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DARPA Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures

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Re: DARPA Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures

#91

Post by mmooss »

chr1 wrote: post #73
mmooss wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Currently most of the ocean is a lifeless desert Where can I read more about that? My understanding was that it is teaming with microorganisms or near-microorganisms, and of course there are many fauna and flora and protista and other life forms.

E.g. https://www.eodashboard.org/story?id=primary-productivity&pa... For water to team with life, you need materials for building cells in the same place where the light is, and in most cases there is not enough iron on the surface

Thanks! And that is a great resource.

Re: DARPA Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures

#92

Post by titanomachy »

MrLeap wrote: post #55
ryandamm wrote: post #45

I saw this at a DSO* presentation ("Darpa's Darpa") back in ~2018. Hope they've gotten some early traction, that was some of the least wild crap that was being presented. My company was pitching holographic cameras, and we weren't scifi enough. The investigator wanted to know if we could do hyperspectral 3D imaging from something the size of a sugar cube. ("Uh, no?" was our response.) * Defense Sciences Organization:…

> Seeing (sensing) the unseen I'm reading this as a soft signal that there's still a market for marinating wizards in salty brine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargate_Project_(U.S._Army_un...

Can you explain what specific experiment your excellent imagery refers to?

Re: DARPA Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures

#93

Post by thom »

adrian_b wrote: post #87
thom wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is very interesting. I know obsessing over Roman history is seen as somewhat fascist-adjacent, especially emanating from tech spaces, but I keep wanting to run a company along the lines of the Republic’s mixed constitution. No king with centralised power (CEO) but elected Consuls with term limits, who have the power to kick off and deliver big projects, aligning teams however they need to. Give every tribe (prod…

I also believe that certain aspects of the Roman Republic were superior to those of any of the so-called Republics that exist today, all of which do not observe the fundamental rule of the Roman Republic, which was that, there must exist no major management function occupied by a single human, like a president or a prime minister, but in all such roles there must be at least 2 humans, equal in the granted authorities…

It's true there were usually pairs of consuls and censors, but there were powerful magistracies that were awarded to individuals, like pontifex maximus and the tribune of the plebs, the former being a lifetime appointment. Either way, the Republic collapsed into violence, and was hardly blameless in its own fall. Ultimately whatever checks and balances you have, it's very hard to stop power and wealth accumulating, and thus enormous constituencies feeling disenfranchised.

Re: DARPA Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures

#94

Post by eesmith »

afpx wrote: post #88
eesmith wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any idea of the breakdown? Because everything I've see is that no one knows , and the limited government publications are full of bullshit. Like, if a project studying biodiversity is cut, is that because it is "related to DEI initiatives" because it shared the word "diversity"? How many of the laid-off VA staff were DEI? The laid-off forest rangers? How much of USAID was DEI? The Trump administration say…

To be clear, I'm not a republican or a conservative. If it matters, I'm a modern liberal (i.e. what existed before progressivism but after classical liberalism). I'm just trying to distill what I believe the right says and what I observe. Also, this is my take on modern American conservatism, in general - individual cases vary. First, if you look up progressive academic theorists [1] you will see that they are largel…

> they are largely inspired by Marxist philosophy either directly or indirectly

As I wrote, Marx's critical analysis of capitalism touched on many social topics. You should not be surprised that his work had merit in later social research. You should not be surprised that others who criticize capitalism have overlapping beliefs.

Though do note that "Marxist philosophy", quoting the Wikipedia entry for Marxism, has "branches and schools of thought, and as a result, there is no single, definitive "Marxist theory".

Just like there isn't a single, definitive "liberalism."

> The right are diametrically opposed to Marxism because it relies on an assumption that Man can rise above his Animal instincts.

I ... what? I have no idea what that means. Where does Marx talk about that? How does that have anything to do with class struggle?

