Today I Learned

[jack action]

Pointless without a discussion of the dosage. You can kill yourself by drinking too much water, after all. Plus web construction by spiders is a strange metric, why should we care? I don't know what all of this means.

I like that they used "modern computing and statistical methods" to do the analysis in 1995. I wonder if today's AI would find more interesting patterns and links.

 

[gmax137]

... In S California it would be solid city from LA to San Diego, but the San Onofre nuclear power plant required a large unpopulated radius. That is shut down now but I haven't been down there for a long time. I don't know if that area is filling in yet or not. They still have 3.5 million pounds of nuclear waste.

The developers would have to fight the US Marines. That "area" is their Camp Pendleton, been there since WWII. It isn't unpopulated due to the nuclear plant, rather because the Marines train there. I remember watching the tanks climbing up and down the foothills opposite the plant site. The wiki is interesting
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Corps_Base_Camp_Pendleton

I don't recall the details but I think So Cal Edison leases the property from the Navy.

Sorry for the necro post, I was behind in my "TIL" reading.

 

[Hornbein]

TIL Wikipedia...The gimbal was first described by the Greek inventor Philo of Byzantium (280–220 BC).[3][4][5][6] Philo described an eight-sided ink pot with an opening on each side, which can be turned so that while any face is on top, a pen can be dipped and inked — yet the ink never runs out through the holes of the other sides. This was done by the suspension of the inkwell at the center, which was mounted on a series of concentric metal rings so that it remained stationary no matter which way the pot is turned.

 

[Hornbein]

TIL how the ancients figured out the distance to/size of the Moon and Sun. Aristarchus of Samos in 250 BC showed that the Sun was larger than Earth and so proposed that the Earth orbited the Sun. Though the idea didn't catch on, Aristarchus' priority was credited by Copernicus.



Albert Einstein declared that Kepler's method for determining the shape of the orbit of Mars was "an idea of pure genius." Part two of this presentation is not to be found but this is available.



I have long wondered why measuring the time of the transit of Venus across the Sun was an important motivation for the voyage of Captain Cook. Now I know.

 

[Hornbein]

TIL that When You Wish Upon a Star is from the movie Pinocchio.

 

[Hornbein]

Today I learned that film director John Ford was "quite friendly" with former gunman Wyatt Earp.

 

[Orodruin]

Spoiler for anyone playing NY times Strands game.


TIL: Platypi are not only egg-laying mammals. Male platypi are also among the rare mammals that are venomous, delivering the venom through spurs on the hind legs. It is apparently quite painful.

 

[Ibix]

Spoiler for anyone playing NY times Strands game.


TIL: Platypi are not only egg-laying mammals. Male platypi are also among the rare mammals that are venomous, delivering the venom through spurs on the hind legs. It is apparently quite painful.

I actually knew this already due to consuming reliable scientific sources on the subject.

 

[Borg]

I actually knew this already due to consuming reliable scientific sources on the subject.

TIL about the O.W.C.A. (Organization Without a Cool Acronym).

 

[Hornbein]

TIL about the O.W.C.A. (Organization Without a Cool Acronym).

Pronounced as Oucha.

 

[Hornbein]

Recently J005311 was discovered. It is believed to have formed out of the merger of two white dwarfs. Usually this results in an explosion but this time did not. They merged and fusion started up again. Once that runs out of fuel it is predicted that J005311 will collapse into a neutron star.

A Japanese film maker produced a low budget film under that title J005311 about two despairing losers who get bound up together. Presumably it has a happy ending.

 

[DaveC426913]

TIL about the O.W.C.A. (Organization Without a Cool Acronym).

Ah. Not a mere TLA - an ETLA* in the wild.

* extended TLA **

** three letter acronym

 

[fresh_42]

IBM WRT ENR OSY WTH TLA. PWRDWNSYS.

 

[Hornbein]

TIL that the Huntington Beach city council meets in front of a surfboard mounted behind them on the wall.

 

[KingGambit]

TIL that $1089$ is a number that is very practical in magic.

For example, take any 3-digit number in descending order and subtract its "reverse" number. Ex.: $632-236=396$. Then add the "reverse" number of this answer and you will always get $1089 (= 396+693)$.

Yes..., but.
It works in any other base, too.
Take this octal 632, so
632 - 236 = 374 (octal)
374 + 473 = 1067 (octal)

So basically for 3 digit numbers in any base. The answer is ABCD
Where:
A = 1
B = 0
C = base - 2
D = base - 1

I'm interested in Sheldon's (The Big Bang Theory) favorite number: 73 (decimal)
73 is the 21st prime,
while the reverse of 73: 37 is the 12nd prime.
And 7 * 3 = 21,
I'd like to search this pattern in other bases, but have to write a computer program, first.

