Link Thread

[Nate the Great]

Matt Parker has drafted hundreds of volunteers to attempt to break the record of most digits of pi calculated by hand.



While I'm all for mathematical enthusiasm, this one seems a little ridiculous.

[Nate the Great]

Certifiably Ingame tackles the warp speed limit.


I still have trouble with the idea that the entire fleet could be replaced with ships of a less damaging profile that fast. Furthermore, it's clear that the variable nacelle geometry of Voyager was in the design before the fortunate side effect was discovered.


Then again, I'm more than willing to go with "Voyager still damages subspace, but the point is that it's the most powerful ship in the quadrant (within reason, of course) and the Delta Quadrant lacks the monolithic governments and well-trod "warp highways" that the Alpha Quadrant has."


I mean, think about it. What race (other than the Borg, who use a completely different propulsion technology) has enough high-warp ships to cause the kind of damage seen in "Cause and Effect"? None.

[Nate the Great]

Possum Rob


A new Trek review show that I just discovered. He's covering the TOS episodes one by one in a very different way. Treknology and continuity issues are secondary to the character work and ideas presented by the story. A very relaxed approach.

[Nate the Great]

A Princess Bride/Trek meme from Facebook

[NAHTMMM]

https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.20268

In the seven years that the starship Voyager spent in the Delta Quadrant, it used many questionable techniques to engage with alien civilizations and ultimately find its way home. From detailed studies of their logs and opening credits, we simulate Voyager's practice of orbiting a planet, to examine the effect on planetary rings. We outline a feasible planetary system and simulate the extent to which its rings would be disrupted. We find that Voyager's orbit could inflate the height of the rings in the vicinity of the spacecraft by a factor of 2, as well as increase the relative speeds of neighboring planetesimals within the rings. This increase in ring thickness has the potential to alter shadows on any moons of this planet, impacting ring-shadow based religions. Additionally, the acceleration of these planetesimals could rival their gravity, bucking any alien inhabitants and their tiny civilizations off of their planetesimal homeworlds. Finally, we posit that due to increased collisions amongst the planetesimals (which may harbor tiny intelligent life) the trajectory of these civilizations may be forever altered, violating the prime directive.

[Nate the Great]

Today is Jane Goodall's 100th birthday.


I first heard of her through the infamous The Far Side cartoon, the one that her lawyers hated but she loved.


Then I found the article that Erma Bombeck wrote about her in her book When You Look Like Your Passport Photo, It's Time to Go Home.


Then the joke that Ape made in the George of the Jungle movie.


Here's a random assortment of single-panel Jane Goodall gags.


And some more factoids that I found today...


* The Jane Goodall Institute's Center for Primate Studies was at my alma mater the University of Minnesota (which had the amusing email address of [email protected])
* LEGO made a Jane Goodall set to celebrate International Women's Day 2022.

[Nate the Great]

The Gaming Historian made a documentary about the history of Oregon Trail


I attended a Minnesota elementary school during the Apple IIe era, so the MECC games have a special place in my heart.