If you are outdoors in a cold polar region during the day what will keep you warmer?

Details: The color is on the outside, the inside you can assume is a neutral gray for simplicity.

my answer 

@freemo

Black absorbs more EM than white, but black objects also radiate more. All matter above 0 degrees K radiate EM known as "black body radiation". Black objects radiate that energy more quickly than white objects, so they get cold more quickly.

"During the day in a polar region", means that in the dead of winter it's dark out, even at noon. (The question didn't specify the season.) If the sun is below the horizon or very low in the sky (i.e., traveling through a lot of atmosphere), the solar EM wouldn't be much, in which case the black would radiate more energy than the white, and the inside would get colder.

Also, even if there is some sun, the surface of the coat is on the outside of the insulation, so any heat that it absorbs would quickly radiate back out into the air before that heat could penetrate the insulation to help warm you up.

I didn't look any of this up, it all from memory so I can't guarantee it's accuracy.

my answer 

@Pat That last sentence looked a bit off to me. Isn't it "I didn't look any of this up, it's all from memory so I can't guarantee its accuracy."?

@freemo

my answer 

@trinsec @freemo

Yeah, I kind of scrambled my plurals/possessives on the "it"s.

Dyslexia seems to be acting up at the moment for some reason, I 'm making all kinds mistakes in my writing...

my answer 

@Pat

Hmmm dyslexia. I wish i had that "excuse" :)

@trinsec

my answer 

@freemo @trinsec

A lot people have undiagnosed dyslexia. I've noticed that you often confuse things like "your" and "you're". You may have it and not know it.

my answer 

@Pat

I use your by default mostly because I type to fast and dont review what I write. Couple that with the fact that i got into the habit by typing on my phone where an apostrophe is a bit tedious. That particular error, as most of my errors, are largely due to not caring and typing as fast as I can since i dont find the medium to be critical for correctness.

My formal writeups, as well as my blogs, tend to have very few errors since I proof read them.

That said my natural rate of errors has been unusually high the last 2 years since my injury and COVID largely due to the extremely high levels of stress I've been under which seems to effect the prevelance.

@trinsec

my answer 

@freemo @Pat

Oh man...

Ok the real challenge here is to find a sentence without mistakes. ;)

my answer 

@trinsec

hahaha valid. Honestly if i could actually edit posts on here there would be a lot fewer of them. At least on matrix i will occasionally correct my mistakes. Here I see them but usually after i already posted and only once i reread it when going over replies.

@Pat

my answer 

@freemo I do tend to delete and redraft in the first minute or so, and if nobody's replied yet. Otherwise it is a 'oh shit, oh well, move on, next time better'.

@Pat

my answer 

@trinsec

I used to do that but with 20K some followers it pissed off a lot of people, way more than just keeping the typos.

@Pat

my answer 

@freemo Heh... valid point.
That said, I tend to take like 10 minutes per email just to make sure my answer makes total sense and contains no mistakes. I tend to do the same for my initial toots often as well.

@Pat

@trinsec @freemo

When spell-checkers came out, it was a godsend for me. If I left my spelling mistakes in my writing, you wouldn't be able to make out half of what I was saying, it's so bad.

A lot times I can't find the words in the dictionary because I can't spell it close enough to find it. I use Google a lot now because they have AI/phonetics algorhtms.

(I left that last word misspelled, just so you could see how I tried to spell it unassisted so you get a feel what I face with this issue. It's a real pain.)

@Pat

I dont use spellcheckers. I dont need that kind of negativity in my life!

@trinsec

@freemo @trinsec

Is that everyone gets pissed off at me when I try to correct their grammar?

Follow

@Pat I appreciate the correction if it's informative. I mean, how else are you gonna learn?

But I know people who absolutely hate to be corrected in any way possible. Can't always win, I suppose.

@freemo

@trinsec

I hate to be corrected. If I am corrected I cant say I'm always right anymore. Why would anyone want to be wrong!

@Pat

@Pat

That would still make me right only 50% of the time. If I am never corrected then I'm right 100% of the time.

@trinsec

@Pat You don't get his thinking pattern... he just wasn't wrong to begin with. ;)

@freemo

@trinsec

I'm starting to think you might be the smartest person on this server :)

@Pat

@freemo Oh, really? Even smarter than you? I'm so honored. ;) And since you're always right, it must be true!

@Pat

@trinsec

Well as someone who is always correct it isnt possible to actually be smarter than me. I would say we are about equals :)

@Pat

@freemo Nonono, there won't be any backtracking on this. ;)

@Pat

@trinsec Fair ::hands over the deed to his house including all his labs to trin:: It is time for you to carry the torch.

