Pat @Pat@qoto.org

#TruthBeTold #microscope #hair #animals #SizeMatters #Words #relativity

The truth is...

The Bubblebee bat is the smallest mammal, smaller than the length of a human hair.

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#TruthBeTold = A statement that is logically or literally true (or partly true), but seems to imply something that isn’t true or is just plain weird. (for rhetoric, logic or propaganda studies… or just for fun)

(image CC-BY-SA-3.0, Momotarou2012, mediawiki commons, modified)

#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #FTW #film #movie #nuclear #reactor #energy #TMI #military #spies #meltdown #China #core #premonition

Retro SciFi Film of the Week…

The China Syndrome (1979)

I’m not sure if this one is technically a science fiction film or not. It’s about high-technology and it predicted something in the future, so perhaps it is. It came out in the years during the roll-out of the first nuclear power plants. The oil industry and other incumbents were and still are strongly opposed to nuclear energy because it competes with their industries. Some of them were able to trick environmental groups into protesting against nuclear energy. Also entities that opposed the development of nuclear weapons (which usually rely on reactors for plutonium fuel), including peace groups and foreign adversaries also fought the development of nuclear power.

This film is critical of nuclear power, specifically about the possibility of accidents. It was released just a couple weeks before the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant accident in 1979, which drew much scrutiny because the remarkable similarity between the events depicted in the film and the TMI incident.

Stars in the film include Michael Douglas, who is an advocate of nuclear disarmament, and Jane Fonda who has been a lifelong peace activist. Fonda plays a TV reporter while Douglas is her cameraman. Jack Lemon plays a plant worker who is a whistle-blower.

(fair use image from the film)

spoiler: see the first toot in this thread before looking here

#NSFW

Dick pic...

#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #FTW #film #movie #blue #ResourceCurse #colonialism #military #spies #robots #pandora #unobtainium #McMovie

Retro SciFi Film of the Week…

Avatar (2009)

It’s hard to believe that it’s been over a decade since Avatar was released. Chances are you’ve probably already seen this one because it was the highest-grossing film of all time when it came out.

Avatar was able to achieve two things that few other films before it did:

1. It featured an interracial romantic relationship without anyone noticing.

2. It showed topless women in a PG-13 rated film.

Even with all of the hype and the obvious preplanned blockbuster feel, it’s still a nice film and worth watching. The film is about American colonialism and serves as a surrogate for commentary about oil wars.

Depending on your perspective, the film delivers one of either two messages:

1. The US is wrong to use its military might to subjugate other less powerful countries.

- - or - -

2. We’re Americans, we’re coming to take your stuff, so bend over.

Yeah, they’re doing another one of these – it releases next month.

(fair use image from the film)

#covid19 #mask #elastomeric #respirator #vax #vaccine #masks #respirators #covid #pandemic #prep

A properly worn respirator is the most effective way to prevent infection and spread of COVID-19 disease.

The most effective respirator at a reasonable price is an elastomeric respirator with detachable filters. The best filter is N100 or P100. These filters are at least 99.97% efficient at filtering out the tiny particles that carry the virus.

Respirators are effective against all variants of the virus. They are also effective against other respiratory viruses and pollen.

The respirator should be NIOSH-approved.

Make sure you do a seal check each time you wear the respirator so that no air leaks around the mask.

Make sure the filter material doesn’t get wet because it won't work as well when it is wet.

Don't ever remove the respirator when you are around other people or are where other people have been recently. Don't even remove it to eat. Find a safe place to eat away from other people who might be infected.

(Image: A cop wearing an elastomeric respirator, lic. CC-BY-AT-2.5. Attribution: Ryssby at en.wikipedia)

#StarTrek #TNG #data #android #human #thoughts #consciousness

This is what androids think about (according to the screen-writers for TNG)

(fair use clip from Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG), episode 'In Theory')

#oil #money #world #crime #accountability #corruption #inflation #Jamal #Khashoggi #JamalKhashoggi #binSalman #Saudi #Arabia #OperationJustCause

A couple of days ago, the Biden Administration announced that the Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, Mohamed bin Salman is immune from a court proceeding to hold him accountable for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi because he is a head of state.

In 1989, the US invaded Panama in order to arrest their president, Manuel Noriega, on charges of drug smuggling.

What a difference a few years make. I guess money can actually buy more today than it did back then.

#climate #ICSEngine #oil #EV

So when did we learn that putt-putt cars cause environmental damage?

At least this long ago...

(fair use clip from the Jack Benny Program, 1955)

#horoscope #JackBenny #USPol #joke

#retrocausality

(fair use clip, Jack Benny Program 1956, and maybe in the public domain due to lack of copyright notice)

#nasa #artemis #moon #apollo #spaceflight #BackToTheMoon

"Orion completed the outbound powered flyby at 6:44 a.m., passing about 81 miles above the surface at 6:57 a.m. The spacecraft speed increased from 2,128 mph before the burn to 5,102 mph after the burn. Shortly after the outbound flyby burn, the space craft passed about 1,400 miles above the Apollo 11 landing site at Tranquility Base at 7:37 a.m. Orion later flew over the Apollo 14 site at about 6,000 miles in altitude and then over the Apollo 12 site at an altitude of about 7,700 miles "
- NASA blog, 2022/11/21, 8:19pm

(image from nasa.gov, Artemis I, on the far side of the moon)

#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #FTW #film #movie #snowflake #tranquilizer #populux #MaidenformBonefire #Fred #alien #Disneyland #FX #KatharineRoss #PaulaPrentiss #TinaLouise #suburbia

Retro SciFi Film of the Week…

The Stepford Wives (1975)

Something is not right in Stepford.

