Why Mass Extinctions Make Intelligence Vanishingly Rare in the Universe I just recently stumbled across this guy's videos and I'm hooked. He thinks through some of these big questions so clearly and carefully and explains really important scientific principles well. > Mass extinctions may explain why intelligent life is rare in the universe. On many worlds catastrophes may wipe out complex life, or sterilize the planet, preventing the evolution of intelligence. We may have gotten incredibly lucky to have a planet that remained habitable for 4.5 billion years. I call this the Charmed Life Hypothesis, and it’s one of the most terrifying explanations for why we haven’t made contact with aliens. > It's a counterintuitive idea because necessarily most of the evidence in favor of it can't be found by studying Earth's history, or we wouldn't be here. Earth's history shows an unbroken period of habitability extending back 4 billion years... but it could hardly be otherwise, or we wouldn't be here to see it. Numerous nonlethal mass extinction events- the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs, the Permo-Triassic extinction, Snowball Earth glaciations- failed to wipe out complex life, but this may be survivorship bias; only on planets where life survives the gauntlet of mass extinctions can intelligence emerge to study its history. https://stacker.news/items/1522159

Amazing repository of bitcoin merchants View quoted note →

What if The Dinosaurs Didn't Go Extinct > 66 million years ago, a giant asteroid hit the Earth and wiped out the dinosaurs. What if it had missed? Would a highly intelligent species like Homo sapiens still have evolved— or would evolution have gone off in a completely different direction? Another 66 million years of dinosaurs may have failed to produce intelligent tool users because dinosaurs and mammals had different evolutionary constraints and pathways open to them. But it's also possible that the asteroid impact pushed evolution in a fundamentally new direction, altering the selective pressure operating on species, and favoring the evolution of intelligence. Even so, it may be a fluke that we're here. https://stacker.news/items/1520592

A Backwards History of Money https://mises.org/mises-wire/backwards-history-money By Matt Taylor > Money didn’t originate from the state, no matter how many times contemporary monetary theorists might claim otherwise. https://stacker.news/items/1520582

Stacker Sports Pod • Episode 90: Terrible Trades and Making Soccer Great

Fountain: Podcasts & Music

Stacker Sports Pod • Episode 90: Terrible Trades and Making Soccer Great • Listen on Fountain

Undisciplined and GrayRuby talk NBA trades, World Cup, how to make soccer great for the first time, Philly taking an offer sheet flyer and more. Co...

> Undisciplined and GrayRuby talk NBA trades, World Cup, how to make soccer great for the first time, Philly taking an offer sheet flyer and more Also, a short ~Animal_World segment https://stacker.news/items/1520569

How I Busted the Ruby Ridge Coverup | The Libertarian Institute

How I Busted the Ruby Ridge Coverup | The Libertarian Institute

By James Bovard > On this day in 1995, I helped shatter the coverup of federal killings at Ruby Ridge, Idaho. For millions of Americans, those brazen killings epitomized how the U.S. government had become a deadly peril to their rights and liberties. > In 1991, an ATF informant entrapped Randy Weaver into selling him two sawed-off shotguns. After ATF officials lied to a federal prosecutor, Weaver was indicted and sent the wrong court date. On August 21, 1992, after numerous illegal incursions onto Weaver’s Ruby Ridge mountaintop property near the Canadian border, three U.S. marshals dressed in Ninja outfits and carrying submachine guns ambushed Weaver’s 14-year old son and family friend Kevin Harris. One marshal shot the boy’s dog and a firefight erupted in which another marshal was killed. As Sammy Weaver ran from the scene towards the family’s ramshackle cabin, a marshal shot him in the back and killed him. > The next day, the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team arrived. Within an hour of its snipers taking position, every adult in the cabin was either dead or severely wounded—even though they had not fired a shot at the FBI. FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi shot Randy Weaver in the back as he stood outside his home, and then killed Vicki Weaver as she stood by the cabin doorway holding their 10-month old baby. The bullet that passed through Vicki Weaver’s skull then badly wounded Kevin Harris. https://stacker.news/items/1520006

