He visits, the old pope dies. He visits, your entire political party is marginalized. Frankly if I were a world leader I’d want to stay as far the hell away from JD Vance as possible.

Actually, as just a regular Joe I’d * also * like to stay as far the hell away from JD Vance as possible.

This was my thought as well. I remember working on an old house in upstate NY that had a forgotten-about ice house that looked like this.

Honestly I don’t even think I would care if they had landed. If they were setting up some sort of base I’d be into it – mostly to geek out over the new tech and techniques that would have to be developed for construction, environmental control, etc. But for just boots on the ground? Still kinda meh.

I’d be excited for boots on Mars, but again maybe for the same reasons - just to get people there and back would require an almost unthinkable (today) level of development and dedication of resources.

First of all, “merely decorative” has a big impact on our physiological and psychological well-being; urban greening appears to be able to improve things from respiratory difficulties to stress, anxiety and depression .

Second, “merely decorative” isn’t even true. Trees lower both surface and air temperature in cities in a meaningful way (on the order of a couple of degrees on a well-treed street – that can be the difference between “ah, it’s a nice day for a walk” and “holy crap it’s hot out”.

I will admit this is one place where I use LLMs extensively. If I never have to edit another arcane config file, yaml, etc it’ll be too soon.

Plant some more trees and rooftop gardens and you’ve got an official Solarpunk setting

Maybe it’s meant to run on the old Soviet Setun platform.

That’s an interesting point. There’s zero engineering elegance on display here, and while I’m sure there are some cool, new things going on under-the-hood, it mostly looks like every other big rocket we’ve launched in the last 60 years, and not half as cool as the (admittedly stupid) Shuttle. And the Shuttle did at least have a lot of clever engineering going on to compensate for the (again, stupid) design choices that were driven by so many different and conflicting potential mission profiles.

It doesn’t help that a lot of people in power seem to take issue with objective realities.

Yep, I am definitely more excited by space science news. I’d say I’m just more mature now and interested in more grounded “pure” science, but it wasn’t too long ago that I was giggling like an idiot as we watched the 2 falcon heavy boosters landing back on their dual pads at KSC, so I don’t think it’s entirely just a loss of child-like wonder (though it’s wearing thin these days, gotta admit).

Yeah I’ve been thinking maybe this is it – it’s still technically impressive and I have nothing but admiration for the teams who have pored their sweat and tears into making sure it’s safe and reliable, but it’s kind of a ‘so what?’ moment.

This is the only reason I keep a Sirius/XM subscription going (that and I got a cheap rate after trying to quit). While DJs are mostly insufferable, some of them do know what they’re doing and can prep a set list, talk intelligently about it, and give you more than just algo-slop.

There are most definitely people in high places and boots on the ground who truly believe they’re fighting a religious war though.

It’s like a shitpost on a shirt. You have absolutely no idea where this guy’s values lie (or if he has any). It’s perfect.

Right? Or maybe optimized sleep so that less is needed. Whether I get 6 or 7 hours of sleep I feel sluggish. But at 8 I’m fine. That seems totally unnecessary. My brain should be able to get the job done in less time.

If it’s a lichen does that mean you can take the piece that you have and just put it back (where it came from or some different spot) and it will continue to grow? Or is there some differentiated bit that acts like “roots” or a body (making it more like a mushroom)?

AE Marling has some good world building and entertaining reads. My favorite is Missing Mermaid

I wonder how old people have to be to get the “more at 6” capper. I know I use it a lot so my kids get it, but I’d bet most don’t.

If I already have a Great Depression do I still have to sign up for this next one, or can I skip it?

Time, assuming I could choose when to stop.