Today I Learned

[MikeGomez]

Short reminder: Please avoid religion as a subject of discussion!

Whether Sagan converted to Christianity or not was his private decision and completely irrelevant to anybody else. I met many mathematicians who were religious, and many who were not. I did not care and neither should you.

Discussing religion is not allowed on these forums. You could have ended the post with that, yet you smuggled in a positive position on the subject which I take offense to. You are telling the public that they should not care.

How about we change the subject from religion to beliefs in general. Beliefs inform decisions. People vote based on their beliefs. They decide what gets taught to our children in school based on their beliefs. They make laws, and make decisions in all aspects of society based on their beliefs. You want to tell people that they should not care?

 

[fresh_42]

Discussing religion is not allowed on these forums. You could have ended the post with that, yet you smuggled in a positive position on the subject which I take offense to. You are telling the public that they should not care.

How about we change the subject from religion to beliefs in general. Beliefs inform decisions. People vote based on their beliefs. They decide what gets taught to our children in school based on their beliefs. They make laws, and make decisions in all aspects of society based on their beliefs. You want to tell people that they should not care?

The statement was, that nobody should care about another person's private beliefs.

That is the definition of private.

 

[DaveE]

yet you smuggled in a positive position on the subject

Seemed pretty neutral to me. "Don't care" is only an attack on your beliefs if you think people have to agree with you. Granted, saying "you shouldn't care" is a bit of a stretch. I think he meant "you shouldn't care in your posts on a physics forum".

which I take offense to

Duly noted, thanks for letting us know.

 

[DaveC426913]

You are telling the public that they should not care.

Note that not caring should also apply to such things as gender, age, political stance, colour, creed or orientation.

Not caring is not a judgement; it is the opposite: it is the Great Equalizer.

 

[Swamp Thing]

View attachment 314131

Indeed.

 

[kyphysics]

A bunch of Googlers who used to work at Amazon are internally sharing horror stories about their former employer's 'frupid' and aggressive culture

https://www.businessinsider.com/for...ho-work-at-google-share-horror-stories-2022-9
Halloween arrives early?

 

[berkeman]

https://www.businessinsider.com/for...ho-work-at-google-share-horror-stories-2022-9

Behind a paywall?

 

[symbolipoint]

A bunch of Googlers who used to work at Amazon are internally sharing horror stories about their former employer's 'frupid' and aggressive culture

https://www.businessinsider.com/for...ho-work-at-google-share-horror-stories-2022-9
Halloween arrives early?

Why the blocking screen "INSIDER, Become an Insider, Special Introductory Offer,..."?
Should I click on the browser's remove-overlay extension, or should I "Report" the post?

Upon clicking my browser's "Underneath-the-Overlay" extension, I still see I am instructed to "Become an Insider" in order to see or read the article. Your post with the referenced article is a waste!

 

[kyphysics]

Why the blocking screen "INSIDER, Become an Insider, Special Introductory Offer,..."?
Should I click on the browser's remove-overlay extension, or should I "Report" the post?

Upon clicking my browser's "Underneath-the-Overlay" extension, I still see I am instructed to "Become an Insider" in order to see or read the article. Your post with the referenced article is a waste!

Sorry - wasn't aware that'd happen (at least, not for certain).

[Post edited by the Mentors]

 

[berkeman]

Thread closed temporarily for Moderation and cleanup. The TIL thread is not meant to be a place to encourage bypassing paywalls, IMO...

 

[berkeman]

Okay, after some cleanup, the thread is reopened. Everybody move along past the paywall please, and thank you...

 

[symbolipoint]

Okay, after some cleanup, the thread is reopened. Everybody move along past the paywall please, and thank you...

The Today I Learned idea is still fine, but we still cannot move along past the paywall, so referencing the article is still wasted. If some member knows where else is the same article not using such a "paywall", then we would have some progress on this sub-sub-topic.

 

[strangerep]

If some member knows where else is the same article not using such a "paywall", then we would have some progress on this sub-sub-topic.

Weird... I can read the article, provided I allow scripts from businessinsider.com (normally I have most scripts blocked in my browser).

 

[pinball1970]

TIL P 52 is right on my door step. (This is NOT a religious post, I am just interested in the history)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rylands_Library_Papyrus_P52

Whatever your views are this is a very important piece and I have been reading about that and other ancient finds for a few years.
These types of texts are dated by analysing the writing technique, paleography but if you look at the link there is no agreement on the date.
Around 125CE according to my source. Bart Ehrman's lectures and books.
My first thought was, why not carbon date it?

