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PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   2261 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 27, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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If you remember your black-body radiation, black is actually best in heat. Efficient radiation.

I'm not the right type of engineer for this, but isn't this statement wrong? It's not as simple as "black is higher emissivity", and it's a combination of solar absorption (black absorbs a lot) and emissivity. IIRC some of the best two options for space (radiation!) applications happen to be white or black.

ETA this reminds me that while the story is fantastic overall, chaos theory does not work that way.

I don't know. On the one hand, the argument from biological evolution suggests that black is best, because equatorial races have dark skin. On the other than, the argument from cultural evolution suggests that white is best, because Arabs wear light robes.

Well if it's shortly before midnight, presumably absorption is minimal. He would be wrong during the day though.

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