# SCANALYZER **URL:** https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/c/scanalyzer/5.md [Latest](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/latest.md) · [Categories](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/categories.md) · [Tags](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/tags.md) --- ## [About the SCANALYZER category](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/about-the-scanalyzer-category/11)
**Author:** [@Fourmilab](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/Fourmilab)\ **Replies:** 0
context(0) Stock cue SOUND: “Presenting SCANALYZER, Engrelay Satelserv’s unique thrice-per-day study of the big big scene, the INdepth INdependent INmediate INterface between you and your world!” Autoshout cue: “It’s h… --- ## [The Competency Crisis](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/the-competency-crisis/4583)
**Author:** [@CTLaw](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/CTLaw)\ **Replies:** 160\ **Last updated:** [18 October 2026 15:13 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/the-competency-crisis/4583 "2026-10-18T15:13:54Z")
This will be an ongoing topic for posting observations of a noteworthy aspect of societal collapse. As a start, I offer this tidbit from yesterday. At 5:30 PM I went into Lowe’s to get a wafer lock key duplicated. Alth… --- ## [Prosecutions for Interference with ICE](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/prosecutions-for-interference-with-ice/6031)
**Author:** [@CTLaw](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/CTLaw)\ **Replies:** 339\ **Last updated:** [17 October 2026 21:33 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/prosecutions-for-interference-with-ice/6031 "2026-10-17T21:33:05Z")
SCA Health Ontario Advanced Surgery Center workers: This affidavit is made in support of a criminal complaint against, and arrest warrants for, Jose De Jesus Ortega (“ORTEGA”) and Danielle Nadine Davila (“DAVILA”) for… --- ## [Weekly Space Report: Double Catch Planned!](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/weekly-space-report-double-catch-planned/6488)
**Author:** [@pturmel](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/pturmel)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [17 October 2026 14:48 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/weekly-space-report-double-catch-planned/6488 "2026-10-17T14:48:03Z")
Highlights: Follow-up on Ship 40’s return home, lift back to vertical. Discussion of barge shipping of Boosters and Ships. Ship 42 engine-less cryo-testing complete and engine reinstallation. Fl… --- ## [Political Trajectory of Western Europe](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/political-trajectory-of-western-europe/6282)
**Author:** [@civilwestman](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/civilwestman)\ **Replies:** 28\ **Last updated:** [17 October 2026 12:51 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/political-trajectory-of-western-europe/6282 "2026-10-17T12:51:16Z")
We know that politicians are incapable of considering the long term effects of their policies, regardless of how utopian in their stated intent. Currently, there is growing - and increasingly forcefully censored - commen… --- ## [Tolkien Movie](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/tolkien-movie/6485)
**Author:** [@civilwestman](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/civilwestman)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [17 October 2026 12:47 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/tolkien-movie/6485 "2026-10-17T12:47:20Z")
Quite by accident the other night, we found and watched the 2019 movie Tolkien on Prime Video. The cinematography is beautiful and artfully evocative of emotional tones portrayed in the film. The story traces J.R.R. Tolk… --- ## [On Public Executions](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/on-public-executions/6479)
**Author:** [@civilwestman](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/civilwestman)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [16 October 2026 22:46 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/on-public-executions/6479 "2026-10-16T22:46:24Z")
After awaiting justice - even military justice - for 17 years, Nidal Malik Hasan will be executed Dec. 3 by firing squad. This, itself, is unremarkable (aside from the concept that “justice delayed is justice denied”), e… --- ## [Modern Warfare](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/modern-warfare/3858)
**Author:** [@johnwalker](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/johnwalker)\ **Replies:** 921\ **Last updated:** [16 October 2026 13:19 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/modern-warfare/3858 "2026-10-16T13:19:46Z")
This is an topic for items relating to current military affairs: conflicts underway, strategy, technology, and policy implications. --- ## [The Crazy Years](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/the-crazy-years/1451)
**Author:** [@johnwalker](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/johnwalker)\ **Replies:** 5251\ **Last updated:** [15 October 2026 22:09 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/the-crazy-years/1451 "2026-10-15T22:09:02Z")
This is a new topic, along the lines of “The Brian Williams Memorial Murray Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect Reading Room” where comments announce and link to items indicative of our living in the “Crazy Years” forecast by Rober… --- ## [Generative Artificial Intelligence, Large Language Models, and Image Synthesis](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/generative-artificial-intelligence-large-language-models-and-image-synthesis/2383)
**Author:** [@eggspurt](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/eggspurt)\ **Replies:** 875\ **Last updated:** [15 October 2026 07:24 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/generative-artificial-intelligence-large-language-models-and-image-synthesis/2383 "2026-10-15T07:24:37Z")
I gave OpenAI’s new ChatGPT a spin. It’s very good at producing responses subject to constraints: Q: a sonnet about autocad A: Here is a sonnet about AutoCAD: AutoCAD, oh powerful tool, For creating and designing, … --- ## [Battery and Ultra/Super-Capacitor Open Thread](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/battery-and-ultra-super-capacitor-open-thread/6260)
