OtterlyBrilliant

geology student, environmentalist 🌳, loves rocks and rockets 🚀

[noodleoodle @noodleoodle_ttv]

being given the suicide hotline instead indicates they KNOW the damage this will do

[OtterlyBrilliant @WompaGlompa]

Trains were limited to 20mph on that section of track a few days ago... looks like the speed restriction has worked, but begs the question why trains were allowed to run at all

[OJ @ojsppa1312]

Train derailed at Wickford... Amazing.

Credit to a friend on Discord for the image.

[OtterlyBrilliant @WompaGlompa]

LET'S BLOODY GOOOO!!!! #Euro2025

[OtterlyBrilliant @WompaGlompa]

That has to be the craziest penalty shootout of all time, period #Euro2025

Loved it, might never recover though

[OtterlyBrilliant @WompaGlompa]

The population of the UK is stupid

[YouGov @YouGov]

53% of Britons say people with anxiety or depression shouldn't be able to claim disability benefits, with Kemi Badenoch recently saying people with these conditions should not be signed off work

Should be able to: 37%
Should not be able to: 53%

[Formula 1 @F1]

P3 - YEESSSSS!!! 🤩

NICO HULKENBERG SCORES HIS FIRST F1 PODIUM IN HIS 239TH RACE 👏👏👏

#F1 #BritishGP

[OtterlyBrilliant @WompaGlompa]

YESSSS!!!!!

[OtterlyBrilliant @WompaGlompa]

Nico Hulkenberg fastest man on track!!! (we are all praying)🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 #BritishGP

[Peter Beck @Peter_J_Beck]

For the first time in history, you can hear what a 2nd stage sounds like with our new live audio from space. We use structure born vibe to recreate audio. Listen for stage sep, electric pumps spool up and ignition. Pretty cool!

[OtterlyBrilliant @WompaGlompa]

All the "Wonder of Science"-style accounts I've blocked are also back on my timeline too 🙄

[OtterlyBrilliant @WompaGlompa]

I actually give up.

[Scott Manley @DJSnM]

Some people are saying that a 20% cut to NASA will decimate the US leadership in space.
Other have pointed out that the literal meaning of 'Decimate' is a 10% reduction, so this will double decimate US leadership in space.

[OtterlyBrilliant @WompaGlompa]

👀

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

To illustrate just how nonsensically these tariffs were calculated, take the example of Lesotho, one of the poorest countries in Africa with just $2.4 billion in annual GDP, which is being struck with a 50% tariff rate under the Trump plan, the highest rate among all countries on the list.

Why? Does Lesotho apply extortionate tariffs on U.S. products and the U.S. is merely being "reciprocal" here? Not at all, despite what Trump is saying, it's NOT the way these tariffs are defined.

As a matter of fact Lesotho, as a member of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), applies the common external tariff structure established by this regional trade bloc.

Which means it applies the same tariffs on U.S. products as South Africa does, as well as the 3 other members of the bloc: Namibia, Eswatini and Botswana.

So since the tariffs charged by these 5 countries on U.S. products are exactly the same, they must all be struck with a 50% tariff rate by the U.S., right? Not at all: South Africa is getting 30%, Namibia 21%, Botswana 37% and Eswatini just 10%, the lowest rate possible among all countries.

So what gives? Again, the way these tariffs are calculated has absolutely zero relationship with actual tariffs imposed by these countries on U.S. products. Instead, they appear to be simply derived from trade deficit calculations.

Looking at Lesotho specifically, every year the U.S. imports approximately $236 million in goods from Lesotho (primarily diamonds, textiles and apparel) while exporting only about $7 million worth of goods to Lesotho (https://t.co/uHvem6nH2o).

Why do they export so little? Again this is an extremely poor country where 56.2% of the population lives with less than $3.65 a day (https://t.co/GEho8xFjAp), i.e. $1,300 a year. They simply can't afford U.S. products, no-one is going to buy an iPhone or a Tesla on that sort of income...

The way the tariffs are ACTUALLY calculated appears to be based on a simplistic and economically senseless formula: you take the trade deficit the U.S. has with a country, divide it by that country's exports to the U.S and declare this - falsely - "the tariff they charge on the U.S."

