Today I Learned

[RonL]

That's why I always wear padded pants.

Do you know they now have hydraulic jacks to replace those pads? complete immunity from cold water and weather. oo):)

 

[Danger]

Do you know they now have hydraulic jacks to replace those pads?

Uh... no...
Do I even want to know why you are aware of this?

 

[jollyunclejoe]

Today I learned all about Sir Franklin's Arctic expedition, and now I can't close my eyes without seeing three frozen corpses swaying in front of my bed. Guess it's another all-nighter for me tonight. Sleep for knowledge = worthy trade off?

 

[Danger]

Today I learned all about Sir Franklin's Arctic expedition

Whoa, now! I just got finished with you in the other thread and now run across this...
So you're a fellow Canuck? Going by the avatar, along with your posts, I assume that you're in medicine and given this one in particular... pathologist? Maybe forensic anthropologist? Anyhow, try to have a nice sleep after the Pythons get through with you.

 

[jollyunclejoe]

No, I'm from the States, and I'm afraid I do not work in medicine, pathology, or forensic anthropology, although all of the subjects I've just mentioned are interests of mine I suppose. Yes, the avatar is a bit misleading. It's actually a picture of Douglas Adams (I'm a huge admirer of his work as I know many others on this forum are). Once again, thank you, and I will try :). Today, I've also learned that Danger is Canadian.

 

[Danger]

I've also learned that Danger is Canadian.

Me and the Wolverine; kindred spirits.
I've never seen Adams with his mask on before. The "Guide" rules!

Hang on now! Why are you still here? You should be almost finished the first "Python" instalment by now.

 

[jollyunclejoe]

Me and the Wolverine; kindred spirits.
I've never seen Adams with his mask on before. The "Guide" rules!

Hang on now! Why are you still here? You should be almost finished the first "Python" instalment by now.

It does rule, I couldn't agree more completely! I have in fact been watching episodes obediently, I'm just pausing the video whenever I receive reply notifications .

 

[Danger]

Okay, then. I will not reply to you again after this for at least 12 hours. To bed, young man...

 

[jollyunclejoe]

Okay, then. I will not reply to you again after this for at least 12 hours. To bed, young man...

Fair enough, sleep well then. I'll provide a summary of how my night went in the morn.

 

[Danger]

One exception to the foregoing promise... this being it. I didn't mean that I am going to bed. I'm not, other than the fact that I'm sitting on my bed because it's also my couch. It becomes my bed when I lie down. I was referring to you trying to get at least a couple of nods after you've laughed yourself silly.

 

[jollyunclejoe]

One exception to the foregoing promise... this being it. I didn't mean that I am going to bed. I'm not, other than the fact that I'm sitting on my bed because it's also my couch. It becomes my bed when I lie down. I was referring to you trying to get at least a couple of nods after you've laughed yourself silly.

Fair enough once again, in that case, have a good sofa session. I shall return now to my howls of derisive laughter before the now almost inevitable sleep. Cheerio then

 

[Medicol]

... Today, I've also learned that Danger is Canadian.

I learned that long before you did. Now I have to learn who that is.

 

[nitsuj]

Today I learned that Weezer did a cover of The Band's "The Weight". ...and it sounds better

Though exactly the same rhythmically, imo it's "done" better



Wait that doesn't count as an "I learned today"

 

[Danger]

Wait that doesn't count as an "I learned today"

I'm pretty sure that nobody cares about that any more. This has turned into a "strange truths" or "aha moments" sort of thread as opposed to one about something that you have literally learned today. I learned my Alka-Seltzer lesson more than 2 years ago, but that didn't stop me from posting it here as if it were new.
The fiinal determination is up to Greg, of course.

 

[jedishrfu]

TIL that gravitational lensing about a black hole is more complicated that a funhouse mirror with photons orbitting the black in all sorts of bizarre ways before they get to your eyes. (Science of Interstellar Chapter 9) and its even more complicated for spinning black holes.

 

[AnOldStudent]

Sighing... I learned that the more I read about human anatomy the more things there are I actually don't understand about...I'm dying...

 

[Danger]

its even more complicated for spinning black holes.

And even more than that if you're on 'shrooms when you watch it.

