What is the newest installment of 'Random Thoughts' on Physics Forums?

[Astronuc]

https://www.theguardian.com/news/20...-race-adventure-lifetime-tragedy-simon-speirs

Sometimes the risks and cost are just too great.

 

[BillTre]

That makes too much sense!

 

[Rive]

The 'flea market' of my favourite IT site is littered with all those 'mining rigs'
It's quite tempting to put up some real hard ware (for real men)

 

[BillTre]

 

[DrGreg]

He also reacted similarly to the UK sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf:



Summary: when he first saw it, his intention was to sue, until he realised it was a comedy and he subsequently became a great fan.

 

[pinball1970]

Paul Dirac interview

 

[fresh_42]

Paul Dirac interview

I have a book. The elementary particles. Copyright: 1943.

 

[Astronuc]

Kansas farmers abandon wheat fields after extreme drought
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/kansas-farmers-abandon-wheat-fields-100000061.html

WICHITA, Kansas, May 22 (Reuters) - Farmers in Kansas, the biggest U.S. producer of wheat used to make bread, are abandoning their crops after a severe drought and damaging cold ravaged farms.

They are intentionally spraying wheat fields with crop-killing chemicals and claiming insurance payouts more than normal, betting the grain is not worth harvesting, Reuters found on a three-day tour of the state. Other growers are turning over dismal-looking fields to cattle for grazing.

Abandoning fields will lead to a smaller U.S. wheat supply in the world's No. 5 wheat exporter, with stocks seen falling to a 16-year low. High rates of abandonment deal an economic blow to farm towns and force wheat buyers to adjust procurement plans by buying the staple grain elsewhere.

Nationally, winter-wheat farmers plan to abandon 33% of the acres they planted, the highest percentage since World War I, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a May 12 report.

Kansas farmers are expected to abandon about 19% of the acres planted last autumn, up from 10% last year and 4% in 2021, according to the report. But farmers, grain traders and representatives of major food companies who traversed the state on an annual crop tour last week warn of an even greater percentage of unharvested acres.

 

[Astronuc]

Edge of Nowhere: Journey to Macquarie Island (Full Documentary) | TRACKS​

Macquarie Island is about 930 miles (1500 km) southeast of Tasmania. One gets there by boat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macquarie_Island
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/629/

The island is the exposed crest of the undersea Macquarie Ridge, raised to its present position where the Indo-Australian tectonic plate meets the Pacific plate. It is a site of major geoconservation significance, being the only place on earth where rocks from the earth’s mantle (6 km below the ocean floor) are being actively exposed above sea-level. These unique exposures include excellent examples of pillow basalts and other extrusive rocks.

 

[WWGD]

Every tab everything working except YouTube. I was searching for SysInternals. Which I never had??

 

[hmmm27]

That you, Yoda ?

 

[pinball1970]

That you, Yoda ?

No. Not quite l.

Everything working it was.
Searching the net I am.
SysInternals searching I was.
Owned never had did I.

 

[pinball1970]

That you, Yoda ?

Star wars is stupid. Totally do not get it.

 

[phinds]

Star wars is stupid. Totally do not get it.

Get it, totally I do not. Stupid it is.

 

[hmmm27]

I thought MS changed the name to PowerToys, or something like that, but apparently not. Latest update, yesterday.

 

[pinball1970]

FA cup, oldest football (soccer) competition in the world (1871) played on the 3rd June with an all Manchester final (Man U and Man C) for the first time in history.

 

[fresh_42]

Does anyone remember Catweazle? Germany made a movie 50 years after the series (26 episodes)!

 

[DrGreg]

Does anyone remember Catweazle? Germany made a movie 50 years after the series (26 episodes)!

Yes. I guess many people of roughly my age from the UK would remember it. And I guess it was sold to a number of other countries, given that it was made on film rather than video tape, by "London Weekend International", a subsidiary of London Weekend Television.

Catweazle

 

[fresh_42]

Yes. I guess many people of roughly my age from the UK would remember it. And I guess it was sold to a number of other countries, given that it was made on film rather than video tape, by "London Weekend International", a subsidiary of London Weekend Television.