It is supposed to be around 1900 years old, the oldest they have for that book or any in the NT.

The Manchester museum used to have a whole section dedicated to Egyptian History and I visited many times as a child. I have never been to Rylands though.

Edit: Yes it's still there but they are doing some construction work.
https://www.museum.manchester.ac.uk/collection/ancientegyptandsudan/

 

[kyphysics]

. . .that table tennis can be darn exciting!

. . .at least, when it's between the world's greatest offensive player vs. the world's best defensive player

Very cool.

 

[pinball1970]

. . .that table tennis can be darn exciting!

. . .at least, when it's between the world's greatest offensive player vs. the world's best defensive player

Very cool.

It beggars belief that they can react at that speed.
Consistently too.
Probably only badminton can compare?

 

[Hornbein]

TIL that a laser accident led to improved surgery technique.

https://physics.aps.org/articles/v15/141

 

[pinball1970]

TIL Sean Carroll latest podcast is on General relativity. To coincide with his new book.
It hard to visualise as there are no diagrams or equations but it was interesting and he does not shy away from the details.

 

[Frabjous]

TIL

• Mount Everest's peak is the highest altitude above mean sea level at 29,035 feet [8.85 km].
• Mount Chimborazo's peak is the furthest point on Earth from Earth's center. The summit is over 6,560 feet [2,000 meters] farther from Earth's center than Mount Everest's summit.
• Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain from base to peak at more than 32,800 feet [10 km].

From https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/highestpoint.html

 

[BillTre]

TIL that October is National Sarcasm Awareness Month!

Sarcasm is defined as using irony to mock or convey contempt.
Some call sarcasm the lowest form of humor, but it often requires a quick wit, and the ability to know just when to throw it into a conversation.

 

[pinball1970]

TIL that October is National Sarcasm Awareness Month!

Please don't tell V50.

 

[fresh_42]

Please don't tell V50.

Oh, ho, ho, irony! Oh, no, no, we don't get that here. See, uh, people ski topless here while smoking dope, so irony's not really a, a high priority. We haven't had any irony here since about, uh, '83, when I was the only practitioner of it. And I stopped because I was tired of being stared at.

 

[BillTre]

 

[pinball1970]

TIL 1.08 The wife from the Shining was in Roxanne!

 

[Ibix]

From a random "collection of things" video I came across, I discovered that iron floats in mercury.

 

[fresh_42]

A radio station in London asked 50,000 Europeans for their favorite songs at a funeral:

 

[berkeman]

LOL, Highway to Hell...

 

[fresh_42]

LOL, Highway to Hell...

Would have been my first choice. Or Hell's bells.

Viva Las Vegas is good, too! My sister is a great Elvis fan. I wonder what she would choose. Probably some boring gospel like Crying in the Chapel.

 

[Tom.G]

From a random "collection of things" video I came across, I discovered that iron floats in mercury.

Rather well in fact.

There is at least one astronomical observatory here in Southern California that has its Dome floating in a trough of Mercury.

I can't think a a lower friction passive thrust bearing than that!

Cheers,
Tom

 

[BillTre]

A radio station in London asked 50,000 Europeans for their favorite songs at a funeral:

Jackson Browne's For a Dancer:

 

[Ibix]

Rather well in fact.

Actually, I knew that mercury bearings existed because Michelson and Morley had their interferometer on one in their experiment that discovered the isotropy of light speed. A bit like the battleship in a bucket of water, I hadn't thought of it as "floating". Although I should have.

 

[jack action]

TIL the worst year ever was 536:

​

 

[pinball1970]

TIL the worst year ever was 536:

​

Yeah that was definitely worse than dates I had in my head.

 

[pinball1970]

TIL (TWIL) I was wrong about something regarding the human eye, colour, physics, pigments, the iris.
Eye colour is more physics than Chemistry. At least for certain colours. Jim smelt a rat immediately. Obviously!

 

[Moes]

TIL skydiving is not scary.

 

[DaveE]

TIL - Epidemiologists can be very creative.

BTW, as awful as they often are, we really do need headline writers. "Detecting the Effect of Covid Anosmia on Amazon Reviews Using Bayesian Vector Autoregression." wouldn't work well in the news feed.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/13/zero-scent-candles-covid

 

[berkeman]

TIL that some folks like to bring generators and extra power sources when they go camping, apparently to power their fans so they can stay cool while using their laptops. From my Facebook feed today...

