Paying literally hundreds of dollars per month as soon as I no longer have income isn't a reasonable expectation either.
If a freak accident like this happens while I don't have a job, I'll just go bankrupt and likely become homeless, then die. I'm counting on that not happening.
Heh, that would be neat. Maybe that's what stegosaurus plates were: a MIMO array.
Lately?
Dealing with UPS (and I don't mean backup power, although I did also buy one of those recently.)
I ordered a laptop from a foreign country (I'm in the US), and UPS didn't tell me I needed to tell them my 'Tax ID' and there was no way to input it online. So I had to call (and be on hold) a bunch before I could finally supply it, while my package was on hold.
Then they didn't tell me I had to pay the outrageous tariffs (thank you voters) until I noticed it wasn't moving and called them again.
Then most nights it said it was 'on the way' and would be delivered the next business day, until it reverted to 'In Warehouse' (code for held by customs) 4-5 hours later. So far it's done this for over a week: Each day sending out alerts that I'd get it the next day, then silently taking that back. I've been on the phone with them a lot.
Tonight it finally actually said that it cleared customs. I'll believe that when I see that it's left Kentucky. Still says it will be delivered tomorrow (technically today) which seems unlikely regardless.
Update:
Tracking still says it will be delivered today, and it's actually nearby now, but that I owe the tariffs again!
Phone support says they see the earlier payment, so I don't owe, and the website just hasn't updated... From over a week ago. She also said it won't be delivered today anyway. Why do they have separate systems that apparently don't talk to each other‽
Update 2: Sure enough, the driver arrives and asks for a check. My new laptop is right there. I told him I paid, I show him a screenshot from my credit card, he calls his office, they don't see it. I call customer support on my own phone while the driver is talking to his office, support gives me a confirmation code! Driver's office doesn't accept it. Their system has to be given notice of payment through some internal channel or something, and that should have happened automatically, but didn't. I'm given a number to call and told what number to press.
That department is closed now (Friday evening). Opens Monday.
The driver offered to accept a check and said they would refund the part already paid.
Absolutely no way I'm trusting them after what I've already seen. Trying again on Monday it is.
Sure. But RF can go through dense bush or a forest even better than audio if it's high enough power - and without alerting any non-RF animals like audio would.
Or imagine animals with actual radar for finding prey. IR is good for that (I know snakes use it) but again radio could penetrate cover, and yet nothing uses it like that.
The main point though, is that RF exists despite non-use by life (excluding human technology of course). The same likely applies to dark matter and dark energy whatever they end up being.
Nobody said the aliens were smart.
I knew someone who had great grandparents who were younger than my mom.
The person was like 3 years old at the time... But given that family, by now she might have kids.
That's quite some hostility and unhelpfulness.
Anyway, after an overly difficult search (go enshitification) I did find this. So I have edited that part of my first post. The overall point remains though - life as we know it doesn't always make use of Every possibility, so lack of use (on earth anyway) does not mean lack of existence.
Anyway, I was indeed wrong about two of my examples, so here's two more to replace them, of very similar nature:
Nothing evolved to transmit or receive neutrinos or gravitational waves.
Mostly because doing so for neutrinos would require being the size of a large building for receiving, or containing a nuclear reactor (oh hey, there's another thing life hasn't done) for transmitting. For gravitational waves that would be small city sized for receiving, or being star sized with uneven mass at high speed for transmitting.
[citation needed]
I was very careful to phrase that with 'selected for' because of course things absorb radiation. That's how bones are visible in X-ray radiology. But that doesn't mean it is something they evolved specifically to do.
There are tons of phenomena or technologies that exist but aren't used by life. The most famous is probably the wheel (with an axel, rolling a whole body doesn't count, nor does cellular machinery).
As far as I know no living thing has selected for transmitting or receiving radio frequency radiation, ~~nor X-rays or gamma rays.~~ [Edit: eventually and with no useful guidance I managed to find This. Note how I linked it so others can learn about it. Still didn't find anything for RF. End edit.] (I'm sure electric eels and such put out some RF, but only as a side effect. They aren't using it for communication or sensing for example)
Is that a particular Andrew that I don't recognize?