StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Another real life example of where small size is an advantage would be a Cox in a rowing boat , although there are generally rules to enforce a lower weight limit, e.g. at 50kg for female Coxes and 55kg for Male in international competition, although weights may be used if the weight is under (I'd s...

Yep, I'm increasingly seeing this as not all that desirable. Looking at the real world, even jobs and disciplines with low mass margins generally don't use little people. The only real-world profession I know of that selects for even smaller-than-normal people due to mechanical considerations is tha...

And then there are cannabinoid products which have been licensed fairly widely outside the USA, such as Nabiximols/Sativex (an inhaled standardised dose of cannabis extracts, mostly licensed as an adjuvant treatment for MS spasticity).

Another voice for the "not OK" camp, for all the reasons given by Simon_Jester. And for another small reason, which I'm not sure has been voiced (although I haven't read the whole thread): this was a contest agreed to between parties under fair terms. It turned into a very one-sided contes...

Dawn of spaceflight to near future settings: every ounce that you send up has to be justified, because of the costs and difficulty of getting it out of the Earth's gravity well. Currently the costs are down to $4000 per kilo, so this may not stay relevant for much longer, but still, it's a thing. Al...

first thing I found. recommends a maintence diet of 1000-1400kcal http://www.lpaonline.org/assets/documents/Nutrition%20and%20the%20Little%20Person.pdf Half the nutritional requirements of a normally-sized person? That seems like it would come in very handy indeed. I"m not sure this'd pay off....

(All this, of course, would have to acknowledge that the saving would be much less than for an entirely automated/AI-piloted vessel in any of the scenarios given).

I was pondering a small sci-fi based on a crew entirely consisting of individuals with achondroplasia, or other conditions that lead to having a short stature. The rough reasoning was that if a ship was built with a maximum crew height of, say, 4'8 in mind, and also a smaller mean crew body mass in ...

The US, too, has an artificially restricted supply of doctors due to the limits on medical school, but here it's the AMA (a professional association) that's doing it. EDIT: Also, when I say 'figure out how to train more doctors or make training less onerous' that doesn't necessarily mean 'dumb down...

Utter chaos.

The degree might depend a little on the society, and how much they normally tolerate bullshit etc. anyway... but liars, frauds and hypocrites may be found everywhere.

It's a bit more complicated than just needing to train more people at medical school... After successfully graduating medical school (under the current system in the UK), new doctors enter a "foundation" post. There has been a bit of a shortage of such posts for the last few years, and it ...

MondoMage wrote:

Kuja wrote:01:36:37
I'm still waiting with baited breath (where exactly did that particular colloquialism come from, anyway?) to see what happened to Mr. Understatement...

Abated -> Bated -> Baited (frequent modern day misspelling)

As said by previous posters, this would only be relevant to type 1 diabetes, not the much more common type 2 (or a few other rarer types). Also, it's at an early stage, and could yet be scuppered by all sorts of problems. More generally on the issue, there have been a number of trials into immunothe...

My money's on a hallucinogen in the water... Probably should have had whoever's been shirking their duties the most taste it first, and then wait a little while while they fix the canteens. (Incidentally, did you know that messing with the water supply is against the Geneva conventions? Not that the...

“Regrets I’ve had a few—but then again,” she said with a smile, “too few to mention.”

Thomas snorted. “I did what I had to do . . . and saw it through without exception.”

Groan...

Well, at least someone in the upper echelons of Comstar has a bit of common sense... Prediction: This Charles has his eyes on Nicholas' job, and has just enticed him into an order that spells Nicholas' own demise. Or he might even plan to see said order carried out, and then get Nicholas' job someh...

And now the term "legacy" makes a lot of sense. 20 years of peace is a fine legacy to leave, even though, as they say, nothing lasts forever.

This would seem to be the new CDC report that much of the article is based on. Two limitations are worth noting: 1) Only adults aged 35-64 2) Only in the USA Point 2 is particularly worth making, because some other countries, such as the UK , have seen a declining trend in suicide over the past deca...

Two tiny medical nitpicks on this generally excellent and quite compelling narrative: 1) On tattoos: these tend to age; and a close medical examination should distinguish a fresh one from an old one. All four Makos having fresh tattoos might ring some alarms, if they were thoroughly autopsied. 2) On...

What I'm thinking is that if I were him... I wouldn't play this game for long. Partly because it's a very dangerous dance. Partly, because he should soon see the Star League have a pretty decent plan to finish the conflict. On seeing that, his best course would be to sell out RS to the Star League r...

This Erik Kiplinger doesn't quite add up. Dragging his faction into a war which promises to be uniquely devastating, and putting himself on the firing line to boot, quite aside from the many other ways this game of blackmail may well blow up in his face, and all just to make Robert Steiner suffer? E...

As someone unfamiliar with the setting, how, and how well, do the Caspars distinguish between "friendly" and "hostile" warships? Are there ever any friendly fire incidents when the behaviour of a cargo ship or friendly war ship somehow gives them grounds for suspicion?

Just completed an archive trawl of the earlier version of the rewrite. Like it very much

Good stuff - I was a little worried I might have upset the author with my farseer quibbles. EDIT: Although, because I can't quite leave it alone, here are the staple, bread-and-butter farseer psychic powers in current 40k (from which I see they got rid of Astral Projections...): * Battle Fate - Exam...