Today I Learned

[mfb]

The creepy thing is that , when I clicked on "Store Locator" it recommended a store nearby , giving the precise distance, so the page does track down your location. Still, thanks, I will check it out.

Doesn't work here, but I guess this is not the fault of the website. After all, the nearest store is at least one intercontinental flight away...

 

[WWGD]

Doesn't work here, but I guess this is not the fault of the website. After all, the nearest store is at least one intercontinental flight away...

Maybe if you were vegetarian you wouldn't be so lazy and you could run here and back to get your beastburgers :). ( This coming from a devoted carnivore ).

 

[Astronuc]

an example of honor:

'Restored Honor': A World War II Pilot's Long Road Home
http://news.yahoo.com/restored-honor-world-war-ii-pilots-long-road-161503139--abc-news-topstories.html

The story would be appropriate for Memorial Day.

 

[OmCheeto]

an example of honor:

'Restored Honor': A World War II Pilot's Long Road Home
http://news.yahoo.com/restored-honor-world-war-ii-pilots-long-road-161503139--abc-news-topstories.html

The story would be appropriate for Memorial Day.

Neat story.
As many know, my mother served in the German Luftwaffe during the war, and her job was to shine spotlights on the enemy planes that flew over. (Sorry about that John!)
My father was in the American Air Force, but was just a couple of years too young to have seen action. (Phew!)
Then they met, and had 7 kids.

Hence, me, and my slightly choormen akscent.

Vas hast du gemacht mit der vash lappen, du faula misgebort! (What have you done with the wash-rag, you lazy miscarriage!)

ps. I was about 20 years old, before I discovered a wash-rag was not called a vash-lappen. True story.

 

[Astronuc]

An example of cognitive dissonance -

"I'll tell you what, my two grown sons are proud members of the Sons of (the) Confederacy. They display the Confederate flag with pride, the same flag that flies at our state capitol ... That flag doesn't mean slavery, it means heritage.""I wish the history books would get it right," she added. "The [U.S. Civil] War was over state's rights, not slavery."

I know many people across the south, and they are good folks. I can't fathom how this person can separate slavery and the inhuman treatment of African-Americans (e.g., Jim Crow laws, etc) from the so-called 'heritage'.

The quote from Disbelief, defiance in South Carolina town once home to shooting suspect
http://news.yahoo.com/disbelief-defiance-south-carolina-town-once-home-shooting-004557864.html

I have often visited Columbia, SC as part of my work, and I saw the Confederate flag flying on the state house grounds. I could not understand why some folks couldn't see the meaning behind that flag, and I still can't.

 

[mfb]

Maybe if you were vegetarian you wouldn't be so lazy and you could run here and back to get your beastburgers :). ( This coming from a devoted carnivore ).

You mean something like swim across the atlantic? Unfortunately those suggestions disappeared in favor of flights.

 

[OmCheeto]

An example of cognitive dissonance - I know many people across the south, and they are good folks. I can't fathom how this person can separate slavery and the inhuman treatment of African-Americans (e.g., Jim Crow laws, etc) from the so-called 'heritage'.

The quote from Disbelief, defiance in South Carolina town once home to shooting suspect
http://news.yahoo.com/disbelief-defiance-south-carolina-town-once-home-shooting-004557864.html

I have often visited Columbia, SC as part of my work, and I saw the Confederate flag flying on the state house grounds. I could not understand why some folks couldn't see the meaning behind that flag, and I still can't.

The language, which spewed from my fingers, yesterday, when I saw such comments, precludes me from sharing them here...

Ok. I'll try and clean them up. It was regarding a comment that we should sign a petition to remove the "flag" from government places:

When I see the flag, I see it as a symbol, that the owner is an ***hole. When I hear that a state is flying a version of the flag, I assume that most of the people there are ***holes, and I should stay away. hmmm... I will not sign the petition.

ps. Today, I learned, that Limpets have developed the hardest, non-human, material in the world:

The world's new strongest natural material: Limpet teeth

pps. I was researching the new "pyramid" shaped mountain on Ceres, and wasn't sure if a Limpet was a snail, or a freak-half-clam-whatever...

 

[Astronuc]

SC Gov Calls for Removal of Confederate Flag
https://www.yahoo.com/politics/watch-yahoo-global-news-anchor-katie-courics-122182725721.html

Great speech by Gov. Haley.

