Recent comments in /f/askscience

RhodesArk t1_j5wiiuv wrote

Reply to comment by [deleted] in Ask Anything Wednesday - Economics, Political Science, Linguistics, Anthropology by AutoModerator

No, because you're competing with the private sector in a lot of these cases. So you need to offer graduates competitive wages because there aren't a lot of people that can credibly consult, propose statutory amendments or regulations, or deliver on multi billion dollar programs over the medium term. These are lawyers, accountants, and others that the government just can't afford anymore. How bad is it? Go watch how the Canadian Parliament is grilling McKinsey specifically for third party outsourcing work previously done by government. Sure there are bureaucratic checks in financial controls , but why name names when the stats for each specific hr category does the same thing.

My response is inherently biased to highly skilled labour located in OECD countries, like the Canadian province of Ontario. Transparency is necessary, but matter only if unions or people can organize to reflect the changing conditions of the market. For all institutions to immediately lock in inflationary labour costs (i.e. give everyone a raise permanently) is silly. But indexing it to inflation is the same end with more steps. But after this long, even if the number on the TV screen says 33,743, the fact that you're not eating as much meat is a pretty clear signal: raises need to index to a poverty rate nearer to 50k (or something, don't castigate me internet).

Ultimately, public service transparency laws are for a really specific type of worker and are a double edged sword. I'm only speaking anecdotally, but it's a conversation I've had dozens of times with public servants on both sides.

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PangolinStirFryCough t1_j5whfir wrote

Reply to Ask Anything Wednesday - Economics, Political Science, Linguistics, Anthropology by AutoModerator

Economy/political science: in your opinion, how likely would you say that the globalized system will collapse soon? (As outlined by Peter Zeihan in his new book "The end of the word is just the beginning: mapping the collapse of globalization". His general theory is that the aging population in most of the industrialized world and the increasing hesitancy of the US in participating in global trade & security will lead to the end of globalization as we know it.)

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ZippyDippyZebra t1_j5wgeqj wrote

Reply to Ask Anything Wednesday - Economics, Political Science, Linguistics, Anthropology by AutoModerator

If a mountain was over 10-12km tall (in the Stratosphere) would the peak of the mountain never be covered in snow (assuming that if like Everest, this mountain was once fully inside the Troposphere and the accumulated snow on its peak was melted by some completely unrelated event) The idea behind this being the stratosphere begins at 10km above sea level and is said to be free of all weather phenomena. Also the idea that there isn't a mountain that reaches the stratosphere, is that by design/effected by the laws of nature, is their some sort of limiting factor like the structural integrity of the stone upon reaching a certain height?

Would the parts of the mountain above 10km be forever free of snow while the parts below be snowed on?

Would having a massive chunk of rock poking into the stratosphere modify/effect the climate in some way?

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polytopey t1_j5wge45 wrote

Reply to Ask Anything Wednesday - Economics, Political Science, Linguistics, Anthropology by AutoModerator

I seem to remember reading an encyclopedia about humans from prehistory era with amazing hand-painted paintings - cartoon-ish, anime-ish, or water color ? - depicting hunter-gatherers settlements with beautiful landscape behind it and what not.

Could you recommend me an encyclopedia like that ? I love reading them and the paintings help me to be immersed in the world, much more than realistic pictures can.

Thank you!

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a10t2 t1_j5wfte2 wrote

Reply to comment by quetric in Why do sample return missions such as OSIRIS-REx use their own reentry vehicles instead of just going to the space station for pickup and return with ISS equipment? by PromptCritical725

Bear in mind though that any sample return would be coming in on a hyperbolic trajectory. Given the time scales involved the ∆v required to intercept the ISS would be negligible when compared to that needed to rendezvous.

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BuffaloBoyHowdy t1_j5wfkzm wrote

Reply to comment by Ausoge in How hot is the steam coming out of nuclear power plants? by ivy-claw

This. You can't really see steam itself. All that white stuff is water vapor. Look closely at a kettle with boiling water. As the mist comes out of the spout, there should be a clear space at the opening, that's the steam. It quickly condenses into water vapor, which is what you see. Don't stick your finger in it.

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bildramer t1_j5wdfhc wrote

Reply to comment by mschweini in Ask Anything Wednesday - Economics, Political Science, Linguistics, Anthropology by AutoModerator

If I understood you correctly: Aside from energy and cold, there's no other input that's really fundamental in the way you thinking. Most processes we consider "labor" consume energy and generate heat, and other than that deciding how to do things or where to source your energy/cold from is only a matter of efficiency. For material goods, you could always (with enormous difficulty/cost) create matter from energy, and arrange it the right way by "spending" some cold/negentropy, but if you want to make steel, mining abundant iron ore is much easier. If not:

Two people can exchange goods and both be better off, and that's the basis of trade.

We create valuable things where there were none (e.g. food, buildings, a concert) or make things more valuable by changing how accessible they are, moving them, changing their form, giving them to people who value them more, getting more information about them, etc. and we do all of this because each person doing it considers it better than not doing it. That's only because they get paid, usually, but that also happens because bosses consider paying workers to be better than not doing it. And so on.

I don't really get what you mean by "injecting value", but aside from food and steel you also value more abstract things like information, law and safety, consistency, personal connections, entertainment, and others. Every time service work happens, some of this kind of value is newly generated.

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