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.
Towards the end of the War Scare, President Reagan asked his Ambassador to the Soviet Union, Arthur Hartman, "Do you think Soviet leaders really fear us, or is all the huffing and puffing just part of their propaganda?"
Six years later, after the Cold War had ended, the 1990 PFIAB report answered President Reagan's question: "There is little doubt in our minds that the Soviets were genuinely worried by Able Archer… it appears that at least some Soviet forces were preparing to preempt or counterattack a NATO strike launched under cover of Abler Archer" and that "the President was given assessments of Soviet attitudes and actions that understated the risks to the United States." According to the PFIAB, the US Intelligence Community's erroneous reporting made the "especially grave error to assume that since we know the US is not going to start World War III, the next leaders of the Kremlin will also believe that."
The Gaia star-mapping mission has a positional accuracy of 300 microarcseconds (the width of a human hair at 30 kilometers).
Their second data release is supposed to have an accuracy up to 10 microarcseconds (the width of a human hair at 1000 kilometers).
A pretty astounding thing to think about!
I wonder which size of human hair they are using? I have read they can be ~20 to 200 microns wide.
Today I learned that ##n! \neq (n!)!## (here). It's called a "double factorial" but its alternative name of "semifactorial" seems more appropriate to me.
#1,778
Pepper Mint
91
139
TIL that I would definitely have to hire a representative for my company instead of me being the CEO and having to appear in public all the time. Because
1. I can do all the businesses with the guy only. It is safer for me since I have the money and am known to local people particularly those in my area.
2. I have no headache from time to time in the business I am staying behind .
3. I also have time to invest my $$$ into other businesses (may also be seasoned ones - not long termed)
What do you think about what I learned ? Could the person I hire take all my money away ?
#1,779
OmCheeto
Gold Member
2,482
3,408
TIL that an inch is exactly 2.54 mm cm 0.0254 meters long.
That made me wonder where the "inch" originated, and I learned a whole bunch of other interesting and fun things.
From wiki; "The earliest known reference to the inch in England is from the Laws of Æthelberht"
I sort of lost my interest at that point about "the inch", and went searching for "The Laws of Æthelberht", which I promptly found.
Unfortunately, the laws were written in Old English, and I could barely understand anything.
But the words were somewhat entertaining, as they seemed to be a mix of German, English, and Latin, and that just furthered my interest.
Wiki had the following to say about the document; "The code is concerned primarily with preserving social harmony, through compensation and punishment for personal injury. Compensations are arranged according to social rank, descending from king to slave".
About an hour later, I found a modern English translation.
It only got funnier from there.
It would appear that things back around 600 AD were at the same time, quite different, and completely the same, as they are now, which I will get to at the end.
They were different, in that every part of the human body had different values, and they had different values for different types of people. (Kings to Slaves)
It was my impression, that the common currency was the "Shilling".
Another denomination was the "person price", which was apparently 100 shillings, from; "24. If a person kills someone, let him pay an ordinary person-price, 100 shillings."
Another was the "Sceatta", which was 1/20 the of a shilling. A version of the American "Nickel", I suppose.
So anyways, while I was looking for the "inch" reference, I ran across the most valuable body part, in terms of "If you cut this off, you owe him this much", which is why I tried to decipher the monetary units.
And...
64. If a person damages the genital organ, let him pay him with three person-prices. [300 shillings!]
So then, if you should time travel back to medieval England, and should accidentally cut someones wiener off, be sure and kill him, and sew the wiener back on, as it will cost you only 1/3 as much.
ps.
Punching someone in the nose would have cost you 3 shillings, and pulling someones hair would have cost you 2.5 shillings.
And the first documented mention of the "inch":
67. If a person stabs through a thigh, for each thrust 6 shillings.
67.1. If [the width of the wound] is over an inch, a shilling;
67.2. for two inches, two [shillings];
67.3. over three [inches], 3 shillings.
1 inch = 3 barleycorn lengths = width of the average man's thumb at the base of the nail
I was actually going to put that down as one of my "pet peeves" today.
f95toli said:
(which is why the 1 inch=25.4 mm is exact by definition)
Almost all of my calculations are now done in SI in base units. No millis. No micros. No nanos.
As I invariably will slip a decimal point.
ps. Thank you. It's fixed.
I think.
#1,785
OmCheeto
Gold Member
2,482
3,408
mfb said:
A murder was equal to pulling the hair 40 times? Interesting ratio.
Well, if you look at the title of my first reference, it says; "“BARBARIAN” LAW CODES"
Funny. Someone was bad mouthing Leviticus on my Facebook feed yesterday. I wish I'd known about this document. The olden days were apparently quite different for quite a long time.
Did you know, that when I was born, only 5% of Americans thought mixed race marriages were ok?
