I read a copyrighted book, it is lossy encoded into the weights of my brain. Am I a derivative work now? No. If that book inspires me to write another book in its genre, it will also not be a derivative work unless it adheres too closely to the original book.

Yes, if I read a book, memorize some passages, and use those memorized passages in a work without citation, it is plagiarism. I don't see how this is any different without relying on arbitrary but human-centric distinctions.

So that is a good point. Demand is related to price. Lower the price, demand increases. Perhaps we've reached the point where all those who want and can afford apartments priced $x and above already have apartments, but there are not apartments priced $x-$z available.

So we will just have to see if prices continue to drop.

I don't know, but just wanted to say that my son got a job there as a mechanical engineer, and I couldn't be more proud. He can't tell me much because of classified status, but I can tell he loves his job and who he works with. Just sending praise to Sandia

I think that degradation of plastic is the larger concern. Storage of garbage is generally an overstated concern, while microplastic pollution clearly show the threat of plastics that break into millions of tiny pieces.[1] Stable plastics that last pose so many fewer problems when it comes to pollutants.

[1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016041202...