I'm dying...

We all are. Do you mean that you have a specifically terminal condition, as opposed to just aging normally? If so, my sympathies; feel free to vent privately by PM any time you need to.

 

[AnOldStudent]

We all are. Do you mean that you have a specifically terminal condition, as opposed to just aging normally? If so, my sympathies; feel free to vent privately by PM any time you need to.

:D Cool,thank you, I will. Everything on PF is all beyond my knowledge.

 

[Danger]

Everything on PF is all beyond my knowledge.

I'm not quite sure what that means. If you weren't smarter than the average bear, you wouldn't have lasted as long as you have.

 

[AnOldStudent]

I'm not quite sure what that means. If you weren't smarter than the average bear, you wouldn't have lasted as long as you have.

Oh noo, soon they'll shoot me down

I'll be well-informed of databases after graduating from my current college. I copy all of your messages into my clipboard now.

 

[Danger]

I copy all of your messages into my clipboard now.

Normal people collect stamps, and those are more interesting than anything that I have to say.

 

[AnOldStudent]

Normal people collect stamps, and those are more interesting than anything that I have to say.

:D Cheers! Have a nice day!

 

[DiracPool]

Today I (thought) I learned that extension cords were not infallible, insofar as I checked all the connections including my main power strip and my reading lamp was not turning on and my Android SMARTphone wasn't charging. I thought, well what do you know, an extension cord goes on the blink, I never would have figured...

Still not wanting to believe it, I did some more extensive investigation and realized that, low and behold, I actually hooked up two extension cords in series and they actually unplugged in the maze of wires behind my desk! So what I learned today is that extension cords are indeed infallible and that it is the human sleuth that is more often than not fallible.

 

[Danger]

I actually hooked up two extension cords in series and they actually unplugged in the maze of wires

Back in the 70's, I came up with a sure-fire cure for that, but it usually isn't necessary for immobile things such as lamps. I did it because my drills and saws and whatnot kept buggering up. I just tie the two cords in a loose knot before plugging them together. Any pull then results in tightening the connection rather than separating it. (Be gentle doing it, though, so you don't strain the wires.)

 

[WWGD]

Sighing... I learned that the more I read about human anatomy the more things there are I actually don't understand about...I'm dying...

Life is the activity with the highest fatality rate: 100% so far.

 

[Danger]

Life is the activity with the highest fatality rate: 100% so far.

I am so going to steal that. You know it, right? You can't stop me...

 

[OmCheeto]

Sometimes, I learn strange new things, in roundabout ways. Kind of in a James Burke's "Connections" way.
The other day, Ryan_m_b said he had a problem with dampness, and I learned a whole bunch of things, solving that problem.
The day before, I educated some people on Facebook on why freezing water in water bottles at an angle is better than freezing them standing upright. And also, why old socks make excellent water bottle insulators.
But then, I went back and thought about my confirmation of Dew Point experiment, and had another question. Something to the effect; "does dew condensing on a glass, warm the glass"? Which, fluidistic, unwittingly, answered with a question.
Today, I had more questions, and ran across a rather, seemingly, ludicrous statement:

Freezing of the water produces heat...

It seemed counterintuitive, but, I was fairly sure he was correct.

But this led me back to the "poop in the water" inspired video:



Which I mentioned that I witnessed myself. Though, I don't think I mentioned that, although the water was at a temperature of -15°C, the bottle of water didn't freeze solid, after the transition, but was just a slush.

So today, I discovered, I should have bought my infrared thermometer, years ago.



Today, I learned, science works.
(and whoever told me that water freezes at 32°F, was only half right. I wish I'd done a selfie when I saw 12 bottles of ice, and 12 bottles of water, in my freezer, which I've just confirmed, is still capable of 3°F)

:)

 

[DiracPool]

Today, I learned, science works.

Today, I learned that my scientific reasoning works most of the time, but sometimes you have to trust your "gut" instincts. Case in point: The house I bought back in 2006 has a baseboard heater in every room. I don't use these to heat the house, so I don't really think about them. In any case, I was rearranging some furniture the other day and noticed that there was a baseboard heater behind my living room couch that I forgot was even there. Being a part time survivalist I thought it would be a good idea to turn it on and make sure it still worked since I hadn't used it in a while, and wanted to make sure it was working if I needed it in a pinch. Now remember, this was just a test, and I didn't have a lot of time to mess around with it, so I turned it up fairly high so it got hot quickly and I could move on.