I found this out just a few months ago, and was like; "What?? Really? Wow."
#1,786
Stephanus
1,316
104
Pulling the hair which has a diameter of 40 µm, 40 times.
#1,787
Stephanus
1,316
104
Today I learned that there is/are natural nuclear fission reactor? At first glance I thought I was reading fusion (reactor), sun, stars. But it was fission.
Hmm.., I think it should be a very big ore with high uranium concentration. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fission
#1,788
Pepper Mint
91
139
I learned that cancer-causing mutations in the elderly get accumulated more than those in the young.
However true or false it turns out, leading a happy life is important. Enjoy!
#1,789
Pepper Mint
91
139
fresh_42 said:
As if you knew how thick his thumb is.
There are men whose thumbs look long, skinny and pointed. Luckily mine isn't and I prefer thick ones.
OmCheeto said:
...
Did you know, that when I was born, only 5% of Americans thought mixed race marriages were ok?
I found this out just a few months ago, and was like; "What?? Really? Wow."
Serious ? are people in your area still racist or against same sex marriages ?
Personally I think Yes, especially those of over 50s.
Racist thoughts are learned and rooted in people's mind. Removing them is like a requirement to either brain-wash or cancel out some of their hosts' neuronal functions.
#1,790
OmCheeto
Gold Member
2,482
3,408
Pepper Mint said:
Serious ? are people in your area still racist or against same sex marriages ?
...
Not that I can tell. Although black people only comprise 6% of my city's population, Obama received 75% of the vote in both general elections.
And I don't think many people around here have a problem with gay marriage. Our last mayor was gay.
I was born nearly 60 years ago, and that 5% statistic regarding interracial marriage was from a nationwide USA poll. [ref: Gallup]
TIL that the radiation resistance of tardigrades (AKA water bears) is probably due to a specific DNA associated protein.
And that the gene when transferred to human cells in culture also increases their radiation resistance.
Next step in my plan for space dominance, breed up some recombinant astronauts for those long high radiation journeys to other planets.
Today I learned that there is now a Manhattan Project National Historical Park, established in November 2015, with branches in Los Alamos NM, Hanford WA, and Oak Ridge TN.
Today i learned that those who want to work are mixed with ones that do not want to work, i am fed up hearing of people with (bad backs and finger aches) that do not want to work, where as i have a minor mental issue and am 65 and want to work.
#1,795
Sophia
112
565
wolram said:
Today i learned that those who want to work are mixed with ones that do not want to work, i am fed up hearing of people with (bad backs and finger aches) that do not want to work, where as i have a minor mental issue and am 65 and want to work.
Wolram, if they don't want to employ you in a regular full time job, have you thought about online part time job?
Either in your field or maybe teaching English?
I'm not sure if talking is helping or stressing to you. Each person is different, so this may be a good idea only in case that you are comfortable with talking.
There are many agencies that do this. I'm sure many people would pay to speak with a native speaker and this human contact could be good for you, too. What do you think?
#1,796
wolram
Gold Member
Dearly Missed
4,410
555
Sophia said:
Wolram, if they don't want to employ you in a regular full time job, have you thought about online part time job?
Either in your field or maybe teaching English?
I'm not sure if talking is helping or stressing to you. Each person is different, so this may be a good idea only in case that you are comfortable with talking.
There are many agencies that do this. I'm sure many people would pay to speak with a native speaker and this human contact could be good for you, too. What do you think?
I do not want to derail this thread, but i think learning of deep sociological injustice is pertinent to this thread, I think society should be split into three divisions
thoughts who are willing and able to work should have a privileged life stile, thoughts who are disabled and can not work should have a comfortable life and thoughts
That do not want to work should live on the bread line.
#1,797
Jonathan Scott
Gold Member
2,345
1,189
wolram said:
... willing and able to work ...
"Work" covers a huge range of possibilities. I don't like my job (IBM mainframe software support) but I do it because I need the money and I happen to have the right skills and experience to be very valuable in that specific job and hence to be paid relatively well. However, I also work hard (for no pay) for the amateur orchestral society (registered non-profit) which I help to run, which I mildly resent but consider reasonably worth while, and what I'd really like to have the time for is to work on finding better ways to understand many aspects of physics, and perhaps eventually to make some theoretical progress as a result.
But if you want to discuss that any more, I suggest starting a new thread. And your spelling of "those" is somewhat unconventional.
#1,798
OmCheeto
Gold Member
2,482
3,408
Jonathan Scott said:
...
But if you want to discuss that any more, I suggest starting a new thread.
...
TIL that there are microbes in a South African gold mine can feed off of the effects of radiation on the chemicals around them.
This implies similar organisms could feed off of cosmic rays and could result in expanding the environments where life might be found.
