Today I Learned

  • Thread starter Greg Bernhardt
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In summary: Today I learned that Lagrange was Italian and that he lamented the execution of Lavoisier in France during the French Revolution with the quote:"It took them only an instant to cut off this head and a hundred years might not suffice to reproduce it's...brains."
  • #1,716
fresh_42 said:
... which doesn't prevent you from implicitly quoting Cicero and Hieronymus ("Errare humanum est, in errore perseverare stultum.") :smile:
Oh he is nothing if not persistent, even in his errors.
 
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  • #1,717
fresh_42 said:
... which doesn't prevent you from implicitly quoting Cicero and Hieronymus ("Errare humanum est, in errore perseverare stultum.") :smile:

Hmmm, from wiktionary:

"Errare (Errasse) humanum est, sed in errare (errore) perseverare diabolicum.", attributed to Seneca, which translates to: "To err is human, but to persist in error (out of pride) is diabolical."

 
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  • #1,718
phinds said:
Oh he is nothing if not persistent, even in his errors.

I like to think I persist despite my errors.
 
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  • #1,719
Drakkith said:
I like to think I persist despite my errors.
Yeah, you'd like to think that wouldn't you. Self delusional just like Donald Trump. :smile:
 
  • #1,720
phinds said:
Yeah, you'd like to think that wouldn't you. Self delusional just like Donald Trump. :smile:

I'm disappointed in you, phinds. Comparing me to a politician? How could you stoop so low?!
 
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  • #1,721
Drakkith said:
Hmmm, from wiktionary:

"Errare (Errasse) humanum est, sed in errare (errore) perseverare diabolicum.", attributed to Seneca, which translates to: "To err is human, but to persist in error (out of pride) is diabolical."
Funny, I had a brief look on Wiki in another language. I didn't expect it to be different on such a harmless subject.
 
  • #1,722
Drakkith said:
I'm disappointed in you, phinds. Comparing me to a politician? How could you stoop so low?!
Well, OK, that particular comparison WAS pretty odious. Maybe I should simply have compared you to me. Self delusional just like me. Hows that?
 
  • #1,723
fresh_42 said:
Funny, I had a brief look on Wiki in another language. I didn't expect it to be different on such a harmless subject.

What do you mean?

phinds said:
Well, OK, that particular comparison WAS pretty odious. Maybe I should simply have compared you to me. Self delusional just like me. Hows that?

You continue to wound me! Does your depravity know no end?!
 
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  • #1,724
Drakkith said:
What do you mean?
I meant, that I did not expect the information on this and that to differ.
Reason: I further assumed the answer to cui bono to be void.
 
  • #1,725
fresh_42 said:
I meant, that I did not expect the information on this and that to differ.

I think they're quoting different people, so it's not surprising. I thought my earlier quote was identical to yours, but I didn't look closely enough. Silly me.
 
  • #1,726
Drakkith said:
quoting different people
Not people ... idioms.
 
  • #1,727
Bystander said:
Not people ... idioms.

There we go. That's what I was trying to get at.
 
  • #1,728
TIL that there is actually a place in the EU where tea is planted.
 
  • #1,729
fresh_42 said:
TIL that there is actually a place in the EU where tea is planted.
In England ?
 
  • #1,730
Lol, no. And the weather there isn't as rainy and foggy as one might think. In south west Portugal. :cool: ... so to speak ...
 
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  • #1,731
fresh_42 said:
Lol, no. And the weather there isn't as rainy and foggy as one might think. In south west Portugal. :cool: ... so to speak ...
I am a fan of tea. I also know this tea farm in Oregon. Tea types to taste may be different from region to region but they are all tea. :smile:
 
  • #1,732
The https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g189134-d598845-Reviews-Plantacoes_de_Cha_Gorreana_Gorreana_Tea_Plantation-Sao_Miguel_Azores.html one is even more on the edge than OR is to the US.
 
  • #1,733
[This is for those of you who work and pay income tax in the USA]

Today I learned that "IRA" does not stand for "Individual Retirement Account," but rather, "Individual Retirement Arrangement." It says so right on the first page of IRS Publication 590-A, the official documentation for these beasts. Beats me how I missed it all these years. o0)
 
  • #1,734
jtbell said:
[This is for those of you who work and pay income tax in the USA]

Today I learned that "IRA" does not stand for "Individual Retirement Account," but rather, "Individual Retirement Arrangement." It says so right on the first page of IRS Publication 590-A, the official documentation for these beasts. Beats me how I missed it all these years. o0)
I can't believe it. Next you'll be saying that IRS doesn't stand for Infernal Revenue Service. :wideeyed:
 
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  • #1,735
During last 3-4 days i learned what REAL physical pain is. Forget toothache, that's nothing! I won't be specific because it's sensitive but let me just say that a few women on the forums claimed the condition is as bad as giving birth. I haven't got children yet, but I believe them.
The condition is not serious and won't have any long-term consequences and it is completely over now.
But yeah, it was something that as we say "I don't want my worst enemy to experience"
 
  • #1,736
Sophia said:
During last 3-4 days i learned what REAL physical pain is. Forget toothache, that's nothing! I won't be specific because it's sensitive but let me just say that a few women on the forums claimed the condition is as bad as giving birth. I haven't got children yet, but I believe them.
The condition is not serious and won't have any long-term consequences and it is completely over now.
But yeah, it was something that as we say "I don't want my worst enemy to experience"
Really ? Sometimes very early in the morning, I feel really like going to the restroom and while on the toilet bowl I sweat with an indescribable painful stomach, I don't have a problem of constipation or diarrhea at all. But things just never seem to pass out in a normal way that their every single movement turns my goosebumps on and wets my body with sweat just in a couple of minutes. I might have eaten something bad.
 