 

[DaveC426913]

That's called 'glamping' - a portmanteau of glamor and camping.

Or 'boujee', depending on your attitude toward it.

 

[pinball1970]

That's called 'glamping' - a portmanteau of glamor and camping.

Or 'boujee', depending on your attitude toward it.

I thought glamping was where the tent is more like little house? A shed with facilities?
I never saw the point, if people are not keen on the tent element of the out doors but like the country side, just get a nice B&B instead.

 

[symbolipoint]

I thought glamping was where the tent is more like little house? A shed with facilities?
I never saw the point, if people are not keen on the tent element of the out doors but like the country side, just get a nice B&B instead.

The purpose for the tent is portability, even if setup and repack is a chore.

 

[pinball1970]

The purpose for the tent is portability, even if setup and repack is a chore.

Yes that's why I don't get glamping, it neither one thing not the other. Some of the pods you can buy are in the region of 4000 $ plus!
May as well just get a caravan, you can least go to different locations.

Camping for me is supposed to be a bit make do, a bit cold at night, a bit stiff from the floor and see how inventive you can get with little camping stove.
Or at least it was till I got too old for it.
Hotel with room service and power shower these days.

 

[Ibix]

I never saw the point

I would generally agree, but there's a place in the South Downs somewhere with an old Westland Wessex (British variant of the H34 Choctaw, for Americans) you can stay in, which is off-beat enough that I'm tempted...

 

[Rive]

Camping for me is supposed to be a bit make do, a bit cold at night, a bit stiff from the floor and see how inventive you can get with little camping stove.

Make camp when tired and be on foot in an hour after waking up naturally who-knows-where...

Sigh... I'm also already too old for that. But still missing.

 

[pinball1970]

Make camp when tired and be on foot in an hour after waking up naturally who-knows-where...

Sigh... I'm also already too old for that. But still missing.

I immediately thought of all the great trips with my uni mates. Lake District, Peak district, Glastonbury (once) Donington rock, Knebworth.
One time, Clacton-on-sea!

No matter where we ended up or what condition we were in by the time we went to sleep, my mate would always go bird watching in the morning. He is still an avid twitcher.

 

[pinball1970]

TIL Robbie Coltrane has died. He was 72. Dr Johnson in Black Adder was my introduction, then Cracker.
Potter after that. Very sad. Some great characters we can remember. RIP

 

[pinball1970]

Angela Lansbury died last week too. She was 96 had a great innings. Most people associate her with "Murder she wrote."
A little bit last of the summer wine, for old people if you are UK.
She was a big movie star (yanks will know this) She was part of one of my favourite films.
Samson and Delilah. Visually very beautiful but horrific in places ( I think I watched with gran who was liberal!)
Anyway, it's always sad to see someone part of your childhood pass. RIP

 

[strangerep]

Anyway, it's always sad to see someone part of your childhood pass. RIP

This made me think of The 3 Stooges, who were a child favorite of mine. As a young boy I had no idea that Curly was already dead a decade before I was even born, and Shemp not much later.

Also, TIL that Shemp was Moe's brother.

 

[BWV]

Angela Lansbury died last week too. She was 96 had a great innings. Most people associate her with "Murder she wrote."
A little bit last of the summer wine, for old people if you are UK.
She was a big movie star (yanks will know this) She was part of one of my favourite films.
Samson and Delilah. Visually very beautiful but horrific in places ( I think I watched with gran who was liberal!)
Anyway, it's always sad to see someone part of your childhood pass. RIP

Learned that she moved her family to Ireland from LA in 1969 to separate her teenage daughter from some hippie cult leader she had fallen in with

whose name was Charles Manson

 

[Astronuc]

TIL - An analysis indicated human occupation (in Australia) commenced close to 116,000 years ago or perhaps considerably earlier.

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2019/04/03/humans-reach-australia/

 

[diogenesNY]

This made me think of The 3 Stooges, who were a child favorite of mine. As a young boy I had no idea that Curly was already dead a decade before I was even born, and Shemp not much later.

Also, TIL that Shemp was Moe's brother.

Curly (Jerome) was also a Howard (Horowitz) brother. Curly actually replaced Shemp early (pre-Columbia Pictures deal) in their history. Larry Fine (Feinberg) was someone they met doing vaudeville and became fast friends and collaborators, eventually Joining Ted Healy and his Stooges.

They actually have a really interesting history. Moe wrote an unfinished autobiography what was very heavy on their early years but pretty scant on their later history... it was edited and cleaned up for publication after his death.