Today I Learned

[Adesh]

Today I learned how to write “Gauss” in German. It is written as $Gau\beta$. Haha! I learned it from here.

 

[fresh_42]

TIL that there is a special category in linguistics: Spock Speak:

Spock Speak is characterized, among other things, by the following special features: the extremely strict insistence on correct use of words and correct grammar. Almost total renunciation of contradictions. An almost ridiculous accuracy in numbers.
...
Roddenberry had flown a B17 bomber in World War II, and after the war he was a pilot with PanAm. The immature radios of the time made it difficult for the listener to distinguish between yes and no - affirmative ("confirmed") and negative ("negative") were more obvious. Standardized, precise language should also help pilots to express themselves clearly in emergency situations without thinking for a long time. This formulaic is reflected in Spock Speak: The Vulcan played by Leonard Nimoy reacts extraordinarily often with one-word sentences to all possible situations. English "indeed" can be both the answer to the sentence "I could use a coffee now" and a reaction to the statement "They will kill us all".

 

[Klystron]

'Radio Speak' also eliminates confusion. Static, squelch and otherwise poor communication often clips beginning of messages. "I know" is received as "...know" indistinguishable from the general negation "no". To be clear radio operators use "Negative" for "No".

Aside from the inherent sibilant, "Yes" remains less ambiguous. If clipped, note that "less" could be received as "yes". Hence the use of multi-syllabic "Affirmative".

To this day when answering important questions such as "Are you allergic to any medications?", I answer "Negative!". Lately I have dropped "affirmative" in favor of "yes" for affirmation. The extra syllable requires too much effort and also violates precepts of Simplicity.

 

[fresh_42]

'Radio Speak' also eliminates confusion. Static, squelch and otherwise poor communication often clips beginning of messages.

The misinformation caused by "clearance" versus "take-off" led (as a main reason) to one of the most severe airplane crashes in history KLM 4805 1977.

 

[Klystron]

The misinformation caused by "clearance" versus "take-off" led (as a main reason) to one of the most severe airplane crashes in history KLM 4805 1977.

Known to radar and radio people, and pilots as Tenerife, an abject lesson to us all.

 

[hmmm27]

army : "say again", because "repeat" is an artillery command.

 

[Hsopitalist]

Today I learned that in Indonesia folks will affix small devices to the feet of pigeons so when they fly it makes a whistling noise. The person who told me he had no idea why it was done.

 

[Keith_McClary]

A while ago I learned to sharpen knives with a stone.

TIL that one should be careful when washing very sharp knives.

 

[etotheipi]

In Suffolk you get these odd-looking crinkle-crankle walls; turns out it's not a waste of bricks, since the curvy shape means it doesn't require additional buttresses to resist lateral forces and prevent it from toppling!

 

[fresh_42]

In Suffolk you get these odd-looking crinkle-crankle walls; turns out it's not a waste of bricks, since the curvy shape means it doesn't require additional buttresses to resist lateral forces and prevent it from toppling!

View attachment 264087

I have experienced so narrow roads in the south west, that I wonder that they had the place for this. Do they have different habits in the east?

 

[Hsopitalist]

In Suffolk you get these odd-looking crinkle-crankle walls; turns out it's not a waste of bricks, since the curvy shape means it doesn't require additional buttresses to resist lateral forces and prevent it from toppling!

View attachment 264087

Suffolk in the US or UK?

 

[etotheipi]

Suffolk in the US or UK?

It's the UK one; I think there are 31 grade II listed walls of this type there .

I have experienced so narrow roads in the south west, that I wonder that they had the place for this. Do they have different habits in the east?

I'm not actually too sure, I've only ever visited that region about once or twice and can't really remember what the roads were like. Though I had remembered seeing a structure like this so I was quite surprised to see today that it had a purpose . I just did a google search and this guy has put together a list of "confirmed sightings" (everyone needs a hobby, I guess?).

It does seem like a fairly impractical idea space-wise!

 

[Hsopitalist]

It's the UK one; I think there are 31 grade II listed walls of this type there .I'm not actually too sure, I've only ever visited that region about once or twice and can't really remember what the roads were like. Though I had remembered seeing a structure like this so I was quite surprised to see today that it had a purpose . I just did a google search and this guy has put together a list of "confirmed sightings" (everyone needs a hobby, I guess?).

It does seem like a fairly impractical idea space-wise!

There must be examples up here in the Northeast then as well.

 

[fresh_42]

TIL that archeologists have found evidence of "first Americans" in Brazil which dates back 30,000 years.
And -14,500 for North America. So Clovis first is no longer valid.

 

[gmax137]

Suffolk in the US or UK?

In the US they are called "serpentine walls." The most well known (?) are at University of Virginia, designed by Thomas Jefferson.

 

[etotheipi]

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 :

 

[Ibix]

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?

 

[etotheipi]

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 :

"You can toast them in a toaster oven while linked together"

But it sure beats this thing of nightmares...:

I can feel it staring into my soul

 

[Ibix]

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.

 

[fresh_42]

I take it you are familiar with the correct way to slice a bagel?

... said Mrs. Jones.

 

[etotheipi]

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 . Although I'd probably just end up absolutely scorching them...

 

[Keith_McClary]

The spherical dog is somewhat horrific.

Physicists are more accustomed to:

 

[BillTre]

The spherical dog is somewhat horrific.

Reminds me of a puffer fish:

 

[BillTre]

Evolution of the user interface:

 

[Keith_McClary]

Evolution of the user interface:
View attachment 264512

 

[Ibix]

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.

 

[fresh_42]

 

[etotheipi]

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!

 

[jbriggs444]

TIL that womp rats are 2 meters in size while exhaust ports are only 1 foot.

 

[etotheipi]

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!

 

[Hsopitalist]

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.

 

[DennisN]

I recognize the blue ones and grey ones from my childhood.
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.

 

[DennisN]

Today I learned that "optimism is just a lack of experience".
(I read it somewhere on the net and had a laugh)

 

[fresh_42]

Today I learned that "optimism is just a lack of experience".
(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".

 

[Adesh]

View attachment 264529

Which one do you own?