I waddled onto the beach and stole found a computer to use.

🍁⚕️ 💽

Note: I’m moderating a handful of communities in more of a caretaker role. If you want to take one on, send me a message and I’ll share more info :)

  • 59 Posts
  • 13 Comments
Joined 2 years ago
Cake day: June 5th, 2023
  • Otter@lemmy.catoPhys.org•Rocket carrying European orbital vehicle crashes after launchEnglish
    3·
    3 months ago

    Also these two bits

    The first orbital rocket launched from continental Europe crashed seconds after blast-off Sunday, dealing a blow to the continent’s bid to build a new space economy.

    “Every second we fly is good, because we collect data and experience. Thirty seconds would already be a great success,” said Daniel Metzler, the company’s co-founder and chief executive, ahead of the launch.

    “We do not expect to reach orbit with this test. In fact, no company has yet managed to put its first orbital launch vehicle into orbit.”

    All of these things can be true

    • the orbital vehicle was empty
    • they expected a crash, but it could have done better

    However it looks like the headline and description were intentionally phrased like that to be clickbait?

  • Otter@lemmy.catoMIT Technology Review•Ethically sourced “spare” human bodies could revolutionize medicineEnglish
    3·
    4 months ago

    Well that’s interesting

    Although it may seem like science fiction, recent technological progress has pushed this concept into the realm of plausibility. Pluripotent stem cells, one of the earliest cell types to form during development, can give rise to every type of cell in the adult body. Recently, researchers have used these stem cells to create structures that seem to mimic the early development of actual human embryos. At the same time, artificial uterus technology is rapidly advancing, and other pathways may be opening to allow for the development of fetuses outside of the body.

    By integrating these different technologies and using established genetic techniques to inhibit brain development, it is possible to envision the creation of “bodyoids”— a potentially unlimited source of human bodies, developed entirely outside of a human body from stem cells, that lack sentience or the ability to feel pain.

  • Otter@lemmy.catoTechdirt•Oklahoma Opens Bids For Bibles In Every School With Curiously Specific RequirementsEnglish
    2·
    9 months ago

    extracted out a part of the article

    And that brings us to Oklahoma and its state Superintendent, Ryan Walters. Walters decided that he wanted a bible in every public classroom in Oklahoma, suggesting it would be used due to the nature of American history and our founding fathers. I would normally simply argue about that history and talk about just how many of our founding fathers either weren’t religious at all, or were religious in a way that today’s conservative religious folks would find abhorrent (see: Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Thomas Paine). But instead I’m going to focus more on the original requirements Walters had in the state’s RFP.

    Bids opened Monday for a contract to supply the state Department of Education with 55,000 Bibles. According to the bid documents, vendors must meet certain specifications: Bibles must be the King James Version; must contain the Old and New Testaments; must include copies of the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights; and must be bound in leather or leather-like material.

    Now, most bibles don’t include those other historical documents, and certainly they aren’t all bound in material best served for the interior of a car. But at least one does. And if you’ve followed politics and the news closely enough over the last year or so, you may have already guessed which one that is.

    A salesperson at Mardel Christian & Education searched, and though they carry 2,900 Bibles, none fit the parameters. But one Bible fits perfectly: Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the U.S.A. Bible, endorsed by former President Donald Trump and commonly referred to as the Trump Bible. They cost $60 each online, with Trump receiving fees for his endorsement.

    […]

    Was this a politically motivated move to get specifically Trump-endorsed bibles, for which he receives payment, into the public schools of Oklahoma, thereby using taxpayer funds to enrich the former President. Well, gosh golly gee, we just can’t say for certain, can we? But if that was the motivation, this is exactly the action a person so motivated would take.

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