Today I Learned

[Molar]

I don't know how to write LaTex codes. So, today I thought I would try to learn it.

Today I learned how to write the superscripts, subscripts and the roots and fractions, using the guidelines given here.
I am quite excited.

 

[andrewkirk]

Today I learned that 'capital city' does not mean 'city where the government of a country (or state or province) is'.

This came up in conversation with my sister-in-law, who lived in Netherlands for a while and said in passing something about Amsterdam being the capital, and I said no the Hague is the capital. She said, no that's where the government is, but the capital is Amsterdam.

I did some web searching and found she's right. Apparently there is an ancient law or proclamation of some sort, still in force, that says Amsterdam is the capital. I then looked up some definitions of 'capital city' and found this interesting Wikipedia page that says

'A capital city (or capital town or just capital) is a city or town, specified by law or constitution, by the government of a country, or part of a country, such as a state, province or county.'

How weird is that? The city is 'specified by law', but not specified to be anything in particular, such as a seat of government!

Apparently Malaysia also has a seat of government (Putrajaya) that is not its capital - which is Kuala Lumpur.

 

[Buzz Bloom]

TIL (actually yesterday) an excellent example of a general mathematical truth. This truth says:

For a sequence of propositions P(N) which depend of the value of a positive integer N, it may be possible to prove that each proposition is true individually, but not possible to prove the general proposition: For all N, P(N).​

The logic is that each P(N) may be individually proved with a finite proof which does not use induction. However, to prove the general proposition, induction is required, and the use of induction is arguably plausible that it is improper to use it for the particular general proposition.

See https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/blue-eye-paradox.875870/page-14#post-5549227 .

ADDED
For some reason, the link above is not to the correct post. I must not properly understand how to correctly create a link to a specific post. The correct post is post #273 on page 14.

 

[fresh_42]

TIL (actually yesterday) an excellent example of a general mathematical truth. This truth says:

For a sequence of propositions P(N) which depend of the value of a positive integer N, it may be possible to prove that each proposition is true individually, but not possible to prove the general proposition: For all N, P(N).​

The logic is that each P(N) may be individually proved with a finite proof which does not use induction. However, to prove the general proposition, induction is required, and the use of induction is arguably plausible that it is improper to use it for the particular general proposition.

See https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/blue-eye-paradox.875870/page-14#post-5549227 .

ADDED
For some reason, the link above is not to the correct post. I must not properly understand how to correctly create a link to a specific post. The correct post is post #273 on page 14.

Fermat's last theorem came to my mind by reading this. Proven for many N, before A. Wiles was able to prove it for all N more than 300 years later.

 

[jtbell]

Today I learned about the Langauge Weirdness Index, which ranks 239 languages basically according to the number of grammatical features they have, that other languages do not have. (It was originally published on the blog of a startup company that has since gone belly-up, breaking the links that you'll find on most other sites. However, the main author has now re-posted it on his own blog, and that's where my link above leads to.)

The weirdest language turns out to be Chalcatongo Mixtec, which is spoken by about 6,000 people in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Next comes Nenets, spoken by about 22,000 in Siberia. You probably know one word of Nenets: parka.

In third place is Choctaw, spoken by about 10,000 people of Native American heritage, mostly in Oklahoma.

Surprisingly, German is in tenth place. Below it but still in the top 25 are Dutch, Norwegian, Czech and Spanish. English is in 33rd place, which is still rather high.

Going down to the bottom of the list, the least weird language is Hindi. Also in the bottom ten are Cantonese, Hungarian and Basque.

Read the article and you'll see how they arrived at those results.

 

[Buzz Bloom]

Hi JT:

I did a text search on the article you cited and looked for "Esperanto", but I failed to find it. Esperanto was invented with the specific intention to avoid "weirdness" as the article uses this adjective.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto
The Polish-Jewish ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, Unua Libro, on 26 July 1887.​

I would be curious to see how successful the inventor was compared with low-weirdness natural (not invented) languages.

Regards,
Buzz

 

[Borg]

I did a text search on the article you cited and looked for "Esperanto", but I failed to find it.

Did you try the Excel spreadsheet that was linked near the bottom?
Weirdness_index_values_full_list

 

[Buzz Bloom]

Did you try the Excel spreadsheet that was linked near the bottom?

