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1. David Ho (davidho@mastodon.world)'s status on Tuesday, 17-Oct-2023 15:27:04 UTC David Ho

   What is common knowledge in your field but shocks outsiders?

   More than half the CO₂ emissions of the industrial age have been dumped into the atmosphere since 1990.

   • Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 17-Oct-2023 15:27:02 UTC Robert McNees

     in reply to

     • The Geoff

     @_thegeoff @davidho The true vacuum bubble asymptotes to the speed of light, so there may be just enough lead time for the photons to reach your eyes and send nerve impulses to your brain before The Ending.

   • The Geoff (_thegeoff@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 17-Oct-2023 15:27:03 UTC The Geoff

     in reply to

     @davidho The universe may just end without warning. A small part could undergo "vacuum decay", which releases a huge amount of energy, causing a cascade which basically destroys all matter and possibly changes the fundamental laws of physics. Given that it hasn't happened yet it's probably unlikely, but there's a non-zero chance.
     On the upside, the effect would probably travel at the speed of light, so we wouldn't see it coming.

   • The Geoff (_thegeoff@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 17-Oct-2023 15:34:15 UTC The Geoff

     in reply to

     • Robert McNees

     @mcnees @davidho Something to look forward to then. There'd be some interesting multi-messenger astronomy to be done in the last few milliseconds then...