NathanKP (u/NathanKP)

NathanKP commented on Data centers in space makes no sense civai.org/blog/space-data... · Posted by u/ajyoon

It’s less about putting compute in space as occupying that space before anyone else does. For any reason: spying, space warfare, network and communication.

First mover advantage, and all.

NathanKP · 8 days ago

Bingo. I elaborated on this idea more in my comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46884246

People are acting like a space data centre would be running a traditional workload. No, it's probably running a military one, some sort of AI powered modern version of Dead Hand (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Hand). Autonomous warfare could get real dark, real fast.

NathanKP commented on Data centers in space makes no sense civai.org/blog/space-data... · Posted by u/ajyoon

NathanKP · 8 days ago

My dark theory is that the goal is to run an AI overlord in space such that it is difficult to counter it from Earth.

If you assume that these people aren't completely stupid, then there is some reason why they want this workload running at great physical distance from all the people down on Earth. It's probably not to protect people on Earth. After all they'll happily deorbit satellites and other junk from orbit and let it rain down on us. And they will happily destroy the environment with all those rocket launches too. Therefore it must be to protect the workload from us.

What is a workload that is something that people would probably want to destroy, and which would also provide enough value to offset the expense to launch and run in space? The only thing that might make sense is a military AI platform. Think something that observes Earth, launches missiles, and controls terrestrial drone armies remotely, with relatively low latency.

It gets built and launched thanks to endless military budget, and once it is up there, running such an AI from space means that effectively the only people who can take it out are nation state level foes who can launch rockets into low earth orbit. And this thing is a satellite, probably part of a network that is watching the Earth all the time. Start building something that looks like a rocket launch site, and the AI will see, then you get hit by a missile or taken out by a drone first before you get a chance to attack the platform.

It sounds like sci-fi, but in the future, if we let it happen, there could absolutely be nearly invulnerable autonomous AI platforms in space overseeing everything, and making decisions, and issuing commands. Of course there could still be a massive solar flare event, or a Kessler syndrome event that releases us all from AI enforced servitude. Anyway, it's a not so fun thought experiment, and let's hope this stays sci-fi, so we can just enjoy a fun Hollywood film about this rather than experiencing it firsthand.

NathanKP commented on Refusing to Use Twitter blog.korny.info/2026/01/2... · Posted by u/pavel_lishin

hyperhello · 16 days ago

Downvotes are a tone. It’s the equivalent of yelling “shut up” and “stupid” at things that might require a little thought. That’s what makes the communities worse, not the odd comments that get dragged under by reflexive negativity.

NathanKP · 16 days ago

So far in this thread the majority of Hacker News users have decided they don't like the tone of your comment, therefore they have downvoted your comment.

If you don't see the irony, let me point it out: this is a real time demonstration that your following statement is not an inevitable thing:

> eventually converges on the same thing in the end: a place to dump out ugly things

When a community has the tools for self governance, then it can resist influences that it does not appreciate. In the case of Bluesky in specific, you may not be familiar with how easy it is to subscribe to labelers and blocklists. This decentralized self governance model allows anyone to curate their Bluesky experience, and it allows sub communities to collectively govern in ways that filter the cesspool and remove the ugly things.

In short, the fact that you are complaining about downvotes while simultaneously saying that it is inevitable for communities to devolve into places to dump ugly things is highly ironic. One thing that you are complaining about, is the solution to the other thing that you are complaining about.

NathanKP commented on Refusing to Use Twitter blog.korny.info/2026/01/2... · Posted by u/pavel_lishin

NathanKP · 16 days ago

You are getting downvoted for tone. By tone I mean the polarizing terms like: "cesspool of stupid opinions" and "low-thinking idiots", etc.

When social communities allow the type of tone you are using, that is precisely how they end up worse over time.

Hacker News downvoting comments like yours is how it has maintained quite high quality over the last 16 years I've been on this website.

NathanKP commented on Tesla Optimus robot takes a suspicious tumble in new demo electrek.co/2025/12/07/te... · Posted by u/LopRabbit

hintklb · 2 months ago

Ah yes, Think of the children! [1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_of_the_children

NathanKP · 2 months ago

No.

This is a real issue. If a robot is fully AI powered and doing what it does fully autonomously, then it has a very different risk profile compared to a teleoperated robot.

