I went to the dentist yesterday to have my two front teeth worked on. A couple of weeks late if all I wanted for Christmas were my two front teeth 😆. Nothing dramatic—just fillings. My wife and I both carry dental insurance, so I walked out with my wallet still intact.
While I was in the chair, the dentist insisted on nitrous oxide because my blood pressure was running a little high. First time I’ve ever used it. I don’t know why I always said no before—probably some macho notion that I needed to “tough it out.” If I were truly that tough, I guess I would’ve said, “Skip the nitrous, skip the anesthetic, and hand me the drill” 😂.
One thing that always gets me in a dentist’s office is the sound of the drill. It hits the same spine‑tingling frequency as fingernails on a chalkboard 😱. My hearing aids seem specially engineered to pick up and amplify every annoying noise. I meant to turn them off before we started, but forgot. C’est la vie.
Not so long ago, I would’ve slipped away from work for the appointment and headed straight back afterward. Now? I declared a personal holiday and took a nap in my recliner. That’s the problem with being able to do what you want when you want—you actually can.
I recently poured a new driveway, and there’s a chunk of concrete from the old one sitting along the path to the mailbox. It’s not large, and I don’t need to move it, but every time I pass it, instead of tossing it into the brush, I tell myself I’ll get to it later. I have time to do or not to do—that is the question.
“Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what the hell happened.” — Jennifer Yane
“Blessed are they who hold lively conversations with the helplessly mute, for they shall be called dentists.” — Ann Landers
“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” — Albert Einstein
Puppy Hearts by Lisa S Baker is a whimsical portrait inspired by the gentle, soulful expression of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Surrounded by colorful hearts, flowers, and playful details, this artwork celebrates pure affection, sweetness, and the quiet way dogs hold our hearts without ever trying.
"Most #corn grown in the U.S. is #GeneticallyModified to tolerate the spraying of #glyphosate-based herbicides. These #herbicides are linked to cancer, endocrine disruption and other health concerns.
"#Mexico banned genetically modified (#GM) corn from use in tortillas in 2023. The #US challenged the policy as an unfair trade practice, claiming Mexico’s precautionary policies were not based on science. In response, Mexico’s national science agency compiled one of the most comprehensive and thorough reviews to date of current scientific evidence showing #HealthRisks associated with production and consumption of the most widely grown crop in the U.S.
"In this webinar, the former director of Mexico’s National Council for Humanities, Science and Technology and the agency’s lead researcher on the topic presented Mexico’s recently released scientific review document. The evidence draws on recent literature to make the case that there are unacceptable health risks from GM corn and glyphosate for Mexican people who consume large quantities of minimally processed corn in food products such as tortillas.
"Dr. #ElenaÁlvarezBuylla, who directed the national science agency for six years, outlined the research carried out to underpin Mexico’s 2023 decree to restrict the use of GM corn in tortillas and other minimally processed corn products, and to phase out the use of glyphosate.
"Erica Hagman Aguilar presented the key findings from the well-referenced 200-page science dossier, which was recently translated into English.
"This webinar was moderated by researcher and writer Timothy A. Wise.
"The discussion was co-hosted with #USRightToKnow, a nonprofit public health research group. It was presented with simultaneous English/Spanish interpretation. "
Saving the banana? A genetically modified Cavendish banana has been successfully grown in a field infected with the deadly Panama disease TR4—and it survived. This is a huge deal for global food security.
@mojo
@Su_G The aspect of the genetically-modified food debate that few folks focus on is the most important one: a genetically-modified crop is intellectual property.
“QUT is already committed to providing non-exclusive licenses for the commercial exploitation of QCAV-4 in
Australia to a number of other industry groups. QUT will endeavor to make QCAV-4 available to other groups
through likely non-exclusive licenses to Australian banana micropropagation operations. It is likely that QUT will
receive a royalty stream from the commercial exploitation of QCAV-4.
QUT owns the intellectual property rights to QCAV-4.”
By 1968, Rover had found a great solution to the up-engining of the P6 2000 model. This involved buying the rights to an all aluminium alloy 3.5-litre V8 from GM. The V8 was about the same length and weight as the 2000’s four-cylinder engine, so few modifications or compromises were involved. This late model 3500 P6 has an interesting history as a Metropolitan Police ‘plain clothes’ car. Snapped at the Practical Classics retro show in March.
I'm especially curious in the case of fantasy settings. I'm admittedly not super well read in the genre, I know about the Ways from the Wheel of Time series[^1] , and I'm sure D&D has its fair share of fast travel mechanics. ...
