Today I Learned

[BillTre]

Report of the snake and hawk attack:

Peggy Jones learned that lesson in a most unwitting way on July 25 as she and her husband were finishing a day of yard work on a six-acre property that they own in Silsbee, Texas, about 100 miles northeast of Houston.
First, in an improbable occurrence, a snake fell from the clear blue sky, wrapping itself tightly around Ms. Jones’s right forearm.
“I immediately screamed and started swinging my arm to shake the snake off,” Ms. Jones, 64, said in an interview. “I was screaming, ‘Jesus, help me, please, Jesus, help me!’”
The snake wrapped itself around her arm more tightly. It hissed and lunged at her face, at times striking her glasses. But then, Ms. Jones realized, the snake, too, was an unwitting victim.

A brown-and-white hawk flying overhead had fumbled and dropped the four-and-a-half-foot-long scaly creature. The hawk quickly joined the fracas, swooping down to wrench its serpentine dinner from Ms. Jones’ arm.
The hawk snatched, scratched and jabbed at her arm “three to four times,” to reclaim its meal, Ms. Jones recalled. Each time, its powerful talons slashed her forearm. At one point, the bird dragged Ms. Jones’s arm up into the air. On the fourth try, it successfully uncoiled the snake and flew away. The “horrific” ordeal, Ms. Jones said, lasted about 15 to 20 seconds, and left her arm scratched, bruised and punctured.

NY Times report.

 

[KingGambit]

Today I learned that,

Phillip Morris gave Ukraine 500 thousands packets cigarettes donation??

This is the full video

After what I read about US nuclear triads, Putin threats, MAD, nuclear deterrents, concerning the War in Ukraine, these 500 thousands packets of cigarettes seems out of place.

 

[pinball1970]

Regarding the recent superconducting material and paper.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/15/science/retraction-ranga-dias-rochester.html

 

[Swamp Thing]

Today I learned that the "high-frequency trading industry" (as in doing algorithmic stock transactions at a very high rate) ... is eyeing the "high frequency" (as in shortwave) spectrum to set up global low-latency data links. Many radio amateurs are worried about the impact on their hobby.

https://www.radioworld.com/tech-and-gear/market-makers-want-to-expand-their-use-of-shortwave

 

[fresh_42]

TIL who invented the Countdown!

It was the director Fritz Lang who used it (6-5-4-3-2-1-0) in his last silent film "Die Frau im Mond" (The Woman in the Moon), 1929, for dramaturgical reasons. That must have convinced NASA and they kept it.

 

[pinball1970]

Mary Earps is the current ladies England goalie (soccer). Spain beat us in the world cup final today 1-0 but she did save a penalty to keep us in it.
As the penalty was about to be taken, the commentator mentioned the players refer to her as 'Mary Queen of stops.'
Never thought Id say it but I'm really getting into women's footie.

 

[fresh_42]

Mary Earps is the current ladies England goalie (soccer). Spain beat us in the world cup final today 1-0 but she did save a penalty to keep us in it.
As the penalty was about to be taken, the commentator mentioned the players refer to her as 'Mary Queen of stops.'
Never thought Id say it but I'm really getting into women's footie.

I made this step some years ago (obviously for similar reasons). They might not be as athletic, but they often play the prettier game.

 

[pinball1970]

I made this step some years ago (obviously for similar reasons). They might not be as athletic, but they often play the prettier game.

I tried watching with a bunch of footie guys years ago when we were all still playing five a side.
An England game possibly or prem game. We all said the same thing, "l could definitely get in the team."
It was slow as hell, players in space all the time as no closing down, organization seemed to be all over. Like really bad Sunday league
Fast forward ten years and the progress is incredible.
They always had skills on the ball but the crossing, finishing, close passing, defending etc etc just amazing now.
Some of the tackles are red blooded too,no messing around.
I could NOT get in that team now ; )

 

[pinball1970]

I made this step some years ago (obviously for similar reasons). They might not be as athletic, but they often play the prettier game.

They cried less than the lads too.

 

[fresh_42]

They cried less than the lads too.

One of our ladies earned a shitstorm in Brazil for saying (in the German Playboy):

“I don't know of any female Neymar. For example, I don't know any player who stays down for two or three minutes."

 

[pinball1970]

One of our ladies earned a shitstorm in Brazil for saying (in the Playboy):

It seems to be fair enough, they have not fully embraced the benefits of unsportswomanlike behaviour.
They are catching on though.

 

[jack action]

Spain beat us in the world cup final today 1-0 but she did save a penalty to keep us in it.

I don't know where all - us - PF members come from but apparently, it is not from Spain.

 

[pinball1970]

I don't know where all - us - PF members come from but apparently, it is not from Spain.

Yes, I expected at least some traffic on this.

 

[Charles Link]

Today I learned with a google that the chemical compound toluene, ($C_6 H_5 CH_3$), has the "l" before the "u". We were taught about it as sophomore high school students in a chemistry class ,(50 years ago), and I am unable to confirm it, but I do think the teacher pronounced it toulene and spelled it that way. It surprised me when I googled it, and it came up, do you mean toluene?

