Today I Learned

  • Thread starter Thread starter Greg Bernhardt
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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.
  • #2,881
"The Netherlands has become the world’s second largest food exporter, while reducing water usage by 90% and nearly eradicating the use of pesticides"
 
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  • #2,882
OmCheeto said:
"The Netherlands has become the world’s second largest food exporter, while reducing water usage by 90% and nearly eradicating the use of pesticides"
And the bad news is that their vegetables are indistinguishable from water. Monocultures, glass houses wherever you look, and no diversion. As long as we do not cultivate old breads and seeds we play a very risky game.
 
  • #2,883
*breeds
I prefer vegetables with maybe not optimal taste over non-sustainable approaches.
 
  • #2,884
mfb said:
*breeds
I prefer vegetables with maybe not optimal taste over non-sustainable approaches.
The neglect of old animal races and old varieties of fruits and vegetables is risky, see the bananas.
And no, I prefer peppers, tomatoes and strawberries which do not taste like watermelons.
 
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  • #2,885
I mainly prefer things to exist in the first place. With business as usual we will have a very bad time. If tomatoes tasting like watermelons is what we need to keep Earth hospitable and food available in the future: Count me in.
 
  • #2,886
I also learned that one quarter of the Netherlands would be part of the sea, if not for humans.
[ref: NASA]
 
  • #2,888
Hmm... awaiting results for the female protuberances. o_O
 
  • #2,889
Tom.G said:
Hmm. . . awaiting results. . .
One of the preliminary researchers is still in the process of taking measurements. . .

CatLucky.jpg


Please stand by. . .

.
 
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  • #2,890
Tom.G said:
Hmm... awaiting results for the female protuberances. o_O
Just make sure they read the fine print; "Secondly, it is known that genital asymmetry exists at the level of testicular volume as well, with the left testicle being 7–10% smaller than the right testicle based on post mortem measurements"
:oldsurprised:
 
  • #2,891
TIL (or actually TIR [R=Realized], a few days ago ...) that the ISS is the only actual Space Station currently in orbit (ever since China's latest one Tiangong-2 was deorbited on 19 July 2019 [i.e. a couple of months ago]).
 
  • #2,892
If you enter this in google translate it causes a fatal error:

Wenn ist das Nunstück git und Slotermeyer? Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput!
 
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  • #2,893
TIL that there are actually pink elephants, no joke.
 
  • #2,894
Stavros Kiri said:
TIL (or actually TIR [R=Realized], a few days ago ...) that the ISS is the only actual Space Station currently in orbit (ever since China's latest one Tiangong-2 was deorbited on 19 July 2019 [i.e. a couple of months ago]).
China plans to change this again in 2020 with the launch of the core module of their modular space station.
 
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  • #2,895
BWV said:
If you enter this in google translate it causes a fatal error:

Wenn ist das Nunstück git und Slotermeyer? Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput!
Why would I want to do that?
fresh_42 said:
TIL that there are actually pink elephants, no joke.
Sounds good to me! ...
mfb said:
China plans to change this again in 2020 with the launch of the core module of their modular space station.
They had said between 2019 and 2022. Any idea when in 2020 it is beginning?
 
  • #2,896
Stavros Kiri said:
Why would I want to do that?
Don't even read it if you speak German! One of the translators saw two words and was hospitalized for three weeks...

(Alternatively, google Monty Python Killer Joke)
 
  • #2,897
Ibix said:
Don't even read it if you speak German! One of the translators saw two words and was hospitalized for three weeks...

(Alternatively, google Monty Python Killer Joke)
Lol ...

Basically [ignoring German vs English + nonsense/gibberish words/details]:
"My dog has no nose."
"How does he smell?"
"Terrible."

(+ seen in Lame Jokes, I think ...)
 
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  • #2,898
Stavros Kiri said:
Lol ...

Basically [ignoring German vs English + nonsense/gibberish words/details]:
"My dog has no nose."
"How does he smell?"
"Terrible."

(+ seen in Lame Jokes, I think ...)
No, that's the best German joke pre-war (or so the subtitles say - I gather the accompanying film was from Leni Riefenstahl's propaganda film of some turgid Nuremberg rally speech). The actual killer joke is never read out loud in English (the implication being that you'd be killed if it were). We do hear the "German translation" which is the vaguely German sounding gibberish BWV posted.
 
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  • #2,899
Ibix said:
Don't even read it if you speak German! One of the translators saw two words and was hospitalized for three weeks...

(Alternatively, google Monty Python Killer Joke)
Since @mfb and @fresh_42 replied after the entry here, assuming they saw it and assuming they are still around ..., I say it's not that bad! ...
 
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  • #2,900
Stavros Kiri said:
Since @mfb and @fresh_42 replied after the entry here, assuming they saw it and assuming they are still around ..., I say it's that bad! ...
Let me put it this way:

I recently made a joke about American (writing even the most obvious things in instruction manuals) and Chinese (eating everything) stereotypes. Another mentor complained and requested to remove it. Looks as if those standards do not apply to German stereotypes! And this was neither the first nor will it be the last case!
 
  • #2,901
fresh_42 said:
Let me put it this way:

I recently made a joke about American (writing even the most obvious things in instruction manuals) and Chinese (eating everything) stereotypes. Another mentor complained and requested to remove it. Looks as if those standards do not apply to German stereotypes! And this was neither the first nor will it be the last case!
That's not what I meant. It seems there was a typo in my post. I just edited (see last sentence) ...
[I just implied that Germans do actually survive the joke ... :smile:]
 
  • #2,902
It was bad. Too bad to even answer. The "ü" was the closests it came to real German.
 
  • #2,903
fresh_42 said:
It was bad. Too bad to even answer. The "ü" was the closests it came to real German.
Point taken. And I think the whole "funniest joke issue" is exaggerated. But my comment meant no offense to anyone [it was just humorous] , I hope you realize that.
 
  • #2,904
Sure. I was simply angry that joking about things put in the microwave as an American stereotype was criticízed while joking about sausages or language are not! Some people judge things very differently depending by whom it was said!
 
  • #2,905
fresh_42 said:
Sure. I was simply angry that joking about things put in the microwave as an American stereotype was criticízed while joking about sausages or language are not! Some people judge things very differently depending by whom it was said!
Sometimes it happens. I try to be objective and impartial as well.
 
  • #2,906
John Cleese of Monty Python and Fawlty Towers fame seems to relish poking fun at Germans at the same time parodying strong anti-German sentiments at home, historical residue of the first half of the 20th C.

I am reminded of a German language movie set in post-Soviet East Germany, later developed as a TV series, where high-school seniors facing bleak prospects during and after Unification, recite acknowledgment of German overreach in Modern History class in grim sing-song rote. Yes, the ex-GDR students recite, terrible events occurred long before we were born. Now we must adjust to capitalism after being educated by socialists.
 
  • #2,907
Stavros Kiri said:
They had said between 2019 and 2022. Any idea when in 2020 it is beginning?
Second quarter is the best estimate, but the Chinese rarely make fixed launch dates far in advance.
 
  • #2,908
mfb said:
Second quarter is the best estimate, but the Chinese rarely make fixed launch dates far in advance.
Thanks
 
  • #2,909
TIL that, in 2009, there was an unprecedented infestation of Orb Weaver Spiders at the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant in Baltimore, MD. A study into the infestation estimated the spider population at greater than 100 million spiders.

http://www.entsoc.org/PDF/2010/Orb-weaving-spiders.pdf
 
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  • #2,910
TIL that the word "conglobation" describes when an animal rolls itself into a ball, like a trilobite, three-banded armadillo, pill bug, or hedgehog.
 

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