Hi Borg:

Thanks for your suggestion. I just searched the spreadsheet, but no luck. Perhaps the originator of the spreadsheet might be willing to add Esperanto in the next edition.

ADDED
I found the following Twitter page for the originator:
Tyler Schnoebelen
https://twitter.com/TSchnoebelen

I don't do Twitter. If you know someone who does, perhasps they might send Tyler a messge.

Regards,
Buzz

 

[Fewmet]

Today I learned that the Maquis were (will not be?) just an anti-Cardassian resistance movement (Star Trek: Deeps Space Nine) but also an anti-German resistance movement in occupied France during World War II.

(I wish I had a better background in history.)

 

[mfb]

Looks like they only considered the number of languages for the weirdness index, not the speakers. Which is weird - it allows features the majority of the world population uses to appear as weird if they are mainly used by widely spoken languages, but not by all the exotic languages.

 

[Drakkith]

Today I learned that even in Calculus 3 you can still royally screw up the quadratic formula.
@phinds what have you done to me?!

 

[fresh_42]

Today I learned that even in Calculus 3 you can still royally screw up the quadratic formula.
@phinds what have you done to me?!

One of the (few?!) advantages of being human.

 

[phinds]

Today I learned that even in Calculus 3 you can still royally screw up the quadratic formula.
@phinds what have you done to me?!

Gads, I would not have thought that even you could be that dumb ! Yeah, that's right. Blame it on an innocent bystander.

 

[Drakkith]

Gads, I would not have thought that even you could be that dumb ! Yeah, that's right. Blame it on an innocent bystander.

I stand by the motto of scumbags everywhere: "It's not my fault, it's yours."

 

[fresh_42]

I stand by the motto of scumbags everywhere: "It's not my fault, it's yours."

... which doesn't prevent you from implicitly quoting Cicero and Hieronymus ("Errare humanum est, in errore perseverare stultum.")

 

[phinds]

... which doesn't prevent you from implicitly quoting Cicero and Hieronymus ("Errare humanum est, in errore perseverare stultum.")

Oh he is nothing if not persistent, even in his errors.

 

[Drakkith]

... which doesn't prevent you from implicitly quoting Cicero and Hieronymus ("Errare humanum est, in errore perseverare stultum.")

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."

 

[Drakkith]

Oh he is nothing if not persistent, even in his errors.

I like to think I persist despite my errors.

 

[phinds]

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.

 

[Drakkith]

Yeah, you'd like to think that wouldn't you. Self delusional just like Donald Trump.

I'm disappointed in you, phinds. Comparing me to a politician? How could you stoop so low?!

 

[fresh_42]

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.

 

[phinds]

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?

 

[Drakkith]

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?

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?!

 

[fresh_42]

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.

 

[Drakkith]

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.

 

[Bystander]

quoting different people

Not people ... idioms.

 

[Drakkith]

Not people ... idioms.

There we go. That's what I was trying to get at.

 

[fresh_42]

TIL that there is actually a place in the EU where tea is planted.

 

[Pepper Mint]

TIL that there is actually a place in the EU where tea is planted.

In England ?

 

[fresh_42]

Lol, no. And the weather there isn't as rainy and foggy as one might think. In south west Portugal. ... so to speak ...

 

[Pepper Mint]

Lol, no. And the weather there isn't as rainy and foggy as one might think. In south west Portugal. ... 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.

 

[fresh_42]

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.

 

[jtbell]

[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.

 

[Borg]

[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.

I can't believe it. Next you'll be saying that IRS doesn't stand for Infernal Revenue Service.

 

[Sophia]

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"

 

[Pepper Mint]

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.

 

[Sophia]

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 :)

 

[jim hardy]

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.

 

[RonL]

Today I learned that a Blob, is the inch version of a Slug, does anyone remember how excited they were when they learned that ?

 

[Borg]

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.

 

[jim hardy]

Today I learned that a Blob, is the inch version of a Slug, does anyone remember how excited they were when they learned that ?

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.

 

[fresh_42]

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.

 

[RonL]

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 normally I would just throw some junk together and do a little test, but this is much bigger than my junk box but my brain has been awakened a little

 

[jim hardy]

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

 

[Ibix]

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...

 

[OmCheeto]

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]

 

[fresh_42]

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.

 

[Sophia]

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.

 

[fresh_42]

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.)

 

[beamie564]

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.