For example, you can be fairly certain that given the current state of AI tech, an AI powered robot has no innate desire to creep on your kids, while a teleoperated robot could very well be operated remotely by a pedophile who is watching your kids through the robot cameras, or attempting to interact with them in some way using the robot itself.

If you are allowing this robot device to exist in your home, around your valuables, and around the people you care for, then whether these robots operate fully autonomously, or whether a human operator is connecting via the robot is an extremely significant difference, that has very large safety consequences.

NathanKP commented on The Most Joyless Tech Revolution Ever: AI Is Making Us Rich and Unhappy wsj.com/tech/ai/the-most-... · Posted by u/thm

NathanKP · 3 months ago

"the disconnect between a solid economy and an anxious public"

Maybe... the economy isn't actually as solid as he thinks?

NathanKP commented on Dietary flavanols preserve endothelial function during sitting physoc.onlinelibrary.wile... · Posted by u/PaulHoule

NathanKP · 3 months ago

In case anyone else is wondering about practical ways to reproduce these effects, I did some quick searching:

Most chocolate / cocoa products are processed in a way that destroys 80%-90% of the flavanols. You either have to buy specialized high flavanol cocoa powder (what the study used), or you would have to be consuming multiple cups of matcha tea, or squares of dark chocolate ever day. You'd likely also want to add high flavanol foods like blueberries, blackberries, and cherries to your daily diet.

As someone who spends a lot of time sitting, and also has a family history of heart issues, it sounds promising. I'm planning to give it a try.

NathanKP commented on The future of excess mortality after Covid-19 swissre.com/institute/res... · Posted by u/luu

NathanKP · 3 months ago

This is coming from Swiss Re, which is the world's largest insurance company for insurance companies.

Basically you pay an insurance company premium so that if you have a health emergency the insurance company will take on the cost of your emergency.

Insurance companies pay Swiss Re, so that if the insurance company faces a financial squeeze from unforeseen mass disaster, then Swiss Re takes on the cost.

Swiss Re is basically warning their clients (insurance companies) that Swiss Re is seeing an ongoing trend of excess deaths post Covid, though they expect it to trail off by 2033. They highly recommend their clients factor that in when they calculate what premium they need to charge to be profitable.

NathanKP commented on Tiny electric motor can produce more than 1,000 horsepower supercarblondie.com/elect... · Posted by u/chris_overseas

mywittyname · 3 months ago

Does this motor design scale down? It's not clear from the article - the article focuses more on the relative efficiency gains over the previous model.

A 30lb 1000hp motor doesn't necessarily mean that they can also produce a 3lb, 100hp motor. It would be cool if it did, but I doubt that it does because usually component strength doesn't scale linearly.

That being said, these are still valuable for traditional EVs. Even if they are only a modest weight savings in the grand scheme of modern vehicle weight, their ability to improve packaging options will be a boon. One thing the industry has dicovered is that the generic "skateboard" platform doesn't make for the best vehicles, in terms of packaging.

NathanKP · 3 months ago

I'm more fascinated by the question of whether it scales up... imagine much smaller and more efficient electric engines for cruise liners and cargo ships.

NathanKP commented on OpenAI says over a million people talk to ChatGPT about suicide weekly techcrunch.com/2025/10/27... · Posted by u/jnord

unglaublich · 3 months ago

The romantic fallback plan of being a farmer or shepherd. I wonder, do farmers and shepherds also romantize about becoming programmers or accountants when they feel down?

NathanKP · 3 months ago

You'd be surprised how technical farming can be. Us software engineers often have a deep desire to make efficient systems, that function well, in a mostly automated fashion, so that we can observe these systems in action and optimize these systems over time.

A farm is just such a system that you can spend a lifetime working on and optimizing. The life you are supporting is "automated", but the process of farming involves an incredible amount of system level thinking. I get tremendous amounts of satisfaction from the technical process of composting, and improving the soil, and optimizing plant layouts and lifecycles to make the perfect syntropic farming setup. That's not even getting into the scientific aspects of balancing soil mixtures and moisture, and acidity, and nutrient levels, and cross pollinating, and seed collecting to find stronger variants with improved yields, etc. Of course the physical labor sucks, but I need the exercise. It's better than sitting at a desk all day long.

Anyway, maybe the farmers and shepherds also want to become software engineers. I just know I'm already well on the way to becoming a farmer (with a homelab setup as an added nerdy SWE bonus).