u/Wallsworth1230

If you're trying to position strategic nuclear strike missiles capable of attacking earth on command, why do they need to be carried by any particular ship? They can just float around on their own wherever they want and reposition themselves without a platform.

Yes I get that the point is having a story full of crewed ships is part of what allows them to tell the human story they were trying to tell. Same reason why all the ships aren't just unmanned and they never depict any AI, because human risk is what makes the story compelling.

But I just felt like saying that because when I watched that scene where the UNN was briefing them on the Martian stealth missile platforms, it broke my suspension of disbelief because those missiles shouldn't need a ship to carry them around in space.

I've never taken a formal IQ test. But I did take the military's ASVAB test (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) and scored an overall 91/99. They limit the highest score to 99 instead of 100 for some reason, which is strange to me.

Anyway, I don't have access to my individual section scores. But I remember that there was a section called GT (General Technical) that I scored the highest on. I think that was the one that focused on spatial reasoning.

I also remember that there were some questions that are capable of being studied for, primarily related to scientific and technical knowledge and also definitions of words. So they would ask you questions related to electricity and physics because it helps if they don't need to teach you basic things like "what is the difference between volts and amps?" from scratch when they send you off to helicopter maintenence school or whatever.

The fact that some of the content can be studied for means it can't be perfectly analogous to an IQ test, which is designed to be as independent as possible from book knowledge and education level. But I have to wonder whether any data has ever been collected on the extent to which the ASVAB does or doesn't serve as a reliable analog to IQ and general intelligence.

If you want to try the ASVAB, there are plenty of short sample tests online.

I've read a bunch of headlines, while admittedly not reading the source studies being described, stating that extensive exposure to touch screen devices causes measurable reductions in intelligence of both kids and adults. One study even showed a reduction in certain matter concentrations in the brain (I think they called it white matter) that were measurable in MRI scans after several months of using a cell phone for more than two hours a day.

Have there been any studies on how touch screen device exposure influences measurable IQ scores and general intelligence, if at all?

Maybe something that involves taking adults who report spending at least two hours a day looking at their cell phone, having them take a comprehensive IQ test, then taking away their smart phone and replacing it with a flip phone for a period of four months and thereby reducing their daily screen time to near zero, and then taking another IQ test?

I'd also be interested to discover whether a touch screen handheld device has different effects than using a desktop computer with a physical keyboard and mouse.

Rail guns require an enormous amount of power. So why does The Expanse universe not seem to depict ships using any sort of laser weapons?

Is there some sort of lore reason given in the books that I missed? Do they say that they already invented some sort of cheap laser reflective plating or something?