@Pat

@freemo Huh, cool. Is it like Dexter's lab? I could have some fun with this... Either that, or a quick death, since I don't know how much of a death trap your place can be. ;)

@Pat

@trinsec

A bit of both. Its basically dexters lab except where everything will kill you if you are within 5 feet of it.

@Pat

@freemo Doesn't sound like a safe environment to work at...

Which is probably your favorite hangout spot. ;)

@Pat

@trinsec

To be honest being on the verge od death at any moment is quite relaxing. You should try it sometime.

@Pat

@freemo You have a very odd definition of 'relaxing' there! You should check a spellchecker just to make sure!

@Pat

@trinsec

Actually I know I kid but there is some truth to it. When you are constantly facing fears of death by putting yourself in situations that can be lethal, but ultimately you are in control, you find that most of the day to day things that would otherwise stress you out dont. In a very weird way dangerous hobbies cause the rest of life to be far less stressful.

@Pat

@freemo @trinsec
>That would still make me right only 50% of the time. If I am never corrected then I'm right 100% of the time.

This is why Trumpian delusion has so much mass appeal.

@Pat

Delusion? Trump is the best president we ever had. Just ashame the election was rigged and they illegally deposed him with Biden.

(That was painful to say, even ironically)

@trinsec

@freemo @trinsec

Deposed him? What do mean? He's still the president.

@Pat

What you didnt see the video where they stored official ballots underneath a table thus definitively proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that the election was rigged?

@trinsec

@freemo @trinsec

>What you didnt see the video...

What I saw was a narcissist whose ego was so fragile that he was willing to take down the country rather than face the reality of his own failure.

@Pat

Yea, thats an accurate description for Biden, that bastard! :)

@trinsec

@freemo @Pat You both are just terrible at faking Trumpism. ;)

@trinsec

Fake? ::injects some cow dewormer as he recites the pledge of allegiance::

@Pat

@freemo @trinsec
>where everything will kill you if you are within 5 feet of it.

Sounds like social distancing at a crowded grocery store during a pandemic.

@Pat

Pretty much, just replace COVID with super-ebola and you will be in the ballpark :)

@trinsec

@freemo @trinsec

Yeah, covid just seemed that way. Ironically, the more deadly contagions are less of a pandemic threat because they kill off the hosts before they have a chance to transmit the disease, thus keeping the spread in check.

@Pat Actually the idea that more lethal viruses are less of a thread isnt actually true. For example if a virus kills 100% of victims but takes 30 days to do it it will still spread quite a bit if it is contagious enough.

I debated this some months back and if you look at a comparison between R0 and morality they arent really strongly correlated at all.

@trinsec

@freemo @trinsec

Yeah, you're absolutely right. I think there's an inverse correlation between R0 and how *quickly* a disease kills/disables its victims (not lethality), all other variables being equal.

@Pat

It depends. If it kills you quickly this often suggests that the virus has a high viral load that develops quickly. Meaning it would also have a higher transmissability despite having a shorter period of time where it is contagious.

So it really just depends on a few factors.

@trinsec

@freemo Yeah, that, and Americans. ;) That's totally a factor too!

@Pat

Show newer

@freemo On the other hand, if a virus kills 100%, social distancing might actually be followed more tightly, lessening the spread (and thus the threat).

Unless we're talking about Americans... ;)

@Pat

@trinsec

I carry a fork around with me and just stab anyone in the eye who comes within arms reach. I havent had much problem with people refusing to socially distance :)

@Pat

Show newer

@trinsec @freemo

>...if a virus kills 100%, social distancing might actually be followed more tightly, lessening the spread

Yes, human behavior is a big part of it. With diseases like ebola with all of the bleeding, or small pox with the facial deformities, those diseases probably spread less than they would otherwise because people take them more seriously.

@Pat

Honestly 90% of the reason people are so reluctant to COVID vaccination or recognizing its severity is because both the democrats and republicans made it a political battle rather than working together and finding a middle ground that was denialism or forcing people at gunpoint to obey.

@trinsec

@Pat Covid is actually pretty 'smart' for a virus. Everything is so very long term that we can't oversee it (yet). Long covid is a thing, but it's not that very well known. If any, I'm kinda impressed by it.

@freemo

Show newer
Sign in to participate in the conversation
Qoto Mastodon

QOTO: Question Others to Teach Ourselves
An inclusive, Academic Freedom, instance
All cultures welcome.
Hate speech and harassment strictly forbidden.