This film draws on two major cultural happenings during the early 1970s, the women's liberation movement and another development which I’ll explain under a CW (content warning) later in this thread because it’s a spoiler. The protagonist, played by Katharine Ross (The Graduate, The Final Countdown) and her new friend played by Paula Prentiss (Catch 22) notice how seemingly idyllic the town of Stepford is, but how backward and subservient all the women are.

During the late 60s and early 70s the women's liberation movement was at its height, with women burning their bras to protest their subjugation and demonstrate their liberation. The Stepford Wives is full of contemporary references and really gives you a feel for what was going on regarding changing roles between men and women at the time.

The film also features Tina Louise, who played “Ginger” on Gilligan’s Island.

A very well-made film, highly recommended.

(fair use image from the film)

#caturday #qm #uncertainty #probability #density #matrix

This is the cat on my profile page. I named him Schroedinger.

#artemis #moon #nasa #space #rocket

Here's a short video explaining the orbital mechanics of the Artemis mission.

#artemis #moon #nasa #space #rocket

Congratulations to NASA for a successful launch and translunar insertion burn. It's now on it's way to the moon.

If you are experiencing performance issues with qoto, like very long page loads, try switching to a theme that doesn't use the Mastodon instance ticker.

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#TruthBeTold #time #day #solstice #astronomy #sidereal #ISS #relativity

The truth is...

A day is 24 hours long, plus or minus about 20-30 seconds. However, during the winter the days get longer. At the winter solstice the days are the shortest.

But the southern hemisphere is different. In the southern hemisphere the days are nearly always 24 hours (+/- about half a minute).

And on the equator it gets really weird, because a sidereal day on the equator is only about 23 hours, 56 minutes year-round. And at the north and south poles, occasional the day is a second longer (leap second), due to climate change, among other reasons.

In space, astronauts experience time differently because they are in an area of lower gravity due to general relativity. For example, the International Space Station experiences 16 sunrises and sunsets per Earth day.

In areas where there is daylight saving time, on the day those areas enter daylight saving time the day is 23 hours, and when it switches back to standard time it’s 25 hours. These short and long days only occur in the areas where there is daylight saving time which you’d think would cause massive geological strain on the Earth’s crust and upper mantle, but for some reason it doesn’t.

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#TruthBeTold = A statement that is logically or literally true (or partly true), but seems to imply something that isn’t true or is just plain weird. (for rhetoric, logic or propaganda studies… or just for fun)

(public domain image from Mediawiki Commons)

(image not to scale)

#cat #caturday #static #electricity #charge #ion #cation #cling #electron #atom #molecule #polystyrene

A positively charged atom or group of atoms is a cation. (cat-i-on)

(image courtesy: Sean McGrath, cc-by-sa-2.0, Mediawiki Commons)

#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #FTW #film #movie #mars #space #spaceship #mission #zeroG #gravity #earth #alien #meteorite #FX #GarySinise #TimRobbins #DonCheadle #ConnieNielsen #JerryOConnell #DePalma

Retro SciFi Film of the Week…

Mission to Mars (2000)

This film got great reviews in Europe but lousy reviews in the US. I suspect the lousy reviews were due to something other than the quality of the film because this is a well-made film. The sets and props are about the best I’ve seen, and the CG (computer graphics) are also well done.

The writing is a little weak, especially the dialogue, but these seasoned actors were able to bring those words to life. The plot is nothing special and the narrative is just a straight, linear story throughout – no flashbacks or flash-forwards. It’s a very easy film to watch and doesn’t demand much from the audience, but it’s still entertaining and realistic for the most part. There are a lot of lines of exposition in this film, but I think the filmmakers wanted to make sure anyone could watch this one and easily follow the plot.

Gary Sinise (Lt. Dan from Forrest Gump) gets the most screen time of the main characters, while Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda) got the least, and Cheadle was also given the majority of the clumsy exposition lines. (I wonder why?) The women were also slighted in this film, but sadly that’s typical for 20th century Hollywood.

Visually the film was fantastic with realistic scenes on Mars and in space which was somewhat reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey. They didn’t get the science right all the time, and some of the situations and problems they faced were kind of unrealistic, but that’s par for Hollywood.

This is a great film for a family, or a group of people that may include those who might struggle with a more complex plot line or who prefer a temporally linear presentation but it’s entertaining for science geeks, too.

(image from film, fair use)

I think using a CW in a post merely because it contains civics information (politics) is one of most anti-democratic things I've seen on fedi.