Today I Learned

[symbolipoint]

Calcium carbide reacts with water to produce acetylene, which burns, yes.

What happened to the cat who ate calcium carbide? She had a set o' lean kittens. (According to my dad, who had such lamps on his bicycle as a boy.)

Time taken to figure out what you said took a few seconds. Then I had to reread a certain part.

 

[jtbell]

Today I learned that dental floss expires.

While packing for a road trip starting tomorrow, I grabbed a small unused floss dispenser from a kit that my dentist gave me after a routine cleaning a year or two ago, and noticed that it's stamped "EXP2025-07-30".

Maybe the mint flavoring goes stale?

 

[fresh_42]

... Maybe the mint flavoring goes stale?

Or they just want to sell more of them.

 

[Swamp Thing]

Today I learned that dental floss expires.

It dies of boredom. Use it or lose it.

 

[symbolipoint]

Today I learned that dental floss expires.

While packing for a road trip starting tomorrow, I grabbed a small unused floss dispenser from a kit that my dentist gave me after a routine cleaning a year or two ago, and noticed that it's stamped "EXP2025-07-30".

Maybe the mint flavoring goes stale?

My guess is that the labeled expiration date is listed only for regulatory requirements. If the floss works, then it is not really expired. If it shreds or breaks too quickly, then it could be "expired".

 

[fresh_42]

And it is "best before" and not "suddenly fatal on".

 

[gmax137]

Raisin' it up, waxin' it down...

 

[fresh_42]

They sell Himalaya salt and advertise it as millions of years old. The fine print says best before 2025. Good that they found it in time!

 

[Orodruin]

And it is "best before" and not "suddenly fatal on".

And here I was expecting spontaneous self-combustion …

I once bought a shampoo bottle that was reduced by 30% in price because its best before date was coming up …

 

[Ibix]

I once bought a shampoo bottle that was reduced by 30% in price because its best before date was coming up …

I once bought a shampoo bottle that contained 500ML of shampoo. I can only assume that 1L=1nl.

 

[pinball1970]

Today I learned that dental floss expires.

Maybe the mint flavoring goes stale?

The mint may decrease over the time but the PFAS will stay forever. Apparently.

https://www.consumerlab.com/answers/toxic-pfas-chemicals-in-dental-floss/pfas-dental-floss/

 

[symbolipoint]

The mint may decrease over the time but the PFAS will stay forever. Apparently.

https://www.consumerlab.com/answers/toxic-pfas-chemicals-in-dental-floss/pfas-dental-floss/

Interesting article and maybe scary. One thing bothering me about the article is, the direction to "sign-in" to find which dental flosses have that stuff.

 

[pinball1970]

Interesting article and maybe scary. One thing bothering me about the article is, the direction to "sign-in" to find which dental flosses have that stuff.

The PFAS chemistry could be tightly bound to the fibre so when we put it in the bin, we are good to go.
I will check and feed back. There is a PFAS thread already so it will be brief.

 

[Orodruin]

500ML of shampoo

Normal people and units *sigh*

 

[Frabjous]

Another reason that a pint of beer is the perfect size.

 

[Ibix]

Normal people and units *sigh*

The other one I remember reading about was an energy company advert claiming to sell energy in kilowatts per hour, which is just poor.

Another reason that a pint of beer is the perfect size.

"Half a litre just don't satisfy."

 

[fresh_42]

"Half a litre just don't satisfy."

I'd rather tried to find out whether they can be sued to deliver $500\,ML$ at that prize!

 

[Hornbein]

Today I learned that Gus Grissom may not have been responsible for the loss of his Mercury capsule, something strongly implied in Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff.

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

 

[collinsmark]

The other one I remember reading about was an energy company advert claiming to sell energy in kilowatts per hour, which is just poor.

Hmm. That would be units of "rate of change of power." (Power, already being a rate unit, specifically "rate of change of energy.")

Also, torque shares the same fundamental units (i.e. dimensions) as energy, so it could also be used as units of rate of change of rate of change of torque (although calling such units "killowatts per hour" would be just weird).

I'm trying to wrap my head around that and think of some situation where those units might be useful.

 

[BillTre]

 

[BillTre]

 

[BillTre]

 

[BillTre]

Its one of the Time Bandit portals!

 

[Hornbein]

I've seen things like this before. They use it to get on and off of flatbed trucks.

 

[symbolipoint]

Post #6044 by @Hornbein
That is absolutely crazy but it has its own complicated logic.

That video reminds me of reading about the origin of the athletics Pole Vault, for which reaching a height was not the goal but reaching horizontal distance, like to get across a stream or a ditch, was the goal.

 

[DrGreg]

Post #6044 by @Hornbein
That is absolutely crazy but it has its own complicated logic.

That video reminds me of reading about the origin of the athletics Pole Vault, for which reaching a height was not the goal but reaching horizontal distance, like to get across a stream or a ditch, was the goal.

That is an amazing video to watch. It wouldn't have worked if the water channel was slightly wider or the axles of the excavator were slightly closer together.

 

[Hornbein]

I've seen things like this before. They use it to get on and off of flatbed trucks.

Maybe the truck's ramps aren't strong enough.

 

[Astronuc]

TIL about Derinkuyu, Cappadocia, Turkey. Apparently it is one of several underground complexes found throughout Cappadocia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derinkuyu_underground_city
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappadocia

 

[pinball1970]

T.I.L. LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) looking for Dark matter.

Results (280 days worth of data) presented in conferences this month.

https://phys.org/news/2024-08-dark.html

 

[Hornbein]

T.I.L. LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) looking for Dark matter.

Results (280 days worth of data) presented in conferences this month.

https://phys.org/news/2024-08-dark.html

I bet the name came from the lead shielding.

 

[BillTre]

TIL about this fun little video Mark Knopfler made about the Coyote from the Road Runner cartoons:

 

[Ibix]

TIL about this fun little video Mark Knopfler made about the Coyote from the Road Runner cartoons:

4:48, the dawning realisation on his face and then his claw just feeling around... I always feel so sorry for the coyote, but I can't stop laughing.

 

[pinball1970]

T.I.L Asteroid comes down in Philippines. Astronomers were aware before it entered the atmosphere.

A BBC article here and video in the link.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c0jpl839z5qo

 

[pinball1970]

T.I.L. A little bit about BepiColumbo, https://www.esa.int/Science_Explora...est_images_yet_highlight_fourth_Mercury_flyby

One of the Mercury flyby images.

 

[pinball1970]

4:48, the dawning realisation on his face and then his claw just feeling around... I always feel so sorry for the coyote, but I can't stop laughing.

https://www.google.com/search?q=cay...ate=ive&vld=cid:9cbe4677,vid:KJJW7EF5aVk,st:0