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Chinese astronauts make rocket fuel and oxygen in space

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298 points Teever | 2 comments | 24 Aug 25 17:54 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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kevinmershon ◴[26 Aug 25 22:09 UTC] No.45032976[source]▶
> This is a similar reaction to photosynthesis in plants, which produces glucose instead of rocket fuel.

This is silly, but also begs the sillier question why we aren't bioengineering plants to produce rocket fuel

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sneak ◴[27 Aug 25 05:22 UTC] No.45035729[source]▶
FYI “begs the question” does not mean “raises the question”.
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elefanten ◴[27 Aug 25 05:37 UTC] No.45035796[source]▶
Classically it doesn't, but colloquially it does. The dreaded "language changes and evolves" defense that frustrates pedants everywhere.

(I say this in the friendly spirit of a long-defeated fellow pedant who has hit people with your exact comment for decades)

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1. somenameforme ◴[27 Aug 25 08:31 UTC] No.45036901[source]▶
Yip, the reality is that words mean what people think they mean, and that changes over time. Don't think I'm yet ready to accept 'I could care less', but the colloquial meaning of begging the question is logical, reasonable, and is only objectionable on historical grounds.
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2. 4ggr0 ◴[27 Aug 25 15:04 UTC] No.45040710[source]▶
'I could care less' is the thing which pisses me off the most, as it directly contradicts what the person actually wants to say.

as a non-native speaker that confused me quite a bit in the beginning.