Hyperreality

Vitamin D deficiency is incredibly common. I think it's something like 1/3 or 1/4 depending on the season or where you live.

Of course, if you're a member of the red haired master race, your body produces it for you so it's less likely.

Bananas aren't even that radioactive. 0.1 microsieverts.

If you really want to expose yourself to large amounts of radiation, start smoking. 160,000 microsieverts a year, contains radioactive polonium and lead.

... approximately 2,000 coal samples from the Western United States ... concentrations of uranium fall in the range from slightly below 1 to 4 parts per million (ppm). ... Coals with more than 20 ppm uranium are rare in the United States. Thorium concentrations in coal fall within a similar 1–4 ppm range, ... Coals with more than 20 ppm thorium are extremely rare.

https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/1997/fs163-97/FS-163-97.html

concentrations of coals in China are estimated based on uranium analyses of 1535 coal samples ... Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous (J3–K1), and Eogene and Neogene (E–N) coals are 2.91, 5.43, 3.67, 1.18, 1.84, and 3.92 μg/g, respectively. The overall average weighted uranium concentration of coals in China is 2.31 μg/g.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0360544206001113

AFAIK that's 1.18-5.43 ppm.

Obviously, when you burn that, it gets concentrated.

I have been reliably informed that X is going to give it to you, that they're tired of waiting for you to get it on your own, and that X is going to deliver to you.

While I have noticed that Americans do like to brag about driving manual, it should be noted that outside the US being able to drive manual isn't bragworthy in the slightest. You're just part of 99% of drivers. From boy racers to grandma.

Hell, my driving school even taught a guy with down's syndrome to drive manual. It took longer, but he passed all the tests, so off he went. Apparently it wasn't even a close thing, and the driving test is quite stringent here in the EU. There's no need to make fun of people with down's syndrome, but if they can manage to drive manual with practice anyone without a disability can too.

It's not difficult. It just takes practice. If your parents drive a manual, which is likely in the EU, you can practice in their car. If your parents have an auto, which is likely in the US, you can't practice shifting gears so why bother?

or else they would’ve chosen to take their lessons in a regular manual like most people

More likely that it's often their parents' car, I suspect. Depending on where you live, practising in your own car can save thousands in driving school fees.

But for the non-Europeans reading, the thing is that with the manual license you get to choose. You can drive both. Automatic license, you can never drive a manual.

Rental companies are almost certain to replace their cars with EVs sooner rather than later. But if you want to rent a bigger van, those'll likely be ICE for a while longer. A van like that can easily do hundreds of thousands of kms. That's a lot for a van that does the occasional move.

It depends. Semi-nice car? Hands down.

Cheap underpowered econobox? Manual is usually better. They cheap out on the automatic transmission. No es bueno.

Eg. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_PowerShift_transmission#Faulty_operation

Yes.

In Europe you basically have to be handicapped to not learn to drive manual. Most people get the manual driving license because it allows you to drive both, whereas the automatic one doesn't.

Manual transmission was and often still is cheaper, often cheaper to repair, often more reliable, often uses less fuel, and in cheap and less powerful cars the combination is often better. Because there are so many manual cars here, including at rental places, it's a no brainer to learn to drive manual.

This being said, that's changing. Also, less and less young people are getting a driving license due to affordability and cars no longer being the status symbol they once were.

It gets much better, IMHO. The first episodes were a bit annoying, agreed.

Without giving too many spoilers, I suspect some of the dreams are misleading and certain characters are already being manipulated. I also suspect the latest episodes already featured the Mule and he's not like in the dream, but I'm not sure.

Also, I think certain characters simply don't know things. For example, in that vision of the future, the Mule learns the location of the second foundation is Ignis, homeworld of the mentalics. But if you've read the books, you know that's not the location of the second foundation at all. Neither is Helicon for that matter. In the books the true location of the second foundation is hidden from the first foundation.

Also, the whole Demerzel being Daneel thing, and how she's been manipulating Empire, is interesting. Increasingly Game of Thrones like.

TLDR yes, it's worth watching a few more episodes.

Caveat: it's been years since I read the books, so I'm not that bothered about the show being its own thing.

As mentioned above, people get sick in large numbers, and many die.

You can't 'build up your immune system' by eating literal shit.

You can't prevent cholera or a parasitic infection by licking toilet seats either.

I mean, seriously. Don't believe me, go eat an actual turd. See how you feel.