Footprints.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a10933/tyrannosaurus-trackways-reveal-a-dinosaurs-walk-17016027/

My doctoral school in planetary science had students from a mix of academic backgrounds, so we all had to take astronomy as geology classes. We all went together across town to the observatory to meet the somewhat elderly astronomy professor. When he opened his computer, the screen was filled with hardcore porn. We all sat in silence as he closed it and opened his presentation. He then started his talk, which featured a classical painting of the milky way coming from the breast of Hera. When the picture was on the screen he looked at it for a while, then said "mmm, I like this picture."

I've been printing for two weeks, and I had one.

Took me a minute to realize it was the Onion.

I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition.

I watched a catapult fire projectiles into a castle moat outside of Cardiff at a medieval fair. Also got propositioned by a Welsh girl, but couldn’t understand what she was saying.

The endowments are earmarked for particular use. The grants allow individual researchers to do their research. University funding math is weird.

The graph is right there...

Yeah, I was enjoying some videos about dumb Steven Seagal movies, but then I realized that every single one would have jokes about women being bad drivers, being overly emotional, etc. At first I took it as a humorous way to look at Seagal's misogyny, but then it became apparent that it was being applied in other cases where it didn't make sense. It was subtle, in the context of the rest of the videos, but a definitely present part was the manosphere mentality.

It is so much worse than that.

I spend my time researching the literature on a topic so that I can spend my time and energy writing a grant. It probably won't get funded.

If it does, I get to do a bunch of work. It might involve travel, where I will do everything at minimum expense to save enough money for the coming lab work.

I will spend significant time getting the samples analyzed, spending most of the grant money. Then I will come up with a logical way to interpret the data.

I will spend more time sending a document around to coauthors. This may take months, or even years if the coauthors fight.

We eventually submit to a journal. It gets rejected.

We rewrite and submit again. A few months later, congratulations, you get to publish. Money please.

I work for the money to do the work, I work for the writeup, I fight for the acceptance, and I have to pay to publish.

It's a stupid system.

I tried reading one of these. Gave up when I realized it was basically a very slightly modified version of the four humours philosophy of philosophy. Couldn’t find anything helpful in it.

The racism of UFO conspiracies gets worse the deeper you go. For instance, it is a common belief that there are multiple races of aliens, but the really “good” ones are either the “Nordics” or the “Tall Whites.” They are generally described as being tall, white, blonde-haired and blue eyed.

Example: https://eightify.app/summary/computer-science-and-technology/exploring-encounters-with-nordic-e-ts-tall-whites-key-to-our-existence

The scary thing is that he didn’t invent that concept. It has been raging since before the Satanic Panic. He just gave those people a platform.

My mom always got upset when my brother and I fought. "Take it outside!" she would say. One day, as we started to fight, my brother reminded me what she said. So, we calmly walked to the front yard, then we went at it.

Somehow it still didn't make her happy.

Deporting legal immigrants with proper documentation has happened already.

Deporting valid visa holders after cancelling a visa for no clear reason has happened.

Tarrifs have been instated, removed, reinstated, and modified based on whims of the president.

Judges made legal decisions, which is their job, and we're subsequently harassed by ICE.

DOGE has done irreparable harm to the well established, decades old infrastructure that the country runs on. Because of their decisions, top-level scientists are fleeing the country, programs to help people around the world and project US power have been dissolved with no warning, and institutions across the country have been thrown into disarray. There is no indication that the individuals involved know what they are breaking or have any plan to repair it.

If you are, in fact, living under a rock, then looking into all of these things might be a good start. You might then want to look into the history of Nazi Germany in the mid 1930's to see how they destroyed democracy back then, and see how things happening now mirror what was happening then.

Before Miles is kidnapped by the Cardasians, his wife is mad at him because he brought a stack of engineering books to read on their vacation.

Seems to be a lack of mineralogists here.

Gemstone is a market term. There is no division scientifically between a gem and a mineral.

Minerals form in specific geological settings as a result of temperature, pressure, and the composition of the materials reacting. On the surface of the Earth, we tend to mostly have low temperatures and low pressures. Most minerals are made of only 8 elements, one of which is carbon.

“Gemstone quality” is based on whether or not a mineral can be attractive when faceted. Most minerals do not pass this aesthetic.

To say that a mineral is common or rare is extremely dependent on context. Garnet, for instance, could be the gem that is targeted, or could be waste material that is an annoyance. Most diamond mines throw away massive amounts of garnet.

So, the statement in the title needs a lot of caveats.

A backpacker is traveling through Ireland when it starts to rain. He decides to wait out the storm in a nearby pub. The only other person at the bar is an older man staring at his drink. After a few moments of silence the man turns to the backpacker and says in a thick Irish accent:

"You see this bar? I built this bar with my own bare hands. I cut down every tree and made the lumber myself. I toiled away through the wind and cold, but do they call me McGreggor the bar builder? No."

He continued "Do you see that stone wall out there? I built that wall with my own bare hands. I found every stone and placed them just right through the rain and the mud, but do they call me McGreggor the wall builder? No."

"Do ya see that pier out there on the lake? I built that pier with my own bare hands, driving each piling deep into ground so that it would last a lifetime. Do they call me McGreggor the pier builder? No."

"But ya fuck one goat.."

Used to go to a coffee shop where the barista would say, "You want it black, like me?"

It's one banana, Michael. How much can it cost?