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Cake day: June 12th, 2023

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  • Growing up, we had a neighbor in the Air national guard who was a boom operator on KC-135 refuelers, meaning he controlled the boom that comes out the back of the airplane and transfers fuel to other aircraft. The boom operator lays face down on a bench and looks out a window in the back of the plane to control the boom.

    When I learned that they “operate on their belly”, I somehow interpreted that to mean he performed medical operations on people’s bellies.

    It didn’t even make sense to me at the time but I figured there must be some special reason that the operation had to be done while airborne and I was impressed that our neighbor was not only a doctor but an airborne surgeon who specialized in this one belly surgery that couldn’t be done on the ground.












  • RattlerSix@lemmy.worldtoScience Memes@mander.xyzconservation
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    10 months ago

    Ya know, when hermit crabs find a new shell and it’s too big for them they sit next to it. Others come try it and if its too big for them they sit next to it too.

    But what’s interesting is they line up by size, with the largest crab closest to the shell.

    Finally, when a big crab comes by and the shell fits, he drops the old one and the next largest crab gets it. That second crab drops his old one and the next crab gets it, etc, etc. All the crabs in line get a new shell as soon as the crab in front of them moves into their new shell.

    So, yeah. I’d watch hermit crabs all day if I could too.




  • Bostrom’s theory relies on life being real too. If I could rephrase it, his theory is:

    1 if humans can simulate a human mind in the future, they will 2 they will probably simulate their ancestors (us) 3 they will probably do it trillions and trillions of times 4 this means that out of trillions of consciousnesses, some are real humans and some are simulations 5 we are either one of the few billion actual living minds or one of the trillions of simulated minds and math says it’s the latter because trillions is more. (He never says trillions, just unspecific words like “countless”)

    I think Bostrom is genius but I’ve never found this argument very interesting.