I like a SciFi setting where Portals are the primary means of FTL transit, essentially destructive replicators that disassemble the entrant at one portal, transmits their quantum structure via entangled particle communication, and reassembles them on the other side. The consequences of this are that matter/energy balance must be carefully managed on both sides with stockpiles of raw material to replicate with and the energy to drive it being essential.
Now this method has an obvious flaw, as it doesn't account for traveling to new sectors of space. As such, an alternative method was developed for exploration. This amounts to a mass driver driven by a singularity. An autonomous vehicle amounting to a hardened Portal with interplanetary grade thrusters and a special counter-balance is built and deployed in a system close enough to a singularity to allow transit to it within a few months time.
A vector is calculated with quantum precision. A follow vehicle launches with the FT module held with in it. As the vehicles approach the singularity and gravity acceleration takes hold the follow vehicle fires a high intensity beam array serving to both revers it's own thrust, accelerate the FT module, and provide a protective channel for the module to approach within. High velocity particles are a major threat approaching a singularity, they must be deflected.
The FT module accelerates as it approaches the singularity, beginning orbit, as it orbits the counterweight section is thrust down away from it closer to the singularity, akin to a space elevator, using the same beam tech as the follow vehicle. The counterweight accelerates faster than the FT Module, while cintrepetal force creates a slight outward vector. The vehicle approaches relativistic speeds. Once in the target velocity range, generally 80% of light or .8LS, an antimatter annihilation charge is set off at the base of the FT Module severing the counterweight and propelling the FT module out of orbit and onto its final trajectory. The mother of all slingshot maneuvers.
If the FT Module is release from the gravity well successfully, is on-vector, and has survived functional, the portal onboard is activated, converting mass from the vehicle into subatomic particles to feed the beam and further thrust the vehicle until the thrust-midpoint of transit, by which point the vehicle may have approached 90%+ LS depending on the distance of transit. At this point the the beam is inverted, firing in the other direction to decelerate the FT Vehicle. Typically the target will be another highly massive body, such as another singularity or neutron star, which will be used to decelerate and re-vector towards a local system where another antimatter annihilation charge is used to overcome escape velocity and achieve orbit.
The FL Vehicle may then be commanded via entangled communicator to use its Portal to construct harvester drones to harvest mass from local space until enough mass is gathered to replicate an expeditionary vessel.
Given that none of this process is FTL, it takes many many years between launch and arrival of a portal in a new system. So the question is, who is in command when it finally arrives? What has culture, politics, and biology done in the meantime?
It is a good setup for either side of the portal, on the one hand you have PCs as expeditionary forces heading into an unknown system after many years of process to get there. On the other side you have a Stargate type scenario where a portal ship is discovered in local space. Where could it lead?
In both cases there is the opportunity for a fun bit of Deus Ex Machina, as you must decide just how autonomous the portal ship itself is. Are they dealing with a sentient ship that has been on a solitary transit for years of its own relative time, but centuries of outside time? An anachronism of the old order. Is the portal an inscrutable presence with only the need to feed itself mass and perform its function... and your team doesn't have the codes or features of it's masters? Or even, is this just a fancy automatic door which activates as soon as any being approaches close enough to be sucked in and spit out at wherever it was last programmed to route to? Leaving the PCs in suspense on this point is a lot of fun.
Folgen von Trumps Politik: Auch GM, McDonald's und Harley haben große Probleme
Die bis vor kurzem robuste US-Wirtschaft schwächelt. Besonders die von Trumps Zollpolitik ausgelöste Unsicherheit belastet viele große Unternehmen - auch solche, die als Unterstützer des Präsidenten gelten.
"The Federal Trade Commission announced a proposed settlement agreeing that General Motors and its subsidiary, OnStar, will be banned from selling geolocation and driver behavior data to credit agencies for five years. That’s good news for G.M. owners. Every car owner and driver deserves to be protected.
Last year, a New York Times investigation highlighted how G.M. was sharing information with insurance companies without clear knowledge from the driver. This resulted in people’s insurance premiums increasing, sometimes without them realizing why that was happening. This data sharing problem was common amongst many carmakers, not just G.M., but figuring out what your car was sharing was often a Sisyphean task, somehow managing to be more complicated than trying to learn similar details about apps or websites."
GM Partners with Hyundai on ICE, EV, and Hydrogen Vehicles
General Motors announced Thursday it signed an agreement with Hyundai Motor Company aiming to reduce costs and increase the speed of the development of new vehicles.
How does FTL or fast travel work in your setting?
I'm especially curious in the case of fantasy settings. I'm admittedly not super well read in the genre, I know about the Ways from the Wheel of Time series[^1] , and I'm sure D&D has its fair share of fast travel mechanics. ...