> but because of Human nature integration cannot work

What?!?!? English, Welsh, and Scottish cannot integrate? What about Presbyterians and Anglican? Men and women? People with blue eyes and people with brown eyes? Bourgeoisie and proletariat? Gen X and Gen Y?

What does it mean to not integrate when there are different classes in a shared society? They certainly aren't calling for the abolition of class distinction, which is Marx's Communist solution.

> so that the risk of a king is eliminated

Right, so Communism? Otherwise, when there is a power vacuum, something fills it, and without the consent of the people, that's a king, dictator, strongman, or the like.

As it stand, it looks more like the dismantling of the legislative and judicial branches, with all power in the executive.

> given the constraints of the constitution.

I'm pretty convinced the current government does not at all feel itself constrained by the constitution.

> they hope to expand the US to other countries voluntarily

History shows the US has a long history of not expanding voluntarily. What's changed? How has this new right de-fanged itself from the tendencies of the old right, like Andrew Jackson, that they seem to admire so much?

Many Christians also align with liberal and even radical thinking. Integration is possible because everyone is a child of God, and "When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.” ... “The foreigner who resides with you must be to you like a native citizen among you; so you must love him as yourself, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

Re: DARPA Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures

#95

Post by chr1 »

the_sleaze_ wrote: post #80
chr1 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nitrogen is easy, it can be captured from air, iron is the main thing missing in surface water that must be brought up by upwelling. But having real trees above the water is much more useful than simple carbon capture, they would serve as wavebreakers for seasteading settlements too.

You're right, there seems to be iron rich deep sea currents in some places that could be good opportunities for upwelling, especially if you had a carbon neutral way to do it. There is also emerging technology for nitrogen fixing that could work - Electrocatalytic Nitrogen Reduction. All this being said, if the goal is carbon sequestration building a viable business is going to be next to impossible. The easiest way…

Carbon sequestration is merely a side effect, the main goal is to have a wavebreaker and a park and a place to grow fruits, for a floating city.

To bring nutrient rich water up and to generate energy in the process temperature difference between surface and deep water can be used [1]. So if this kind of tree is created, living on open sea can become cheaper and more pleasant than even living on a beach.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_thermal_energy_conversio...

Re: DARPA Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures

#96

Post by afpx »

eesmith wrote: post #94
afpx wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be clear, I'm not a republican or a conservative. If it matters, I'm a modern liberal (i.e. what existed before progressivism but after classical liberalism). I'm just trying to distill what I believe the right says and what I observe. Also, this is my take on modern American conservatism, in general - individual cases vary. First, if you look up progressive academic theorists [1] you will see that they are largel…

> they are largely inspired by Marxist philosophy either directly or indirectly As I wrote, Marx's critical analysis of capitalism touched on many social topics. You should not be surprised that his work had merit in later social research. You should not be surprised that others who criticize capitalism have overlapping beliefs. Though do note that "Marxist philosophy", quoting the Wikipedia entry for Marxism, has "b…

I don't know, man. You'll have to go talk to some of them to get a better answer. This is my distilling of 8 years of conversations with average, everyday conservatives as I tried to figure out what they were even talking about. Interestingly, the all seem to have a strong intuition of what they want but seem to stumble on articulating it, they get frustrated, and lash out. I had to do a lot of socratic method and ask a lot of questions to come to these conclusions.

However, you are right about Marxism in that it influences a lot of things. Ironically, the accelerationist movement also even has influence from Marx. A lot whom I talked to have disdain for "academia" - I do know that.

I'm guessing here (and a lot of this is guess work) - that integration is difficult because they view "social control" as impossible outside of a cultural context. That is, within a culture, everyone learns all of the subtle rules and order of things - things that you can't codify in law. But, integration requires a lot of frontal lobe activity which is difficult to maintain and is fragile when it fails.

