kevinkeller

India is rapidly expanding fiber internet connectivity, even in rural areas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharat_Broadband_Network

In addition, 4G/5G coverage is extensive: https://www.ookla.com/articles/india-mobile-connectivity-1h2...

See India in this 5G global coverage map: https://www.ookla.com/articles/5g-map-2026

The number of people who are not covered by above-mentioned fiber/cell network, and can afford Starlink as it is priced now, will be extremely small (likely making Starlink unviable as a profitable business).

* The K-Pg extinction event that wiped off dinosaurs had the impact it did because the asteroid happened to impact a shallow water region. This kicked up a lot of sulfur (in gypsum) that further affected global climate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicxulub_crater#Effects

* Earth likely had rings ~466M years ago. We deduced this by looking at impact craters from that time period, and seeing that they all lie near the equator (accounting for continental drift): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X2...

* Earth's rotation period was probably frozen at 21h, ~600M years ago, likely due to interaction between lunar and solar tides. This resonance could have been broken by ice ages (!!!). Amazing to think that global climate affects earth's rotation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_rotation#Resonant_st...

Most large moons orbiting the gas giants are suspected to have subsurface water oceans, most prominent among them Europa. Ganymede, Enceladus, and Triton are other honorable mentions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_oceanography#Natural...

> How many of them have liquid water without being super saturated with salts? What is the level of confidence we have?

We don't know the composition yet, just that a salty ocean supports the evidence we've seen. For example, Europa interacts with Jupiter's magnetic field in such a way that makes sense only if there is a large amount of electrically conducive material inside Europa. Given what we know about its formation, metallic stuff is unlikely. A salty subsurface ocean is a more suitable explanation. We'll know once Europa Clipper gets there (one of its missions is to 'taste' the ocean by flying past really close).

There are other reasons to suspect a subsurface ocean, such as signs of a geologically active body (like Enceladus), which in turn implies there is enough heat inside to have an ocean.

> Which are most likely to bear life given our current hypotheses around the origins of life?

Europa, maybe Enceladus. Note that our search for life is heavily guided (biased?) by our understanding of how we think life started here on Earth.

Specifically, we needed these ingredients (non-exhaustive):

* a liquid medium to act as shelter and transport medium (liquid water ocean) * a source of energy, something that life can 'eat' (hydrothermal vents in the beginning, sunlight later) * protection from space-borne threats (atmosphere, magnetic field) * a home that isn't geologically dead (like the Moon, or Mercury), but also isn't too active (like Io)

Europa checks most of the requirements:

* suspected subsurface ocean * geologically active. This is important because Europa and other moons are too far away for sunlight to be a big source of energy. There has to be another source. Radiogenic heating (released by radioactive isotopes) and primordial heating (left over from its formation) aren't enough for moons to sustain liquid water (especially 4.5 B years after formation). This means tidal flexing is what we should be looking for -- something we know Europa has. * Europa's thick icy crust blocks pretty much all radiation. Barring a thick atmosphere (which only Titan has), a subsurface ocean underneath an icy crust is the best life can hope for out there, for protection against radiation. * We don't know much about what goes on underneath the surface. If the bottom of the ocean contains geothermal vents, then that could harbor earth-like life.

Saturn's moon Enceladus checks many of these same boxes (tidal heating, abundant water, signs of a young surface indicative of geological activity).

JUICE and Europa Clipper missions should fill in many of these gaps, and help confirm our understanding.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/overlooked-ocean-...

Nvidia 4070 Ti has roughly the same performance: https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce-rtx-4070-ti.c3...

Of course, I'm massively oversimplifying, but it should be in the ballpark.

Video by Tom Scott, that talks about the similar Chauvet cave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zJbi9YatcA

Poignant explanation of why such pre-historic art is important:

> It shows that they have a life, they do have culture, they do have art as we do today. They may not have done it for the very same reason, but they do have it. And it shows that they do not just merely survive, they live.