nudge

Both?... I'm happy to see that you're also still on the old reddit; I can't stand the new interface!

I'm in.

Yes, it was Kimi + Hartley + Max last season and will be Kimi + Max + Alex Albon in the new season... I'm eager to see what they came up with... Not sure it's going to be as radical as that speculation claims but it's intriguing nevertheless!

I'm only really excited for Sauber/Alfa Romeo... Apparently that name change doubled Alfa's sponsorship money and brought them to 250 million € overall budget per season so in terms of finances they should be up there with Renault and McLaren... I'm still sad about the name disappearing but I'm so excited for what the new season brings... My favourite current driver in my favourite ever team with enough money to compete for the "best of the rest"; exciting times!

I knew you've missed Lance Stroll...

Yeah the livery is the same and the car is quite similar to STR13 as well. Craig Scarborough did a nice initial analysis highlighting some changes; lower mounted front suspension, slotted floor, high inlet sidepods to name a few.

It's a bit as if someone applied the blue on the white background with the airbrush in MS Paint. Looks like a tube of toothpaste.

Red Bull's 'special edition' livery when they unveiled the car last year was amazing, they should have kept it instead of their usual one...

That's cool; even if I'm not a big fan of the Dalai Lama in general. Kalama Sutta (https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/soma/wheel008.html) is probably the best example in the original ancient texts of how relatively similar their suggested way of seeking for truth and knowledge is to the modern scientific method. I think the fact that Buddhism understands that is not the only source of objective and empirical truth in the world, encourages everyone to think for themselves and also welcomes dissent is one of the key reasons why it survives and easily adapts to changes while still keeping its most important principles intact. Well theoretically at least.

Not a fan of those undefined blue edges on the livery...

The book is pretty much an author's interpretation of Taoism (which in this case seems to be a simplified claim that mindlesness=wisdom) through the parable of Winnie the Pooh and what particularly struck me is his condescending tone and full-blown attacks on anything related to science and reason. I think it could still be a decent introduction to the basics of Taoism for someone who's completely new to it; that's why I asked if you read Tao Te Ching as it seems as quite a downgrade. Anyway - that's just my impression and I'd be interested to hear what you think! I know of Matthieu Ricard but I haven't read any of his stuff although I think I still have The Quantum and The Lotus e-book (which is pretty much a discourse of Buddhism and science) somewhere on my laptop... Neuroscience research on the effects of meditation in effort to better understand how brain networks function is a very interesting field and I always found it fascinating how Buddhist tradition and science in general seem to be very compatible. Evolution, the concept of self, neuroplasticity, consciousness, quantum physics, etc.

Can't beat that second argument

I'm curious then, why The Tao of Pooh? I couldn't stand it; the author is so smug and the message of the book was just weird in my opinion... Let me know your thoughts once you read it!

I take it you've read Tao Te Ching?

Nice! What other books did you order?

Some more (sadly only renders):

Toro Rosso car launch! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14FLAUOIbl4

He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!

Absolutely, there are tens of millions of displaced persons all around the world and only a few lucky ones ever get publicity leading to successful resolve of their cases. What media is doing is essentially just exploiting vulnerable people and their plight for someone else's political gains but I'm still happy for those few who happen to at least get help that way.

To be fair he also gets a lot of media attention here and Thai authorities have been pressured by their own people as well as Australia and the rest of international community. It's just been announced that Thailand has just dropped an extradition case against him and he is set to return back to Australia. The biggest difference between Hakeem's and Rafa's case was the fact that there was an Interpol warrant issued for him and Bahrain formally requested his extradition based on criminal charges.

Been closely following Robert Wickens' recovery after that horrific crash for a while and it's so amazing how remarkable his journey to rehabilitation has been so far... Going from multiple severe injuries (thoracic spinal facture, spinal cord injury, neck fracture, tibia and fibula fractures to both legs, fractures in both hands, fractured right forearm, fractured elbow, four fractured ribs and a pulmonary contusion) that left him paraplegic to walking with assistance and pedaling a stationary bike on his own So happy for him; hope it gets better and better every day.

We have a lot to learn though before we can even dream of reaching "Mars and beyond", and thus I think that Europe, China and Russia are making the next logical step by planning a permanent Moon base first. An operational lunar base can teach us so much about surviving in space and will unlock other avenues to easier solar system exploration and colonisation in the future. It can be a giant test bed for technology of an eventual Mars mission (long term habitats, equipment, resource mining, comms, in-situ propellant and fuel production, etc.) and being so close to Earth it means it's much easier to maintain and send critical supplies and personnel if need be in just a matter of days, not to mention the fact that communication is almost real-time and there's no need to wait for a launch window. We can also get the so important data of health effects of spending long time in low gravity conditions. In addition, if Moon industry takes off and we can mine resources, build depots, make propellant and build infrastructure there it means much easier and more efficient construction and future launches of satellites and other spacecraft due to no atmosphere and low gravity. In other words, whoever succeeds in building and operating a moon base/outpost will gain substantial advantage as it's a prime avenue for a jumping-off point to the rest of the planets.

The Moon race is definitely coming and we're in the early stages of it already. NASA has been talking a lot about it lately but it's all very vague and that article doesn't really give any new details either, unfortunately. The biggest problem of NASA is lack of budgetary independence leading to susceptibility to administration changes and government shutdowns and the likes. Also I think their biggest (only?) motivation for getting back to the moon at the moment is the fact that their politicians just don't want China to have it all for themselves... I mean competition promotes innovation so it should be a good thing but maybe for all the wrong reasons. I will actually believe it when I see it anyway as they've been making similar announcements for at least few decades already and at the moment it seems they have a lot of catching up to do. Anyway, in the meantime ESA has been actually making concrete plans for landing and eventually building a base on the Moon (first lunar base plans were already released back in 2016 with a concept of a so-called "Moon village"); new contracts for landers, ground control facilities, Lunar Surface Access Service for payloads etc have been signed with numerous private sector entities just a while ago. Missions for regolith mining are being planned and they are also working on the feasibility of a lunar orbital base as a starting point for astronautical missions to the Moon or Mars. In addition, ESA teamed up with Airbus and Blue Origin and are launching a new global competition called "The Moon Race" later this year in order to encourage private companies to develop technological prototypes for lunar manufacturing, energy production, resources and biology for upcoming lunar missions in the next few years. But probably the biggest advantage ESA has over NASA is the fact that ESA - unlike NASA - is working and collaborating with the Chinese CNSA who obviously have big ambitions and plenty of resources and are taking all the necessary steps with their Chang'e missions that are expected to lead to a joint lunar base shared by multiple countries. A permanent Moon base is also Russia's top priority.

I know this thread is 99% of silly "banter" but how so? I think it's well known that pretty much every driver is at least a bit of a jerk to other drivers on track and the most successful ones are usually the most ruthless and uncompromising; it just comes with the nature of motorsports. Off-track is a completely different thing though. Now I won't get into the whole silly Lewis & Seb fanboy fight but for me it sounds pretty normal that both on- and off-track impressions combined play a role in whether people find someone likeable or not. It's all a bit silly anyway as none of us actually knows the drivers and their true personalities either way.

Nice bike...