IMO (not a scientist), moon dust is basically pulverized glass, only without the benefits of weathering and erosion. So think of lots of microscopic sharp, abrasive, shards of finely pulverized volcanic rock and obsidian. Get that stuff anywhere near a mucous membrane - eyes, nose, mouth, throat - and it’s going to irritate you. At the same time, it’s pretty much intert; well, at least the parts that don’t instantly react to oxygen or humidity that is. My guess is that Schmidt is just a little more sensitive to the physical sensation of it, or perhaps he rubbed his eyes with a glove by accident, giving him an extra big dose.

And for the uninitiated, it’s well documented that everyone in the lander was physically exposed to moon dust. There was no airlock on the lander, so every excursion resulted in bringing whatever was on the suits right into the cabin. They reported that it “smelled” like burned gunpowder, so they were at least all inhaling the stuff.

Captain Jackson: I recognize that Starfleet has a made a decision, but given that’s a stupid-ass decision, I’ve elected to ignore it.

Once, I actually had my hands on a German WWII-era infrared targeting… wand? Scope? … It was a huge shoulder-mounted flashlight with optics that were used to illuminate aircraft using IR. VERY sophisticated for the time. According to the declassified doc that came with it, the power requirements were insane. Basically it had to be plugged into a mobile generator - probably on a truck or half-track - or the grid, to use it.

So it’s not out of the question. G.I. Joe in an alternate WWII timeline could have had laser sights on machine guns, provided they were tethered to a “mobile” power supply like that.

The Prosperity Gospel folks go a step further and equate wealth and health with the will of god. That being well-off is the direct result of being in god’s good graces. It side-steps observations of financial inequality in the face of moral equality, by hand-waving exceptional wealth as deserved by truly rare and exceptional people. And that conveniently plays off of confusing causation for correlation, so we arrive at “money = godly.”

For the record: I hate that this has a name and it’s a real thing.

I was gonna say. With a crater that large, we all lose.

Venice? Wow, that’s actually kind of on-the-nose for a show of excessive wealth.

https://historywalksvenice.com/article/early-venice/why-did-venice-get-rich/

TL;DR: Venice exists in its current form (canal city on an ever sinking atoll) not because of climate change, and not because of some fishing village put their backs into it for hundreds of years, but because of money. LOTS, and lots of money from a shipping/trade boom a very long time ago.

The fact that Bezos built his obscene wealth on shipping and international commerce, just makes this even more appropriate in a gross kind of way. Like he’s deliberately connecting himself to Venice’s history, and everything that implies.

You know what 'ol Jack Burton says at a time like this?

Facts. D&D defines the chaotic/lawful divide as whether or not the character abides by a code, ethos, or set of rules. So not “Law” in the “Legal Eagle Law Team” kind of way. Chaotic Evil characters don’t really play by any rules, are unpredictable, and are just plain the worst.

“AI e-girl” you say? I know a contractor that might have what you’re looking for.

Thank you. You happened to poke at two of my favorite characters.

Hot take: Debris was on track for something like that.

It had “new strange” style storytelling with a very grounded Sci-Fi basis, interesting episiodes, and a conspiracy arc to tie it all together. There were also hints at things well beyond understanding, turning typical X-Files formula inside out: “it’s all explainable phenomena and everyone knows it, but some things take time to understand.” The major flaw here were wooden performances and un-charismatic characters that just fail to pull you in.

That said, there’s no reason to wait for an X-Files reboot. SCP has more than enough lore to get the ball moving, and there’s gotta be a webisode series or small-studio production team out there just waiting for eyeballs and donations.

Columbo: Just one more question, Mister Garak, and I won’t take up any more of your time - you’re clearly a busy man.

Columbo: See, the only thing I can’t get through my head is that you’re a tailor here on a starbase, but there never seems to be any customers in here. Come to think of it, I’ve been here for over a week and I haven’t seen anyone around wearing your work. Now, why is that?

Garak: Detective, my customers value my discretion. It’s my stock in trade. You see, they’re very private.

Columbo: I suppose that includes the unnamed fellow that provided an eye-witness account of the murder, but seemingly nobody can find him now?

Garak: Especially that one.

Oh, it doesn’t pay.

It pays back.

Took me a second.

I’m positive it’s this (think: over-the-air broadcast was never perfect) combined with the problems of fogging a glass/plastic visor, and keeping things breathable. I don’t recall if they over-dubbed in post or not, but something acoustically transparent (mesh) would make the audio guys happy too.

I’m like… 90% sure that’s what’s going to happen. :D

“Fox and Frenemies” it is then.

At home we call it “Trek+” for exactly this reason.

As released. Every good show will have runaway meme potential that will spoil something for you. Plus you get to join-in on the chat forum chatter in-between episodes. That can be half the fun.

Exhibit A: Moopsy.

::checks watch::

Yup, time to fire up my Clutch playlist again.