity divided by the speed of sound, my point is that you don't know the speed of sound without knowing the temperature, and it can vary a lot. As you go up in altitude and the...Mach Number is velocity divided by the speed of sound, my point is that you don't know the speed of sound without knowing the temperature, and it can vary a lot. As you go up in altitude and the air gets colder, the speed of sound drops, so your Mach Number will be higher than it would be at sea level at the same speed. And as you say, in space it's entirely meaningless.
Here's an example using the International Standard Atmosphere and the National Weather Service's Speed of Sound Calculator. Say you're in an SR-71 Blackbird, going Mach 3 at 20km above sea level. The temperature at that altitude is -56.5°C, so the speed of sound is only 295 m/s. You're going 885 m/s – pretty fast! But if you instead used the sea level value for speed of sound (343 m/s at 15°C), you might think you were going 1029 m/s. That's a 15% overestimate.
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Comment on What is a misconception you are passionate about and would like to clarify? in ~talk
wowbagger Link ParentAs a rule of thumb, larger planes are safer. If you're booking a scheduled flight on a passenger jet, even through a budget airline, you've got nothing to worry about (at least in the western...As a rule of thumb, larger planes are safer. If you're booking a scheduled flight on a passenger jet, even through a budget airline, you've got nothing to worry about (at least in the western world). Accident rates spike as aircraft size decreases – especially single-engine propeller planes. That's not to say all air taxis and sightseeing companies are death traps, but statistically the risk is much higher. Even if a charter airline is doing everything in its power to promote safe operations, the margins of safety are tighter and the consequences when something goes wrong are often much more severe. It's an inherent risk that can't be entirely avoided except by not flying on small aircraft. Personally I would only ride an air taxi if I had no other options, I would hesitate to take a sightseeing flight at all, and unless I am being rescued from something I will never set foot in a helicopter.
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Comment on What is a misconception you are passionate about and would like to clarify? in ~talk
wowbagger LinkSo many misconceptions about aerospace things, but I'll pick just a few: Mach Number – most people seem to think that all you have to do is divide your speed by the speed of sound at sea level...So many misconceptions about aerospace things, but I'll pick just a few:
Mach Number – most people seem to think that all you have to do is divide your speed by the speed of sound at sea level (343 m/s or thereabouts) and boom, you've got Mach Number. This leads to descriptions of orbiting spacecraft traveling at "Mach 25" through the vacuum of space.But Mach Number ceases to be a meaningful measure in the absence of a fluid medium. The speed of sound varies with temperature, which varies with altitude in the atmosphere, and once you leave the atmosphere sound doesn't travel at all. Mach Number has important applications in the equations of fluid dynamics far beyond just an illustration of how terribly fast something is moving, but it gets misused, miscalculated, and misreported constantly.
What Counts as "Space" – Somewhat related to the previous point. Earth's atmosphere does not have a hard boundary line; it fades out gradually. This makes it pretty difficult to come up with a satisfying definition of when you actually leave the atmosphere and enter space. The ISS, for example, orbits so low that it experiences significant drag from the thinning residual atmosphere and must reboost itself multiple times a year just to avoid reentering.Add to that the fact that orbit is usually the goal for objects launched into space, (it takes much more effort to enter a stable orbit than it does to simply shoot straight up and back down) and you have a recipe for confusion. It's never easy to explain why to get to orbit you don't need to go up, you need to go sideways.
The Enormous Differences between Commercial and Private Aviation – This one has been apropos lately, what with all the news about plane crashes. Many people know the factoid that "commercial aviation is the safest form of travel" and understandably extend that to all forms of air travel, but that could not be further from the truth. The reason commercial aviation is so unbelievably safe is because of regulations! We have learned many hard lessons and implemented systems to make it that way. Commercial aircraft are inspected regularly; they have extensive redundancy; there are always two pilots aboard whose physical and mental states are carefully monitored. They have checklists and backup plans for their backup plans.General Aviation, by comparison, is the Wild West. Small planes crash all the time, like at least once a week in the US, and they're usually fatal. The regulations are much less strict when you're taking your own (and your friends' and family's) life into your hands. Most folks just see the news reports of plane crashes and assume they're all created equal but there's a huge difference between the DCA crash (horrifying, cascade of errors, extremely rare) and the many private plane crashes that were reported on in the frenzy of the following weeks. The truth is that private planes crash constantly, and the rate hasn't really increased, the media just decided to focus on them for a while. General Aviation is wicked dangerous.