Well, while I was waiting for it to heat up, I continued to re-arrange the furniture in the living room and once again occluded that baseboard heater with the couch and forgot all about it. Needless to say, later that night it was feeling warm in the house and I was a bit puzzled why. We had a freezing spell recently and it was warming up so I attributed it to that. The next night it still seemed really warm in the house, so I check my standard heating equipment and turned it all off, attributing it so some unseasonal "warm spell." The night after that, I brought a summer fan out of storage and had it blaring full blast because I was literally sweating in my room. My scientific mind at the moment was saying, wow, my house really retains the solar heat from the day pretty well, but this is ridiculous.

Now, to complicate matters even more, I hear on the news that the Seattle-Tacoma area is experiencing an unseasonable warm spell. Not only unseasonable, but a veritable "record high" today at 65 or so degrees, the highest since 1993.

http://www.komonews.com/weather/blogs/scott/Got-shorts-Seattle-crushes-record-for-warmest-December-day-285406231.html

So, of course my scientific mind told me that was what was going on. But deeeep inside, it still didn't add up. It was only earlier today when I was actually doing some business in another town that I remembered turning that baseboard heater on. And then I was terrified that I would re-forget it by the time I got back to the house.

Anyway, the moral of the story is that oftentimes, despite your arrogant faith that you have accounted for all the variables in a given situation and you are now ready to issue your determination, sometimes you really just don't have a clue. That's what I learned today.

 

[Danger]

If you have electric heating, I would have been terrified of burning the house down in your situation.

 

[Borg]

If you have electric heating, I would have been terrified of burning the house down in your situation.

Then he would have learned something different today.

 

[edward]

Anyway, the moral of the story is that oftentimes, despite your arrogant faith that you have accounted for all the variables in a given situation and you are now ready to issue your determination, sometimes you really just don't have a clue. That's what I learned today.

Which brings to mind another first world problem. The big pharmaceutical companies supposedly do extensive testing of their products only to have them pulled from the market years later.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_withdrawn_drugs

 

[Danger]

Today I learned, from the local news, that kangaroos are deathly allergic to cats. Go figure...

 

[OmCheeto]

Today I learned, from the local news, that kangaroos are deathly allergic to cats. Go figure...

This would explain the lack of kangaroos in the USA: 78,000,000 cats!

Today, I learned of someone named Alexander von Humboldt.
The tag line was; "The Most Influential Scientist You May Never Have Heard Of"

And it was true, IMHO.
What a remarkable man.
I spent 4 hours reading about him.

Just now, looking at Thomas Jefferson's letter to him, 201 years and 8 days ago, I'm surprised, how much, and little, things have changed.

Uh oh. Looking at the closing paragraph, it looks as though I may have plagiarized Jefferson.

Although I do not know whether you are now at Paris or ranging the regions of Asia to acquire more knowledge for the use of men, I cannot deny myself the gratification of an endeavor to recall myself to your recollection, and of assuring you of my constant attachment, and of renewing to you the just tribute of my affectionate esteem and high respect and consideration.

I can assure you, that I did not.

I'm not very literate, but it appears that Tom had a high admiration of Alex. Which says a lot, as I've always admired Thomas Jefferson, once I figured out how smart he was.

 

[jedishrfu]

Today I learned about the nature of light orbits about a black hole where corona like glow around the black hole is actually light from the accretion disk from behind the black hole traveling a curved arc over the north and south poles of the black hole to your eyes.

which you can see more clearly below how the accretion disk from behind the black hole is warped upward toward you and a second part where it appears warped downward toward you.

 

[OmCheeto]

... the black hole to your eyes.
...

eek!
I read that, as, "the black holes of your eyes".

Lenses: macro, and micro, apparently, freak me out.

ps. There was a protest in town, the day I vowed to buy that book, and didn't look back in appreciation of sitting in traffic. My sincerest condolences, to all those, yet, un-retired. (From the man, that is...)