 

[Tobias Funke]

Matt Binder put it well:

props to GOP pollsters & their hard work this past weekend for the abrupt change of heart of every republican on the confederate flag now

But keeping with the theme of the thread, I did learn about Hobey Baker today, so that's something.

 

[Enigman]

TIL: Thomas Jefferson 'constructed' a book in the latter years of his life by cutting and pasting with a razor and glue numerous sections from the New Testament as extractions of the doctrine of Jesus excluding all mentions of supernatural and miracles. The book is called The Jefferson Bible, or The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth as it is formally titled.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Bible

 

[Silicon Waffle]

I've been under weather (just for a common cold) these days and got some drugs prescribed to take. I then learned about ciprofloxacin (http://www.drugs.com/ciprofloxacin.html) along with many other things (i.e takers get sunburned more easily, taking it with caffeine is a bad choice as it may increase caffeine's effects in our brain etc.). It Makes my day!

 

[OmCheeto]

Today, I learned via Facebook, that my former employer had successfully completed a pretty significant Kickstarter type campaign:
$1,000,000,000 to find the cure for cancer. (Yes. That's a billion dollars.)

That made me curious about Kickstarter campaigns, and what people were funding.
I think I've only donated to a couple, the most recent of which, was the solar sail project, being run by the Planetary Society, which yesterday reached $1,000,000 [ref]

Anyways, here are the top ten things, that people think are worthy of funding, along with the cancer and solar sail project, for perspective:

cure cancer:                $1,000,000,000

smart watch:                   $20,000,000
beer cooler:                   $13,000,000
another smart watch:           $10,000,000
card game:                      $8,800,000
videogame console:              $8,600,000
ipod/walkman device:            $6,200,000
fictional movie:                $5,700,000
children's educational program: $5,400,000
video game:                     $4,200,000
another video game:             $4,000,000

interstellar space exploration: $1,000,000

[ref to Kickstarter rankings]

 

[gleem]

Today I learned that there are not four but five basic tastes. sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. Umami is the taste of glutamates. The tongue has special glutamate receptors. It is described a a sensation of "furriness" on the tongue.or a pleasant "brothy" or "meaty" taste. Umami foods include fish, vegetables, aged cheese. It interacts with salt. Low salt food with no umami do not taste as good as low salt foods with umami.

 

[Borg]

Today I learned that there are not four but five basic tastes. sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. Umami is the taste of glutamates. The tongue has special glutamate receptors. It is described a a sensation of "furriness" on the tongue.or a pleasant "brothy" or "meaty" taste. Umami foods include fish, vegetables, aged cheese. It interacts with salt. Low salt food with no umami do not taste as good as low salt foods with umami.

The airlines have known about this for some time - why in-flight food tastes weird. Search the article for the word umami and you will see why people tend to order Bloody Mary's more often on aircraft.

 

[OmCheeto]

The airlines have known about this for some time - why in-flight food tastes weird. Search the article for the word umami and you will see why people tend to order Bloody Mary's more often on aircraft.

hmmmm... from your article:

A study found that people eating to the sound of loud background noise rated food as being less salty and less sweet than those who ate in silence. Another twist: to those surrounded by noise, food surprisingly appeared to sound much crunchier.

Although I am not afflicted by it, I've heard that many people are annoyed by loud, obnoxious children in restaurants.
Could it be possible that the children's screaming actually makes the food taste bad?

Anyways... I actually learned the following yesterday, but had already used up my TIL card, but it has to do with smell, so I thought I'd share it:

CBS Evening News, Scott Pelley interviewing NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly
​

Scott Pelley; "What does the ISS smell like"?
Scott Kelly; "Antiseptic and garbage".
Scott Pelley; "What does space smell like"?
Scott Kelly; "burning metal".
(edited for brevity)
​

But then I was thinking, did he open the front door of the ISS to get a whiff? How (not) on Earth can you smell space?
I'm guessing he was smelling the air, in one of the docking air lock chambers, after it was exposed to the vacuum of space, and re-pressurized.

 

[epenguin]

How to torpedo one's career - Nobel Prize-winning scientist says he was forced to resign
http://news.yahoo.com/nobel-prize-winning-scientist-says-forced-resign-125443022.html

Career in the sense of honorary Professorship. It's not sunk yet though, a lot of scientists, Nobels, Richard Dawkins, Colin Blakemore, colleagues and ex-colleges have spoken up in defence of his real character and a report by someone present has corrected the overall impression of his talk. The University may reconsider its position next month.

