The Community
General Category => Just for fun => Topic started by: Zzzptm on December 03, 2025, 11:40:19 AM
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Starting things off with "smelling your own farts is good for you!"
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/science-smelling-farts-alzheimers-disease-b2877346.html
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/newsroom/news-releases/2021/01/rotten-egg-gas-could-guard-against-alzheimers-disease
Pull my finger for your good health! :excited:
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That's amazing!
Here's one: Our eyes are not designed to process photons, therefore light waves themselves are invisible to people. So, the old spiritual, "I Saw the Light,"...well, no, you actually didn't Jethro.
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Whoaaaa cool
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Another: When you touch something, you're actually experiencing what it felt like in the past because it takes time for the nerves to send their signal and be processed by your brain.
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There is a gene in the fruit fly that makes them susceptible to alcohol's effects. The mechanism for fruit fly inebriation is also present in mammals, including humans, making fruit flies a good subject for further studies in alcoholism.
Now, had biochemist researchers done this study, they would have provided a methodical name for the gene. But because fly researchers were doing the research, they named it "cheapdate". :smug:
"I agree, we biochemists call proteins and genes in a methodical sequential manner; fly people name stuff based on the morning cereal or cartoon. I still like them however." - from a Reddit comment about the article.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11199289/
The study also involves an "inebriometer" to test the fruit flies for resistance to alcohol:
(https://cdn.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/blobs/9840/6709738/404f14c17925/arcr-24-3-185f1.jpg)
The inebriometer is an apparatus that is used to measure the sensitivity of Drosophila to alcohol vapor. Approximately 100 flies are introduced into the top of a 4-foot glass column through which a controlled concentration of alcohol vapor circulates. As they become intoxicated, the flies progressively lose postural control and tumble downwards; their fall is impeded by their ability to cling to oblique mesh baffles distributed along the length of the column. The time required for the flies to emerge at the bottom of the column is a measure of their alcohol sensitivity.
Fly researchers seem like they'd be fun people at parties.
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Another: When you touch something, you're actually experiencing what it felt like in the past because it takes time for the nerves to send their signal and be processed by your brain.
True, but it is hardly a distant past. You brain has the information in a tiny fraction of a second.
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This thread gets me to discover some really cool stuff.
Today I learned about total internal reflection. It can be demonstrated with water, but it's also how fibre optic cables work:
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And then that got me to look for stuff by Julius Sumner Miller. I loved watching his Physics presentations back in the day. I still do love them.
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Under extreme magnetic conditions, materials can behave as both insulators and conductors.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/11/251108083908.htm
Quantum materials are fascinating stuff!
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Manowar interrupts this regular programming to bring you this important information:
We fight to the death. To the last man.
To the last breath.
Death to False Metal
Into Glory Ride
Regular programming may now resume.
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As a self-styled smartass, I am prone to bouts of tomfoolery and hijinks. This weekend, I texted the following to the family group chat:
“I will be leaving to get dinner and should be back by 6:30 pm. If you would like to continue to receive status updates, text YES to this number. Normal text and/or data rates will apply.”
On one of the phones, there was a button to auto-send a YES response.
I had stumbled into the API!
Other family members tried to get that response with less, but it was clear that the full verbiage needed to be in there to make it work. I got a few more of those and we had a laugh.
Today, I went for two:
“Your appointment for 9:30 am is scheduled. Text CONFIRM to this number to confirm your appointment or CANCEL to cancel it. Normal text and/or data rates will apply.”
The result? Both a CONFIRM and a CANCEL button appeared on the other phone for autoresponses.
This means, of course, that the API is invoked via scanning the text message itself. There are no back-end flags in my packets or anything like that, it’s straight-up giving the system a prompt and getting a response out of it that leverages into the target system adding executable code as a result of reading the prompt.
