Spyke

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world

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Man who received first pig kidney transplant dies

It's incredible that this was viable in the first place. Of course these type of experimental surgeries are done on extremely sick people at the end stage of normal care. So, actually two months is nothing to scoff at. It means a successful operation. I hope autopsy will give insight. What this man did is incredibly brave and important for mankind. Hero in my books.

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So, is the USA screwed?

In a sense it is done. That sense is being a beacon of progress. All presidents before Trump understood the relationship America had with the world as being a world power. While there always was a conservative voice in America, conservative presidents were always able to mask self interest under the flag of progress, bringing democracy, peace and free markets. Now ultraconservative fascist are no longer masking, Trump and Musk are literally not smart enough to understand. The USA played a very important role in the world order and the current administration is basically giving that up.

Trump and Musk, because they really aren't smart (i can't stress this enough, they lack the mental capacity), are not considering the value of that role, the services the US provides. They only think about the value of things and of money. More rockets, tarifs on goods, expenditure... And see these as things along which progress is measured.

While that does, to a small extent, captures progress. It forgets the foundations of progress, peace, education, financial security, social cohesion, to name a few. Sorry, i say forget... But really what i should be saying is dismantling. They are also clueless about the value of services and the service economy. Which is, or has become, another measure of progress.

Anyway the point is, the US can't maintain their position in the world order. They can't maintain a government that understands their responsibility in that order. They abandoned their classic role without providing the world with a new/better one.

The US has been degraded to a trade partner.

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Fake moo

About 900,000 cows are slaughtered every day. If every cow was 2 meters long, and they all walked right behind each other, this line of cows would stretch for 1800 kilometers. This represents the number of cows slaughtered every day.

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Why are fruits and berries healthy, even though they are mostly just sugar?

They are not mostly sugar, sugars are just a part of the nutrients. Most fruits don't even have that much sugar in them, it varies wildly though. There is also the way these sugars are intertwined with fiber, that make it much harder for these sugars to be processed in your body. So the sugars are released over a greater period of time giving your body more time to react. as opposed to refined sugars. Fruits are always healthier than candy, cookies, or soda.

There is a lot more in fruits than just sugars, there are proteins, vitamins, minerals, fibers. Which are all necessary for a healthy body. Sugars as well are necessary for your body to function.

It is practically impossible, if you're otherwise healthy, to eat too much fruit. I personally eat at the very least 3 kilos or 5 pounds of various fruits a week. within an otherwise varied (vegan) diet. I've done so for the past 10 years. I make sure to test my blood, and so far had zero issues except low vit. d. Which you can't get from fruit.

Why is it healthy? Well, we evolved next to fruits. Our ancestors always plucked and eaten them for millions of years. Just like we've done with all kinds of plants. Our gi tract is the right length, our body cant make most vitamins itself and completely functions on sugars. Fruit is part of a varied diet.

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Microsoft CEO Begs Users to Stop Calling AI Content "Slop"

It lives and dies by consumer demands? That hasn't been the case since we started this fucking race. It has pretty much been an Investment run enterprise since the very start. Name a single LLM derived product that is consciously being bought by consumers. It's all subscription based models that don't deliver on their promises. Nothing is living up to its promise.

Where is the AI that I can say: plan an appointment with my dad. And it links our agendas, sets the alarm, orders a bottle of wine, asks me to order an uber because im out of gas, and otherwise i should leave a bit earlier. Where are the actually smart intelligent assistants?

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The invention of smartphones probably made the idea of international travel less intimidating since you now have a pocket translator tool and can find your way in a foreign place with GPS navigation.

I find this the weirdest part of reading old travel accounts, like from the 16th century or something. When travel really was a completely different beast. They never talk about getting lost or language barriers as being the big problems. The biggest problem is always getting sick or accidents.

And looking at my own life and traveling before smart or even mobile phones existed. I feel exactly the same. I always knew where I had to go, even if I had to search for it. And I was always able to get around and buy things without speaking a word. Just gestures and an attempt at learning a few simple words.

But I always had something to fall back on. A landline. A travel agency. A random person that shared a language. I always was curious how travel went before those things existed. And now to see a next generation being curious about how travel was before another thing to fall back on.

The thing to fall back on just gets more and more competent. From having to use a post system that took weeks to get an answer back. To being able to call anyone anywhere anytime. I think every step has made travel easier, less intimidating, and cheaper.

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What is the next "big thing"?

America has a real problem if something very bad happens to Biden or Trump during the elections (or shortly after).

The world has a problem when Trump is elected again. As he's not known for keeping peace, or understanding international relations. In fact quite the opposite.

So the next big thing really is the elections.

....

Notice though how certain massive events are barely registering here.. Imagine a third of Americans threatened to lose their home.. But that's what's currently happening in China through floods, and rain season still having to start. I would call that big, 120 million people isn't nothing.. In comparison, 7 million died from corona (out of 700 million confirmed cases)

So this very much depends on your perspective and where on the planet you live.

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What's Some Tech That Was Better Than It Is Now?

Depending on your definition of 'better' . In terms of repair ability and ease of maintenance, pretty much all old tech. In terms of price... There is no chance, it's insane how cheap tech has gotten.

The power consumption of old stuff is also extremely bad compared to now. So yeh you can have fridges, washing machines, or whatever appliances from the 70's that still work and are easy to maintain.. They use way, way, way too much power for what they do. In an ideal world where energy is free, sure that stuff is better. We don't tho.

Also, basically everything that uses software while it shouldn't, has a worse user experience than before.

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Why do tires have the width and diameter they do?

More rubber on the road means more grip. As the weight and corner speeds increase, you need more of it.

In adverse conditions, wet, mud, you need profile on your tires to channel the water while keeping rubber on the road and maintaining grip. Wider tires make up for the rubber lost in grooves.

More grip also means more resistance. So there is always a balancing act between the grip you need and the resistance you can put up with.

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How can we reconcile the idea that Eugenics in Humans is bad, but in Dogs it's acceptable (given the 150 years of breeds with specific characteristics)?

Abrahamic religious traditions put the idea of men having dominion over life into our societies ideological underpinning.

You're obviously correct, and so have many people throughout the ages, about there being ethical inconsistencies.

When future societies look back on this period, the way we use animals will be seen as absolutely barbaric. Mainly because it's absolutely true.

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XXX

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No. Not because it's impossible. But, mainly because it's only after it goes past court that you're actually 'pinned'. So you're going to have to be certain that will happen, otherwise the political fall out isn't worth it.

Also let me remind you that the guy shot at a crowd so he was already applying for ending his life in prison. There is no need to turn it into some wicked conspiracy where the feds needed to pin him..