Stop eating before bed https://rumble.com/v7c56ty-if-you-eat-before-bed-you-need-to-watch-this-video-warning.html > Discover why you should stop eating before bed for better sleep, digestion, blood sugar, and gut health. Stop eating 3 hours before bed to maximize these benefits. https://rumble.com/embed/v79yitq/?pub=4e023h > Should you eat before bed? Growth hormone naturally spikes during the first 90 minutes of sleep, but eating before bed may suppress this important hormone. Growth hormone plays a key role in fat burning, muscle growth, collagen production, bone health, recovery, healthy immune function, and brain health. > Most of your body’s repair and recovery occurs while you sleep. For better sleep quality and beauty sleep, avoid foods that significantly raise insulin before bedtime. Sugar and starches trigger the greatest insulin response, while protein and vegetables have a much smaller effect. > Sleep quality affects everything from cognitive function to food cravings the next day. Melatonin, the hormone that helps you fall asleep, is also influenced by your eating habits. > For better sleep, digestion, blood sugar, and gut health, stop eating 3 hours before bed. Make your last meal nutrient-dense with adequate protein, healthy fats, and sea salt to help keep you satisfied throughout the night. https://stacker.news/items/1519396

So, NATO's supposed to attack Ukraine now, right? View quoted note →

Culture, the State, and the Problem of Liberty https://mises.org/mises-wire/culture-state-and-problem-liberty By Farzin Rahimi Zonouz > The modern state has become not only the guardian of political order but also the architect of cultural identity. We must separate culture from the state. https://stacker.news/items/1518967

Surprise, Surprise. Government Capital Stock Is Deteriorating https://mises.org/mises-wire/surprise-surprise-government-capital-stock-deteriorating By William L. Anderson > Government office space is rapidly deteriorating, and Congress has no plans to deal with the problem. This is only half right. No, Congress hasn't allocated sufficient funds to maintain these buildings. They have implemented usage requirements that are leading to rapid downsizing and offloading of federal properties and cancellation of leases, though. One of the real bright spots of the Trump administration is the significant reduction in federally owned or rented real estate. https://stacker.news/items/1518936

Fast Relief for Knee Pain & Inflammation (2-Minute Fix!) https://rumble.com/v7bx0o4-fast-relief-for-knee-pain-and-inflammation-2-minute-fix.html https://rumble.com/embed/v79qcnw/?pub=4e023h > Morning knee pain doesn’t actually start in the morning. It often begins in the middle of the night, leading to knee pain and knee stiffness that can last 30–60 minutes after you wake up. Knee inflammation may also interfere with deep, restful sleep. > If you have knee pain in the morning, try these simple knee pain exercises before getting out of bed: 1. Ankle pumps 2. Heel slides 3. Quad sets > Research has found that microbes from dental infections may travel through the bloodstream and have been associated with inflammation in the arteries and joints, making oral health an important part of overall joint health. > In addition to knee pain exercises, focus on supporting a healthy inflammatory response. Turmeric and vitamin D may help support healthy knee joints. For best results, take vitamin D with its cofactors: vitamin K2 and magnesium. > Supporting healthy insulin levels may also help promote a healthy inflammatory response. > Improving quadriceps strength is one of the best ways to support healthy knees. Sit-to-stand exercises are a simple way to strengthen the quadriceps and hamstrings while improving knee stability and function. https://stacker.news/items/1518898

World Cup Gets Grass While the NFL Plays on Plastic - Doctor Reveals the Truth https://stacker.news/items/1517895

Why Bernie Sanders’s AI Bill Is Fascistic and Dangerous https://mises.org/mises-wire/why-bernie-sanderss-ai-bill-fascistic-and-dangerous By Amirhossein Eshtiaghi > Comparing Sanders to fascism may seem unusual, but it should not be forgotten that the main leaders of Italian fascism, including Mussolini, were initially socialists before they became fascists. https://stacker.news/items/1517828

Hantavirus: Market versus Government Disease Control https://mises.org/mises-wire/hantavirus-market-versus-government-disease-control By Carlos Boix > Pandemics offer an alleged challenge to libertarians, as some argue that governments should have the power to order quarantines and impose vaccine requirements. It turns out that statism makes things worse—and that free markets offer the best solutions. https://stacker.news/items/1517771

Stacker Sports Pod • Episode 89: Knockout Stage and Blockbuster Trades https://www.fountain.fm/episode/XQ9I1wt1sZ68h1mBjhEN > Undisciplined and GrayRuby talk World Cup, NBA trades, MLB CBA negotiations and more. https://stacker.news/items/1517167