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Comment on What lesser-known alternative would you recommend as a substitute for something more popular? in ~talk
wowbagger (edited )Link ParentIf you want the absolute lightest weight you should stick with aluminum anyway, titanium is heavier. I think a lot of people assume Ti is both the lightest and strongest common metal, but that's...If you want the absolute lightest weight you should stick with aluminum anyway, titanium is heavier. I think a lot of people assume Ti is both the lightest and strongest common metal, but that's not true. The reason we use it so much in aerospace is because it's much stronger than Al, but not nearly as heavy as stainless.
There's really no reason for a safety razor to be made from Ti-6Al-4V other than marketing hype...
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Comment on What keeps you up at night? in ~talk
wowbagger Link ParentThat last paragraph really resonates with me. I can check just about every box in the inherent privilege category and have thus far been able to stumble through life, getting things handed to me...That last paragraph really resonates with me. I can check just about every box in the inherent privilege category and have thus far been able to stumble through life, getting things handed to me more or less right when I needed them. It's so hard to locate the line between what's been unfairly apportioned to me and what I can actually take credit for – it mostly just leaves me with crippling Imposter Syndrome at all times.
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Comment on Bethesda’s Oblivion Unreal Engine 5 remake could be releasing sooner than you think in ~games
wowbagger Link ParentBy the way, both Skyblivion dependencies are heavily discounted for the Steam Spring Sale right now. I just bought both Oblivion+DLC and Skyrim Special Edition for $15 USD total.By the way, both Skyblivion dependencies are heavily discounted for the Steam Spring Sale right now. I just bought both Oblivion+DLC and Skyrim Special Edition for $15 USD total.
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Comment on New policy changes for Southwest Airlines in ~transport
wowbagger Link ParentBilling by weight for luggage seems fair, but why include the weight of the person too? At 190cm, plane travel is already miserable for me. Charging me extra for something I have no control over...Billing by weight for luggage seems fair, but why include the weight of the person too? At 190cm, plane travel is already miserable for me. Charging me extra for something I have no control over is adding injury to insult.
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Comment on What's a feeling you sometimes experience that you don't have a name for? in ~talk
wowbagger LinkHere's one I've felt for a long time but only just recently learned that there is a name for it, thanks to Depths of Wikipedia on Bluesky: Resistentialism. I get it most while in the kitchen. Some...Here's one I've felt for a long time but only just recently learned that there is a name for it, thanks to Depths of Wikipedia on Bluesky: Resistentialism.
I get it most while in the kitchen. Some days it just seems that the knives and bowls are out to get me, I'm constantly dropping things or sloshing things or fumbling things. Surely the explanation can't be that I have clumsy days and dextrous days - the objects must be conniving!
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Comment on I used to teach students. Now I catch ChatGPT cheats. in ~tech
wowbagger Link ParentIf anything this just highlights the difference, IMO. A calculator's limitations are knowable and you can compensate for them. An LLM is the quintessential black box, there is no way to predict...If anything this just highlights the difference, IMO. A calculator's limitations are knowable and you can compensate for them. An LLM is the quintessential black box, there is no way to predict the mistakes it will make.
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Comment on Tildes Video Thread in ~misc
wowbagger LinkA Love Letter to Cable-Stayed Bridges – Practical Engineering As a structural engineer in a different industry, this one scratched every single itch for me. Some of those bridges are gorgeous! One...A Love Letter to Cable-Stayed Bridges – Practical Engineering
As a structural engineer in a different industry, this one scratched every single itch for me. Some of those bridges are gorgeous! One of Grady's best IMO
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Comment on I just turned 29 last month, what are some things I should be thinking about before my 30s? in ~talk
wowbagger Link ParentI'm also turning 29 at the end of the month. Lots of 96ers around Tildes it seems!I'm also turning 29 at the end of the month. Lots of 96ers around Tildes it seems!
I drew a jellyfish and got the same message. Didn't realize we were working with such a narrow definition here, jeez!