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Joined 5 years ago
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Cake day: April 27th, 2021

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  • So what I’m hearing is that the Chinese are better at calculus than the Americans, sounds about right.

    Although the article doesn’t get into any detail, it sounds like what they’re doing is applying similar optimization techniques to those that have enabled the past 15 years of AI/ML development in order to optimize their aircraft design. It’s not surprising that China was able to do that; there’s been an enormous amount of work into developing math, software, and hardware for that stuff. But what’s more surprising is that the US hasn’t implemented it already. I guess the X-47B program was halted right as the ML/deep learning explosion started so these teqniques weren’t really widespread yet. But I find it hard to believe that the US hasn’t done it already.









  • There was a lot of corruption before, which resulted in shit like a petrochemical plant getting built upwind of the city, despite there being room downwind. Since the anti-corruption measures, things have gotten better. And the pollution is far less than it used to be, but it’s still not ideal. Plus, there are far fewer foreigners in Chengdu than, say, Beijing, Shanghai, or Shenzhen.


  • Chengdu is being developed quite rapidly, but that does come with downsides. It’s a lot rougher around the edges than more established cities like Beining or Shanghai.

    One important thing to note is that the CPC deems it strategically critical to position heavy industry in cities like Chengdu and Chongqing because they are deep within the interior. In the event of great power conflict, they are much more defensible than industry in the large coastal cities. Unfortunately, particularly in Chengdu, that means that the pollution is quite heavy compared to some of the coastal cities which have been able to control it much more effectively. It’s a lot better than it used to be, but the AQI is still generally around 150 or higher. Anecdotally, it’s a lot rougher on the lungs than e.g. Beijing.

    Also, I hope you like spicy food lol