Today I Learned

[fresh_42]

Today I learned that we have 1,000,000 Americans here. And these are only the raccoons.

 

[jack action]

Today I learned that we have 1,000,000 Americans here.

My reaction to that comment depends greatly on where here is.

 

[fresh_42]

My reaction to that comment depends greatly on where here is.

Germany. Raccoons are one of the most successful alien animals here. I was only surprised that it was so many of them. I'm still waiting for a pair of keas to escape prison.

 

[Klystron]

Germany. Raccoons are one of the most successful alien animals here. I was only surprised that it was so many of them. I'm still waiting for a pair of keas to escape prison.

Try to refrain from hunting or interacting with those frisky raccoons. Soon you will be wearing a baseball cap and cargo shorts, driving a pickup truck, shooting .22 caliber rifles, and drinking beer with lunch.

 

[fresh_42]

Try to refrain from hunting or interacting with those frisky raccoons. Soon you will be wearing a baseball cap and cargo shorts, driving a pickup truck, shooting .22 caliber rifles, and drinking beer with lunch.

The last part shouldn't be the problem.

 

[Drakkith]

Try to refrain from hunting or interacting with those frisky raccoons. Soon you will be wearing a baseball cap and cargo shorts, driving a pickup truck, shooting .22 caliber rifles, and drinking beer with lunch.

Ah, I see you've been to one of my family reunions!

 

[berkeman]

Ah, I see you've been to one of my family reunions!

Say hi to your other brother Darryl for me please. Long time no see...

 

[fresh_42]

TIL that the noodles for my letter soup now come with an @.

 

[fresh_42]

Yesterday I learnt:

Canada and Denmark have been fighting over Hans Island since 1970. Their war looks like this: Both countries take turns sending their military to the island to repeatedly raise their own flag and remove the foreign one. Each time the Danes leave a bottle of Danish liquor for the Canadians, and the Canadians leave a bottle of Canadian whiskey for the Danes.

 

[Ibix]

Canada and Denmark have been fighting over Hans Island since 1970. Their war looks like this: Both countries take turns sending their military to the island to repeatedly raise their own flag and remove the foreign one. Each time the Danes leave a bottle of Danish liquor for the Canadians, and the Canadians leave a bottle of Canadian whiskey for the Danes.

At least according to British television series QI, the Canadians also leave a sign saying "Welcome to Canada", which the series' host Sandi Toksvig (who is Danish) described as "positively inflammatory".

According to the same segment of the show, in Denmark it is illegal to desecrate foreign flags, but you are free to burn the Danish flag.

 

[Astronuc]

When on a bicycle or motorcycle, wear a helmet! And don't ride with hands holding something!

I just learned a member of my extended family was killed in a cycling accident while on vacation with wife and kids. I don't know all the gory details, but he was not wearing a helmet, he was on an unfamiliar bicycle in an unfamiliar place, and apparently he went into set of stairs where he was thrown from the bike and suffered head trauma and possibly a broken neck (he was pronounced dead at the hospital). It appears that he encountered the stairs by surprise, and with his hand holding a drink, he was not quick enough to apply the brakes. As far as I recall, his children are not even teenagers yet.

 

[jack action]

I can't believe I never heard of this. TIL that:

"On 1 June 2001, Crown Prince Dipendra opened fire at a house on the grounds of the Narayanhity Palace, the residence of the Nepalese monarchy, where a party was being held. He shot and killed his father, King Birendra, his mother, Queen Aishwarya, and seven other members of the royal family – including his younger brother and sister – before shooting himself in the head. Due to his wiping out of most of the line of succession, Dipendra became king while in a comatose state from the head wound."

He died in hospital three days after the massacre without regaining consciousness. Birendra's brother Gyanendra, then became the king.

And nobody knows for sure what was the motive behind this mass shooting.

 

[gmax137]

I remember that because a co-worker & his wife had booked a hiking trip in Nepal for just a week or two after all this happened. They really didn't want to go, and he was able to get his trip insurance to cover his canceled airfare etc.

It is sure a weird tale.

 

[DrGreg]

Today I learned that the operator $\textbf{u} \cdot \boldsymbol{\nabla}$ can be called the advection operator.

I would call it the "directional derivative", although I suppose, strictly speaking, that name should be reserved for the special case when $\textbf{u}$ is a unit vector.

