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Somewhat related, there is a vaccine for cats in the works meant to prevent feline chronic kidney disease. If successful it could massively increase the lifespan of domestic cats.
That killed my childhood cat. Would be awesome for future kids to not experience what I did.
Kind of seems like losing a pet is an important part of growing up tbh.
Kind of doesn’t.
I dunno accepting death as an inevitability seems important since since we otherwise struggle hard to ignore it in western culture and by extension can create a lot of suffering.
A pet doesn’t need to die for that. If you look around… Death is everywhere!
[Starts singing and dancing a musical number down the street]
What a heartless thing to say.
Accepting death is an important part of growing up, but no animal deserves to die just to be a goddamn teachable moment
That would be amazing. They can already live so long. To think, you might be able to have a cat with you for most of your adult life.
This makes me very happy, thank you for sharing!
One of my family cats is currently at the end of her life due to kidney disease. It really sucks, glad they’re doing something about it. Now if only they could do the same for dogs.
If successful it could
Wanna bet what capitalism is going to say about that?
I’m literally having my 19 year old cat put down tomorrow due to kidney disease and I very much wish for him to feel young and healthy again. It sucks.
Sorry for your loss mate
Unpopular opinion: There are already way too many domestic cats and they are responsible for the extinction of various species, mostly birds. They are amongst the most problematic invasive species in the world. Its probably not a good idea to increase their lifespan…
Popular opinion: I love cats
In your country perhaps, cats aren’t a problem everywhere. Even the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds maintain that cats are not a major cause of bird decline (in Britain).
I’m not only talking about my country, but you’re right: The location matters. It’s a fact that cats have a noticeable impact on global biodiversity. There is an interesting article on the matter here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-42766-6
Forgive me if I don’t treat Britain as an expert on biodiversity, given their history of hunting most of their wildlife to extinction.
Well the RSPB shockingly are quite against hunting animals, who’d have thought it? And careful throwing stones from your glass house, didn’t your lot hunt the bison almost to extinction the moment they landed?
You can get them fixed.
The reason birds are going extinct is humans. Hunting, habitat loss, and climate change are far, far more impactful than cats. As much as they kill, cats shouldn’t even be making a dent in bird populations in most of the world (yes, there are islands and a few microbiomes where they have an outsized impact, and that is an issue that needs to be addressed).
Cats only have such a big impact because we drove those species of birds to the edge of extinction already.
Science is just the method by which technological advancements are achieved, it doesn’t decide the priorities. That privilege falls to capital, and by extension, capitalists.
First and foremost, priorities are set by reality.
Extending a dog’s lifespan by 60 years would be a very high demand product and could be sold for much more than what smartphones cost. If it was feasible, it would have already been done.
Flying would be a very high demand service and could be sold for much more than what a train ticket costs. If it was feasible, it would have already been done.
- someone 150 years ago
I appreciate you are setting up a sort of platonic ideal of what science is but I think its important to deal with the real people and processes that science is performed by and we would be doing ourselves a disservice if we fail to acknowledge how those people and processes have often worked hand in hand with capitalist and colonial projects. We need to be introspective about how those choices have influenced the science (and the methods!) that’s been done. We, as scientists, engineers and science appreciators need to do this work so we can make different and better choices.
Who stop at 60? Immortal dogs!
This is your father’s dog. An elegant puppy for a more civilised age. Take care of it, you and your descendents, for it will outlive you all.
Oh wait, now I realised that’s basically r2d2
Oh wait, now I realised that’s basically r2d2
Is that a bad thing?
Just wait till it pukes up a lightsaber at you
Fair enough!
R2, stop licking the lightsabers, you’ll get a hairball!
R2! Hold still while I give you this oil bath! Oh no, he’s run off to the desert again to find Old Ben.
“Captain! All the other droids died, but this little one fixed the ship and saved us!” “Be careful in the future though, it says 8 out of 9 lives left.”
R2D2 is a cat.
I think I prefer that my dog dies before I do. Being a King Charles spaniel it’ll probably just sit by my rotting corpse until it dies from hunger.
Aw, poor little guy. But that’s why you have children - they grow up and the family dog inherits them.
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Hehe. I won’t even get on a plane. If she can’t go with me, I’m not going.
They already made it possible to clone your dog, just do that! Same shit
Call him Theseus
Some scientists actually are working on this. I haven’t read this article in particular, but it was near the top of a search.
tl;dr is that there may soon be a drug available which can extend the lives of large dogs.
“That’ll be $293,763.”
Amazing! I can’t wait until that’s reality.
But that means more cancer doesn’t it? :(
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It’s infinitely better
No leash required.
It’s still better.- less noise
- less drool
- more serenity
- better ecosystem
- more tasty ? 1
Oh, and did I mention, less noise !