As a security person, I find the upshot of this to be chilling. There are other functions that could be automated and if the API simply attaches code to a message based on its wording without any verification of authenticity or authority, then it is a massive hole in the system. To defend against possible abuses, I know that I have some autoresponders set up with professionals that I make appointments with. Those I already know. If I make a new appointment with a new person and get an autoresponse in the time frame of that appointment, then I’m OK with that. What’s most dangerous is some kind of scam targeting people over 50 who are already at higher risk of implicitly trusting without verification. By using official-looking texts, it already increases the risk that they make an error. By having the system attach code for autoresponses, it makes them look that much more legitimate and, therefore, gives such attacks a higher conversion rate.
Which thought leads me to a larger zero-trust concept: cybersecurity also involves the concepts and philosophies surrounding our work. When we unequivocally accept any new paradigm without sufficient testing, verification, and cautious observation, then we place ourselves into a potentially unacceptably high level of risk. And when we let proven flaws remain in our systems because we choose not to disrupt production, then we know we are set up for a terrible tragedy.
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Reading your latest post reminds me of this exchange from the movie Full Metal Jacket:
Hartman: "If there is one thing in this world that I hate, it is an unlocked footlocker! You know that, don't you?"
Pyle: "Sir, yes, sir!"
Hartman: "If it wasn't for dickheads like you there wouldn't be any thievery in this world would there?"
Pyle: "Sir, no, sir!
Hartman: "GET DOWN!
In response to Hartman's command, of course Pyle gets into push-up position. I always thought it'd be funnier than hell if instead of push-up position, Pyle would have started dancing.
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Female spider monkeys have their sexual organs on the outside, and the male spider monkey has its sexual organ retracted at all times unless erect...so, if you saw a male and female spider monkey side by side it would be easy to mistake the female for the male and the male for the female...Amazing Biology!
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The size of the universe should amaze everyone.
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To remove the water filter in the fridge, I have to take out the tray just underneath it so that it can descend to a full 90-degree angle with its housing, then it pops right out.
Also, ^^space is biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig!
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(https://static.the-independent.com/2021/05/27/09/newFile-2.jpg?quality=75&width=1368&auto=webp)
Ross' couch problem finally solved!
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Just read an article about a report concluding that opening one's windows can be a good thing.
AMAZING SCIENCE
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Depends which version... Opening Windows 10 nowadays might get you into trouble with cyber security!
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Depends which version... Opening Windows 10 nowadays might get you into trouble with cyber security!
Haha!
Amazing Science:
Scientists claim that quantum physics can CHANGE THE PAST!
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^^^^^^
Loaded with double-talk. :rolleyes:
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Depends which version... Opening Windows 10 nowadays might get you into trouble with cyber security!
SCIENCE CONTROVERSY! I love it! :rofl:
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Pink Noise is no good.
https://academic.oup.com/sleep/advance-article/doi/10.1093/sleep/zsag001/8452884
Sorry, Mr. Gilmour, but we can't drift away to your guitar solos anymore... :D
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Hmm...eventhough I really don't like nor ever listen to Pink Floyd I still have trouble sleeping....Maybe Black noise is a problem too?
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Hmm...eventhough I really don't like nor ever listen to Pink Floyd I still have trouble sleeping....Maybe Black noise is a problem too?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colors_of_noise#Black_noise
Today I learned that black noise is mostly silent.
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https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/fukushima-nuclear-powerplant-disaster-pig-boar-b2917940.html
"Radioactive pig-boar hybrids are thriving in Fukushima after nuclear disaster – now scientists know why"
Domesticated pigs went feral after the Fukushima disaster and now live in a highly radiated area, so it's not some kind of zombie apocalypse thing. But after several pig generations, most of the domesticated DNA has faded out of the picture, with a key exception being the bit that gives the pigs more than one litter per year, something that limited the boar population. Seeing these results helps to explain what's likely going on with other feral pig populations and why they're more disruptive than a native boar population without any domesticated pig interbreeding.
