Today I Learned

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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.
  • #6,361
pinball1970 said:
I have been walking past Strawberry Studios for about two years without realizing it.
For many years I walked or drove past the front door of Slade Prison (the fictional location of the British sitcom Porridge) without recognising it.

330px-St-albans-prison-gatehouse.jpg

St-albans-prison-gatehouse Gary Houston, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
 
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Physics news on Phys.org
  • #6,362
TIL Nearly ten years on this site! (I received some points) What an interesting time with interesting very smart people.
I know I tend to post stuff about drums and photos rather than physics but I read more than I post.
Cheers PF.
 
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  • #6,363
TIL that in Major League Baseball, baseball bases are now 18 inches square. Previously, they were 15 inches square. This change, implemented in 2023, aims to reduce the risk of collisions between baserunners and fielders and encourage more aggressive base running, as the bases are now closer together. Running from home to a base is now three inches shorter, while running between two bases is 6 inches less.
 
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  • #6,364
Today I further learned that the minimal distance from the edge of home plate to the edge of first base is 87 feet. The usually quoted figure of 90 feet is the maximal distance between the two bases. 87 feet is minimal distance.

By the way when I asked an AI to calculate this it froze solid, twice. Too hard!
 
  • #6,366
TIL that Ethan Peck, who plays Spock on "Strange New Worlds" is the the grandson of Gregory Peck, by his first marriage to Eine "Greta" Kukkunen, a Finnish-American real estate agent. Given the Finnish stereotype of being "stone-faced", maybe he was born to the part.
 
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  • #6,367
Janus said:
TIL that Ethan Peck, who plays Spock on "Strange New Worlds" is the the grandson of Gregory Peck, by his first marriage to Eine "Greta" Kukkunen, a Finnish-American real estate agent. Given the Finnish stereotype of being "stone-faced", maybe he was born to the part.
And not to forget, the penchant for strange hairstyles!

857bac87672130c560ae5b2f50209433e5d._SX1080_FMjpg_.jpg
 
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  • #6,368
fresh_42 said:
And not to forget, the penchant for strange hairstyles!
And matching boots.
 
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  • #6,369
fresh_42 said:
And not to forget, the penchant for strange hairstyles!

View attachment 360304
Aren't they the Leningrad Cowboys?
 
  • #6,370
Hornbein said:
Aren't they the Leningrad Cowboys?
So? They are a Finnish rock band.
 
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  • #6,373
TIL about chain racing. Two cars are chained together; the one in front has an engine but no brakes, the one in the back has brakes but no engine.

 
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  • #6,374
jack action said:
TIL about chain racing. Two cars are chained together; the one in front has an engine but no brakes, the one in the back has brakes but no engine.
And if you do it the other way around, you get an action movie.
 
  • #6,375
Swamp Thing said:
DennisN said:


A school classmate of mine had the ability to squirt saliva directly out of his salivary gland in a thin stream.

He went to medical college and ended up as a nephrologist, so I don't think he ever had occasion to demonstrate his 'skill' in an interview.

TIL that this trick is called "gleeking". Unbeknownst to me, it went through a brief peak in popularity on social media a couple of years ago.
 
  • #6,376
Swamp Thing said:
TIL that this trick is called "gleeking". Unbeknownst to me, it went through a brief peak in popularity on social media a couple of years ago.
I once played disc golf with a man who had a habit of wafting tiny bubbles of saliva off of his tongue. I later found myself doing this too, even though I had made no attempt to garner this skill. If that sounds weird, well, it was.
 
  • #6,378
sbrothy said:
Today I learned that turtles can breathe using their butt.
Today I learned that according to Wikipedias list of Ig Nobel Prize Winners, in 2024 Takanori Tabeke was presented with this tongue-in-cheek award for discovering that several mammals are capable of this.

Also, the list itself is pretty funny.
 
  • #6,379
T.I.L. My baby niece earned a 2:1. I text my son and he said, "She's that old! How did that happen!?"

Her uncle, me, tried to push her into science as a kid but she would not have it.
English Literature.
Well done kid.
 
  • #6,380
Today I learned that 5/5/25 is "square root" day. Took me a sec to see why (Yeah, I'm slow)

The previous square root day was 4/4/16 and the next one is in 11 years: 6/6/36
 
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  • #6,381
phinds said:
Today I learned that 5/5/25 is "square root" day. Took me a sec to see why (Yeah, I'm slow)

The previous square root day was 4/4/16 and the next one is in 11 years: 6/6/36
This is a rare example of a number-related date that works for the whole world.

Usually number-related dates work either in the U.S. only (e.g. 3/14) or else everywhere except the U.S. (e.g. 22/7).
 
  • #6,383
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  • #6,385
sbrothy said:
Sadly, This doesn't surprise me. When I was a kid and driving with my parents on the highway, the windscreen was always splattered with insects. Not so anymore.
Same here.
 
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  • #6,386
OmCheeto said:
Same here.
It says there is no single cause. For most insects, everything is getting worse.
 
  • #6,387
  • #6,388
Hornbein said:
It says there is no single cause. For most insects, everything is getting worse.
My bet is that humankind (specifically industrialization) is at the root of the problem, but I'm speculating here, which I know is heavily frowned upon. (Don't browbeat me, please!) :smile:
 
  • #6,389
I'm not sure how widespread this is, but here in the Great White North we have stopped spraying insecticide everywhere, such as roadside brush land. We've also stopped spraying herbicide to kill off dandelions, etc.

We are seeing a rebound in insect populations as well as bird populations.

I have no citations or references for this.
 
  • #6,390
fresh_42 said:
It's almost everywhere in Europe.
It's everywhere on the planet.
 

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