General Balduvian Trading Post(s)

[Onderzeeboot]

One day we can just email it to the sun or something.

No I agree. But I think it's a good transition power source while we cut down on fossil fuels. (to be honest, my opinion is not founded on much research - mostly I just think splitting the atom is badass)

It has a lot of advantages, and besides the waste problem there's really only one major downside, and that's that it kills a lot of people (and nature) when something goes really wrong (think Chernobyl or Fukushima). It's one of the safest energy source really, but the worst case scenarios tend to capture the headlines somehow...

 

[Chris Taylor]

It has a lot of advantages, and besides the waste problem there's really only one major downside, and that's that it kills a lot of people (and nature) when something goes really wrong (think Chernobyl or Fukushima). It's one of the safest energy source really, but the worst case scenarios tend to capture the headlines somehow...

Like most human endevors. Like think of how many murders actually affect you

 

[James Stevenson]

Like most human endevors. Like think of how many murders actually affect you

Yeah sometimes I read the news and I'm astounded at how much fearmongering bullshit it really is. This year I decided I have to keep up with the world so I started reading the economist, which seems to stick to important stuff. I'm quite happy with it.

 

[safra]

The economist is good but you should really read Jacobin instead. I love Jacobin, but I'm a watermelon (green on the outside, red on the inside)

 

[Dom Harvey]

those filthy commies from BTP have infiltrated our thread again

 

[Tanner K.]

Like most human endevors. Like think of how many murders actually affect you

Human beings suck at judging risk. Nuclear power may cause far fewer deaths on average, but the worst-case scenario is so horrific that it becomes unacceptable, and no matter how small the risk is, it's still unacceptable. Better to keep shitting emissions from burning coal on everyone.

 

[ahadabans]

Human beings suck at judging risk. Nuclear power may cause far fewer deaths on average, but the worst-case scenario is so horrific that it becomes unacceptable, and no matter how small the risk is, it's still unacceptable. Better to keep shitting emissions from burning coal on everyone.

Look into thorium reactors, completely different mechanism that essentially can't melt down (and no weapon grade byproducts and it's 4 times more abundant than Uranium). That's really where we need to go with nuclear power.

Not a big fan of the polarization of many of these issues due to politics. It's not all black and white. That's just what the politicians want you to think because they have an agenda and it's easier to mobilize the masses if they make everything out to be cops and robbers.

 

[vennythekid]

Came to this thread for shit-posts about Magic, get energy policy discussions instead. Never change Riptide, never change <3

 

[Tanner K.]

Look into thorium reactors, completely different mechanism that essentially can't melt down (and no weapon grade byproducts and it's 4 times more abundant than Uranium). That's really where we need to go with nuclear power.

I am passingly familiar with thorium reactors (basically, I know that there are reactors that are better than traditional nuclear reactors, though I'm completely lacking in details). At this point, how much R&D is needed to start spinning up working thorium reactors? Or is it more worthwhile to just take the R&D money and invest it in existing clean technologies like solar and wind?

 

[Ferritovore]

a founder of the first U.S. company devoted to developing a liquid fluoride thorium reactor to produce a safer kind of nuclear energy. AMA
https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/mmva4/im_a_founder_of_the_first_us_company_devoted_to/

 

[ahadabans]

India will be the first to really push that technology from what I understand. They have an energy problem that won't easily be solved any other way. The US is complacent about this (really, mankind is complacent). Will it cost a lot of money to build that infrastructure? Absolutely. Is it cheaper to just to keep doing what we are doing? Absolutely (especially while the fossil fuels last). Are we better off being more proactive on this front? IMO, we are.

I love me some solar and wind power and we should be doing a lot more of it, but that's not a fully reliable source in all regions unfortunately. You will always have to supplement that with something. I'm also not vehemently against using oil/coal/natural gas, I just think we need to move faster towards getting away from it primarily because of the environmental consequences. But there is a very large industry with a ton of power in the way of that happening and they've been very successful in keeping this from going anywhere (same with electric cars).

When we put our mind to something, we can accomplish a lot in a short period of time. History proves this. Just look at how much technology has advanced in the last 50 years in areas we've been motivated. Look at how we went from no space program to landing on the moon in a matter of years (all thanks to the cold war). If we wanted to, we could convert 50% of the worlds energy to Thorium nuclear power in a decade or less, but it's just not a priority. No one cares.

Nuclear brings it's own challenges of course (what do you do with the waste? Thorium has that problem too), so it's not a perfect solution. But I think it's a lot better than what we are currently doing. And until we build anti-matter power plants or get into fusion, I'd personally be very happy with Thorium fission.

 

[Lucre]

Human beings suck at judging risk. Nuclear power may cause far fewer deaths on average, but the worst-case scenario is so horrific that it becomes unacceptable, and no matter how small the risk is, it's still unacceptable. Better to keep shitting emissions from burning coal on everyone.

Luddite.

Have we flown too high on our wings of wax tanner?

 

[Jason Waddell]

Turns out those BTP people go off-topic more than we do. Have any of them linked Thorium fission to cube design yet?

 

[vennythekid]

Turns out those BTP people go off-topic more than we do. Have any of them linked Thorium fission to cube design yet?

Unfortunately, the last grant their director applied for was denied by NSF, so they're still waiting on funding to continue that project.

 

[safra]

The problem with the Wish cycle in Cube has always been three-fold. Below I'll examine those problems and explain why my proposed solution addresses them.

1) In Cube you're not relying on four copies of the same Wish for reliability, which adds a real opportunity cost to putting good cards in your sideboard.
2) Putting situational (read: bad) cards in your sideboard requires you to put them in your Cube first. Experiments with power-min cubes have proved largely disheartening, which is why our Cubes are all as small as they can get (plus none of us have 7 friends so <360 is easily possible).
3) Expending draft picks on cards you don't intend to maindeck is really awkward. Hard draft choices increase in frequency at flatter power levels (do I take the Masques dark ritual or the Tempest one??? a real SoFI's choice) and trying to draft a wishboard just leads to brilliant sideboards and terrible maindecks.


All of these problems are difficult to resolve, but I think I've finally got it. What if you could search everybody's sideboards?

 

[Onderzeeboot]

I only just realized this, but someone was going on a tangent in their Utility Land Draft topic!

I ditched the Utility Land Draft completely and just added some cards to the Basic Lands Box, which has now become the Basic Cards Box. I added all of the wishes to the BCX, and that was awesome. One of my irregulars drafted a RUG deck consisting of only Burning, Cunning, and Living Wish, and just put every card he drafted into his sideboard. It was of course hilariously ineffective, and he got defeated by analysis paralysis in a few games, but it'll be a night we will remember for years to come. This was a definite success and I highly recommend it!

PS The player who finished last tried to build a Sigil of the Empty Throne / Master of Etherium deck with Golden Wishes. Hahaha, Golden Wish, what a noob trap!