**Author:** [@CTLaw](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/CTLaw)\ **Replies:** 40\ **Last updated:** [14 October 2026 12:02 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/battery-and-ultra-super-capacitor-open-thread/6260 "2026-10-14T12:02:25Z")
Analysis of the Donut hype: Cited pseudocapacitor article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359836825000691?via%3Dihub Finnish rebuttal: MissGoElectric attempt to reverse engineer and… --- ## [2024 UK Civil War](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/2024-uk-civil-war/4827)
**Author:** [@CTLaw](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/CTLaw)\ **Replies:** 250\ **Last updated:** [13 October 2026 18:00 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/2024-uk-civil-war/4827 "2026-10-13T18:00:53Z")
Here we can collect comments on the 2024 UK civil war. --- ## [Burning Car Carrier in the Atlantic (now lithium ion battery fire forum)](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/burning-car-carrier-in-the-atlantic-now-lithium-ion-battery-fire-forum/908)
**Author:** [@CTLaw](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/CTLaw)\ **Replies:** 137\ **Last updated:** [13 October 2026 16:58 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/burning-car-carrier-in-the-atlantic-now-lithium-ion-battery-fire-forum/908 "2026-10-13T16:58:09Z")
https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a39137893/cargo-ship-fire-fueled-by-ev-batteries/ https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a39141216/porsche-on-felicity-ace-ship-fire/ --- ## [Grok Slipping Leftward. Bye, Grok](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/grok-slipping-leftward-bye-grok/6404)
**Author:** [@civilwestman](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/civilwestman)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [12 October 2026 19:20 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/grok-slipping-leftward-bye-grok/6404 "2026-10-12T19:20:57Z")
Well, slogans aren’t necessarily reality. “Truth-seeking” in an AI has its limits, sadly, in America’s political environment. I asked Grok about a truly absurd, actual case, amusingly called Tickle vs. Giggle. Two appell… --- ## [Marc Andreessen: “The Techno-Optimist Manifesto”](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/marc-andreessen-the-techno-optimist-manifesto/3874)
**Author:** [@johnwalker](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/johnwalker)\ **Replies:** 65\ **Last updated:** [12 October 2026 16:57 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/marc-andreessen-the-techno-optimist-manifesto/3874 "2026-10-12T16:57:36Z")
On 2023-10-16, Marc Andreessen, (creator of Mosaic, the first graphical Web browser, co-founder of Netscape, and general partner of superstar venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz) published a 5200 word document, “The… --- ## [Shipping and Freight Open Thread](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/shipping-and-freight-open-thread/6482)
**Author:** [@CTLaw](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/CTLaw)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [12 October 2026 01:25 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/shipping-and-freight-open-thread/6482 "2026-10-12T01:25:03Z")
Back on the Ratburger site, John Walker had a popular thread on the development of the intermodal container. This video popped up on my YouTube feed today: --- ## [Tunnel vs Bridge](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/tunnel-vs-bridge/6315)
**Author:** [@Gavin](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/Gavin)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [11 October 2026 15:46 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/tunnel-vs-bridge/6315 "2026-10-11T15:46:06Z")
I know this will annoy some Scanalysts who are living in the past, when the US could build giant civil engineering works like the Hoover Dam and the Empire State Building. But that was before we were all born. So let’s… --- ## [Inside Shackleton Crater](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/inside-shackleton-crater/3145)
**Author:** [@johnwalker](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/johnwalker)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [11 October 2026 02:43 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/inside-shackleton-crater/3145 "2026-10-11T02:43:20Z")
In the dark region toward the bottom of this image, the Sun has never shone for a single moment in the last several billion years. This is the floor of Shackleton crater, located almost exactly at the south pole of th… --- ## [Weekly Space Report: Ship 40 Comes Home!](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/weekly-space-report-ship-40-comes-home/6480)
**Author:** [@pturmel](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/pturmel)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [10 October 2026 15:10 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/weekly-space-report-ship-40-comes-home/6480 "2026-10-10T15:10:31Z")
Highlights: Lots of video of Flight 14 from numerous new viewpoints Next Flight preparations spotted, speculations. Ship 42 headed to cryo test Pad 2 post-launch status–new inspection fixture in… --- ## [January 2025 Southern California Wildfires](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/january-2025-southern-california-wildfires/5743)
**Author:** [@CTLaw](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/CTLaw)\ **Replies:** 138\ **Last updated:** [9 October 2026 22:16 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/january-2025-southern-california-wildfires/5743 "2026-10-09T22:16:32Z")
Let’s move these posts off the The Competency Crisis page. --- ## [Autonomous Vehicles Open Thread](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/autonomous-vehicles-open-thread/6474)
