Recent comments in /f/askscience

grandtheftbonsai t1_j9shy0x wrote

Reply to Do all thinking creatures on Earth use neurons? Does an example of non-neuron based biological "intelligence" exist? by Wun_Weg_Wun_Dar__Wun

First, one has to define thinking and intelligence.

Animal scientists have argued this for ages. Surely monkeys are intelligent, as are dogs and cats. What about monotremes? Fish? Sharks? Lamprey? Starfish? Worms? Insects? All of these have a centralized nervous system. Is that the definition of intelligence. Jellyfish have nerves, but no centralized processing facility. Are they intelligent or do they just react? Sponges (the most ancient extant animal) have no nerves. Are they intelligent?

Plants communicate with each other warning of herbivory, within and between species. Is that intelligence?

Slime molds live as unicellular organisms when food is abundant, only to group up in worm like structures to search for greener pastures. If not found, they metamorphose into what resembles a fungal fruiting body? So are they unicellular or multicellular? Is that intelligence?

Intelligence is a human derived construct, not easily applicable to the vast diversity of living organisms.

259

MorRobots t1_j9shia0 wrote

Reply to What will be the environmental impact of de-orbiting 42,000 Starlink satellites every five years? (Explanation in post) by OvidPerl

How much silicate dust and aluminum oxide do you think the worlds volcanos spews into the upper atmosphere every year? Now ask yourself, if that number is larger or smaller than 29 tons a day and by how many orders of magnitude. I have a feeling you will find the the environmental impact will be ever slightly higher then a butterfly flapping it's wings in china in an effort to cause a hurricane in the Atlantic.

0

CMDR_Shazbot t1_j9sfwb3 wrote

Reply to comment by DaoFerret in What will be the environmental impact of de-orbiting 42,000 Starlink satellites every five years? (Explanation in post) by OvidPerl

Ya that would be insanely interesting to be able to go up and just...scoop whole sats for refurb and return. Calculating the conjunction, the entire landing leg with enough-but-not-too-much fuel with the added mass, and securing it in the vehicle to survive re-orbit wold be... challenging.

2

CoffeeFox t1_j9seco7 wrote

Reply to comment by bladeelover429 in What will be the environmental impact of de-orbiting 42,000 Starlink satellites every five years? (Explanation in post) by OvidPerl

>Now from a climate standpoint- large amounts very tiny particles do have a measurable effect on global warming. If we're burning up a mass of aluminum on the same order as all of the meteorites that enter the atmosphere, then the effect is probably negligible, however.

That's a good point to add to the discussion. Micrometeorites are believed to enter the Earth's atmosphere at a rate of many tons per year. One study estimates roughly 10^6 kilograms yearly

So the Earth has already long had massive amounts of metallic elements entering the atmosphere and vaporizing.

22