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InitialsDiceBearhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearhttps://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/„Initials” (https://github.com/dicebear/dicebear) by „DiceBear”, licensed under „CC0 1.0” (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)ZK
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3 yr. ago
  • But accepting that the descendants of slaves are still poorer than the descendants of their masters and considering it to be anything else than a huge problem

    I implied no such thing, thankfully. I just think it's really hard if not impossible to focus policies on those descendants of slaves and the descendants of the slave-owners without catching other people in the cross-fire if the policies are done on racial basis. Why not just make policies that help all poor people, regardless of race, especially in societies where the line between descendants of slaves and the descendants of the slave-owners has become highly blurred? It would take longer to equalize the wealth that way, but there'd be less drama along the way.

  • One source observes that "[w]hite workers have 74% higher income on average compared to Black and Brown people", so just because the culture might be less racist than the US, the systematic issues are still very much there.

    Those systematic issues aren't racist issues tho. It makes sense the descendants of literal slaves brought from tribes from Africa and the descendants of native tribes in the Americas who didn't even invent the wheel, not even the Aztecs, Mayans or Incas, would have ended up poorer today than the descendants of people from developed civilisations that built huge trans-oceanic vessels. Only literal Star Trek-ian communism could have changed that, even real life communism doesn't and didn't suddenly make janitors rich and college educated managers poor. Look at any Eurasian country with no history of migrations or colonies and the poor people there today are the descendents of poor people from a couple hundred years ago, and the rich people today are the descendents of rich people from a couple hundred years ago.

    The real issue is the lack of social mobility. Some countries have more of it, some less. The way to achieve it is through stuff like real and strong safety nets and welfare and good universal free education and policies such as a progressive inheritance tax, not through racial measures.

    Racial measures exist and have a purpose in divided societies where the racial groups are divided and don't see eye to eye and don't understand each other's issues and therefore each group needs proper democratic representation which also means some amount of economic strength.

    In a society where people aren't actually racist, or racially divided, those kind of measures would only breed resentment because some poor people would be overlooked because they aren't of the "right" colour, in this case not dark enough. So these anti-racism measures would just create more racial drama.

    You can't use a one-size fits all solution to two different countries with a different cultural situation. And considering neither of these two countries is at an extreme of a possible position, the real solutions are more nuanced gradient policies, skewing one way in one country, and the other way in the other.

  • Nuclear fusion @lemmy.ml
    zksmk @slrpnk.net

    W7-X new record: Plasma with gigajoule energy turnover generated for eight minutes via average coupled heating power of 2.7 megawatts

    On 15 February 2023, the researchers reached a new milestone: for the first time, they were able to achieve an energy turnover of 1.3 gigajoules in this device. This was 17 times higher than the best value achieved before the conversion (75 megajoules). The energy turnover results from the coupled heating power multiplied by the duration of the discharge. Only if it is possible to couple large amounts of energy continuously into the plasma and also remove the resulting heat, a power plant operation is possible.

    The energy turnover of 1.3 gigajoule was achieved with an average heating power of 2.7 megawatts, whereby the discharge lasted 480 seconds. This is also a new record for Wendelstein 7-X and one of the best values worldwide. Before the completion works, Wendelstein 7-X achieved maximum plasma times of 100 seconds at much lower heating power.

    Within a few years, the plan is to increase the energy turnover at Wendelstein 7-X to 18 gigajoules, with the plasma then being kept

    solarpunk memes @slrpnk.net
    zksmk @slrpnk.net

    Futurepunk alignment chart

    Thoughts?

    Nuclear fusion @lemmy.ml
    zksmk @slrpnk.net

    Improved Stellarator Coil System compared to Wendelstein 7-x (cambridge.org) | A single-field-period quasi-isodynamic stellarator | Journal of Plasma Physics | Cambridge Core

    https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-plasma-physics/article/abs/singlefieldperiod-quasiisodynamic-stellarator/9B2A5FDCCD7774E4F91BE45E75FDC6B0

    A single-field-period quasi-isodynamic stellarator configuration is presented. This configuration, which resembles a twisted strip, is obtained by the method of direct construction, that is, it is found via an expansion in the distance from the magnetic axis. Its discovery, however, relied on an additional step involving numerical optimization, performed within the space of near-axis configurations defined by a set of adjustable magnetic field parameters. This optimization, completed in 30 s on a single CPU core using the SIMSOPT code, yields a solution with excellent confinement, as measured by the conventional figure of merit for neoclassical transport, effective ripple, at a modest aspect ratio of eight. The optimization parameters that led to this configuration are described, its confinement properties are assessed and a

  • Indeed. However, they are also very slow (usually around 30 km/h) and more importantly very slow to change that speed (cargo ships starts braking 5-10 km before port). The ships' engines aren't doing a ton of work themselves either, per unit of time.

    Work per time is power in physics. A ship like this has an engine of about 100 000 horse power per google, which is about 400 cars' worth of power. And 10th of that is about 40 cars. Which matches thereabouts a huge sail in a strong wind at large altitude in the open ocean like this, I think. Back of the envelope math checks out.

