The NBA tightened its rules…and it’s glorious Evidence from sportsball that the world is healing. https://stacker.news/items/1606750

Is Civilization Rare in the Universe? The Fermi Paradox Part IV > Why don't we see aliens? A number of explanations have been put forward- habitable planets are rare (the Rare Earth Hypothesis), the evolution of intelligent life is improbable (multiple unique events in our evolution suggest there evolutionary big steps are hard steps), or maybe extinctions wipe out complex life on other planets. Here I explore another possibility: maybe intelligence is sufficient, but not necessary [*pretty sure that statement is backwards*] for the emergence of a technologically advanced society- that for various reasons, intelligent species get stuck short of spaceflight, perhaps in the stone age... if they even get that far. Very interesting video. I love this guy's content, especially this series on the Fermi Paradox. https://stacker.news/items/1605511

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Stacker Sports Pod • Episode 106: Fall Classic, Football, and NBA Returns

Fountain: Podcasts & Music

Stacker Sports Pod • Episode 106: Fall Classic, Football, and NBA Returns • Listen on Fountain

Undisciplined and GrayRuby talk World Series, NFL, NBA opening week and more. Come say hi. https://stacker.news/~Stacker_Sports/new

> Undisciplined and GrayRuby talk World Series, NFL, NBA opening week and more. Curious how everyone else is enjoying the World Series and what your impressions are of the early NBA Season. https://stacker.news/items/1601875

The NFC Least No division had ever gone winless in a week when two teams from the division played each other No division had ever gone winless in two straight weeks Through 6 weeks, every team has a negative point differential https://stacker.news/items/1601635

Stacker Sports Pod • Episode 105: NFL Hot Seats and NBA Tip Off • on Fountain

Fountain: Podcasts & Music

Stacker Sports Pod • Episode 105: NFL Hot Seats and NBA Tip Off • Listen on Fountain

Undisciplined and GrayRuby talk NFL, NBA tip off, MLB playoffs and more. Come say hi! https://stacker.news/~Stacker_Sports/new

> Undisciplined and GrayRuby talk NFL, NBA tip off, MLB playoffs and more. My opening NBA slate predictions: Celtics, Knicks, Spurs @grayruby's predictions: Celtics, Knicks, Thunder I recall European soccer coming up, too. Tease for next week: we stumbled upon a great topic during our post-show chat. https://stacker.news/items/1597397

Why your Steppe Empire can not exist > Why did poor, outnumbered nomads keep destroying rich, walled empires for two thousand years — and what does that mean for the horse lords on your fantasy map? In this episode of the Logistics of Ruin series, we ride past the last farm to find out why the steppe can't be taxed, why hordes only appear next to rich neighbors, and why every conquering dynasty comes with a built-in expiration date. Then we run each of those rules through the worldbuilder's real test: what happens when magic touches it? > Most fantasy maps have a horde: horse lords, raiders, "barbarians" somewhere past the frontier. And most of them are written wrong. As an empty wilderness full of angry people, waiting for the plot to need an invasion. > History says otherwise. Steppe nomads weren't outside the empire's story. They were its shadow: sized to its wealth, fed on its surplus, and unbeatable for reasons that had nothing to do with being savage. In this video we break down the actual logistics: * Why herds can't be taxed and grain can — and why that single fact draws the border of every empire (Owen Lattimore's frontier theory) * Why the Great Wall of China is better understood as a profit margin than a defensive line * Why steppe empires like the Xiongnu appear right after China unifies, and dissolve when it fragments * Ibn Khaldun's theory of asabiyyah — how hardship manufactures the group cohesion that lets a tribe beat a city * The three-generation clock: why conquest dynasties soften on schedule (and how the Ottomans hacked it) * MAGIC TESTS: scrying ledgers that make nomads taxable, oath-spells that let cities buy loyalty, immortal khans who never reach generation three, and the druid circle that could delete this entire system by watering the desert https://stacker.news/items/1595542

How to Get Rid of Skin Tags (& Stop Them For Good) https://rumble.com/v7gugxe-how-to-get-rid-of-skin-tags-and-stop-them-for-good.html https://rumble.com/embed/v7eo3zw/?pub=4e023h > If someone has more than 8 skin tags, their risk of developing metabolic syndrome may be 11 times greater than someone without skin tags! > Skin tags are a metabolic problem, not a skin problem. They’re associated with high insulin and elevated insulin-like growth factor 1. Skin tags often appear on the neck, under the arms, and in skin folds due to a combination of insulin-like growth factor and friction in these areas. > For topical skin tag removal, apply a drop of iodine and cover the skin tag with a bandage twice a day. > To prevent skin tags from returning, it’s essential to address the underlying cause by lowering insulin. Reducing eating frequency and lowering your carbohydrate intake can help address one of the most common skin tag causes and keep them from coming back. https://stacker.news/items/1595107