If you’re an Elden Ring player, that is a dog!
I was actually helping an aging coworker who wears a hearing aid set up some features on his phone and connecting his phone to Bluetooth. I was significantly disappointed with the lack of features geared toward those who are hard of hearing. Specifically in driving mode for Android auto. He’s got a newish phone (S23) so it’s not that. And the settings were far too convoluted to find for my tastes.
It really bothered me quite a bit that I couldn’t make the Bluetooth register that he was using a car and therefore speakers, not headphones. And further that the settings for voice prompts in the maps app requires he go into his personal Google settings to change toggles because the app user facing one is only available once you pick a destination and he couldn’t hear it.
Is it too much to ask for a long press shortcut?
Some of that is the Bluetooth standard being the single most half-assed thing ever made by man.
As someone who does audio production as a hobby, and recently made an album using mostly Android, I can tell you that audio routing in Android is an absolute nightmare. Basically, Android (at least my Android devices) doesn’t give you access to any settings at all, it just assumes that you use the default settings of whatever you happen to plug into it.
I had a problem where I’d plug in my DAC, and it would detect it and start using it, but it failed to work in the app I wanted it to work in. It took me something like two days to figure out I had to plug things in in a different order in order for them to work properly. Just infuriating, and something that would be simple to fix if they’d just give you some super simple audio routing options, but NOOO, they just have to assume that no one knows what they’re doing and try to do everything for you.
I completely sympathize with your frustration, but when it comes to your average cell phone user they absolutely do not know what they’re doing. Signed, someone who manages cell phones for an entire hospital and wishes he didn’t.
and recently made an album using mostly Android
You’re a hero.
Haha! Thanks. I don’t know about that. Some of it was actually fun. Recording on a plane was surprisingly cathartic.
I second the idea that audio is a nightmare in Android. I have the AYN Odin, and I’m always muting it by accident because the lowest volume setting is still a bit louder than I want. 0-15 is nowhere near enough granularity, but the Android devs can’t seem to comprehend the idea.
and recently made an album using mostly Android,
What did you use? Cubasis? G stomper? Flstudio?
And what part did you give up doing on Android?
I used Koala Sampler. It’s a great piece of software. I did eventually end up finishing arrangement and mastering on PC, though.
Hadn’t heard of it. I’ll check it out, thanks!
It’s great! It’s got two in-app purchases. The mixer is invaluable! I didn’t find much use for the extra time stretching options that came with the other plugin, but that’s probably due to the way I compose. I make loops out of one-shot samples. If you’re sampling entire loops, those are probably quite useful as well. Each plugin is only $5 or so. So $15 for everything Koala Sampler has to offer. Totally worth it!
Oh hearing aid apps suuuuuuuuck. I can’t even get mine to forget a source. It was a problem because I accidentally connected to a neighbor’s Bluetooth for a few months last year
I mean android always sucked in this regard, but can you better explain what the problem was? I often use my phone, while wearing earplugs, (so basically deaf. Or I can’t hear, whatever), and I never found anything I couldn’t do.
So it has support for hearing aids. But nothing for the automotive side of things in that regard for the hard of hearing. His phone was connected to the car via Bluetooth. But no sound was coming from the cars speakers, and that sound was not transmitted to his hearing aid.
The onscreen toggle setting for Google maps does not show up until you select to navigate to a destination (this was a problem, because at first we couldn’t even see if it was toggled on). Picking a destination and choosing to start navigation made that toggle show up, and it was toggled on but we still had no sound.
There’s a settings toggle at the bottom of his screen (mine is not the same, I checked that both apps are updated to the latest firmware), and that settings menu has toggles for things like assistant voice/smart features related to the app, but no sound features. To get to the advanced sound features for the app you have to select your profile from the menu, then select settings, then select Navigation settings, and only then can you select things like “mute state”, or “guidance volume”.
Specifically things like “play voice over Bluetooth” which was not selected by default after his last update. This is not a setting he even knew existed or knew how to find. So I honestly doubt he deselected it.
My pixel 8 has accessibility features that allow for quick toggles. To control things like screen brightness and volume. It also has more settings for the hard of hearing than his. His S23 has the support for hearing aids but not things like sound amplifier that I was looking for. And audio adjustment which would have been useful to allow him to rebalance the sound for the ear that doesn’t use a hearing aid. I actually wonder if that’s a developer settings thing and why it should be hidden that way.
I also couldn’t select what type of Bluetooth device he was using (but this may be because of the make and model of his car, not a shortcoming of Google or Android).
For him I’m sure this was very confusing because it seemed convoluted even to me. Anyway in the long run, we got voice prompts for navigation up and running, and he was happy with that. But the bar for entry for the hearing impaired seems a bit high.
Though aging is a lot more complex than shrinking cpu transistors.
