Today I Learned

  • Thread starter Thread starter Greg Bernhardt
  • Start date Start date
Click For Summary
Today I learned that cleaning a white hat can be done with bleach cleaner, but it’s important to rinse it before wearing it again. I also discovered that "oyster veneering," a woodworking technique from the late 1600s, is experiencing a minor revival despite its labor-intensive nature. Additionally, I learned that the factorial of 23 (23!) equals 25,852,016,738,884,976,640,000, which interestingly has 23 digits, a unique coincidence among factorials. I found out that medical specialists often spend less than 10 minutes with patients, and that watching TV can contribute to weight gain. Other insights included the fact that a kiss can transfer around 80 million microbes, and that bureaucracy can sometimes hinder employment opportunities. The discussion also touched on various trivia, such as the emotional sensitivity of barn owls and the complexities of gravitational lensing around black holes.
  • #3,271
Can a rod that passes through only one hole of a double torus be made to pass through both, without tearing or merging? A fun topology puzzle 😁:

 
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #3,272
etotheipi said:
Can a rod that passes through only one hole of a double torus be made to pass through both, without tearing or merging? A fun topology puzzle 😁:
I take it you are familiar with the correct way to slice a bagel?
 
  • Like
  • Love
Likes DrGreg and etotheipi
  • #3,273
Ibix said:
I take it you are familiar with the correct way to slice a bagel?

I've been enlightened; I've been doing it wrong my whole life! Though I'm not sure I quite buy this part :wink::
"You can toast them in a toaster oven while linked together"
But it sure beats this thing of nightmares...:

1591910135320.png


I can feel it staring into my soul o_O
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • Haha
  • Like
Likes collinsmark and Ibix
  • #3,274
etotheipi said:
Though I'm not sure I quite buy this part
A toaster oven is basically a standalone grill (not what we Brits would call a toaster, if that's what you are thinking of), and I can confirm that you can toast the linked halves in a grill. It's a faff, as is spreading anything on the bagel to eat, but I did it a couple of times years ago for nerd-cred. Use low heat and keep the bagels as far from the flame/element as possible - they don't lie flat and the raised bits tend to burn.

The spherical dog is somewhat horrific.
 
  • #3,276
Ah okay, that makes more sense. I can't cook to save my life, though I can at least say that I've gotten pretty good at microwaving. Who knows, maybe I'll branch out and learn how to grill bagels before uni :wink:. Although I'd probably just end up absolutely scorching them...
 
  • #3,277
Ibix said:
The spherical dog is somewhat horrific.
Physicists are more accustomed to:
Spot_the_cow.gif
 
  • Like
  • Love
Likes collinsmark, etotheipi and mfb
  • #3,278
Ibix said:
The spherical dog is somewhat horrific.
Reminds me of a puffer fish:
Screen Shot 2020-06-11 at 7.33.00 PM.png
 
  • Haha
  • Like
Likes Adesh and etotheipi
  • #3,279
Evolution of the user interface:
Screen Shot 2020-06-11 at 3.14.47 PM.png
 
  • Like
Likes DennisN, Klystron and david2
  • #3,280
  • #3,281
Reminded by the trench run computer above, from Diary of a Crazed Mimbanite:

Red 5, your targetting computer's off!

It's ok - the voices in my head told me to do that.
 
  • Haha
  • Like
Likes DennisN and etotheipi
  • #3,282
1591979981038.png
 
  • Like
Likes Adesh, DennisN, Klystron and 1 other person
  • #3,283
Ibix said:
Red 5, your targetting computer's off!

It's ok - the voices in my head told me to do that.

It's okay! The entire rebellion on Yavin IV is about to be blown to pieces by a huge planet-killing superlaser, but some robe-wearing hermit who I've known for like 3 or 4 days at best tells me things will be just fine if I completely fluke this one-in-a-million shot into a foot wide thermal exhaust port!
 
  • #3,284
TIL that womp rats are 2 meters in size while exhaust ports are only 1 foot.
 
