futurebird

futurebird, 4 days ago to random

What is the best explanation you’ve heard for 1 not being a prime number? For me it’s “because it breaks everything in my programs since the loops won’t terminate” but that’s obtuse. “Because the God of math decrees it so!” is compelling, but shallow.

“it can only be divided by 1 distinct number” is contrived.

1 “feels” prime— it has the fewest factors. (Primeness being about NOT having factors) ruling it out for having too few? eh.

“it’s the zero of multiplication” is better… thoughts?

john, 4 days ago to art

A random artwork from my gallery:

"Abelisaurus Portrait" — 2022

Abelisaurus was a meat-eater from the Late Cretaceous of South America.

https://johnconway.art/abelisaurus_portrait

#Art #Colourful #Flat #Paintings #Palaeo #PalaeoPortraits #SouthAmerica #Theropods

futurebird, 4 days ago to random

She likes to rest on this bookshelf so she can look us in the eye when we exit the shower.

She peers around the door frame. Two triangle ears and a little plaintiff face.
My husband peers around the door and he and Pica are eye to eye in a staring contest.
Pica won. She sits front paws neatly draped in front of her queen of the bookshelf.

futurebird, 4 days ago to random

When colonies are small they are nervous. Here is the young queen and her 23 daughters are gathered close to her frozen in fear as I feed them and collect the little trash pile they made. When their numbers pass some tipping point they will stop cowering like this and grow bold. I wonder how each ant decides if she should be brave or hide? how do they know the size of their colony?

futurebird, 4 days ago to random

Sam Alito is so much worse than I ever suspected. Watching him speak, reading his writing you encounter a man who clearly thinks he's smarter than everyone.

For various reasons, we do not often encounter smug academically styled conservatives. But, he's the genuine article. He sincerely believes himself a brave iconoclast who will be seen as a hero someday.

His self-flattery could be a weakness. He is very wrong about how history will remember him.

futurebird, 4 days ago (edited 4 days ago) to random

The bald eagle could have easily gone extinct. But we did all sorts of "woke" things protecting it legally, ran conservation and study programs, banned DDT (that was good for other reasons too) and in 2007 they were removed from the endangered species list.

Likewise pine forests could be dead from acid rain.

The ozone could have a huge hole.

We CAN take care of nature when we want to. And the successes have been worth it.

I feel like we forget this, you know?

futurebird, 4 days ago to random

Do you like parasites? Or dislike them but can't stop learning about them? The worst ones are in the sea. Makes all of the parasitoid wasp stuff seem tame! There are worse fates than being paralyzed and fed to a hungry larvae who eats your organs selectively so you live longer.

Here is a great video. It is very gross. But it's cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qZQ2wcQY3o

futurebird, 4 days ago to random

I don't know how my ancestors survived.

apex predator who could easily subdue and eat me in a tree

my brain: Kitty Cat! Little kitty cat! Let me hug it!

futurebird, 4 days ago to random

It's the same picture.

https://www.rawstory.com/ron-desantis-mask-order-2654942318/

The photo of the "hot dog guy" from "I think you should leave" saying "We're all trying to find the guy who did this!" (he did it)

futurebird, 4 days ago (edited 1 day ago) to random

Have you thought much about, or engaged with "liminal space" content in the past 10 years? (Through a reddit group, tumblr, compilation videos etc.)

Regardless if you care about such content now, if you ever spent some time enjoying or being disquieted by such images and media... that's "engaging"

If you don't know what this is about you have not. If you know what it's about but just never paid it any mind? Same.

dsalo, 5 days ago to random

Johns Hopkins is doing a long-COVID survey and apparently is having trouble finding controls -- people who haven't had COVID. If this is you, consider giving them some clicks.

https://covid-long.com/

Adam_Cadmon1, 5 days ago to random

Lining up Black men to be the Fall Guys if Biden doesn't win. Even though Black people and Black men specifically makeup less than 13% of the national population. Every time it's the same shit.

futurebird, 6 days ago to random

I hate what debates tend to be: soundbite mines where each side runs around claiming that they got in the best "dunk" and thus won.

It reminds me of when I as a teen and the ran the dozens in the school yard. "Yo mamma so fat the lobbyists say 'save some for me!'"

Can't even agree who won the last election. How can Trump ask to participate in a system he doesn't even recognize as legitimate?

Why debate Biden? You don't think he's president, right?