**Author:** [@CTLaw](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/CTLaw)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [8 October 2026 21:08 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/autonomous-vehicles-open-thread/6474 "2026-10-08T21:08:07Z")
This subject has been a bit too fractured among many threads. Thus, I add this general one. --- ## [NVIDIA—Real Time Rendering with Artificial Intelligence De-Noising](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/nvidia-real-time-rendering-with-artificial-intelligence-de-noising/3351)
**Author:** [@johnwalker](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/johnwalker)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [7 October 2026 19:44 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/nvidia-real-time-rendering-with-artificial-intelligence-de-noising/3351 "2026-10-07T19:44:06Z")
Ray tracing allows creation of photorealistic images from three-dimensional computer models, incorporating multiple light sources, shadows, reflection, refraction, and material properties. Ray tracing is, h… --- ## [Airline Etiquette](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/airline-etiquette/6476)
**Author:** [@Gavin](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/Gavin)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [7 October 2026 00:48 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/airline-etiquette/6476 "2026-10-07T00:48:23Z")
People who occasionally scan the London Daily Mail are familiar with summer stories in which drunken Englishmen and Englishwomen get into fights on the planes taking them back to dreary olde Blighty from their Spanish or… --- ## [Iran War et. seq.](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/iran-war-et-seq/6291)
**Author:** [@civilwestman](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/civilwestman)\ **Replies:** 34\ **Last updated:** [4 October 2026 23:00 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/iran-war-et-seq/6291 "2026-10-04T23:00:24Z")
This post comes under the Scanalyzer category of “Continuity” for a clear reason: modern Iran’s belligerency was reactivated shortly after the Ayatollah Khomeini took power in 1979. Iran has insinuated itself strategical… --- ## [Weekly Space Report: Orbital Starship!](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/weekly-space-report-orbital-starship/6471)
**Author:** [@pturmel](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/pturmel)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [3 October 2026 13:33 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/weekly-space-report-orbital-starship/6471 "2026-10-03T13:33:28Z")
{Published Tuesday} Highlights: TF14 Recap: Orbital success! (A few bumps along the way.) One booster raptors out on ascent. Two booster raptors out on boostback. Switched programmed raptrors … --- ## [Europe joins the Third World](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/europe-joins-the-third-world/6469)
**Author:** [@Gavin](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/Gavin)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [1 October 2026 15:08 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/europe-joins-the-third-world/6469 "2026-10-01T15:08:14Z")
Not satisfied with paying for a shooting war against Russia in the Ukraine, Europe is now looking to start a trade war with China. “To reduce this growing deficit, Brussels wants ‌to limit Chinese hybrid vehicle sales t… --- ## [Everybody Has Problems](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/everybody-has-problems/5909)
**Author:** [@Gavin](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/Gavin)\ **Replies:** 61\ **Last updated:** [30 September 2026 15:25 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/everybody-has-problems/5909 "2026-09-30T15:25:10Z")
It seems that even the offer of taxpayer money is failing to persuade young Chinese to get married. It would be interesting to see a deep dive into this topic – because by many measures Chinese people should be on the h… --- ## [Boeing 737 MAX Problems](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/boeing-737-max-problems/2288)
**Author:** [@johnwalker](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/johnwalker)\ **Replies:** 161\ **Last updated:** [30 September 2026 11:37 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/boeing-737-max-problems/2288 "2026-09-30T11:37:07Z")
Unless an additional extension is granted, the Boeing 737 MAX 7 and MAX 10 cannot be certified after 2022-12-31 without inclusion of an engine-indicating and crew-alerting system (EICAS), which would requir… --- ## [Democracy - What is it good for?](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/democracy-what-is-it-good-for/6467)
**Author:** [@Gavin](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/Gavin)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [29 September 2026 15:22 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/democracy-what-is-it-good-for/6467 "2026-09-29T15:22:43Z")
The London Daily Mail is a rag – but at least without the pretensions of the New York Times. Hence, they occasionally publish interesting information. Back in Dear Olde Englande, their latest (unelected) Prime Minister… --- ## [SpaceX Starship-Super Heavy Fourteenth Flight Test](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/spacex-starship-super-heavy-fourteenth-flight-test/6466)
**Author:** [@CTLaw](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/CTLaw)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [28 September 2026 20:03 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/spacex-starship-super-heavy-fourteenth-flight-test/6466 "2026-09-28T20:03:21Z")
This topic discusses the forthcoming SpaceX fourteenth flight test of the integrated Starship (#41) and Super Heavy booster (#21), currently scheduled for launch no earlier than 2026-09-28 12:15 UTC with a … [Next page](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/c/scanalyzer/5.md?page=1)