 

[hmmm27]

toluene (n.)

colorless liquid hydrocarbon, 1855, from German toluin (Berzelius, 1842), from Tolu, place in Colombia (now Santiago de Tolu) from which "balsam of Tolu" was obtained from the bark of certain trees, which were known in Europe by the name of the port. The chemical so called because it was first distilled (1841) from balsam of Tolu. The place name is of unknown origin.

 

[PeroK]

Never thought Id say it but I'm really getting into women's footie.

I watched the highlights of the recent women's cricket between England and Australia. The standard was much higher than anything I'd seen before.

 

[pinball1970]

I watched the highlights of the recent women's cricket between England and Australia. The standard was much higher than anything I'd seen before.

Beaumont was particularly impressive, every time she was at the crease she was just smashing it like Botham 1981. Loved it.
Work really gets in the way of me sitting in the pub watching live sports.

 

[pinball1970]

TIL there are different types of nuclear warning sirens, some start on a lower note before they slur up, most overlay with another staggered slur up, hit the same note then fall off leaving one note, join at the bottom then start over.

Youtubing them and comparing modern to WW2 sirens today.

Why? They tested something that sounded exactly like it yesterday afternoon, no warning.

Needless to say, for a couple seconds I thought that was it.

Then I remembered that the UK government had previously issued a test run of emergency warnings to all mobiles in case of an emergency.

No one had the warning so on this occasion, we were good to carry on.

EDIT: I could have googled this, sirens now mostly dismantled.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-minute_warning#:~:text=Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.&text=The four-minute warning was,operated between 1953 and 1992.I did not want to waste a valuable 10 seconds googling!

 

[fresh_42]

I was wondering where the news about FAST is. We get pictures from JWST all the time, but little is heard about FAST. Shouldn't it at least be as interesting? So I read the Wiki article on it and found at least some results. And the disturbing information that they look for alien radio submissions. What a waste! What do they expect to find? An alien baseball broadcast? This rock was 45,000,000 units of time without any human-made EM emissions, and only 1 unit with. That is 0.000002% of the time! What a waste of observation time!

 

[DaveC426913]

What is this FAST thing? What can I Google to read up on it? Is it a telescope?

Googling "wiki FAST" asks me Did you mean Fast and Furious?

Oh, OK. Found it.

Saaay, that is big...

 

[kyphysics]

...people are drinking more...the reason is up for debate/discussion

 

[pinball1970]

...people are drinking more...the reason is up for debate/discussion

I would guess that is the same in the UK.

 

[sld]

Every day we learn new things. Sometimes it's just a small fact or realization. No matter how trivial or random, let's start recording our daily lessons.

Please start off with "Today I learned". Keep commentary to a minimum and just LIKE posts. I'll start!

Today I learned that you clean up a white hat by spraying some cleaner with bleach on it (rinse before putting it back on your head!)

Today I learned that there are ways to connect things and practical is real while theory is ideal.

 

[DaveC426913]

I would guess that is the same in the UK.

I would guess it is the same everywhere Covid hit (i.e. Earth)

Keep commentary to a minimum and just LIKE posts.

(Oops. Missed this. OK, I'll start now.)

 

[DaveC426913]

TIL an acronym I'd never heard of before.

Quantum tunneling of macroscopic objects is so improbable that FAPP I guess, we'll never observe it.

^{I ... don't think we should promote this acronym to common use.}

 

[vanhees71]

FAPP is a famous acronym coined by Bell. He means it in a very negative way ;-)). The problem, however, is that Bell with his idiosynchratic "new language" (like "beables") rather adds to the confusion than helps to overcome it. One should only read the sound and solid mathematical parts of his papers, if one doesn't like to be confused even more, but it's the fate of quantum theory to trigger philosophical nebulae even from some of the founding fathers (particularly Bohr and Heisenberg). There were also some antidotes against it early on (first of all Dirac but also Pauli, who amazingly could keep his very esoteric side (lived out by being a convinced Jungian) from his very solid no-nonsense science, and Sommerfeld).

 

[dextercioby]

 

[pinball1970]

TIL https://phys.org/news/2023-09-mathematical-proof-reveals-insights-typhoon.html

Euler in there!

Implications for predicting Weather patterns.

 

[pinball1970]

This too, remnants of a 2014 meteorite that was thought to be from outside the solar system.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.15623

A little bit of controversy too.
https://www.newscientist.com/articl...eor-fragments-really-been-found-in-the-ocean/

@davenn may have a view?

 

[jack action]

TIL that Neil Armstrong had to go through US Customs after returning from the moon.

 

[Swamp Thing]

If I was a customs officer, I would prank him by planting some white powder and pretending to arrest him.

 

[DaveC426913]

If I was a customs officer, I would prank him by planting some white powder and pretending to arrest him.

Hey, at least that way he gets to stay on Earth. Imagine...

"I'm sorry sir. Your application has been rejected. You will have to return to your place of origin and wait to be seen. Current wait times are 1-2 years."

 

[pinball1970]

A new comet

https://www.planetary.org/articles/...Nishimura is green in,carry on toward the Sun.

 

[davenn]

A new comet

https://www.planetary.org/articles/how-to-see-newly-discovered-comet-nishimura#:~:text=The new comet to look for with the naked eye&text=Comet Nishimura is green in,carry on toward the Sun.

not in my part of the sky yet

 

[pinball1970]

not in my part of the sky yet

I hope you get a good view. Possibly some images?