Re: DARPA Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures

#97

Post by gom_jabbar »

afpx wrote: post #96
eesmith wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they are largely inspired by Marxist philosophy either directly or indirectly As I wrote, Marx's critical analysis of capitalism touched on many social topics. You should not be surprised that his work had merit in later social research. You should not be surprised that others who criticize capitalism have overlapping beliefs. Though do note that "Marxist philosophy", quoting the Wikipedia entry for Marxism, has "b…

I don't know, man. You'll have to go talk to some of them to get a better answer. This is my distilling of 8 years of conversations with average, everyday conservatives as I tried to figure out what they were even talking about. Interestingly, the all seem to have a strong intuition of what they want but seem to stumble on articulating it, they get frustrated, and lash out. I had to do a lot of socratic method and as…

Correct - Nick Land, often regarded as the father of Accelerationism, affirms Marx's fundamental insight that "the means of production socially impose themselves as an effective imperative" [0], though his interpretation aligns itself with capital and its autonomization:

"Right-wing Marxism, aligned with the autonomization of capital [...], has been an unoccupied position. The signature of its proponents would be a defense of capital accumulation as an end-in-itself, counter-subordinating nature and society as a means." [0]

[0] https://retrochronic.com/#right-on-the-money-2

Re: DARPA Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures

#98

Post by foxglacier »

hsuduebc2 wrote: post #72
foxglacier wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Come on. Even if all of Darpa is shut down, it will hardly matter. Come back in 4 years and see that the world is still turning but you've used up your hyperbolic panic on a big nothing-burger.

Just because the world keeps turning doesn't mean it's unaffected. Small shifts today can have huge consequences down the line, and brushing everything off as a 'nothing-burger' is exactly how real damage gets ignored. I wonder-what would actually have to happen for you to stop calling it that? This situation is, at the very least, unusual.

For the past 25 years, there have been consistent small shifts towards more government deficit [1]. Aren't those the problem that has to be stopped? I don't know enough about economics but can this really continue forever or is it just exacerbating some painful problem in the future if it's not reversed now? Maybe non-essential for-the-future work like Darpa isn't the best thing to spend money on when you're trying to reduce spending as fast as you can? It can always be re-instated in more prosperous times.

[1] https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-budget-deficit-tops-18...

Re: DARPA Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures

#99

Post by MrLeap »

atonse wrote: post #85
MrLeap wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You gotta forgive people. We've all been a little eroded by regular assertions that a safe underhand throws, like turning a webpage into an electron app or whatever, are moonshots. I for one love things like this. I wish we used a little more of our colossal production power to try manifesting the wilder things from our imagination. Maybe they can contract out how to make society have a better handle on balancing com…

Exactly, I am totally fine with us spending some tax dollars to try out these absolutely insane ideas. But this isn't a matter of "let's spend more" because the pool of people that can see an absolutely insane idea, and ones that can actually work on them, are the vanishingly small number of nearly eccentrics. So there is an upper limit on how much money can be spent if you're at the absolute tip of the iceberg.

> because the pool of people that can see an absolutely insane idea, and ones that can actually work on them, are the vanishingly small number of nearly eccentrics.

I go back and forth with this. The further along the path I go, the more I weight good faith and sincere will to make a thing over ability-at-start. (drive + moxy + curious + perceptive - ego) is a better function to optimize for than buzzword count on a resume.

I think there's a lot of people who can do crazy things in a good faith kind of way that advances the wave front of humanity. It's possible that it's everyone, and it's all about conditions. "all about conditions" is doing some heavy lifting, but maybe you see what I'm trying to articulate.

Re: DARPA Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures

#100

Post by MrLeap »

titanomachy wrote: post #92
MrLeap wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Seeing (sensing) the unseen I'm reading this as a soft signal that there's still a market for marinating wizards in salty brine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargate_Project_(U.S._Army_un...

Can you explain what specific experiment your excellent imagery refers to?

Whichever one used sensory deprivation tanks. I don't remember the specifics.

High salinity solutions make wizards more buoyant. It's immediately self evident to me how this helps one telepathically view the inside of missile silos on the other side of the planet.

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