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https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaotolaryngology/article-abstract/2845565
You can turn down the volume on that workout music and still get a good workout. No need to go deaf as you get ripped. :smug:
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Finally I can get my tai-chi forms done without hearing the Commodores screaming, "Celebrate," in my ears at 195 dB!
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Finally I can get my tai-chi forms done without hearing the Commodores screaming, "Celebrate," in my ears at 195 dB!
No more Kool & The Gang doing "Brick House" at top volume whilst doing goat yoga!
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You all may seen this before, but if not: The guy not only shows a close-up of a stylus running in the grooves of a record, but discusses how he went about capturing/generating the video. Out of all of this, I am most impressed that the guy was able to snag a scanning electron microscope for his shop. That's something you just don't hear about everyday!
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Very cool!
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Electron microscope rock and roll science!
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The stolen fries are sweetest - science proves it!
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/chips-fries-stolen-tastes-better-study-b2966173.html
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So, extrapolating out from that, one could posit that thievery leads to a more pleasurable life!
Finally I can get my tai-chi forms done without hearing the Commodores screaming, "Celebrate," in my ears at 195 dB!
No more Kool & The Gang doing "Brick House" at top volume whilst doing goat yoga!
I just caught this. lol Don't ask me what I was thinking. Although they do have a tune called Celebrate, that obviously was not what I was going for.
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So, extrapolating out from that, one could posit that thievery leads to a more pleasurable life!
Finally I can get my tai-chi forms done without hearing the Commodores screaming, "Celebrate," in my ears at 195 dB!
No more Kool & The Gang doing "Brick House" at top volume whilst doing goat yoga!
I just caught this. lol Don't ask me what I was thinking. Although they do have a tune called Celebrate, that obviously was not what I was going for.
:smug:
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As a rule, I do not eat at Taco Bell.
That rule is now stronger than ever before:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/taco-bell-diarrhea-parasite-outbreak-b3014543.html
The reason for my rule? I used to be a teacher and kids who got jobs at various Taco Bell locations would talk about "that one guy" doing something awful to the meat mix or other ingredients. It seemed like there was a culture of bad food handling practices, to put it mildly. When I went to national conventions and talked with students from other states, those that worked at Taco Bells had similar reports of nastiness.
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I have never been to taco bell....nor do I have any interest in going to be honest...I don't like that kind of food at all.
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Around here, it's not considered "for reals" tacos. It's just where people go for the cheapest gas possible. :smug:
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I haven't had anything from Taco Smell in a very long time. Looks like that strategy is paying off!
They do actually have some of the best, freshest, high-quality meat in the food service industry. But between the time it gets delivered to an individual store, and the time it is served up as a taco or burrito, something happens to it.
It becomes, "modified." The rumour about the local place when I was in high school was that a worker there always found time to add his special sauce to the meat. The fact that no one doubted the rumour tells the tale. Glad to know some things never change!
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I have never been to a Taco Bell either, but I have 2 questions.
1. Why should anyone be surprised that food from Mexico can make you sick?
2. How is this Amazing Science?
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... The fact that no one doubted the rumour tells the tale. Glad to know some things never change!
Yeah don't ask what's going down at the ol' Taco Bell unless you want to use the material for a creepy story or a gross-out concept album.
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I have never been to a Taco Bell either, but I have 2 questions.
1. Why should anyone be surprised that food from Mexico can make you sick?
2. How is this Amazing Science?
1. Before you go any further, my wife's family includes families from the Canary Islands that settled in Texas in the 1750s. Another branch settled in South Texas from New Spain. For over 250 years, they've been making Mexican food here, no matter what the borders were doing. I grew up in Texas and Mexican food is an important part of my life. I'm going to take further comments on that line personally, and although I'd appreciate you taking back those words, I'm not going to demand it. I don't want to hear anything you might have to explain why you said it, I just don't want you saying anything more on the subject unless you mean to insult me, my wife, and generations of a family I am part of. If you mean no insult by it, then let it drop and don't ever bring it up again.
