Jupiter-sized, lots of carbon... Sounds like a match to me.

By The Associated Press

Wednesday, October 29, 2025 • 1:34 AM EDT

RIO DE JANEIRO — About 2,500 Brazilian police and soldiers launched a massive raid on a drug-trafficking gang in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday, arresting 81 suspects and sparking shootouts that left at least 60 suspects and four police officers dead, officials said.

The operation included officers in helicopters and armored vehicles and targeted the notorious Red Command in the sprawling low-income favelas of Complexo de Alemao and Penha, police said.

Do you think Brazillian Burton made it out alive? How about Brazillian Timmy?

“I looked her up,” Fayez said. “I didn’t tell Elvi. Back in the day, this was Francisca Torrez. She worked in the Science Directorate as a technician. I assume Cortázar knew her, at least in passing. She was going through something. Maybe her love life sucked. Maybe she always wanted to be a dancer and realized it wasn’t happening for her. Anyway, she started drinking and showed up to work intoxicated and belligerent. She didn’t even go home that day. Ochida had a streamlined disciplinary hearing with Cortázar and the head of security, and they put her in the Pen before she even sobered up.” - Leviathan Falls

Tanaka in the same book had it available in her bedsite table:

“First I’ve heard of it,” she said, reaching for the side table and her sobriety meds. “Can you tell me the agenda?” - Leviathan Falls

We know that sobriety meds were wildly available at least by Babylon's Ashes

Alex held it up. He’d gotten the packet from a dispenser in the men’s room. The foil had a dragon’s head embossed on it and some nonsense kanji that didn’t mean anything.

Holden’s brow furrowed. “Sobriety meds?”

Alex felt himself blushing and tried to hide it by smiling. “Well, I’m thinking I may be in a situation here pretty soon where everybody needs to be able to agree to whatever they’re agreeing to.” - Babylon's Ashes

So how did a scientist assigned to a high level research facility not have access to the sobriety drugs? Does Laconia not make them wildly available in the hopes that they can recruit more people into the pens? For a high security building like the pens I'd assume it would be in dispensing machines in the bathrooms for when you clock into work.

At the beginning of Persepolis Rising Cortazar explains that the human stem cells injected into Duarte were altered by the proto molecule. I'm guessing they then removed the proto-molecule from the stem cells before injecting them into Duarte. This was to mimic the drone repairs on Laconia.

My question is: How did the proto molecule defeat this big constraint and mind control Duarte? Cortazar was explicitly removing it from the stem cells. The molecule could only "perfect" the stem cells in regard to efficiencies the ring builders knew of. But by Leviathan falls they definitely have full control of Duarte anyways.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/32718381

The Expanse: Osiris Reborn Announcement Trailer

Someone in the area picked a really good name for their boat.

I have marginal service out here. So here's the link just in case.

https://imgur.com/a/POnYBBa

Every "Beltalowda" from the show!

In Leviathan Wakes, Miller is shown eating fake beans with real rice. But why? My knowledge of agriculture is below zero but I feel like if you can supply real dried rice in space you could also supply real dried beans as well.

An hour later, his blood warm with drink, he heated up a bowl of real rice and fake beans—yeast and fungus could mimic anything if you had enough whiskey first

I'm sure everybody can recall Prax's confession to the free navy:

“The thing you need to understand,” he said, an irrational, intoxicating courage blooming in his heart. “Biological equilibria? They’re not straightforward. Never.” “Equilibria,” the man repeated. “Yes. Exactly. Everyone thinks that it’s simple. New, invasive species comes in and it has an advantage and it outcompetes, right? That’s the story, but there’s another part to that. Always, always, the local environment resists. Yes, yes, maybe badly. Maybe without a clear idea of coping with novelty. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but I am saying it’s there. Even when an invasive species takes over, even when it wins, there is a counterbalancing process it has to overcome to do that. And —” The tall man was scowling, and his discomfort made Prax want to speak faster. To say everything he had in his heart before the hammer fell. “And that counterprocess is so deep in the fabric of living systems, it can never be absent. However well the new species is designed, however overwhelming its advantages seem to be, the pushback will always be there. If one native impulse is overcome, there will be another. You understand? Conspecifics are outcompeted? Fine, the bacterial and viral microecologies will push back. Adapt to those, and it’ll be micronutrient levels and salinity and light. And the thing is, the thing is, even when the novel species does win? Even when it takes over every niche there is, that struggle alone changes what it is. Even when you wipe out or co-opt the local environment completely, you’re changed by the pushback. Even when the previous organisms are driven to extinction, they leave markers behind. What they are can never, never be completely erased.”

