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This is a link post How animals reclaimed Chernobyl
A documentary about animals and a tale about a cat family and a wolf.
Including the bear brothers.
(Sherbs, Fri 19 Feb 2021, 15:41, , Reply)
This is a normal post I enjoyed the beginning but the narrative became overwhelmingly annoying after 30 minutes.
Pretending to know the mind and motivations of cats, wolves and bears, and telling a story made from cobbled and obviously contrived footage, it's not exactly a scientific documentary.

Skipping to the credits to find out which McGann was doing the narration (Paul), I came upon this quote: "nature can triumph even when man has done his best to destroy it." WTF? Nuclear power is A) natural, B) not designed to destroy anything, and C) very far indeed from man's best attempt to destroy nature, which I would say is probably golf.
 (I helped save b3ta! brb homonecrobatrachophile, Fri 19 Feb 2021, 19:47, , Reply)
This is a normal post nuclear decay might be natural, nuclear power a little less so
"son, I like to go the wild, untouched places on earth, see herds of ibex grazing next to pristine fission reactors. you feel like you're in the garden of eden"
 (I helped save b3ta! cumquat may will not be commenting further on the allegations, Fri 19 Feb 2021, 21:13, , Reply)
This is a normal post We owe our lives to a giant nuclear fusion reactor in the sky. Nuclear fission is also a naturally occuring process:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_nuclear_fission_reactor

Perhaps the common ancestor of the ibex grazed in Gabon.
 (I helped save b3ta! brb homonecrobatrachophile, Fri 19 Feb 2021, 23:44, , Reply)
This is a normal post well yes, that's fascinating and revelatory, but claiming nuclear power like the chernobyl station is natural, as you did, is stretching the definition of the word "natural"
generally, if something requires you to build a giant power plant, cooling towers, mine and enrich uranium, then initiate a controlled thermal fission reaction to drive a turbine, we'd tend to define that as a man-made or artificial rather than a natural process or something you're likely to stumble across in nature. I mean, I don't want to belabour what I thought was an uncontroversial correction, but if everything is natural according to the brb definition (ipads? just atoms, mate. Totally natural), it's somewhat pointless to use it as a defence of nuclear power as you have
 (I helped save b3ta! cumquat may will not be commenting further on the allegations, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 0:26, , Reply)
This is a normal post well no - if something exists in the universe then it is natural
or are you arguing that the universe is unnatural?
anything else would be supernatural - and that is just silly.
like, do you imagine human beings as somehow existing and operating outside of nature?
 (I helped save b3ta! artifus is doing it all wrong, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 1:32, , Reply)
This is a normal post So the opposite of supernatural is subnatural.

(I helped save b3ta! FeralCatMan Unusual disease collector., Sat 20 Feb 2021, 2:12, , Reply)
This is a normal post playing with semantics i know but i really don't get it
what underlying concept is being hinted at? sub or super both are outside the realm of human experience?
 (I helped save b3ta! artifus is doing it all wrong, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 2:13, , Reply)
This is a normal post repeating, myself, if your definition of the term "natural" is "everything", which isn't a widely held one in this context or any other, than it's fatuous to use it as a defence of nuclear power like the Chernobyl plant
And by fatuous I'm using the dictionary definition of "silly and pointless", but feel free to substitute in your own definition as you have want to do.

"Nothing wrong with nuclear power plants"
"Why not?"
"Well, they're made of stuff that's found in the universe. Same as ox tongues and supernovas and ak47s and anthrax bacillus. all natural. Need I say more?"
 (I helped save b3ta! cumquat may will not be commenting further on the allegations, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 3:35, , Reply)
This is a normal post nope - try again
hint: less fiction - more science
 (I helped save b3ta! artifus is doing it all wrong, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 3:37, , Reply)
This is a normal post well, I was hoping to draw brb out to double down again rather than concede to an obvious but minor error
because we all know the sky falls on your head when you admit to saying something wrong or stupid
 (I helped save b3ta! cumquat may will not be commenting further on the allegations, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 3:54, , Reply)
This is a normal post Artifus is exactly correct.
Things are either natural and in existence (or potential existence), or they're supernatural and they're not.
 (I helped save b3ta! brb homonecrobatrachophile, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 14:45, , Reply)
This is a normal post
the opposite of natural is artificial, not supernatural

happily, language is democratic: it's not that you're wrong per se, just that very, very few people will agree with you.