2. As I recall, the opening post for this thread was about how smelling one's own farts had possible health benefits. I'd say news of a Cyclospora outbreak connected to an infamous fast-food chain is right on the money for such a thread.
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I can say without equivocation that Laredo, Texas is nothing more than a giant truck stop masquerading as a city. And during the summer it is painfully hot. I can also say, with equal clarity, that Nuevo Laredo, Mexico is a crime-ridden den of bad actors such that even the locals keep timed routes to run their errands and do not go out past 8pm unless it is an emergency.
And both places (which are basically the same place, just divided by the Rio Grande) have some of the best Mexican food I have ever encountered. I hated having to travel there, but my company had offices in both places so that's what was happening. Between having home-cooked Mexican food at a local co-worker's home and going out to those small, unadvertised restaurants that seem like it's someone's home, I would gain 10 pounds everytime I went for more than one day.
The people and the food were magic. The cities themselves sucked a giant pintos & cheese.
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Oh yeah, show up hungry to Laredo, have lunch, and get the hell out before dark. San Antonio's not too far away, some really nice hotels there.
Awesome news on jalapeño peppers - they have more vitamin C per gram than oranges and they have been successfully grown on the International Space Station!
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I have some Jalapenos growing again this year too...no harvest yet. Mine are of the White variety.
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I have some Jalapenos growing again this year too...no harvest yet. Mine are of the White variety.
Just read the ones with streaks on the sides are hotter than solidly-colored ones.
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@Zzzptm - could you stop taking things I say so personal? I was not criticizing you or your family or your friends or anybody you ever met in your life.
I know a number of different people who have been to Mexico on vacations and wound up getting sick (some mildly, some not so mildly) from what they ate. Not saying that all the food is contaminated. A lot of the time it was just too hot and spicy for them to handle.
I have had some great dinners at a Mexican restaurant in my area called El Mariachi. Now please relax and have some tequila. :)
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^^^
Yeah the extra spices do get some people's stomachs all messed up....and in some cases not even that spicy can do that. Also ofcourse does not limit to Mexican food.
Eventhough I have eaten chilis in various heat levels for years now sometimes when I over indulge I might get some stomach issues! It's the nature of the beast. The other day I put one whole chili in my salad and it was a hot one so I ended up needing 4 trips to the toilet! :D
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@Zzzptm - could you stop taking things I say so personal? I was not criticizing you or your family or your friends or anybody you ever met in your life.
I know a number of different people who have been to Mexico on vacations and wound up getting sick (some mildly, some not so mildly) from what they ate. Not saying that all the food is contaminated. A lot of the time it was just too hot and spicy for them to handle.
I have had some great dinners at a Mexican restaurant in my area called El Mariachi. Now please relax and have some tequila. :)
I'm telling you in an honest way without anger where my lines are. When you talk about Mexicans, Latinos, Hispanics, you are talking about MY family and a culture that I participate in. When you made a blanket statement such as you did, I chose to inform you exactly where that hurt me. I made that choice so that you would know making another statement like that would be with knowledge of where I stand.
I'm going to tell you now that telling me to not take what you say personally doesn't get you off the hook. You do not get to say something and then hide behind a "don't take it personally" after you discover what you said was deeply offensive on a personal level for someone in your audience, even if it was not your intent to offend.
You said what you said, I don't need an apology or an explanation for it. You know going forward that talk like that is insulting to me personally. Going forward, you don't get to make that kind of remark without that knowledge. If you don't mean any hostility, then don't bring it up again. Simple as that.
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You need therapy.
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More ways than one we all need therapy! That's why we're here and that's why we fit together! ;D
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More ways than one we all need therapy! That's why we're here and that's why we fit together! ;D
Comment of the year!