 

[KingGambit]

I'd like to try binary.
101 - 010 = 011
011 + 110 = 1001
A = 1
B = 0
C = 2 - 2 = 0
D = 2 - 1 = 1, checked.

Hexadecimal...
D3A - A3D = (calculating...) 2FD
2FD + DF2 = (calculating...) 10EF,
A = 1
B = 0
C = 16 - 2 = E
D = 16 - 1 = F, phew...

 

[KingGambit]

Let's try any number, condition: C>A
CBA - ABC = (C * 100 + B * 10 + A) - (A * 100 + B*10+C)
Result: (backward)
(Base + A-C), have carry
(B-B-1) * 10 = (Base-1) * 10, have carry
(C-A-1) * 100,
that would be.

(C-A-1)*100 + (Base-1) *10 +(Base + A-C) plus reverse (Base + A - C)*100 + (Base - 1) * 10 + (C - A - 1)
Result: (backward)
(Base - 1) +
(Base - 2) * 10, have carry
(Base + C - C + A - A + 1-1)*100 = 10
Yep, it's
1
0
Base - 2
Base - 1

I think this is not a conjecture, it's a fact. Anybody think so?
And one more thing, any civilization here on earth and in this space time always use base 10!

 

[DaveC426913]

And one more thing, any civilization here on earth and in this space time always use base 10!

Not true.

Maybe bases have been used throughout history and many still are. I use base 2 all the time.
Land coordinate systems and astro coordinate systems use base 60.

Some light reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_numeral_systems

 

[KingGambit]

Not true.

Maybe bases have been used throughout history and many still are. I use base 2 all the time.
Land coordinate systems and astro coordinate systems use base 60.

Some light reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_numeral_systems

Yes it is!
Just ask a civilization that say, use hexadecimal.
What base that you use?
They will answer:
10! (and in our number that means something that counts xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx -> 16 in our decimal)

Ask an octal civilization: what number this is: xxxx xxxx
And they will answer: Oh, that's 10 (octal)

Sorry, bad math jokes

 

[symbolipoint]

Yes it is!
Just ask a civilization that say, use hexadecimal.
What base that you use?
They will answer:
10! (and in our number that means something that counts xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx -> 16 in our decimal)

Ask an octal civilization: what number this is: xxxx xxxx
And they will answer: Oh, that's 10 (octal)

Sorry, bad math jokes

A joke appeared in some places, :
There are 10 types of people. Those who understand binary and those who do not.

edited.

 

[DaveC426913]

Yes it is!
Just ask a civilization...
What base that you use?
They will answer:
10

D'oh!!

 

[Orodruin]

They will answer:
10!

375F00
???

 

[DrGreg]

They will answer:
10

To give an unambiguous answer, I suppose you'd need to say, e.g.

• 1+1 (binary)
• 9+1 (decimal)
• F+1 (hex)

etc

 

[KingGambit]

Sheldon number.
In the series The Big Bang theory, Sheldon's favorite number is 73

Because (in base 10), this number has certain property.
1. 73 is prime
2. It's reverse: 37 is also prime.
3. 73 is the 21st prime.
4. 37 is the 12th prime.
5. It's digit product 7 * 3 is also 21 (see property 3)

So, does 73 (in base 10) is the only number who have this property?
What about other number in base 10?
What about other number in any other base?

Here, I try to find any prime numbers in any other base who have this property. But, I can only find 73 in base 10.

I've searched up until base 2000. Larger than this, it would take more programming effort to conserve memories and speed up process. I just write this software in 1 hour. Perhaps any mathematicians here can prove that only 73 and in base 10 number that has this property. That there's no other possibilty in any other base. Just like 1089 problem above.
This 1089 works in any base number.

 

[jtbell]

Today I learned that Fallingwater is leaking.

 

[Hornbein]

TIL that Captain James Cook had no middle name. I was hoping it would be James T. Cook.

Harry Truman's middle name was S, but I already knew that.

 

[BillTre]

I read about someone who had a middle initial (S) but no middle name.
The story was that a spaghetti noodle landed on the form.

 

[Janus]

TIL that Captain James Cook had no middle name. I was hoping it would be James T. Cook.

Harry Truman's middle name was S, but I already knew that.