perhaps there's a facebook group you can join :)
 (ozof, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 20:10, , Reply)
This is a normal post
cool - now tell us all what pedantic means
 (I helped save b3ta! artifus is doing it all wrong, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 20:14, , Reply)
This is a normal post is it like
bending the runners in a three-drawer filing cabinet, so that the drawer doesn't stop when it's pulled out? or filling the stationery tray with thumb tacks?
 (ozof, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 20:34, , Reply)
This is a normal post not quite

(I helped save b3ta! artifus is doing it all wrong, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 20:46, , Reply)
This is a normal post oh wait,
add lead weights to the drawer-fronts and super-glue the stationery tray first?
 (ozof, Sun 21 Feb 2021, 4:10, , Reply)
This is a normal post there ya go
not that hard this thinking thing, is it?
 (I helped save b3ta! artifus is doing it all wrong, Sun 21 Feb 2021, 4:41, , Reply)
This is a normal post 'the opposite of natural is artificial, not supernatural'
Nice, we're nearly in agreement. We're close, I promise.

Artificiality is an illogical conceptual throwback to a time when it was common to think of mankind as special and separate from nature (because God made everything for us, and nature must be tamed). But man is not special, separate, artificial, contrived, or fake. We exist entirely within nature. We are as natural as the other tool using animals, and the stuff we make is as natural as the stuff they make.

Why should a birds nest, termite colony, or beaver dam be considered natural, but something built by a human is artificial? What exactly is the distinction being made?
 (I helped save b3ta! brb homonecrobatrachophile, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 21:37, , Reply)
This is a normal post "If something requires you blah blah blah"...
No ifs, no nands, what you said about fission reactors and ibex has been shown to be bollocks.

You can get increasingly specific if you like, but that will only make you slightly less wrong, it won't make me less right.

Fission is natural, it's happening all the time. Exploiting it is no less natural than exploiting any other resource or process.

Ask yourself this, is tool use demonstrated by animals natural or not? Assuming you agree it's natural, what is it in your mind that makes human tool use unnatural?
 (I helped save b3ta! brb homonecrobatrachophile, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 14:47, , Reply)
This is a normal post oh dear
i hope you're not in charge of anything
 (ozof, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 19:18, , Reply)
This is a normal post shhh!
no one else wants to look after the crayons!
 (I helped save b3ta! artifus is doing it all wrong, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 20:17, , Reply)
This is a normal post Crayons are 100% natural.

(I helped save b3ta! brb homonecrobatrachophile, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 21:41, , Reply)
This is a normal post and well worthy of custodianship
plus they taste great
 (I helped save b3ta! artifus is doing it all wrong, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 22:07, , Reply)
This is a normal post Imagine being the idiot in charge of the artificial crayons.

(I helped save b3ta! brb homonecrobatrachophile, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 22:13, , Reply)
This is a normal post *looks sheepishly at shoes whilst kicking up dust and whistling wistfully*

(I helped save b3ta! artifus is doing it all wrong, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 22:20, , Reply)
This is a normal post I agree with the anthromorphism and golf comment.
Nuclear fuel is orders of magnitude more dangerous than native materials.
Doesn't mention the numerous animals that starved.
 (I helped save b3ta! FeralCatMan Unusual disease collector., Fri 19 Feb 2021, 22:27, , Reply)
This is a normal post It said that the rodent population dropped, in fairness.
What's a native material? Are radioactive elements foreign materials?

Fear of radioactive materials is orders of magnitude more harmful to your health than the radioactive materials themselves.
 (I helped save b3ta! brb homonecrobatrachophile, Fri 19 Feb 2021, 23:49, , Reply)
This is a normal post I meant the fuel is vastly more concentrated than occurs in nature.
Some are synthetic, like the various isotopes of plutonium.