And then as Trump did in his speech last night, you magnanimously declare that you'll only "reciprocate" by charging half that "tariff" on them.

As such, for Lesotho, the calculation goes like this: ($236M - $7M)/$235M = 97%. That's the "tariff" Lesotho is deemed to charge this U.S. and half of that, i.e. roughly 50% is what the U.S. "reciprocates" with.

It's extremely easy to see why this makes no sense at all.

First of all, there's nothing Lesotho can do about it: they can't change tariffs they allegedly charge the U.S. to reduce the tariff rate the U.S. "reciprocates" with because, again, it's NOT based on any tariff that they charge.

Similarly they can't do much about reducing the trade deficit they have with the U.S. because, again, they simply don't have enough money to buy U.S. products.

Also the main rational Trump gave for the tariffs is to get production back to the U.S., to "bring manufacturing back". 47.3% of Lesotho's exports are diamonds: how do you bring the "manufacturing" of that "back to the U.S."? Anyone can see it makes just about zero sense.

The Lesotho example exposes the fundamental economic incoherence of these tariffs. Rather than addressing actual trade barriers, they punish countries based on trade deficits that arise from structural economic realities. All the more countries like Lesotho which pose zero competitive threat to American industry.

Worse yet, these tariffs will likely make these structural realities even worse: the U.S. is Lesotho's second most important export destination so it's a fair bet that applying 50% tariffs on their products will make people in Lesotho even poorer, and therefore even LESS able to afford U.S. products.

But perhaps the most unfair and detrimental aspect of all this is that these tariffs represent a complete reversal of longstanding U.S. development policy, and therefore a betrayal of countries - like Lesotho - who chose to follow U.S. advice in the past.

For decades the U.S. has used preferential trade access to encourage economic development in the world's poorest nations, recognizing that trade, not just aid, could get them out of poverty and ultimately put them in a position where they too could afford iPhones or Tesla.

They're now effectively penalizing countries for following previous U.S. policy, a lesson which I bet they won't forget anytime soon.

So all in all the irony is painful: in the name of fighting unfair trade, America has just demonstrated what truly unfair trade looks like.

This isn't something designed to address genuine trade issues, but simply a mechanism based on arbitrary math to punish countries for the affront of selling more to the United States than they buy.

[Vic Abbott @WickerBoat]

@flightradar24 That was me! Thanks! Here's some of the pics

[Firefly Aerospace @FireflySpace]

#BlueGhost signing off with one final message from the Moon. Thank you for the unforgettable journey. 💙 #BGM1

[Firefly Aerospace @FireflySpace]

Blue Ghost turns red! Our lander downlinked more imagery from the Moon captured around 2:30 am CDT during the totality of the solar eclipse last night. These images - rapidly captured by our top deck camera with different exposure settings - were stitched together in a quick clip. The red hue is the result of sunlight refracting through the Earth's atmosphere as the sun is blocked by our planet, casting a shadow on the lunar surface. The glowing ring of the eclipse is again seen on Blue Ghost’s solar panel. #BGM1

[Firefly Aerospace @FireflySpace]

#BlueGhost got her first diamond ring! Captured at our landing site in the Moon’s Mare Crisium around 3:30 am CDT, the photo shows the sun about to emerge from totality behind Earth. Hope to have more shots to share soon! #BGM1

[OtterlyBrilliant @WompaGlompa]

👀

[NASA Marshall @NASA_Marshall]

Do you know the temp of the Moon? 🌡️ NASA's LISTER is ready to drill into the mystery!

Following @fireflyspace's #BGM1 Moon landing on March 2, LISTER began operations. Learn how this drill is determining the heat flow from the interior of the Moon >> https://t.co/1SMEWVgxSI

[Firefly Aerospace @FireflySpace]

Blue Ghost’s shadow seen on the Moon’s surface! We’ll continue to share images and updates throughout our surface operations. #BGM1

[Firefly Aerospace @FireflySpace]

Would you look at that view! #BlueGhost captured its first image on the Moon that embodies everything this bold, unstoppable Firefly team has worked so hard for over the last 3+ years. And we’re just getting started! Find out what's next for #BGM1 https://t.co/oEJhJu7KHx