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A comet entered our solar system from somewhere else and it might be OLDER than our Sun!
https://www.eso.org/public/unitedkingdom/news/eso2608/?lang (https://www.eso.org/public/unitedkingdom/news/eso2608/?lang)
Overall, the findings by Opitom’s team indicate that the comet likely formed in the outer regions around an old, ‘low-metallicity’ star. A low-metallicity star is one with few elements heavier than helium in its composition, that is thought to have formed when the Universe was much younger — and less chemically rich — than it is now. The team suspects that 3I/ATLAS therefore originated around a star much older than the Sun. “3I/ATLAS is a really exciting opportunity to probe the composition of another planetary system, one that formed long before our Sun and Solar System even existed," says co-author Rosemary Dorsey.
Now how cool is that!?
EDIT:
Oh crap...I meant to edit this message and I think I ended up deleting some messages....My internet is acting out....
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Yes, the 3I/ATLAS comet/interstellar thingy is very cool, and even cooler for possibly being so vastly ancient. I've been watching news stories on that through John Michael Godier's YouTube channel. He also likes to alert on possible SETI candidates and exobiology findings.
Of which, the evidence coming in from Mars is REALLY compelling that Mars once had microbial life.
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I have very little doubt in my mind that Mars had microbial life...In fact I'm sure that it did. After all it was a water filled planet for a long time and had basically the exact same conditions as earth did when life began here.
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Coolest thing is seeing the science work out how that's pretty much the only explanation for all the stuff that we've got in one place. Inorganic explanations for all that are looking all the more complicated to explain stuff and you know what happens to that when Occam's Razor comes out...
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The Science of a Narcissist
https://wasitme.blog/2024/03/18/the-narcissistic-wound-why-narcissists-seek-to-be-offended-and-how-they-manipulate-offences/ (https://wasitme.blog/2024/03/18/the-narcissistic-wound-why-narcissists-seek-to-be-offended-and-how-they-manipulate-offences/)
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I have very little doubt in my mind that Mars had microbial life...In fact I'm sure that it did. After all it was a water filled planet for a long time and had basically the exact same conditions as earth did when life began here.
The question of Venus, however... If there actually *is* microbial life there in that incredibly toxic environment, then we might just have at least microbial life almost everywhere.
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^^^
IF there is life on Venus I doubt it would be on the surface but it would be in the atmosphere...
And yes...if life can make itself in those conditions, it can pretty much happen anywhere! Which is rather awesome to think about!
The Science of a Narcissist
https://wasitme.blog/2024/03/18/the-narcissistic-wound-why-narcissists-seek-to-be-offended-and-how-they-manipulate-offences/ (https://wasitme.blog/2024/03/18/the-narcissistic-wound-why-narcissists-seek-to-be-offended-and-how-they-manipulate-offences/)
I think that rings true to a lot of what the modern "offendence" culture is... One might even say that the whole "woke" culture is very very narcissistic. I for one can recognize many of those points on the list in woke.
But what is the root cause of that? Has the world gotten more and more narcissistic? Is the current younger generation (2000->) born more narcissistic or are their parents giving them a bad example?
One can say for sure that the direction we're headed is not a good one.
And ofcourse you can see this more and more in public figures and politicans (regardless of their political standings)...and they're giving a rather bad example to the youth.
Also one thing that for the most part has been lost in the modern society is the ability to laugh to oneself....a near total loss of self irony....I think this is a larger issue in our society at the moment...and I do believe that narcissism is on the raise.
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The key is that a narcissist doesn't forgive. The narcissist holds the grudge, keeps score, plots the comeback move, simply can't let it go... and then invents language to justify their position and the injury they cause.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20366662
It's the *wanting* to be admired and have attention that's the danger sign. The second one is the inability or unwillingness to see the wants or needs or feelings of other people. We've got a friend whose estranged husband often goes on and on about how important time with his sons is to him and then, when it's his turn to have the kids for a week, ducks responsibility because he "has to" go fishing and/or do research on whiskys for the book he keeps saying he's going to write on the subject, but never does. And when our friend has a work trip and asks if he can take a few days with the boys while she's on travel for *real* work, suddenly she's "always manipulating" and "totally inconsiderate of his needs" and stuff like that.
