Favorites December 2nd 2021

Ramses the Pigeon @RamsesThePigeon

I couldn't figure out where the comma(s) in "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" should go, so I hit myself in the face.

They didn't quite explore every possibility, but I'm satisfied with the level of consideration here.

Pepe Silvia, MD @pjputh

One year ago I made promises and today I will keep them

Pepe Silvia, MD @pjputh

@CorvusRobert @mmfa Legend at my hospital: Little old lady brought in by medics. Metal detector kept going off. Found a .380 in her damn wig.

Lucky it wasn't an MRI

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Monetary policy is weird — the Fed hasn't actually done anything, but just talking about tightening policy has pushed the dollar up a lot which tightens policy. At peak performance you never do anything at all, and just let markets react to expectations that you will do things.

Presumably they have to actually make good on their policy right?

Charlie Stross @cstross

How to build a supersonic trebuchet:

hackaday.comSupersonic Projectile Exceeds Engineers Dreams: The Supersonic TrebuchetHave you ever sat down and thought “I wonder if a trebuchet could launch a projectile at supersonic speeds?” Neither have we. That’s what separates [David Eade] from the rest of u…

Having seen what's possible with office supplies and kids toys (50 m/s projectile), what can we do with titanium and carbon fiber?

Ryan Petersen @typesfast

The decline in ships waiting just offshore of Los Angeles/Long Beach continues to be touted as a sign that port congestion is easing — despite the fact that the true number of waiting ships has not actually declined.

www-freightwaves-com.cdn.ampproject.orgShips in California logjam now stuck off Mexico, Taiwan and JapanDespite claims to the contrary, the ship backlog is not getting smaller. Vessels are waiting on both sides of the Pacific.

So it seems like they've setup a way to get in queue way before arriving, so they are waiting around on the far side of the trip. On the other hand, the freight rate from Shanghai and Los Angeles has reached a 5 month low, so maybe things really are improving.

Julia Galef @juliagalef

Kevin explains why pandemic prediction research isn't worth it, EVEN IF it could help us avoid natural pandemics:

I had never considered this angle on the risk before.

Terrible air quality tonight, but it made for a great sunset