Today I Learned

[pinball1970]

TIL that Russian composer Mussorgsky's first name was Modest.

I always thought it was Pronounced Mow-dest (see python below) but it is simply Modest as we would use as an adjective.

Monty Python Decomposing composers 2.23 Michael Palin pronunciation

 

[pinball1970]

43 monkeys bred for research escape from a lab in South Carolina

https://phys.org/news/2024-11-monkeys-south-carolina-lab-ceo.html

“The Rhesus macaques made a break for it Wednesday after an employee at the Alpha Genesis facility in Yemassee didn't fully lock a door as she fed and checked on them, officials said.”

Not the first time.

"In 2018, the U.S. Department of Agriculture fined Alpha Genesis $12,600 in part after officials said 26 primates escaped from the Yemassee facility in 2014 and an additional 19 got out in 2016."

 

[Borg]

South Carolina

 

[pinball1970]

South Carolina

corrected

 

[Hornbein]

Alpha Genesis

They trying to breed a new human race?

 

[pinball1970]

They trying to breed a new human race?

Anything with a Greek letter sounds sciency/cool.

Genesis is used for everything, like "organic."

 

[pinball1970]

They trying to breed a new human race?

The facility have actually lost a total of 88 monkeys in 8 years.

Imagine taking your dog to Kennels with that history?

"Don't worry Sir, statistically speaking, we only lose around 11 dogs per year and most of those we persuade to come back."

 

[BillTre]

Monkeys are much more cunning and manipulative than dogs and cats.
At least they weren't wild caught. They would be much more likely to host pathogens, like in The Hot Zone.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Hot_Zone/8VzvrNj8W2gC?hl=en&gbpv=0

 

[Hornbein]

The Endurance, the three-masted barkentine that carried Ernest Shackleton and his 27-man crew to Antarctica in 1914, was crushed by pack ice and swallowed by the Weddell Sea. Today I learned that in 2022 the wreck was found on the ocean floor.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/explorers-found-lost-ship-shackleton-endurance

 

[BillTre]

Last week I learned:
There are grapple trucks in Florida to remove debris from hurricanes. They are like moving vans plus a trailer with a grabbing device in the middle.
The debris is collected by property owners and put out n the curb.
I was visiting my sister in the Tampa area (Bradenton) where they were hit with two hurricanes (one the eye went over them) and another hurricane in adjacent areas. There is yet another that may get there also.

debris pile

truck loading shots

 

[Astronuc]

A while ago, I learned that Unicorns are variables that cannot be understood as they are anomalous and cannot be accounted for in a reliable fashion.

From a report, "Viability of Energy and Fuel Sources for Interstellar Travel; Design and Feasibility of the Construction of Manned Interstellar Space Shuttles "

 

[Borg]

A while ago, I learned that Unicorns are variables that cannot be understood as they are anomalous and cannot be accounted for in a reliable fashion.

LOL. My boss calls me his unicorn. Makes more sense now.

 

[pinball1970]

British accents explained and illustrated (Manchester is accurate- older generation)



I was very impressed with this so went looking for American accents- the video is time stamped.

 

[WWGD]

TIL that there are at least eight levels of minor league baseball.

You'd likely be surprised there are different types, levels of Baseball leagues in places like India, Spain, Israel, Bulgaria.

 

[Hornbein]

I was very impressed with this so went looking for American accents- the video is time stamped.

I lived in Chapel Hill North Carolina. People didn't have accents with the major exception of the hill folk who have extreme accents. Very nasal, not a drawl.

My best friend is from the South, born in North Carolina, lived in Atlanta. No accent at all.

 

[pinball1970]

Chapel Hill North Carolina

Bart Ehrman territory, one of my intellectual heroes

 

[pinball1970]

TIL

In early November, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory used the fastest supercomputer on the planet to run the largest astrophysical simulation of the universe ever conducted.

https://www.olcf.ornl.gov/2024/11/1...-simulating-the-universe-in-the-exascale-era/

Article in phys.org here with the video of the simulation

https://phys.org/news/2024-11-frontier-bar-simulating-universe-exascale.html

 

[Astronuc]

TIL,

"Forest" to the Normans meant an enclosed area where the monarch, or sometimes another aristocrat, had exclusive rights to animals of the chase and the greenery ("vert") on which they fed. It did not consist only of trees but included large areas of commons such as heathland, grassland, and wetlands, productive of food, grazing, and other resources.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_of_the_Forest

William the Conqueror, a great lover of hunting, established the system of forest law. This operated outside the common law, and served to protect game animals and their forest habitat from destruction.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_forest#Forest_law

 

[jack action]

I'm always impressed by CGI-less solutions used in cinematography; so simple, yet so effective:

​

 

[BillTre]

I'm always impressed by CGI-less solutions used in cinematography; so simple, yet so effective:

View attachment 354190

​

Wonder if the camera guy got an acting credit for that.

 

[jack action]

Wonder if the camera guy got an acting credit for that.

But which character? Morpheus' bottom part?

 

[Hornbein]

TIL John Hinckley Jr. was released in 2016.

 

[jtbell]

TIL about snow doughnuts.

 

[skyshrimp]

TIL that it's legal to buy marmoset monkeys in the UK. There is a law that will come into effect in April 2026 where a license will be required. There are other monkeys available online here on a website called Petsloo. There are over 600 ads of monkeys for sale on that site without paperwork. You can just buy them like they were goldfish with prices starting at £200. You can just imagine all the clowns that will purshase one without doing any research for their needs.

 

[BillTre]

You can just imagine all the clowns that will purshase one without doing any research for their needs.

The same happens with fish owners.

Monkeys can have some nasty diseases that humans can get.

 

[Astronuc]

TIL some details about setting freight shipping rates on US railroads. Some of it, I already new, but the enclosed video gives an insider's insight.

Understanding Railroads - Making a Rail Rate​

 

[skyshrimp]

TIL, diammonium phosphate (DAP) that is used as a yeast nutrient is also added to cigarettes as a nicotine enhancer.

 

[DaveE]

TIL about this weird volcano that produces low temperature black lava that turns white when exposed to water.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natrocarbonatite

 

[skyshrimp]

TIL that may sodas/soft drinks contain ascorbic acid and sodium benzoate. When combined in solution and exposed to either UV light, heat, or stored for a long time, they form benzene, which is a Group 1 carcinogen. Long term exposure to benzene is linked to leukemia, bone marrow damage, aplastic anemia, immune system suppression and infertility.

Benzene makes up a significant portion of the toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke.

 

[pinball1970]

T.I.L.

https://phys.org/news/2024-12-scientists-negative-quantum.html

There is a pre-print in the article