View attachment 327197
Catweazle

IIRC it was broadcast here in Germany on Sunday afternoons. And I still use the words "electric-trick" occasionally. Not sure whether this was due to translation or in the original script as well. I just found it interesting that they produced a movie 50 years later and still count on the fact that people will remember it. And there was only one choice for the lead actor, which they indeed have chosen.

 

[DrGreg]

And I still use the words "electric-trick" occasionally. Not sure whether this was due to translation or in the original script as well.

I don't remember that, but I do remember "telling bone" for "telephone".

 

[kyphysics]

Paralyzed man walks after bluetooth connects his brain and spine​

 

[jack action]

Just thought of this:

Why fear AI spreading false news on forums and social media? When we are discussing with someone and we are in doubt our interlocutor is a chatbot, all we have to do is ask this person to identify all the traffic lights in a picture.

Boom! End of times averted.

 

[Astronuc]

Eating healthfully -

Sick workers tied to 40% of restaurant food poisoning outbreaks, CDC says​

https://www.yahoo.com/news/sick-workers-tied-40-restaurant-171843478.html

Food workers who showed up while sick or contagious were linked to about 40% of restaurant food poisoning outbreaks with a known cause between 2017 and 2019, federal health officials said Tuesday.

Norovirus and salmonella, germs that can cause severe illness, were the most common cause of 800 outbreaks, which encompassed 875 restaurants and were reported by 25 state and local health departments.

Investigators with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called for better enforcement of “comprehensive food safety policies,” which emphasize basic measures like hand washing and keep sick workers off the job.

Although 85% of restaurants said they had policies restricting staff from working while sick, only about 16% of the policies were detailed enough . . . .

It's Not Just Salt, Sugar, Fat: Study Finds Ultra-Processed Foods Drive Weight Gain​

Over the past 70 years, ultra-processed foods have come to dominate the U.S. diet. These are foods made from cheap industrial ingredients and engineered to be super-tasty and generally high in fat, sugar and salt.

The rise of ultra-processed foods has coincided with growing rates of obesity, leading many to suspect that they've played a big role in our growing waistlines. But is it something about the highly processed nature of these foods itself that drives people to overeat? A new study suggests the answer is yes.

The study, conducted by researchers at the National Institutes of Health, is the first randomized, controlled trial to show that eating a diet made up of ultra-processed foods actually drives people to overeat and gain weight compared with a diet made up of whole or minimally processed foods. . . . .

 

[BillTre]

 

[Astronuc]

If one falls from a ship in the middle of the ocean.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/survive-fall-off-cruise-ship-135500959.html

Don't fall off a ship in the middle of the ocean.

 

[Ibix]

Don't fall off a ship in the middle of the ocean.

That seems like the #1 tip...

 

[Astronuc]

Mike Markkula, Apple's Lesser-Known Co-Founder Owned ⅓ Of The Company But Missed Out On A Potential $900 Billion Fortune (Benzinga)
https://www.benzinga.com/news/23/06...-missed-out-on-a-potential-900-billion-fortun

Armed with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California, this Trojan brother was already well-versed in the intricacies of the field. Markkula’s career at Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc. and Intel Corp., where he retired as a millionaire at the young age of 32, showcased his deep understanding of the tech landscape.

His $250,000 investment, a combination of loans and equity, solidified his position as the second CEO, third employee and a significant one-third owner of the budding company. In 2023, a one-third stake in Apple would be worth about $900 billion.

Current capitalization as of yesterday is $2.846T, and 1/3 would be ~$948 billion.

 

[fresh_42]

I will never make fun of Welsh place names again. I just learned about a mountain called Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu.

 

[hmmm27]

I will never make fun of Welsh place names again. I just learned about a mountain called Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu.

Literal translation : "We just call it 'the mountain', why would we call it anything else ; also, you're standing in quicksand... again."

 

[Ibix]

Literal translation : "We just call it 'the mountain', why would we call it anything else ; also, you're standing in quicksand... again."

There's a long digression on this theme in one of the earlier Discworld books on this theme, explaining why the forest they are in is named Skund ("Your finger, you fool", in the local language) and mentioning the existence of a mountain named "who is this idiot who does not know what a mountain is".

This one actually just seems to be an extremely specific descriptor (rather like the long Welsh one, in fact). See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tauma...kakapikimaunga­horonukupokaiwhen­uakitanatahu.