Part of the work in providing therapy for narcissists is, once they've realized they've got a problem, teaching how to accept responsibility, to acknowledge wants/needs/feelings in others, to forgive and let things go, and to make conscious efforts to accomodate, rather than dominate. Dropping the use of always/never and other absolutes in conversation and not making assumptions about the behavioral motives of others. It's a really rough road, but once a narcissist realizes that their relationships are reducing to transactional operations, they have a chance at an awakening and a shot at recovery.
And you're right, Charger, there's way too much narcissism out there in the public eye. You mentioned politicians - let's also look at the "influencers" of all stripes and how they mess with kids' minds in building a system of self-worship.
https://ijisrt.com/assets/upload/files/IJISRT24APR2233.pdf
^It's a paper, so it's science. :smug: Gotta keep it science, here. :D
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Well that is no surprise at all as I believe you have to be a some sort of narcissist if you even consider doing something like be an "influencer" hell the whole term pretty much states it.
And the more we have those kinds of people who try to influence others by ramming their own ideology and propaganda down other peoples throats the more of problems it will cause and more we lose independent thought.
And ofcourse the narcissism raves in young women posting their videos about their own beauty after stuffing a gallon of liquid plastic in their lips.
It's everywhere and young people are subjected to it constantly so ofcourse it rubs on and ofcourse we're having a massive increase in narcissism.
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That gave me a thought about people in the caves of Lascaux painting their hands and then bothering other people in the tribe, "Hey! Check it out! That's my hand there! Yeah! I'm a total bigshot, like comment subscribe!" :D
Then I looked to see about news in the world of ancient cave paintings and found this paper from Nature this year: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09968-y
The cave paintings found in Sulawesi are now dated as the oldest we have yet discovered, line up with expectations of human migration to the area on the path from Asia to Australia, and include geometric patterns. Abstractions in human art go back as far as we can find examples of art, which I find fascinating.
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https://www.space.com/astronomy/james-webb-space-telescope/scientists-discover-mystery-molecule-on-pluto-and-saturns-moon-titan-we-cannot-say-what-it-is
This is exciting - what is the compound? Why is it where it is? Why isn't it where it isn't? The kinds of investigations that captivate the imagination. To the spectrometers! :)
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That is quite interesting! Also might it mean that somewhere back in time Pluto and Titan were close to eachother?
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That's one possibility. Another would be the chance that the spectrum we see is a combination of factors unique to those worlds.
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The God molecule?
A remnant from the Tardis?
Leftovers from ancient alien experimentation?
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I'll take Aliens for 100$
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I'll take Aliens for 100$
Your clue is this: 6EQUJ5 August 15, 1977
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Helium nova, gas "bullets" doing 20 million km/h, and 20 years of observation:
https://phys.org/news/2026-07-mysterious-gas-bullets-milky-helium.html
... and it may be on the pathway to making a type Ia Supernova... innnnnnnnnnteresting!
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^^^^^^
I am never surprised by events like this. The universe is so vast, with so many energetic things constantly occurring, that I feel we will never even witness more than a small percentage of these events, let alone understand them.
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Very true.
There is still so much of the universe that we simply do not understand...nor will we probably ever understand.
Those kinds of events are just the tip of the iceburg so to speak.
That's why I am a member of the finnish astronomical society URSA...and have been for 30 years. There's just so many fascinating events occuring all the time that the more you follow the more fascinated you will be.
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And, almost like it's right on schedule... another cool discovery:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10751-w
Even if the object found is not an exomoon, its discovery is part of the process of getting to where we do discover exomoons.