#unpopular? opinion

[deep-space-netwerk]

So Venus is my favorite planet in the solar system - everything about it is just so weird.

It has this extraordinarily dense atmosphere that by all accounts shouldn't exist - Venus is close enough to the sun (and therefore hot enough) that the atmosphere should have literally evaporated away, just like Mercury's. We think Earth manages to keep its atmosphere by virtue of our magnetic field, but Venus doesn't even have that going for it. While Venus is probably volcanically active, it definitely doesn't have an internal magnetic dynamo, so whatever form of volcanism it has going on is very different from ours. And, it spins backwards! For some reason!!

But, for as many mysteries as Venus has, the United States really hasn't spent much time investigating it. The Soviet Union, on the other hand, sent no less than 16 probes to Venus between 1961 and 1984 as part of the Venera program - most of them looked like this!

The Soviet Union had a very different approach to space than the United States. NASA missions are typically extremely risk averse, and the spacecraft we launch are generally very expensive one-offs that have only one chance to succeed or fail.

It's lead to some really amazing science, but to put it into perspective, the Mars Opportunity rover only had to survive on Mars for 90 days for the mission to be declared a complete success. That thing lasted 15 years. I love the Opportunity rover as much as any self-respecting NASA engineer, but how much extra time and money did we spend that we didn't technically "need" to for it to last 60x longer than required?

Anyway, all to say, the Soviet Union took a more incremental approach, where failures were far less devastating. The Venera 9 through 14 probes were designed to land on the surface of Venus, and survive long enough to take a picture with two cameras - not an easy task, but a fairly straightforward goal compared to NASA standards. They had…mixed results.

Venera 9 managed to take a picture with one camera, but the other one's lens cap didn't deploy.

Venera 10 also managed to take a picture with one camera, but again the other lens cap didn't deploy.

Venera 11 took no pictures - neither lens cap deployed this time.

Venera 12 also took no pictures - because again, neither lens cap deployed.

Lotta problems with lens caps.

For Venera 13 and 14, in addition to the cameras they sent a device to sample the Venusian "soil". Upon landing, the arm was supposed to swing down and analyze the surface it touched - it was a simple mechanism that couldn't be re-deployed or adjusted after the first go.

This time, both lens caps FINALLY ejected perfectly, and we were treated to these marvelous, eerie pictures of the Venus landscape:

However, when the Venera 14 soil sampler arm deployed, instead of sampling the Venus surface, it managed to swing down and land perfectly on….an ejected lens cap.

[maryhall]

Unpopular (?) opinion:

When I was young and wondering why I hadn't experienced a crush yet, the internet said I was probably just a late bloomer. They urged me not to identify as aroace because I could change my mind later on.

And looking back, like… so?

If I had been a late bloomer, who cares?

I was 13. I felt comfort in the aroace community. I didn’t feel like a weirdo for once in my life, surrounded by people who were like me. But I was urged to not join these communities until I became an adult in case I changed my mind about being ace. So I didn’t. And I paid for that.

Who cares? If you’re young and feel like you’re aroace, then you’re aroace. If you “change your mind” later, it’s okay. No one is going to be born and know themselves 100%. I genuinely thought I was alloromantic once, but now know I’m not.

Speaking from experience, I would rather have kids be “wrong” about their sexuality than feel like they have no place of belonging.

We shouldn’t gatekeep aroace folk because of their age. It hurts. It makes kids feel like they are the freaks society tells them they are.

[artsymeeshee]

[stealingpotatoes]

How do you think tl4j would react to seeing videos of how they used to act?

they'd probably cringed out or thinking "i need therapy", but what'd be even more fun is seeing videos/pictures of EACH OTHER

[noahizslay]

unpopular opinion time: just because someone is queer doesn't mean they are automatically a good person.

[alpacacare-archive]

day twoe ah haha

[self-centeredsweetheart]

Im sick of people trashing the 'damsel in distress. That simply means a girl who can't save herself. If you want to write a story about a girl who saves the day do so, but don't stomp on those who can't help themselves that's not what heroes do.

[soosoosoup]

sunset serenade

[banjo-bugs]

I truly genuinely believe they would get along so well

[unhappy-sometimes]

i don't think twilight is buff. like, i bet he's fit. toned, perhaps. but like, super chiseled? no. working out to have a ton of definition is a lot different than working out to maximize strength and agility, which is what i think he does.

[mischievous-thunder]

Logan: When you wake up early you have so much time. I finished my workout, did some chores, made breakfast, read some articles and it's only 11:40 a.m.

Wade, still in bed with his face buried in Logan's pillow: Good for you!

[yekokataa]

🔥 Kim

did you know that it's possible to play as a fascist, end the game with kim defending you, invite him to join the 41st and he'll accept? that's not an unpopular opinion but it is an uncomfortable bit of canon that no one wants to engage with.

[monsamborabutterfly]

Unpopular opinion but mine: Polin are actually the best couple out of all the bridgerton seasons including Queen Charlotte🙈

I'm sorry but no one hits like they do🥺

[nofomogirl]

Good Omens (possibly) unpopular opinion

Do you know what is a peak irony in this fandom?

When a person vehemently condemns Aziraphale's black-and-white approach to morality and rhapsodizes how sage Crowley is for his nuanced shades-of-grey outlook when the evident reason this person sympathizes with Crowley so much more is because he and his circumstances are more black-and-white and easy to judge while Aziraphale's case is far more complex and challenging to evaluate, with blurred lines everywhere.

This was supposed to be a paragraph in a longer meta but I decided to post it separately anyway.

[niinnyu]

Yuuji, first place in my jjk popularity poll.