His mistake IMO was not to realize there are always Enforcers and what we in the UK call professional offence-takers around and a public man cannot let himself go for a second in anecdotal musings or humour that might be used against him.

 

[zoobyshoe]

...what we in the UK call professional offence-takers...

Andre alerted me to the fact there is a more formal name for this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_entrepreneur

After reading this guy's remarks I have to express dismay at the people who got bent out of shape by it.

Political correctitude is the new fad social meme and younger and younger kids are being indoctrinated.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jerry-seinfeld-political-correctness-will-800912

 

[lisab]

TIL: Thomas Jefferson 'constructed' a book in the latter years of his life by cutting and pasting with a razor and glue numerous sections from the New Testament as extractions of the doctrine of Jesus excluding all mentions of supernatural and miracles. The book is called The Jefferson Bible, or The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth as it is formally titled.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Bible

TIL Enigman is back after a mysterious absence. Nice to see you, E-man!

 

[mfb]

Today, I learned via Facebook, that my former employer had successfully completed a pretty significant Kickstarter type campaign:
$1,000,000,000 to find the cure for cancer. (Yes. That's a billion dollars.)

Where? Apparently not on Kickstarter itself.

 

[OmCheeto]

Where? Apparently not on Kickstarter itself.

Where? Obviously, wherever my former employer exists.
Which is somewhere near where I exist.
I haven't moved, yet.

 

[jtbell]

Today I learned that "to shoop" means "to Photoshop", i.e. "add something to an image that wasn't there before."

 

[Enigman]

TIL Enigman is back after a mysterious absence. Nice to see you, E-man!

Nice to see you too, lady Green! Interwebz been acting up and I had to disconnect from the hive mind for a while.

 

[Lisa!]

TIL how to make detox drink!

 

[Pythagorean]

TIL that independence day festivities aren't so bad, but they're not so great either.

 

[Stephanus]

A little elaboration: suppose that at CERN in Geneva a particle is accelerated to 0.99999c in the direction of Lyon. Does that contract the distance between Geneva and Lyon?

Today I learned that LHC is the biggest machine in the word to study the smallest thing in the universe.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Today I learned the average person eats about a pound of bugs per year:

http://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/how-many-bugs-eat-every-year.htm

 

[Pythagorean]

Today I learned the average person eats about a pound of bugs per year:

http://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/how-many-bugs-eat-every-year.htm

5 fruit flies in an 8 Oz orange juice has got to be a nice little nutrient bump. Probably healthier than all that sugar in the orange juice itself.

 

[Priyank]

Today I learned that it is very difficult to think about an innovative idea, but its very astonishing when the idea strikes our mind automatically.

 

[zoobyshoe]

5 fruit flies in an 8 Oz orange juice has got to be a nice little nutrient bump. Probably healthier than all that sugar in the orange juice itself.

Yeah, OJ is jam-packed full of sugar.

I'd eat bugs if everyone else did, but they don't and but no one sells them.

 

[OmCheeto]

Today I learned the average person eats about a pound of bugs per year:

http://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/how-many-bugs-eat-every-year.htm

My sister used to pick potato bugs off the sidewalk and eat them, when she was about 1 yo.

Today I learned that people keep them as pets, and they can live up to 3 years.
I also learned lots of other things about them.
I would share those things, but it's kind of a rabbit hole of complexity, which after about 2 hours, makes you wish you'd never started.
There is a lot of silliness involved with the classification of beasts, big and small, IMHO.
For example, crustaceans, simply means, that the beasts have "crusty", or hard-shelled bodies.

 

[thankz]

that's nothing, my little brother put super-glue in his penis when he was little

 

[epenguin]

Today I learned that the common woodlouse is called 'potato bug' in some parts.
Never heard that before.

 

[Pythagorean]

Today I learned that the common woodlouse is called 'potato bug' in some parts.
Never heard that before.

My daughters call them roly-polies. My youngest lIkes to name them and bring them in the house.

 

[OmCheeto]

Today I learned that the common woodlouse is called 'potato bug' in some parts.
Never heard that before.

I've heard them called a few of those "other" names, and I was always; "What are you talking about"?

I'm familiar with the term onomatopoeia, which is a word which phonetically mimics the sound of the thing described, but is there a visual analogy?

My mom called them "Sow bugs". She was from Germany. I'm guessing that the name translates to: "Bug shaped like a fat pig".

 

[jim hardy]

is there a visual analogy?

Icon ?