My dad didn't have a middle name. While his four eldest brothers were given middle names, the next four, including my dad, who was the youngest, weren't.

 

[KingGambit]

TIL that Captain James Cook had no middle name. I was hoping it would be James T. Cook.

Harry Truman's middle name was S, but I already knew that.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Ronald Wilson Reagan
George Herbert Bush
George Walker Bush
Barrack Husein Obama, etc...

Once someone asked Truman, what is S?
Truman: Secret

 

[Rive]

TIL that you need to choose your shoes very carefully when preparing for a hand (wrist) surgery.

You can get the whole surgery with some 'Ouch! That stung bit', but then the lidocaine is out and what awaits you is a battle with the shoelaces...

 

[Rive]

TIL that sometimes even feeding the cat can feel like an accomplishment.

Also: apart from the thing about the shoes, if it's about your 'main' hand, then get an electric toothbrush as preparation.

It is a quite strange experience with only the 'other' hand.
All is good and things goes as expected so far: these are just the small strange things which slipped through the preparations.

 

[gmax137]

TIL: "revise" is one of those words whose definition differs across the pond

revise: verb
1. re-examine and make alterations to (written or printed matter):
"the book was published in 1960 and revised in 1968"

2. BRITISH ENGLISH
reread work done previously to improve one's knowledge of a subject, typically to prepare for an examination:
"students frantically revising for exams" · "revise your lecture notes on the topic"

 

[fresh_42]

TIL: "revise" is one of those words whose definition differs across the pond

revise: verb
1. re-examine and make alterations to (written or printed matter):
"the book was published in 1960 and revised in 1968"

2. BRITISH ENGLISH
reread work done previously to improve one's knowledge of a subject, typically to prepare for an examination:
"students frantically revising for exams" · "revise your lecture notes on the topic"

I think the British version is closer to its literal meaning: see-again. I would use review in the first case, not knowing why this is also see-again.

We say "revue (fr.) passieren lassen" in the second case (let a review happen) and "revidiert" in the first case. Wherever and how ever you look at it: it remains a re-look.

 

[gmax137]

I would use review in the first case

As a born-USA speaker, I would use "revise" in the first case and "review" in the second case.

 

[symbolipoint]

As a born-USA speaker, I would use "revise" in the first case and "review" in the second case.

Depending how is your background, "revise" means to re-examine and then update something. OFTEN but not restricted to books, especially academic textbooks. Those might be called "Editions"; not absolutely sure. Documents shorter than things like textbooks would be said to have "revisions".

 

[Hornbein]

TIL that a sojourner is "a temporary resident."

 

[Borg]

TIL that I might not have to manually parse and load documents for my LLM Agents!
https://docs.llamaindex.ai/en/stable/examples/agent/react_agent_with_query_engine/

 

[Hornbein]

TIL that I might not have to manually parse and load documents for my LLM Agents!
https://docs.llamaindex.ai/en/stable/examples/agent/react_agent_with_query_engine/

That is Greek to me.

 

[Demystifier]

"Neil Armstrong" backwards is "Gnorts, Mr Alien".

 

[Ibix]

I hope "gnorts" means something polite like "hello" in alienese.

 

[symbolipoint]

Due to #6289 and #6290,
Quick! Everybody let's spell our names backwards and see what we get!

 

[DaveC426913]

Due to #6289 and #6290,
Quick! Everybody let's spell our names backwards and see what we get!

Old news. I think I was about nine when I first starting saying my name backwards.

 

[PeterDonis]

Old news. I think I was about nine when I first starting saying my name backwards.

I was younger than that--first grade. I remember because I particularly disliked my first grade teacher and I would say my name backwards to annoy her.

 

[Ibix]

Due to #6289 and #6290,
Quick! Everybody let's spell our names backwards and see what we get!

Three guesses what was the name of one of the original makers of Trebor Mints, and the first two don't count.

 

[DrGreg]

Everybody let's spell our names backwards and see what we get!

Alucard?

 

[fresh_42]

Alucard?

You mean Lucard Dalv?

 

[jack action]

I was also writing backwards in my younger years:

 

[dlgoff]

My youngest daughter use to say words backwards.

 

[fresh_42]

My youngest daughter use to say words backwards.

.uɐǝɯ noʎ ʇɐɥʍ ʍouʞ I

 

[DaveC426913]

I was also writing backwards in my younger years:

View attachment 358202​

When I first saw the film in a repertory theater, it was during this scene that the kid sitting behind me said, in a loud stage whisper "READ IT BACKWARD!"