One idea I’ve heard is that telomeres gain increasing stress and damage after years of DNA replication, from the torsional strain of the spiral of DNA as it splits and reforms in the replication process. How in the world could you fix that? DNA lube?
I thought telomeres just get shortened during replication but not in stem cells or something like that? A while ago since i was in that rabbit hole.
I think my conclusion was, we would have to fix programmed cell death vs. immune system & cancerous behavior, add 4x replication for dna-repair like some algae do it, and fix something in ribosomes (which i forgot).
Then again, we probably don’t have to meddle with programmed cell death at all?
I honestly don’t see any reason for a better phones in a while. I bought oneplus 6t 5 years ago and after getting latest android with custom rom it’s like having a new phone no lag at all. the only thing that is bad is the battery lifem I already changed it once and got scammed om ebay , the new one is 1000mAh too small :D not a suprising event
I recently upgraded from a OP6 to the new Pixel, and aside from being a bit shinier in some ways, it felt like an expensive downgrade, since I’ve lost a headphone jack and gained features I didn’t particularly care about.
The days of a phone upgrade bringing new features feel like a lifetime ago.
haha yeah. I have been checking the new phones from time to time and the specs are almost the same I have so there is no point in upgrading
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I always use the cheapest cell phones until they fall to pieces. I don’t need a cell phone for more than basic things, being able to call, receive messages and little else. Social networks, administrations and things like that I prefer to do more comfortably from the PC, my old eyes are no longer able to deal with these things on a small screen and I don’t really feel like it either.
I had to use cheap phones for a long time and it was pain in the ass. they always got full and ran like shit after like 1 year of use so when I finally got the chance I bought actially powerful phone. I love it. it took me 4 years to get the memory full and it’s pretty much always lag free. im my last phone I has 16gb memory which got full so often that I had to factory reset them constantly to get them running even half decently. nowadays even cheap phones have fairly good specs though so I don’t think it would be the case anymore and I’m most certainly not going to spend as much on my next phone as I spent on this
It’s correct, but my, despite to be a €100 Phone and after 3 Years, it still works fine as it should. It’s logical that it dond have a big memory, but enough for what I use it. As said, it depends on the use as in other things too, you don’t need an Ferrari, if you use it only to go to the mall or for 2km to your work. At least I always buy or use the just for what I need it. If I need the Phone for an use intense, for sure I would buy one for €1.500, it’s not a problem for me, but this isn’t the case.
that’s excellent mindset. too many people buy stuff they don’t need just because they can
i usually go for midrange as i like to mess with my phones and stuff.
like i compiling large c projects, running linux desktop environments etc
I feel like we’ve already been going backwards on smartphones: Bring back replaceable batteries, keyboards, headphone ports, and IR blasters!
Nah, keyboards can suck it. Touch keyboards work well enough and aren’t bulky.
You can’t use swipe typing on a physical keyboard 👎
Actually, a while back, BlackBerry unveiled a phone with a physical keyboard that was also a capacitive touch sensor so you could swipe type on it. Idk how well it worked though.
I don’t use swipe typing on a capacitive screen so nothing’s lost anyway
I’d like for there to be phones with keyboards available for the people who want them though, even if I personally share your opinion. I feel like the overall array of smartphones are all very bland and samey, and I wish that the people with weird, idiosyncratic preferences could live their best life.
Gonna go ahead and disagree with you there: Being able to type without looking is fucking great!
That depends on how good you are on touch keyboards. I can type pretty well without looking.
This has been brewing in my mind for a while
But I really want a like Phone ds hybrid
So I can do some decent gaming in it but it’s also small and a phone with a cool stylus so I can play pictocross or sudoku easier
*I recently homebrewed a ds and I found after a month I started only using it for that
Replaceable batteries are coming to the EU in 2027.
Honestly, I do want a better smartphone. Not better as in more pixels or processing power, but more features.
My P8P has a temperature sensor on it. Every phone I own moving forward is gonna need that now cuz I use it for all kinds of shit basically daily, great tool for a SMART device.
I miss IR blasters, they weren’t as useful but they had their place
I miss the short time period where volume and lock buttons were on the backs of phones.
More weird sensors and functionality that might prove useful in niche situations, please.
They keep saying they upgraded the cameras but they are still limited to the visible spectrum.
Didn’t OnePlus have a special camera which ended up being updated away because it would see through people’s clothes?
It could what?!
I don’t know if there were any cases of that happening, but it could see through some types of plastic
It sounds a lot more scandalous than it was, but yeah. I found this photo. As you can see, you can’t really see the dude’s body, but you can see the details of box underneath his shirt.
Ty for example.
I believe that was a slight visibility in the UV spectrum. Like, if the color of undergarments didn’t match the outfit, then it would glow. I don’t know much more about it.