My question is that it seems to fall flat with the existence of the gate builders in the same fictional universe. I'm pretty sure they've remained unchanged after every single planet they've terraformed.

If fusion drives are described as being hot enough to melt space ports if you point them the right way, why don't ships use them for self defense? Point them at a missile and melt/vaporize it before it can detonate? Melt PDC fire etc?

Abstract

Free space optical (FSO) communication using lasers is a rapidly developing field in telecommunications that can offer advantages over traditional radio frequency technology. For example, optical laser links may allow transmissions at far higher data rates, require less operating power and smaller systems and have a smaller risk of interception. In recent years, FSO laser links have been demonstrated, tested or integrated in a range of environments and scenarios. These include FSO links for terrestrial communication, between ground stations and cube-sats in low Earth orbit, between ground and satellite in lunar orbit, as part of scientific or commercial space relay networks, and deep space communications beyond the moon. The possibility of FSO links from and to the surface of Mars could be a natural extension of these developments. In this paper we evaluate some effects of the Martian atmosphere on the propagation of optical communication links, with an emphasis on the impact of dust on the total link budget. We use the output of the Mars Climate Database to generate maps of the dust optical depth for a standard Mars climatology, as well as for a warm (dusty) atmosphere. These dust optical depths are then extrapolated to a wavelength of 1.55 μ𝜇\muitalic_μm, and translated into total slant path optical depths to calculate link budgets and availability statistics for a link between the surface and a satellite in a sun-synchronous orbit. The outcomes of this study are relevant to potential future missions to Mars that may require laser communications to or from its surface. For example, the results could be used to constrain the design of communication terminals suitable to the Mars environment, or to assess the link performance as a function of ground station location.

For a moment, Dafyd Alkhor saw the universe the way a Carryx would, and it was beautifully simple and utterly horrific.

From what I understand the Carryx actually have a simple view of the universe which is simultaneously crazy successful. The equivalent of rolling the dice again and again until you win at the species level. Every Carryx individual starts off with semi randomized genetics and then is slowly reduced in the society until they reach soldier class. Captured species/tools are given a variety of tasks and they just keep the ones who do a good job.

Seems like a caste system but innate. They don't really even have enemies, just species who haven't been captured.

I'm wondering if my explanation here is accurate or if I'm missing a few points? I'm also interested in what blind spots such perspectives on the universe has? I still see Tkson of the cohort Malkal being ready to kill Dafyd for suggesting that individual Carryx could have choice as being similar to Caste system lovers being ready to use violence to perpetuate the caste system. We also see a subjugator prime and secondary librarians during the battle with galactic humans being upset/resentful at suicide orders which hints that the caste system isn't as hard coded as the Carryx like to pretend.

S6:E3 - Force Projection: Bobbie and Amos forget the Cant.

S5E02: Churn when Amos is in Baltimore and trying to find Erich.

Just noticing this for the first time. When the PDCs fire, there is a counter-thruster to keep the recoil from affecting the ship's attitude / maneuverability. I love little attentions to detail like that.

Cucumbers are a pretty wasteful vegetable. They require a lot of water to grow and aren't very nutritious. Since Mars has to be very efficient with their agricultural output, cucumbers would be a rare treat.

Speaking to Collider, Aghdashloo credits Expanse fans with sparking her interest in joining Wheel of Time, now in its third season on Prime Video. “As soon as I was done with The Expanse, the fans of The Expanse and those who liked my work on The Expanse, they started saying, ‘We need to find her another TV series because we want to see her at work,'” she recalled with delight.

He sucks. Watching Season 2 right now for the first time. Great acting though.