  • #3,285
jbriggs444 said:
TIL that womp rats are 2 meters in size while exhaust ports are only 1 foot.

My bad, you're quite right! I just eyeballed (guessed...) the figure.

Galen Erso sure wasn't taking any chances!
 
  • #3,286
TIL

There is a craze in Saudi Arabia called sidewalk skiing which involves driving on two wheels of a car either drivers or passenger side.
 
  • #3,287
Keith_McClary said:

I recognize the blue ones and grey ones from my childhood. :smile:
Ah, Lego Space. But I liked Lego Technics even more; I remember building an AT-AT that could walk (it had a motor). And I also remember me and my friend shooting at the AT-AT with an air rifle. :biggrin:
 
  • #3,288
Today I learned that "optimism is just a lack of experience". :smile:
(I read it somewhere on the net and had a laugh)
 
  • Like
Likes Adesh and fresh_42
  • #3,289
DennisN said:
Today I learned that "optimism is just a lack of experience". :smile:
(I read it somewhere on the net and had a laugh)
I have heard it from a German stand-up comedian, who called it "lack of information".
 
  • #3,291
Today I learned that Freddie Mercury spent much of his childhood and teenage in India.
 
  • #3,292
Adesh said:
Which one do you own?
I had a car that came with a starting crank.

Edit: It was of this era


but not a spiffy sports car.
 
Last edited:
  • #3,293
  • #3,294
Keith_McClary said:
I had a car that came with a starting crank.

Edit: It was of this era


but not a spiffy sports car.

Obviously not someone that has often done that! The OPs grip on the crank can lead to a broken thumb (at least).

It is safer to place the thumb next to the Index finger, on the same side of the crank handle. An engine will sometimes kick back, fire before reaching TDC (Top Dead Center) when cranking. With the demonstrated grip, the full force of that is taken by the thumb, trying to remove same from hand. Ouch!
 
  • Like
Likes Lnewqban and hmmm27
  • #3,295
Tom.G said:
Obviously not someone that has often done that! The OPs grip on the crank can lead to a broken thumb (at least).

It is safer to place the thumb next to the Index finger, on the same side of the crank handle. An engine will sometimes kick back, fire before reaching TDC (Top Dead Center) when cranking. With the demonstrated grip, the full force of that is taken by the thumb, trying to remove same from hand. Ouch!
Not to mention his tibia.
 
  • #3,296
Today I learned that inequalities are most disloyal things, you see
##0 \leq \sin^4x \leq 1##
##0\leq \cos^4 x \leq 1##
But if you add them the right bound become strict :
##0 \leq \sin^4 x +\cos^4 x \lt 2##
 
Last edited:
  • #3,297
Adesh said:
But if you add them the right bound become strict :
##0 \leq \sin^4 x +\cos^4 x \2##

What do you mean? If ##x \leq 2## and ##y \leq 3## then ##x + y \leq 5##, no? Or have I missed something 🙃
 
  • #3,298
etotheipi said:
What do you mean? If ##x \leq 2## and ##y \leq 3## then ##x + y \leq 5##, no? Or have I missed something 🙃
Not true (always, may be true sometimes) for trig functions.
 
  • #3,299
Adesh said:
Not true (always, may be true sometimes) for trig functions.

Hmm but if ##A < B## then ##A \leq B## always. It doesn't work the other way around!
 
  • #3,300
etotheipi said:
Hmm but if ##A < B## then ##A \leq B## always. It doesn't work the other way around!
##\sin^4 x +\cos^4 x## can never be equal to 2. So, we cannot just blindly add two inequalities.
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 14 ·
Replies
14
Views
2K
Replies
26
Views
6K
  • · Replies 11 ·
Replies
11
Views
4K
  • · Replies 161 ·
6
Replies
161
Views
14K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
2K
Replies
35
Views
7K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
3K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
345
  • · Replies 27 ·
Replies
27
Views
6K