Maybe it’s because I’ve become a pretty outspoken anti-theist, but after growing up and being exposed to better theological and philosophical arguments, I’ve come to the conclusion that Lewis is an overrated hack.

And yes, the Silent Planet books were absolute torture to get through.

Not to mention “barley in middle school”

I don’t know about you, but I think that’s pretty good for a cereal crop.

It’s actually not (just) the acidity. Pineapples and several other tropical fruits have an enzyme called papain that breaks down peptide bonds in a rather unique way, to the point that the texture of the meat can become quite off-putting if the enzyme is not used properly

Edit: acidic or not, it’s definitely best not to put any sensitive parts of your anatomy in pineapple juice

I believe that’s a cantaloupe.

As someone who lives in this same town, black bears are more like overweight raccoons.

Fun fact, our “city hall” is at the tiny community airport, which also had a restaurant with the best chicken wings in town (salt and vinegar wings FTW). The restaurant was still going when this happened in 2019, so my guess is the bear smelled the food and went looking for the kitchen, only to get sidetracked by the city council meeting.

You’ll be hard pressed to find someone deny basic science in today’s world.

They didn’t outright deny it (out loud), but they cast doubt and equivocate about the parts that don’t agree with their preexisting worldview.

Jesuits have done some decent work for humanity, but they are not scientists, mostly because they start from a premise they want to be true and find evidence for it instead of the other way around.

Edit: in fact, why did knowledge need to be “curated” through the Dark Ages? I’ll give you a hint: it starts a “C” and ends with an “atholicism”

Is there any hope for Lemmy?

“No Skyrim until you finish your homework and finish your chores” is a fantastic motivator for my 10yo. When I can model that I can’t play Rocket League with him until after I finish the dishes, it drives the point home that IRL responsibilities need to come before video games.

You know, while sitting around avoiding work on a Monday, I remembered my source: some British dude living in the American Midwest talking about random words on YouTube (I think his channel is “Lost in the Pond” or something like that). The specifics he referenced were “axe/ax,” “kerb/curb,” and “tyre/tire.” In each case, there was a settled spelling shared by British English and North American English (the latter of each pair), and for some reason England made up a new spelling or reverted to an even older spelling in the 19th century (Wikipedia source)

So I wasn’t completely fabricating things, but it was much more specific than I remembered.

There you go. That’s what I get for trusting random bits of unsourced memory.

yet another instance where American English decided to be different for the sake of it, without any rhyme or reason.

I actually read somewhere that lots of those instances were actually England deciding to be different so they could look down on “the colonies.” The extra u in color and favorite, all those random e’s, etc. were actually added later to look “old-timey.”

Now, on a lazy Sunday afternoon, I can’t be bothered to actually find a source, but I remember the source being trustworthy, so take that however you like.

Fluorine. Fluorine is definitely oxygen’s dom.

Haha, yeah, my BiL and his partner both work at Mayo, and they spend almost zero time in Rochester. They either drive to Minneapolis to do stuff and see his family or they drive to Madison, where his partner’s family lives, and do stuff there.

Frankly, I think they’re pretty over Rochester, too.

Yeah, spring is, by all accounts, the worst season for weather in MN. I married into an MN family or I would never have given it a second thought, but having spent some time there, it definitely can be a lot of fun (and Minneapolis has one of the most surprisingly good music scenes in the country, if you’re into live music). It’s a true big city, so whether you’re into sports, table-top games, gardening, comics, video games, food, beer, whatever, you can find truly top notch communities for everything, and the people are generally really nice.

Again, I have only lived there for a few months at a time and only around the Twin Cities and in bumfuck nowhere (Brainerd, where my partner’s family has their cabin), so my experience is limited. But it has been positive enough that when we get fed up with our jobs, we frequently start looking at property values and dream about selling our CA house and buying something outright with equity in MN.

I’ve heard great things about Duluth, especially if you’re into folk music, but it’s really cold as fuck. Rochester is just sort of a weird microcosm that’s kinda it’s own thing due to the Mayo Clinic, but I’ve spent some time there since my partner’s brother lives there. Personally, Rochester is my least favorite part of MN to spend time, but at least they vote blue.

I haven’t spent time in all states, but in my experience I’d say Minnesota is your best bet. Historically blue (mostly near the urban centers), weather is cold but near the Twin Cities is not too bad in the winter (relatively speaking, of course), and it’s reasonably priced (at least to someone who’s used to CA prices).

That, or Washington still has some bits that are both close to affordable and not shit holes.

It’s got what plants crave!

It’s more like a mutual friend. There’s a connection to both reactants (aka “binding affinity”), but not as strong as the bond that is formed between the two substrates (if the reaction is forming a covalent bond between the two substrates, anyway)

Edit: I’m actually saving this meme to show my coworkers that teach biochem, because it’s a pretty decent analogy. You can even extend it to other reaction classes, like a phosphorylase being like a friend who connects your buddy who is selling a guitar with your other buddy who wants to buy a guitar, or a isomerase being that friend who gives you a make-over so that another friend can set you up on a date.

Now, this is the episode the world needs

So, one observer will see those oscillations happen faster than the other?

Not quite. In each observer’s frame of reference, time appears to pass the same; it’s only when you try to reconcile the between two objects that are not at rest with respect to each other does relativity show up.

Basically, when you bring someone back to Earth, the observers will find that their watches don’t match up even though both observers experience time passing the same way as normal (because the oberserver is by definition at rest with respect to their own frame of reference).

TL; DR: Relativity is a pain in the ass and makes no sense in everyday terms.

edit: disclaimer - I am not a physicist and have not taken physics classes in a decade plus, but I do teach science at a college. I’m going mostly on half-remembered lectures and some random one-off discussions I’ve had with my buddy in the physics department over the past few years.