Honestly, a UV camera/filter for the front camera would be useful for things like applying sunscreen. I’ve contemplated making a smart mirror with that type of functionality.
I miss IR blasters
Ditto. Literally the only thing I find myself using my Flipper Zero for these days. Wish more devices had this feature.
yeah i still whip out my old redmi note 4 whenever i need to use some obscure appliance that only works with ir.
the thing’s annoying af tho, the battery’s dies after like 5 minutes, barely able to charge and turns off randomly, the thing takes 5 minutes to boot and the os is ridiculously slow with all the modern updates
I miss my notification LED. My first android phone was a Nexus 6, and I loved that big old thing. I rooted it and made it link up to my medication tracker so it would be a different colour when I had taken medication Vs when I was due (alarms work for medication you take on a schedule, but less so for PRN meds like painkillers)
Speak for yourself, I want a better phone as in with removable battery, sd card, headphone jack.
The difference is, science is not making phones better for the consumer, but for the maker.
The science on most of this stuff is done already. Most of your requests could be implemented tomorrow. No problem.
This is not a science problem. This is a capitalism problem.
Well, batteries can still get a lot better. But yea, what’s listed isn’t technical limitations.
Sorry if I didn’t make that clear.
Yes I fully agree!!
I have a galaxy S5 that you’d be interested in then. Science already solved it and even gave it water resistance to boot.
My LG V20 does all that and more. Not sure about water resistance but that hasn’t been a problem for me since the flip phone days. There were so many options 8 years ago and now just about everything is a variation of the iPhone loadout. It’s infuriating.
My phone is almost 10 years old, and it doesn’t do much, but you know it does enough.
What you actually need is a time machine.
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I’d settle for a long and healthy lifespan and a painless passing for all beings.
As someone whose dog has been having health problems for the past year, I agree with this statement.
I’m sorry to hear about your dog, I hope their health gets better!
Thank you.
Would that I could, I’d trade years of my life to get some extra years for my dog. It’s insane to think he’s a third of the way through his lifespan already.
That is the real tragedy of having a pet. You usually outlive them. But I would suggest the alternative of them outliving you has the potential to be worse, because who knows where they might end up?
In my opinion I think it’s important to always have a plan for your pet in case you die, as you never know. I personally have a beneficiary for a portion of my 401k that will get $20k of it and my dog(s) upon my death if my husband isn’t alive at the time. It’s a person I trust and has agreed to take on the responsibility, and care for them the way I would. I know not everyone is able to leave funds for the care of their pet, but having the conversation with friends and loved ones ahead of time to see who could and would take them is important.
My mother is in her 80s and has a dog, but she also had a plan for it before she got it. I still don’t love that she got it, but at least she did that.
Dogs can offer fantastic companionship and help keep the elderly active longer. At 80, your mother could still potentially outlive the dog depending on the age/breed and both of their health! I do hope that I live to be 80 and still have a dog. Dogs, like humans, are pretty resilient. They can bounce back from grief and change. Sounds like the dog’s welfare is planned for, so I personally think it’s great! That dog might help give her more years herself!
That’s a fair point, but there are a couple of other reasons- it’s a purebread and she is one of those furbaby people who never let their dog have fun and get worked up over the tiniest thing. I once accidentally stepped on her dog’s paw and it made her do a very quick yelp and my mother literally spent five minutes checking every single leg over and over to make sure nothing is broken.
Instead of making phones thin enough to shave with, just give me a battery that could last a few days.
and headphone jack and sd card and more buttons. flat screen
And a full-size keyboard, a trackpad, several USB slots, HDMI output…
We could call it… “the lap-top”!
This has to do with all the services running in the background. Modern phones are actually extremely efficient, providing you’re not connected to push notification services and don’t have apps running in the background all the time.
Problem is that Google and Apple loooove user data and so it’s very hard to do this, impossible in the case of iOS. I have a fully google-less tablet and that things lasts many days on 1 charge.
Also scrolling on TikTok is basically the most intensive thing you can do on your phone unless you play 3d games. Lots of data being transferred, lots of effects, you KNOW it’s sucking as much data as it can out of your phone too.
What OS are you running on your tablet? I am running Graphene on my phone, and the battery isn’t bad, but I bought a Pixel specifically for the purpose and don’t have a baseline to compare it to.
Shitty Samsung Tab A8, it’s a random XDA developers AOSP ROM that I’ve removed Google garbage from. I don’t like the Samsung skin, it’s slow and has a ton of bloatware. Because I don’t need push notifs on it, there are no gapps replacements installed on it either. So I just use all F-Droid apps since I just browse the internet, read books, and read manga with it. Newpipe for YouTube.
My Graphene P7 gets worse battery because I do need some services running for push notifs and such.
