Balero (u/Balero) - Readit News

Balero commented on Peak Population Projections dothemath.ucsd.edu/2024/0... · Posted by u/sjmulder

toomuchtodo · 2 years ago

Which is strange, because population momentum is still pushing us towards a much higher global total population number by end of century. What are potential reasons for the change in narrative from the media, as well as economic and political interests?

Balero · 2 years ago

The global population may be growing, but for developed countries where we get most of our news (I assume, at least I do), they're just starting to tip over into the shrinkage and dealing with the bulge of elderly people. The narrative is right for the political and economic interests that we hear from.

I imagine if we were consuming news from India, Egypt or Nigeria it would be a very different story.

Balero commented on Aliens haven't visited. Why are so many smart people insisting otherwise? nymag.com/intelligencer/a... · Posted by u/PaulHoule

miika · 2 years ago

There is the fallen Ramses statue that is 1000 ton. Supposedly moved 500 miles across desert couple of thousand years ago.

There is this story about moving 80 ton statue, even this wasn’t a small task for modern people.

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/ramses-ii-grand-egyptian-m...

Unfinished Obelisk is 1500 tons but it’s still in the quarry, I wonder how they planned to even lift it up

Balero · 2 years ago

Thanks for the update.

A quick look around I found this site: http://www.catchpenny.org/movebig.html that suggests ways it was moved.

Quick TLDR. They don't lift it, they dig under it. Either constructing a canal, and putting a weighted barge beneath it. Then remove the ballast so the barge lifts up the weight. For overland they do a similar thing, but with a sled, pour a lubricant under the sliders, and then pull. Apparently 2 people can pull 1 Ton this way. So 500 people pulling the sled. (They had approx 2000 people working on a similar project) Also they used shallow ramps over long distances to raise it up.

There was also a modern thing when they moved a lighthouse.

The 80 ton statue was difficult because they wanted to do it with minimal people, and with minimal disruption, and quickly. If you had 2000 people working 5 days a week, 3 years to do it in, and the legal ability to dig up the road/canal etc it can be done. The amazing thing to me is how much priority Ancient Egyptians gave building these monuments, seems like the most important thing they were doing. I guess it gets easier to deal with planning permission when your absolute ruler says "Do it".

Balero commented on Aliens haven't visited. Why are so many smart people insisting otherwise? nymag.com/intelligencer/a... · Posted by u/PaulHoule

miika · 2 years ago

The strongest mobile crane in the world can lift about 300 tons. While they are mobile cranes (with wheels) it’s hard for them to move in soft sand even without heavy loads. When they lift something they don’t move.

There are some granite blocks that weigh over 1000 tons. We’re told that these were transported from hundreds of miles away, across mountain and over a river. Historians are not engineers so they don’t understand what they’re saying.

If we were to move those blocks now we would need to build massive crane around it, that would move on tracks (ones you see in harbors).

In this video they transport 340 ton rock. Pretty massive project and they used satellite data to find route without any uphill..

https://youtu.be/vCW0suiGZKQ?si=NM05HEQtRwDGCaHV

Somehow those ancient blocks were carved and transported thousands of years ago. How it was done and by who is unknown.. I think it’s understandable if someone picks the alien explanation as the most plausible answer. Personally I can entertain any idea but I wouldn’t bet on anything.

Balero · 2 years ago

Thanks for the additional info.

> There are some granite blocks that weigh over 1000 tons. We’re told that these were transported from hundreds of miles away, across mountain and over a river. Historians are not engineers so they don’t understand what they’re saying.

I am still unsure which ancient blocks you're referencing though. Stonehenge? Could you link to them, or a picture, or where in the world they are so I can google it?

This is the closest I could find: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/largest-manmade-bl... but this one was not moved because it was too big (and is also limestone which i'm pretty sure is sedimentary)

Balero commented on Aliens haven't visited. Why are so many smart people insisting otherwise? nymag.com/intelligencer/a... · Posted by u/PaulHoule

miika · 2 years ago

Interesting how someone dares to make such a bold public statement? Is this kind of article an example of being smart then?

Meanwhile there are simple rocks in desert that we cannot transport even today with our modern equipment. Was there previous civilization from Earth who more capable or some visitors, who knows, but we are not the most capable ones yet.

Balero · 2 years ago

What rocks are you referencing?

As far as I am aware, modern humanity is by far the most capable civilisation that has ever existed on earth as far as moving rocks is concerned. The only thing beating us right now is glaciers and tectonic activity.

Balero commented on Hertz to sell 20k EVs in shift back to gas-powered cars bloomberg.com/news/articl... · Posted by u/saltysalt

brnt · 2 years ago

Storage of H2 is a challenge in space and weight constrained devices such as cars. Plus, any well to wheels analysis shows H2 coming up behind the alternatives in efficiency.

