Source (Bluesky)

Title text:

Reductio ad absurdum fails when reality is absurd.

Transcript:

At the left, a teacher is holding a pointer, pointing at a picture on the screen.]

[The picture shows a hydraulic lift, with a small fluid vessel on the left connected to a tube at the bottom, which connects to a large vessel on the right. On top of the large vessel is a weight labeled 1000 and a Cueball. The fluid in the large vessel is labeled with an upward arrow. Megan's hand is over the small vessel, with a downward arrow indicating that she's pressing on it.]

[Cueball, Hairbun, and Blondie are sitting at school desks going right to left.]

Cueball: No, that can't be right.

Cueball: If hydrostatic pressure worked that way, then you could use it to make machines that exert near-infinite force.

Cueball: And ancient people could have demolished entire mountains just by drilling small tunnels and filling them with water.

[Caption below comic:]

When I first learned about Pascal's law, I tried to disprove it by showing that it would lead to absurd consequences, but it turns out hydraulic presses and ruina montium are both real things.

Source: https://xkcd.com/3087/

explainxkcd for #3087

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/63400689

Other sources:

• The Globe and Mail
• USA Today

The newly appointed Pope Leo XIV spoke out against Russia's continued war against Ukraine in an interview on May 9.

Speaking with Peruvian news outlet Semanario Expresión, Pope Leo condemned Russia's war against Ukraine, characterizing it as a "a true invasion, imperialist in nature, where Russia seeks to conquer territory for reasons of power.”

Pope Leo was appointed just earlier this week on May 8, following the death of Pope Francis on April 21 at the age of 88. On May 7, cardinals officially opened the historic conclave in the Vatican to choose the next head of the Catholic Church.

By clearing naming Russia's imperialist aspirations in Ukraine, the new pope's comments come as a departure from his predecessor's position on the war.

Things are undoubtedly bad at Tesla. Its sales are dwindling. Its profits are plunging, as is its share price. There are regular protests outside its showrooms. The Cybertruck is a flop. And somehow, it’s actually a lot worse than that.

The 71% drop in net income it just reported may have been overshadowed by CEO Elon Musk’s announcement that he would be stepping back from his controversial duties at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). But that drop is just one indication of serious financial sickness at the EV maker, problems brought on by falling sales for the first time in its history and falling prices for electric vehicles.

The bottom line problem at Tesla is its vanishing bottom line. A deeper look at its first quarter report shows it’s now losing money on what should be its ostensible reason for existence – selling cars.

It was only able to post a $409 million profit in the quarter thanks to the sale of $595 million worth of regulatory credits to other automakers.

But if the Trump administration gets its way, the company can kiss those regulatory credits keeping it in the black goodbye, too.

Ernest says the children were initially cheering the Cybertruck, but their enthusiasm turned to skepticism when the truck experienced an issue that rendered it undrivable.

The issue began when Ernest drove his 10-year-old son to a baseball match in his Cybertruck.

Ernest placed his son’s baseball gear in the front trunk (frunk); however, when they arrived at the field, the frunk wouldn’t open.

This is quite frustrating; however, the Cybertruck owner and father stated he was prepared to drive 40 minutes back home to fetch a replacement glove for his son.

Regrettably, despite his willingness to make this sacrifice to support his child, Ernest states that the Cybertruck detected an issue with the frunk and went into “Limp Mode.”

This is where the truck limits the top speed to 15 miles per hour, meaning that, besides repositioning the vehicle to be towed, there is nothing the owner can do.

At this point, Ernest says he was so frustrated that he briefly considered tying a rope around the frunk, connecting it to a tree, and yanking the frunk open.