And? So what? We are talking about things of consequences.

I disagreed with your statement that “no one could ever get all the data and present accurate facts” and sought to use a ubiquitously understood example that is somehow divisive (see: flat-earthers) despite science that’s been well understood for hundreds of years making it obviously factual.

I’d say if you’re arguing over basic objective, a priori truths, you’ve already lost the plot.

I disagree. I would argue it is “of consequence” if someone is unable to look at the available data and come to the conclusion that the planet we’re standing on is round. Especially if that person is in a position of power or influence over others, because their capacity to make rational conclusions from available information is profoundly corrupted. e.g.: They shouldn’t be a science teacher at a school because they don’t understand even basic scientific principles that are universally understood.

Claiming I can’t ever prove to you that this case in front of me is green because what even is green is just… dumb.

Good thing I didn’t say that, then!

I debated whether or not to call it an oblate spheroid like a huge nerd or just use the “earth is round” shorthand that most people are familiar with. While not perfectly round, I think most people would agree an oblate spheroid is a round shape in the general sense.

in reality, when you boil it down, no one could ever get all the data and present accurate facts

If someone says the Earth is round, are we seriously concerned that enough data has not been collected to consider this an accurate fact?

You might enjoy Sid Meier’s Civilization games. I’m partial to Civ 6, but they’re pretty much all in the same vein of management games.

Love some trail mix. Peanuts, sunflower seeds, raisins, dark chocolate bits, all that good stuff.

A citizen killing another citizen is never morally defensible

That’s just plain not true. There are situations that are not just morally defensible, but legally justifiable.

For example: If an active shooter (a citizen) is killing people (or threatening to kill people), any given citizen is morally and legally justified with taking the shooter’s life to preserve the lives of others.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_of_self-defense

“Existence” by Excision

Short, sweet, and catchy. They did a good job with that one.

Thanks for the link. My first question was, “What brand, what item?”

Per the FDA, the recalled item is Cabot Creamery Extra Creamy Premium Butter, Sea Salted. The butter, which is sold in 8-ounce packages, contains two sticks of butter in a cardboard box.

Damn, that’s a shame.

they make too much money off people buying replacements.

Didn’t they start offering free repairs at some point due to it being such a widespread issue? Or did they stop doing that at some point?

Between the damage to their reputation it would cause (knowingly releasing a very flawed product despite having already publicly apologized for it years ago) and the potential for more class-action lawsuits down the line, it seems like it’d be profoundly shortsighted for them to do this.

But maybe the profits from selling replacements outweighs all that in their eyes. I sure hope not. One would hope the profits from a considerably more expensive console and moderately more expensive games would be enough.

Kinda surprised to hear that, but it’s good to see it officially supported.

Still wish the game wasn’t gonna have kernel level anticheat from some relatively unknown developer.

I definitely don’t want to downplay a crisis, but I feel like I’ve been seeing headlines saying “all the bees are dying and we don’t know why” every year for nearly 20 years now.

I’m no bee expert. Just seems to me, based on the headlines, bees would’ve been extinct 10 years ago.

Some cursory searching led me to Colony Collapse Disorder which seems to have no agreed-upon cause. It appears devastating losses to honey bee colonies started being reported around 1900. But it also mentions:

In 2024, the United States Census of Agriculture reported an all-time high in commercial honey bee hives (mostly in Texas), making them the fastest-growing livestock segment in the country.[38]

Link to the source cited there: https://archive.is/nfeb2

Apparently last year saw the largest honey bee populations in US history. Though they write that huge boom in honey bee population is a threat to other native pollinators, so I guess that presents its own unique problems.

Reminds me of this old gem:

I’ve spent the last couple of hours re-watching WKUK skits because of you.

Man those guys are funny.

I revisit his channel every year at Thanksgiving when I need to prepare a turkey. His super simple roasted turkey video has served me well the last 5 or 6 years.

He doesn’t really talk in his videos, but I really enjoy watching Philippe Faraut sculpt in clay. Guy has masterful technique.

I recommend Technology Connections to anyone who enjoys learning about how stuff works. I really appreciate the way this guy explains things for laypeople.

SummoningSalt is super interesting if you like learning about speedrunning. My only gripe is that the videos are all really chill, but tend to have clips of people breaking world records and flipping out, like “FUCK YEAAAAAAAHH WOOOOOOO FUCK YEAH LET’S FUCKING GOOOOO FUUUUUUCK” and it can be very jarring, lol. But I do enjoy seeing those clips in the videos.

Grand Illusions is a fun channel where an older British gentleman named Tim presents curiosities, puzzles, toys, and the like.

Honorable mention: while I don’t watch many of his videos these days, Smarter Every Day is fantastic STEM content

Electricity and sound are actual physical phenomena though

Those physical phenomena are the manifestation of the transfer of energy between systems. Electrons carry charge (a fundamental force, like gravity, which transfers energy through the system) through conduits and sound carries air pressure fluctuations (force per unit area, transferring energy through the system) through the air.

Does energy have some sort of “matter”?

Energy, in the mechanical sense, is “the ability to do work” (where work is defined as the ability to move a mass over a distance, i.e.: Force = Mass * Acceleration). The situations you described can be ultimately represented by fundamental physical principles like F=ma. Energy may be described as the medium through which matter interacts with other matter, but energy does not, itself, have matter. Though my academic background is more in the realm of mechanical physics; there may be some newfangled theoretical energy-mass superposition concept that I’m unaware of.

It only becomes sound when a listening device of some sort registers it (usually an ear, but could also be an insect leg, etc.).

Acoustic waves propagating through a medium (air) exist regardless of whether or not something can perceive it as audio. I would argue that the mechanical phenomenon we call “sound” (acoustic waves) exists regardless of whether or not someone hears it. Similar to how light (electromagnetic radiation) exists regardless of if someone is around to look at it.

I’m no expert, but I was an aerospace engineering student once upon a time. So here’s my take:

Energy is not “manmade” because it would still exist and be transferred between systems even if humans didn’t exist.

Stars would still burn. Gravity would still pull. Inertia would still inert. Accelerating mass would still require energy. There just wouldn’t be anyone around to punch in numbers into a calculator and name the concept “energy”.

Of course all math and physics are “manmade” insofar as they are theorized, discovered, and proven by humans. But these phenomena would still exist regardless of humanity. This feels analogous to asking if “electricity” is manmade. We discovered and named the physical concept; it doesn’t mean we invented it. If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, it still makes a sound.