When the people were bussed out of the area, I doubt they took pets, most of which would starve.
 (I helped save b3ta! FeralCatMan Unusual disease collector., Sat 20 Feb 2021, 2:05, , Reply)
This is a normal post >more concentrated than occurs in nature.
where on earth is it occurring then, and how?
 (I helped save b3ta! artifus is doing it all wrong, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 2:10, , Reply)
This is a normal post You are using an excessively strict interpretation of natural.
Far more than would be usually expected in such a milieu as this.
 (I helped save b3ta! FeralCatMan Unusual disease collector., Sat 20 Feb 2021, 2:16, , Reply)
This is a normal post less science more fiction - got it
might start my own religion soon
 (I helped save b3ta! artifus is doing it all wrong, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 2:18, , Reply)
This is a normal post your personal definition of words outside accepted norms ≠ science
The oxford definition gives the condition in the definition: "not made or caused by humans". this is the one that is widely accepted. if you were to ask ordinary people whether a nuclear power plant, a tree, uranium ore dug up, or processed uranium, were natural, they'd say, no, yes, yes, no, because unlike you and brb, they have a good grasp on what the term means. however, if brb wants to hold on to this all-encompassing personal definition of natural, then why use it defend nuclear power plants?
 (I helped save b3ta! cumquat may will not be commenting further on the allegations, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 4:07, , Reply)
This is a normal post ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFaN9_n_7Uw
 (I helped save b3ta! artifus is doing it all wrong, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 4:13, , Reply)
This is a normal post haha

(I helped save b3ta! cumquat may will not be commenting further on the allegations, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 4:32, , Reply)
This is a normal post good point
well made
 (ozof, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 10:00, , Reply)
This is a normal post *moons*

(I helped save b3ta! FeralCatMan Unusual disease collector., Sat 20 Feb 2021, 17:45, , Reply)
This is a normal post *howls*

(I helped save b3ta! artifus is doing it all wrong, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 21:30, , Reply)
This is a normal post 'vastly more concentrated than occurs in nature'
I bet you there's at least one star out there with even more refined isotopes in its core than we've ever produced.
 (I helped save b3ta! brb homonecrobatrachophile, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 14:53, , Reply)
This is a normal post Now you’re just being silly
Did Alexander Litvinenko die of polonium poisoning or the fear of it? Did all those people who went into the Chernobyl reactor room have their bodies break down out of fright?
 (I helped save b3ta! wheresthefish Partly filled with wrong, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 9:21, , Reply)
This is a normal post My point is that stress over radioactivity causes more harm to the human population that the radioactive materials themselves
not that an individual exposed to lethal radiation won't die.
 (I helped save b3ta! brb homonecrobatrachophile, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 14:41, , Reply)
This is a normal post Nuclear power is less damaging than climate change?

(I helped save b3ta! FeralCatMan Unusual disease collector., Sat 20 Feb 2021, 18:00, , Reply)
This is a normal post Holy shit yes.
It's one of the cleanest and least harmful methods we have, and our best hope at surviving the next couple of centuries.

It is green energy because it emits zero carbon, just steam. The waste products make more fuel, the associated waste (such as used PPE, metals, glass, water, concrete, etc) and what's left over from the depleted fuel can and should be stored in such a way as to produce useful energy too (the stuff is literally hot, so chuck it down a sufficiently engineered hole and stick a geothermal power plant on top), or make a fucking huge RTG to power your Van Neumann probe or whatever).
 (I helped save b3ta! brb homonecrobatrachophile, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 19:01, , Reply)
This is a normal post So all the natural oil refineries will go extinct.

(I helped save b3ta! FeralCatMan Unusual disease collector., Sat 20 Feb 2021, 22:10, , Reply)
This is a normal post Isn't a natural gas deposit the result of natural refinery, from a certain point of view?
Fossil fuel deposits would certainly go extinct if all life on Earth went extinct first. It would take a while, but we wouldn't care.
 (I helped save b3ta! brb homonecrobatrachophile, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 22:40, , Reply)
This is a normal post That point of view changes as you need it too.
It's nearly off the page so I'm damned if I'll let you have the last word.
*raspberries*
 (I helped save b3ta! FeralCatMan Unusual disease collector., Sun 21 Feb 2021, 1:48, , Reply)
This is a normal post That's some Trump level batshittery you got there pardner

(I helped save b3ta! simbosan liked your link on, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 11:30, , Reply)
This is a normal post That's some Corbyn level comprehension you got there chum

(I helped save b3ta! brb homonecrobatrachophile, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 14:57, , Reply)
This is a normal post Ooook. Never thought you had recognised his intellect as superior to yours
Well done, you're coming along nicely with your therapy
 (I helped save b3ta! simbosan liked your link on, Sat 20 Feb 2021, 23:16, , Reply)
This is a normal post There's a bear in the house
With the kittens. Without their mother.
I can't watch.
 (I helped save b3ta! tarka_dall Like normal dall, only a bit more spicy, Fri 19 Feb 2021, 22:45, , Reply)