  • Solarpunk Urbanism @slrpnk.net
    zksmk @slrpnk.net

    How Valencia Turned A Crisis (And a River) Into a Transformative Park

    In 1957, Valencia experienced a devastating flood that forever changed the city’s relationship with the Turia River. Nearly 3/4 of the city was inundated by floodwater and over 60 people lost their lives. The following year, the city embraced a plan to divert the river around its western outskirts to the Mediterranean Sea.

    A park wasn’t the city leadership’s first idea—in an effort to alleviate traffic congestion, they envisioned an elaborate highway system through the heart of the City. But by 1970 the citizens pushed back and protested the highway proposal under the motto “The bed of Turia is ours and we want green!” By the end of the decade, the City approved legislation to turn the riverbed into a park and commissioned Ricard Bofill to create a master plan in 1982. The plan created a framework for the riverbed and divided it into 18 zones. Currently, all but one of the zones has been developed.

    The resulting design establishes a monumental 5 mile green swath within a dense and di

    Green Energy @slrpnk.net
    zksmk @slrpnk.net

    Main obstacles facing the adoption of kite sails, the modern day answer to the Age of Sail, are not engineering-related, but social.

    A conventional ship with an easily deployable and retractable kite sail system burns less fuel than one without it. It's a type of hybrid vehicle, that has two propulsion methods, the main reliable one, and the supplementary one, for fuel efficiency. With the system installed and the kite in use, the ship saves an estimated 15% of fuel. However:

    "There's a structural problem slowing down the process: ship owners (who have to make the investment) often don't pay for the fuel – that's the charterer's duty. The charterer on the other side doesn't charter the ship for long enough a period to make installing low-carbon, but potentially expensive, untested technologies pay back."

    The lack of carbon emissions regulations for shipping and low fuel prices have added to these difficulties. The shipping industry is responsible for around 940 million tonnes of CO2 annually, which is about 2.5% of the world's total CO2 emissions.

    A company behind these (SkySails GmbH), while technically succes

    gimp @lemmy.ml
    zksmk @slrpnk.net

    “This new development version of GIMP is a bit of a game-changer as it arrives with some long-anticipated CMYK-related features. The way they are implemented will make some users happy, but some users might feel annoyed. It’s got to do with early binding vs late binding…”

    FOSS Art @lemmy.ml
    zksmk @slrpnk.net

    "This new development version of GIMP is a bit of a game-changer as it arrives with some long-anticipated CMYK-related features. The way they are implemented will make some users happy, but some users might feel annoyed. It’s got to do with early binding vs late binding..."

    Green Energy @slrpnk.net
    zksmk @slrpnk.net

    Wind turbine installation vessels (WTIV) are specifically designed for the installation of offshore wind turbines

    Nuclear fusion @lemmy.ml
    zksmk @slrpnk.net

    Rotamaks: Yet Another Ignored Fusion Technology — The Fusion Podcast

    Nuclear fusion @lemmy.ml
    zksmk @slrpnk.net

    More invested in nuclear fusion in last 12 months than past decade

    Most Excellent Physics Community. @lemmy.ml
    zksmk @slrpnk.net

    Strange new phase of matter created in quantum computer acts like it has two time dimensions - What happens when you mix a time crystal and a quasy crystal?

    Most Excellent Physics Community. @lemmy.ml
    zksmk @slrpnk.net

    Time isn't simply just another dimension - A short (or quick?) walk to Minkowski space, and its peculiarities

    Blender @lemmy.ml
    zksmk @slrpnk.net

    Swallowing the elephant into Blender

    FOSS Art @lemmy.ml
    zksmk @slrpnk.net
    FreeCAD @lemmy.ml
    zksmk @slrpnk.net

    Any FreeCAD v0.20 UI testers interested in testing out a new Theme/Preference-pack called 'Dracula'?

    fosstodon.org FreeCAD (@[email protected])

    Attached: 1 image Any #FreeCAD v0.20 UI testers interested in testing out a new Theme/Preference-pack called 'Dracula'? Instructions are in the this ticket: https://github.com/dracula/freecad/issues/2

    FreeCAD (@FreeCAD@fosstodon.org)

    Instructions are in the this ticket: https://github.com/dracula/freecad/iss...

    Ubuntu Studio @lemmy.ml
    zksmk @slrpnk.net

    As of July 14, 2022, Ubuntu Studio 21.10 has reached EOL

    If you are using Ubuntu Studio 21.10, and if you have not already done so, please upgrade to Ubuntu Studio 22.04 LTS via the instructions provided here.

    Nuclear fusion @lemmy.ml
    zksmk @slrpnk.net
    aesthetic @slrpnk.net
    zksmk @slrpnk.net

    Vertical garden in Madrid, Spain

    Blender @lemmy.ml
    zksmk @slrpnk.net

    Behind the Scenes: Making 3d Jewelry in Blender

    FOSS Art @lemmy.ml
    zksmk @slrpnk.net

    Blender Conference 2022 Call for Content - now Live!