How to Get Rid of Skin Tags (& Stop Them For Good) https://rumble.com/v7gugxe-how-to-get-rid-of-skin-tags-and-stop-them-for-good.html > If someone has more than 8 skin tags, their risk of developing metabolic syndrome may be 11 times greater than someone without skin tags! > Skin tags are a metabolic problem, not a skin problem. They’re associated with high insulin and elevated insulin-like growth factor 1. Skin tags often appear on the neck, under the arms, and in skin folds due to a combination of insulin-like growth factor and friction in these areas. >For topical skin tag removal, apply a drop of iodine and cover the skin tag with a bandage twice a day. > To prevent skin tags from returning, it’s essential to address the underlying cause by lowering insulin. Reducing eating frequency and lowering your carbohydrate intake can help address one of the most common skin tag causes and keep them from coming back. https://stacker.news/items/1595107

A Model to Find the Most Average NBA Player > Who is the most statistically average player in the NBA? > Not the 250th-best player. Not the most mediocre player. I wanted the player who sits closest to the actual center of the NBA — physically, statistically, stylistically, and everything in between. > So naturally, I built an unnecessarily complicated system called B.A.S.I.C. — the Basketball Averageness Similarity Index Calculation. > We start with a horribly broken definition of “average,” then progressively make it worse by adding: - Player size and age - Playing time and role - Per-possession production - Efficiency - Shot profile and play style - Offensive and defensive impact - Correlation adjustments - Mean vs. median - Thousands of randomized definitions of “average” > Until eventually, one player refuses to stop being normal. > And because apparently that wasn’t enough, I also used the results to construct the literally average NBA player: John Basketball. > All of this work to scientifically discover the role player. > Fantastic. Fun modeling exercise. @SimpleStacker and I feel your pain. https://stacker.news/items/1594803

Rivers Don't Build Civilizations. They Build Prisons. More economic geography based world building advice. This time we get into management of common resources and the necessary conditions for tyranny. https://stacker.news/items/1594750

The Sheep That Breaks Your Fantasy World I love this guy's videos about how economic geography should inform fantasy world building. In this one, he goes into the details of how the production structure of pre-industrial wool textiles determines how land is used, which cities will process it, how it determines political allegiances and tax policies, amongst other interesting things. https://stacker.news/items/1594656

Why Some People Are Mosquito Magnets (It’s Not Your Blood) Potentially bad news for fasters and other ketogenic dieters, some mosquitos seem to be attracted to the smell of ketones. Others seem to be attracted to a diverse skin microbiome, which also seems unfortunate for paleo/primal lifestyles. https://stacker.news/items/1594639

I've Never Seen an NFL Ending this Bad Is this the new worst-clock-management-ever game? It's hard to imagine how anything could top it. Also, as a comedic ending, it really was top notch. https://stacker.news/items/1593945

Stacker Sports Pod • Episode 104: NFL's Unbeaten and Picking your Opponent

Fountain: Podcasts & Music

Stacker Sports Pod • Episode 104: NFL's Unbeaten and Picking your Opponent • Listen on Fountain

Undisciplined and GrayRuby talk NFL, MLB Playoffs and proposed rule changes, NBA, NHL and more. Come say hi! https://stacker.news/~Stacker_Sports/new

> Undisciplined and GrayRuby talk NFL, MLB Playoffs and proposed rule changes, NBA, NHL and more. Let us know what you think of top seeds choosing their opponents. Also, we're still looking for another person to join our NBA Bad Ball fantasy league. https://stacker.news/items/1593209

I just obliterated 69 Nostr zombies from orbit using the NUCLEAR OPTION in #PlebsVsZombies! ☢️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♀️ 💀 MAXIMUM CARNAGE ACHIEVED! 💀 Purge Breakdown: 🔴 💀 Ancient (365+ days): 9 🟠 🧟‍♂️ Rotting (180+ days): 33 🟡 🧟‍♀️ Fresh (90+ days): 27 My Zombie Score™ was 14%! What's yours? 🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟩🟩 Follow @Plebs vs. Zombies 🧟‍♂️🪓 and join the hunt at: 🏹

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Home Sales: “High” Interest Rates Are Not the Problem. High Prices Are. https://mises.org/mises-wire/home-sales-high-interest-rates-are-not-problem-high-prices-are By Ryan McMaken > There is a simple way for housing markets to adjust to the new realities of higher interest rates. Prices need to come down. That’s how markets are supposed to work.   https://stacker.news/items/1592602

Stacker Sports Pod • Ep. 103: Slow Drafts, NFL's Undefeated and Top 10 for 2026

Fountain: Podcasts & Music

Stacker Sports Pod • Episode 103: Slow Drafts, NFL's Undefeated and Top 10 for 2026 • Listen on Fountain

Undisciplined and GrayRuby talk Fantasy Basketball draft, NFL, NHL, MLB and more. Come say hi. https://stacker.news/~Stacker_Sports/new

> Undisciplined and GrayRuby talk Fantasy Basketball draft, NFL, NHL, MLB and more. We tried out a new gimmick. Let us know who drafted the better NBA team. https://stacker.news/items/1588150

The death of modern football is occurring... > If football is beginning to feel "old", that's because it's starting to look that way. Offenses are regressing in a multitude of ways, but arguably, they are becoming more efficient. I still think there is a lot of $ on the table, coaches just have to be willing to adapt. There's some Juszczyk appreciation in this video. https://stacker.news/items/1587978