2022-08-20
Readings
Crossing a landmark in nuclear fusion power: https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevE.106.025201
This is a small “meh” essay on an interesting topic - the horse-swamp scene from the Neverending Story film; for those of us who saw this young it was unforgettable, but mostly just in the cinematic mode; many children experience some of their grandparents die, and it’s comparable, although putting it into a film makes it universal, and makes it easier to talk about (perhaps comparable to the myths in religious texts; one can talk about moral lessons more easily with a shared story than a personal one)
Weird virtualisation (for ICE purposes) in the 286: https://rep-lodsb.mataroa.blog/blog/intel-286-secrets-ice-mode-and-f1-0f-04/
More mapping of the behaviour of water near the liquid-solid phase transition (really two of them for water): https://phys.org/news/2022-08-evidence-liquids-temperatures.html
Alzheimer treated in mice by targeting neurogenesis: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-08-boosting-neuron-formation-memory-mice.html
Important progress in breaking down materials we make industrially that are excessively durable: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-02247-0
Progress in restoring vision in cerrtain kinds of vision loss: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2333290-cornea-made-from-pig-collagen-gives-people-who-were-blind-20-20-vision/
Thoughts
On booby traps, moral intuitions, and incentives - We may cheer when a thief is injured by a trap, but the other categories coexist, and we may either go both ways, making people not liable for injuring those doing illegitimate unauthorized access but regularly and perhaps trebly liable for injury to those doing legitimate UA, or alternatively to have criminal policy push people consistently towards behaviour that would not injure legitimate UAers. I lean moderately towards the latter; it's not that I see no appeal to the strong corollaries to the castle doctrine, and the security it provides. But I think a society that insists on all property interactions being done with acquiescence, presence, or even knowledge of the property owner is one that has given up too many useful tools to deal with crimes and abuses; in the end, property is (as I see it) a provisional (if usually strong) allocation of resources from society to an individual, purposed as a general mechanism to serve the societal good. While a strong commitment, it is not sacrosanct. It bends to necessity, and bends to laws and those who enforce them.
I find it interesting that statistics can sit, at least on the face of it, on the idea of randomness in the universe, while really depending on that actually meaning unpredictable. Although to take that too far would be to dismiss statistics based on a shallow criticism; once one begins to characterise distributions, one is effectively building models for things partly known and the shape of things that are not. It may seem strange that such things could be characterised at all, making it, like mathematics, not empirical like a science, but instead a cousin discipline to science.
Current Events
The Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, although thankfully the Russian advance has stalled, with continued Ukraine strikes against military bases in occupied Crimea diminishing Russian capabilities, while Russia continues to go after civilian targets and power plants.
Interesting to read about the touchiness of votes and residence in certain parts of the world; while this article critiques Indian legal changes in Kashmir, at least as described the changes seem pretty sensible - people residing in an area vote in the area. I gather from the article Kashmir has its own notions of permanent residency though, probably remnants of some past compromises that might complicate the issue. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/19/uproar-in-kashmir-as-india-allows-voting-rights-to-non-locals
The 3-month-old government of Montenegro dissolved after a no-confidence motion in their Parliament
I was disappointed to hear that Liz Cheney, one of the respectable (if very conservative) Republicans pushing back against her party’s authoritarian pro-Trump trend, lost her primary; one of the most dangerous things for a nation is when misbehaviour is first permitted, then rewarded, while good behaviour is disadvantaged. I funded Cheney, purely because I respect people who put nation over party. In the same way that I would’ve done my best to fund people who spoke out against Blago or Cuomo. Both parties have problems with radicals right now.
As a followup to Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, several other US Legislators have visited the country, angering China but hopefully signalling to it that an invasion would be unwise and (hopefully) met with force. It’s uncomfortable to need to do this while we’re demonstrating the limits of our involvement in Ukraine; might send the wrong messages, but the visits to Taiwan are helpful I think.
Reviewlets
To Say Nothing of the Dog (novel) - This felt like a Jane Austin novel mixed with a bit of mystery and a bit of science-fiction. I largely liked it, but it’s not the kind of book I normally read and there were times when the pacing was slow. I also found it to be a bit hard to follow.
Phantom Brave (PC game) - I played through the PC port recently; it’s a faithful port, but a bit disappointing in that they didn’t make any of even the most obvious improvements (like making higher-res textures or text available). The game as a whole looks good but a lot of the elements of it don’t.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (PC game) - I’m playing through this again very casually, mostly just before I go to bed at night; it’s been out for awhile but has some new content; I enjoyed it a lot the first time; it shows how Castlevania-style games can be done right in modern times. It still holds up.
Amusements
Amusing exploration of motivations of villains in fiction:
Extremely silly voiceovers of animals:
Materials Science has come a long ways:
Recent Music
The Common Good - DeVotchKa - A fairly slow intro (that it took me awhile to realise is musically necessary), by the time the voice kicks in the clock is wound
Para - Calexico - Seems like it’d perfectly pair with a mid-life crisis and a walk through a desert
Wasted on You - Morgan Wallen - I don’t recall where I heard this, but I like the beats and the layering