(Also denoted $\nabla_\textbf{u}$. Roger Penrose suggested the notation $\operatorname*{\nabla}\limits_\textbf{u}$ -- to avoid confusion with tensor index notation -- but I don't think anyone took up his suggestion.)

 

[Vanadium 50]

Canada and Denmark have been fighting over Hans Island since 1970.

Fifty-four forty or fight!

 

[Astronuc]

Next door neighbor just informed me that a large black bear was in his backyard two days ago. A large black bear had been reported in a nearby shopping center about 1/4 mile from the house. We have a large area of maybe several hundred acres of mostly hilly forest behind us. We see a lot of wild life through our area, but this would be a first for a black bear. My wife once found a baby fox (kit) sleeping in our backyard. We had a wildlife expert come and take the kit. Coyotes are also apparently visiting the area.

 

[OmCheeto]

Today I learned that fish eggs can hatch after being eaten and pooped out by ducks.

The original paper: Experimental evidence of dispersal of invasive cyprinid eggs inside migratory waterfowl

 

[OmCheeto]

Today I learned that things were a bit more crazy 500 years ago.

 

[Klystron]

In one version I read in an old book Tycho romanced the wrong wife. In the ensuing melee his opponent went for Brahe's eye in high-line and the partially blocked sword sliced off his already battered nose. This version mentions a silver replacement nose strapped on with leather bands.

Brass makes more sense. Perhaps old Tycho wore different noses depending on the company.

 

[epenguin]

Today I learned from ^^^ that Tycho's nose was not silver as I had been informed for 50+ years but brass. This must have been established following the 2010 exhumation.

What Klystron conjectures may be true according to Wikipedia - you only wore silver or gold noses on special occasions. Asking for trouble otherwise, one understands.

 

[jack action]

TIL the story of Susanna M. Salter:

 

[Klystron]

Today I learned about a more recent exhumation of Tycho Brahe and his wife thanks to the following post:

Today I learned from ^^^ that Tycho's nose was not silver as I had been informed for 50+ years but brass. This must have been established following the 2010 exhumation.

What Klystron conjectures may be true according to Wikipedia - you only wore silver or gold noses on special occasions. Asking for trouble otherwise, one understands.

Now we need to locate the results from the new samples. Tycho produced significant astronomic data without optics aside from self-designed aiming devices and his sharp eyes. I should like to read the latest biographies of "Cyrano of the North", to borrow from Edmund Rostand.

FTR I strongly doubt Kepler poisoned Brahe; certainly not with mercury. Tycho loved the ladies. Was not mercury administered to treat STD's prior to antibiotics?

 

[Vanadium 50]

you only wore silver or gold noses on special occasions. Asking for trouble otherwise, one understands.

Perhaps the origin of the phrase "a nose for trouble"?

 

[etotheipi]

I memorised all 11 digits of pi this morning

 

[fresh_42]

I memorised all 11 digits of pi this morning

I like to digest pie directly, without mesmerizing it.

 

[Ibix]

I memorised all 11 digits of pi this morning

I know all the digits of pi[1]. It's just the order I have trouble with.

[1] There are only two if you work in binary.

 

[fresh_42]

I know all the digits of pi[1]. It's just the order I have trouble with.

[1] There are only two if you work in binary.

No need to memorize the order, I have heard they are random.

 

[etotheipi]

I am well informed by my engineering friends that the first 11 digits are precisely 3.0000000000

 

[fresh_42]

I am well informed by my engineering friends that the first 11 digits are precisely 3.0000000000

Only during the undergraduate study. It turns out to be 22/7 in the master classes.

 

[etotheipi]

Only during the undergraduate study. It turns out to be 22/7 in the master classes.

Nonsense, 22/7 has an infinite decimal expansion, whilst by the fundamental theorem of engineering it's trivial to see that $\pi$ must in fact terminate.

 

[mfb]

pi=10

Always choose the basis base most convenient for the given task.

 

[DrGreg]

pi=10

Always choose the basis most convenient for the given task.

When you say "basis", do you mean "base", i.e.$$
1 \times \pi^1 + 0 \times \pi^0 \quad ?
$$

 

[mfb]

Yes.
German uses "basis" both for vector spaces and bases of numbers, forgot that English does not.

 

[hutchphd]

I see that the present Indiana General Assembly is only recapitulating its long and proud intellectual tradition:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Pi_Bill

 

[jim mcnamara]

@hutchphd Indiana is # 12 in a list of states for deaths per 100M from Covid. Not enviable.
From here:
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/