Hacker News Reader

MetallicDragonon Time Travel in Braid (2015)

If you aren't aware, there's a secret ending if you get all the hidden stars. I'd recommend looking it up. I think it might change your interpretation of the game somewhat.

MetallicDragonon SpaceX launches Starship v3 rocket

Polluting with what? It's mostly stainless steel and other inert materials.

MetallicDragonon Old Soviet Venus descent craft nearing Earth reentry

I don't think we have any active craft capable of recovering it. The space shuttle probably could have done it, but with a cost of about $1.5b per launch, there is no way that would be worth it.

SpaceX's Dragon 2 easily has enough cargo capacity to bring it down (~3 tons vs 0.5 ton), but there's still the question of intercepting, capturing, and securing it in Dragon's cargo bay. That would still cost something north of $100m to recover the lander.

MetallicDragonon We can mine asteroids for space food

In space, assuming you're not too far out, heat is abundant. Literally just put the ice in an insulated room with a window facing the sun. If you want to get fancy, use mirrors to focus the sunlight.

MetallicDragonon Is artificial consciousness achievable? Lessons from the human brain

"Any kind of big idea which is spread primarily through video instead of text is immediately suspicious. Could you please send a link to a written version of the main points from any one of those video?"

MetallicDragonon Edgar, build a Dyson swarm

There is no "right" choice. Both choices immediately end the "game". It's just a short story with two endings.

MetallicDragonon Is the emergence of life an expected phase transition in the evolving universe?

Using what definition of intelligence?

MetallicDragonon Improving deep sleep may prevent dementia, study finds

Try OTC reflux medicine like Prilosec (Omeprazole). Works way better than Tums for reflux in my experience.

MetallicDragonon Improving deep sleep may prevent dementia, study finds

This sounds like the same cycle I go through, especially the forgetting part. I've found that cycling caffeine through the week (taking a break on weekends) and just not having too much even during the week can help maintain the productivity, but it also means spending my weekends in a tired daze. I think I just need to commit to not having any caffeine, or if I do, only taking it temporarily before stopping again.

MetallicDragonon A clever “perpetual motion” device [video]

Any mechanism that could switch the magnet on and off would require energy. E.g. you could put a magnet next to it with opposite poles, which would mostly cancel out the magnetic field, but would require a lot of force to push them together, which is work, and thus requires energy.

MetallicDragonon Universal Paperclips

There are a few games where the point is basically to write a bot to play for you. Off the top of my head are Screeps and Adventure Land