  • #1,737
Pepper Mint said:
Really ? Sometimes very early in the morning, I feel really like going to the restroom and while on the toilet bowl I sweat with an indescribable painful stomach, I don't have a problem of constipation or diarrhea at all. But things just never seem to pass out in a normal way that their every single movement turns my goosebumps on and wets my body with sweat just in a couple of minutes. I might have eaten something bad.
This lasted for 3 days. I was at first in tremendous pain when sitting and walking, then when standing and yesterday, the pain was intense while lying, too. And yes, I took double dose of painkillers. Today, the problem was solved naturally :)
 
  • #1,738
A good friend, a WW2 veteran, described his kidney stone as "Worse by far than when i got shot " .

I'm told nowadays they can treat them with a beam of focused ultrasound .

Good luck with whatever it is... and i don't need to know.
 
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  • #1,739
Today I learned that a Blob, is the inch version of a Slug, :woot: does anyone remember how excited they were when they learned that ?:cool:
 
  • #1,740
jim hardy said:
A good friend, a WW2 veteran, described his kidney stone as "Worse by far than when i got shot " .

I'm told nowadays they can treat them with a beam of focused ultrasound .

Good luck with whatever it is... and i don't need to know.
I had one of those about 10 years ago. I don't remember it being quite that painful but it definitely wasn't a fun experience. Couldn't eat or sleep for days. ?:)
 
  • #1,741
RonL said:
Today I learned that a Blob, is the inch version of a Slug, :woot: does anyone remember how excited they were when they learned that ?:cool:
No, just now learned it , Thanks !

But i was excited by the Poundal, force to accelerate a pound of mass one ft per second2 , so is around a half ounce.
 
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  • #1,742
jim hardy said:
A good friend, a WW2 veteran, ...
I do this whenever I get a chance.

So I may ask you for this favor, and tell him a big, honest and seriously meant thank you from my side.
He and his comrades let me grew up in a world of respect and tolerance instead of violence and fear. I haven't forgotten this fact.
Usually I'm not a big fan of American military interventions in parts of the world they don't even understand. To be honest: I hate it.
But here in Europe it worked, and worked out well. I do not even dare to think about the alternative. That's the main reason I defend the EU as successful concept, too. I know to value these facts. And I haven't forgotten the reasons.
 
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  • #1,743
jim hardy said:
No, just now learned it , Thanks !

But i was excited by the Poundal, force to accelerate a pound of mass one ft per second2 , so is around a half ounce.
That might help a little, I'm trying to learn how to calculate turning a big heavy flywheel from 0 to about 30 turns in about 5 seconds o_O normally I would just throw some junk together and do a little test, but this is much bigger than my junk box:frown: but my brain has been awakened a little :smile:
 
  • #1,744
RonL said:
That might help a little, I'm trying to learn how to calculate turning a big heavy flywheel from 0 to about 30 turns in about 5 seconds
start by calculating its moment of inertia I, then torque = I X dω/dt and energy = ½ I X ω2
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/mi.html

i did that once long ago. My flywheel was easy, a uniform disk of 39⅜ inch diameter (1 meter how convenient) by 4" thick so to calculate I was trivial.

old jim
 
  • #1,745
jim hardy said:
A good friend, a WW2 veteran, described his kidney stone as "Worse by far than when i got shot " .
I saw my dad floored, pretty much literally, by a kidney stone. Such a tiny thing when it finally emerged. His dad had one in the 1930s. I've no idea if a propensity is hereditary, but I make sure to drink lots of fluids regularly...
 
  • #1,746
jim hardy said:
start by calculating its moment of inertia I, then torque = I X dω/dt and energy = ½ I X ω2
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/mi.html

i did that once long ago. My flywheel was easy, a uniform disk of 39⅜ inch diameter (1 meter how convenient) by 4" thick so to calculate I was trivial.

old jim
That's the easy part. (I've already done all that)
The hard part is analyzing the method with which RonL wishes to apply the torque.
Fortunately, 256bits gave me a grand idea on how to simplify the problem, by pointing out that this is similar to a bifilar pendulum.
Grand experiments to follow...

ps. I'd never heard of a "bifilar pendulum" before, so I'll count that as my "TIL" item.
pps. I've also learned about a bazillion other new things over the last 7 days, but didn't mention them, for the sake of bandwidth.
One example: The animal that is killing all the fish at Yellowstone National park doesn't have a "HOX" gene. [ref]
 
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  • #1,747
Ibix said:
I've no idea if a propensity is hereditary, but I make sure to drink lots of fluids regularly...
I occasionally add citric acid to the water I drink for this reason. I've read somewhere that it might help. Since it doesn't hurt as long as it isn't exaggerated, so what. Perhaps I should try and find out whether it's a urban legend or there is some truth to it.
 
  • #1,748
fresh_42 said:
I occasionally add citric acid to the water I drink for this reason. I've read somewhere that it might help. Since it doesn't hurt as long as it isn't exaggerated, so what. Perhaps I should try and find out whether it's a urban legend or there is some truth to it.
My friend had a kidney stone (it was removed by ultrasound as Jim said) and doctor advised her to drink non alcoholic beer.
 
  • #1,749
Sophia said:
My friend had a kidney stone (it was removed by ultrasound as Jim said) and doctor advised her to drink non alcoholic beer.
What a horrible advise in a country where Plzeňský and Budějovický are basically local brands!
(I find my solution better.)
 
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  • #1,750
jim hardy said:
A good friend, a WW2 veteran, described his kidney stone as "Worse by far than when i got shot " .
My dad had stones in his kidney. One night it got really bad; it's the only time I've ever seen him cry. :nb)
 
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