There aren't claims, these are physical constraints. For heavy vehicles such as trucks and busses (and trains) there might be a market, provided the H2 is an otherwise unused byproduct of some process and needn't be produced, but for the majority of personal mobility major breakthroughs are required to make it competitive.

Balero · 2 years ago

I've seen a very good take that it is the ideal renewable fuel for large machinery such as farming or construction equipment. Batteries wouldn't work due to the cost and charging time (when you're using them you need them for long stretches), but weight (and therefore some of the complex/heavy containment). These places (at least in the UK) have their own diesel logistics infrastructure already.

Balero commented on Military action against land-based targets in Yemen moves a step closer splash247.com/military-ac... · Posted by u/chippy

ethbr1 · 2 years ago

But Iran also likes the Houthis being a credible threat to Saudi Arabia and the UAE even more.

Continuing to poke international commercial shipping will obviously trigger a response. No one powerful, even China, wants non-military ships being attacked.

So they're risking substantial damage to Houthi power for... what?

Tying up naval capacity? Eh. Temporarily. And with minimal effect on Israel/Palestine.*

Boosting the price of oil? Maybe. But doesn't seem to be doing much yet.

At Russia's behest? Maybe. General chaos elsewhere and tying up ISR assets benefits Russia.

* Would become much more relevant if Hezbollah enters the war.

Balero · 2 years ago

You make some good points. But the Houthis have been being bombed by Saudi Arabia for years and haven't been crippled by it. Getting them to poke and prod some shipping could be and easy way to cause an outsized impact.

It could also be an internal thing for the Houthis that we (certainly I) don't know about. Being able to say "We're standing up to Israel and the US" could be big for their credibility in Yemen. That is pure speculation however.

Balero commented on Military action against land-based targets in Yemen moves a step closer splash247.com/military-ac... · Posted by u/chippy

ethbr1 · 2 years ago

Related question: why is Iran okay with the Houthis targeting random international shipping?

Balero · 2 years ago

The majority of global shipping benefits people Iran don't like. Disrupting this therefore is to their benefit. It adds extra headache for 'the west'.

Balero commented on Military action against land-based targets in Yemen moves a step closer splash247.com/military-ac... · Posted by u/chippy

alexisread · 2 years ago

Given that the Houthis have said they are holding up ships they consider linked to Israel, and that everyone in the UN bar the US and Israel are calling for a ceasefire, and that South Africa have detailed a case for genocide against Israel, wouldn't it be more useful to get a ceasefire, so then the Houthis can stop?

Generally this article is called doubling down, and the only people that get hurt in these scenarios are the inhabitants of these countries, who then become refugees knocking on other countries' doorsteps.

Balero · 2 years ago

> Given that the Houthis have said they are holding up ships they consider linked to Israel

They're stopping ships that they can, and it is in their interest to stop. Iranian ships seem to be passing through no bother, but ships flagged as Liberian, coming from Europe to Asia with a Filipino and Indian crew are stopped. You can consider any ship linked to Israel if you don't care how tenuous the link is.

> and that everyone in the UN bar the US and Israel are calling for a ceasefire.

Notably Hama's isn't calling for a ceasefire, and it takes two to tango, so even if Israel wanted a ceasefire there won't be one.

> wouldn't it be more useful to get a ceasefire, so then the Houthis can stop?

Since when did "Don't give in to terrorists" stop being a thing? Just throw ourselves on the good graces of a violent terrorist group.

Balero commented on Are we doing this again? Yes, we're doing this again webdevlaw.uk/2023/11/08/i... · Posted by u/Doches

pjc50 · 2 years ago

The Rotherham failings were not so much because of the "wrong type" of perpetrators, but the wrong type of victims. Sexual assault and rape have pretty miserable conviction rates at the best of times, and victims experience substantial misogyny. In the case of Rotherham, most of the victims were young girls who were in the local authority "care" system, many of whom were known to the police already. So the police reacted to their complaints with the old "of course you were raped, you shouldn't have been there / doing that".

(Think about it: do you know the names or faces of any of the Rotherham victims? Are they doing the campaigning? Or is it people using them to grind an axe which has little to do with the actual crimes?)

What is the actual reason for not giving Muhammad Qassem Sawalha, a person with no UK criminal convictions, the rights of any other resident? Are we saying that local authorities should screen people for political views before offering them housing as they are statutorily required to?

Balero · 2 years ago

Why is the sibling comment to this flagged? It's very reasonable.

Balero commented on US Smartphone Shipments Decline 19% in Q3 2023 as More Americans Delay Upgrade counterpointresearch.com/... · Posted by u/flykespice

huytersd · 2 years ago

It would be nice to have full LIDAR based 3D scanning on phones, one for better imaging and two to provide datasets for 2D to 3D LLMs.

Balero · 2 years ago

You have to admit that is an extremely niche requirement.