Today I Learned

[dlgoff]

My youngest daughter use to say words backwards.

When I started posting about this, I thought I was in the Random Thoughts forum. My mistake. :(

 

[gmax137]

Anyone remember the episode on Taxi where Jim Ignatowski is explaining his name, tells the other driver to "spell it backwards"?

 

[fresh_42]

Today I learned that Schrödinger did not hesitate to add his personal comments, assessments, or feelings to or before his work. Very eloquent, this Mr. Schrödinger.

 

[BillTre]

In Ukraine, drone casualties are greater than those from artillery and guns combined.

 

[Orodruin]

In Ukraine, drone casualties are greater than those from artillery and guns combined.
View attachment 358355

This reminded me of the Terminator franchise ... for which the end-game of the war against SkyNet occurred in 2029 ... Ironically, with AI on the rise, it is feeling somewhat unsettling (although SkyNet became self aware in 1997).

 

[BillTre]

A couple of days ago a container ship going 16 knots T-boned an anchored tanker carrying aviation fuel.
I have heard a comment or two that this could be some kind of sabotage thing (it was a US military ship), but more likely is poor seamanship. Having worked on the bridge of a couple of seagoing NOAA ships, I can see how mistakes could be made. The NOAA ships were tightly run, mostly by former military types or merchant marine academy grads. They however made it clear the commercial ships would not operate under such high standards and might put a ship on autopilot with no one on the bridge.

Here is a great video on this from this Sal guy at What's going on with shipping?


He is knowledgeable and explains things well.
He also has access to computer tracks of all the vessels in the area on a digital chart of the area.
Seeing the response of the other vessels after the accident is impressive.

 

[Hornbein]

Admiral Hyram Rickover introduced nuclear propulsion to the US Navy. He said if civilians used nuclear they'd be lazy and there would be accidents.

 

[BillTre]

Sal's update on the collision:

 

[jack action]

TIL

The really weird way we see numbers


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[symbolipoint]

Post #6309, I have not watched all of it yet but he is saying something about subitizing.

(Now watched all of it)

 

[jack action]

TIL about the origin of the game Monopoly:

Monopoly was originally called The Landlord's Game, and was invented by a radical woman. Elizabeth Magie's original game had not one, but two sets of rules to choose from.

One was called "Prosperity", where every player won money anytime another gained a property. And the game was won by everyone playing only when the person with the least doubled their resources. A game of collaboration and social good.

The second set of rules was called "Monopoly", where players succeeded by taking properties and rent from those with less luck rolling the dice. The winner was the person who used their power to eliminate everyone else.

Magie's mission was to teach us how different we feel when playing Prosperity vs Monopoly, hoping that it would one day change national policies.

 

[pinball1970]

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

He was not a president but he was one heck of an Engineer, with a notable First and middle name.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

 

[jack action]

TIL that the Newton's cradle isn't as simple as we thought:

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[diogenesNY]

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

I think we are all well beyond such trifling excuses as 'coincidence'.

 

[Tom.G]

Informative.
A lumberjack shows & instructs, in detail, how to clear deadwood... and he is explaining the 'why' of his approaches.

 

[jack action]

TIL about action with this amazing explanation. If only every teacher could explain stuff like this, it would be great. Describing every contribution in time to well understand the thought process of mankind - not just a single person - makes this a fascinating story.

​

 

[Orodruin]

If only every teacher could explain stuff like this, it would be great.

I regularly explain this. Albeit without the historical timeline. Next thing you want to learn about is Noether’s theorem. I literally gave that lecture yesterday.

 

[KingGambit]

.uɐǝɯ noʎ ʇɐɥʍ ʍouʞ I

What the....?? How the hell can you do that

 

[fresh_42]

What the....?? How the hell can you do that

Generally? I searched my list:
https://www.physicsforums.com/threa...h-physics-earth-and-other-curiosities.970262/
and found:
https://text-symbols.com/upside-down/

 

[KingGambit]

Today I learned that Carboniferous actually means, COAL, not Carbon as in carbon element.
It's from Latin, Carbo, meaning coal.
I already knew that there were giant insects in carboniferous, because of high oxygen level. While insects respire oxygen from osmosis through their skin, not lung.
So higher oxygen level allows them to grow bigger. And all this time I thought why Carboniferous?
Why not Oxygenferous.
Ahh, it seems that Carbo means coal and all coals were created during Carboniferous before plants had the ability to synthesize lignan

 

[KingGambit]

Illuminati
ᴉʇɐuᴉɯnʅʅI,
It doesn't work

 

[fresh_42]

Illuminati
ᴉʇɐuᴉɯnʅʅI,
It doesn't work

Works on my end.

 

[Klystron]

TIL (Yesterday, actually) while researching an old TV theme song, that according to Wikipedia the hillbilly family in "The Beverley Hillbillies" sitcom came from the Ozark mountains in Missouri.

I would have sworn that Old Jed and even older Granny hailed from Tennessee, certainly their accents fit Appalachia.

 

[Klystron]

Today I learned that Carboniferous actually means, COAL, not Carbon as in carbon element.
It's from Latin, Carbo, meaning coal.

I learned that carbo was Latin for coal back in grammar school when children still studied Latin. An early Latin teacher, a priest, taught us that over 80% English vocabularly derived from Latin, but he had a vested interest.

A pun: priests are invested in the church and wear vestments during Mass

 

[BillTre]

insects respire oxygen from osmosis through their skin, not lung.

They don't have lungs, but most use trachaea from their spiricle surface openings to efficiently get oxygen into their bodies.

If an animal is small enough, with a low enough oxygen demand, and a gas permeable surface, it doesn't need specialized oxygen transfer mechanisms. Young fish embryos and small metabolically slow salamanders are examples of this.

why Carboniferous?
Why not Oxygenferous.

Generally, geological periods are named for the rocks associated with their time period location. Some are named for location (Jurassic) of the rocks.

 

[KingGambit]

Works on my end.

I mean "Illuminati" like this

Illuminati ambigram

 

[jack action]

TIL the word ambigram. Boy! There really is a word for everything!

 

[jack action]

TIL - adding to the list of what do smart phones partially replace - that they can be used as an ohmmeter to check for open circuits:

​

 

[DaveC426913]

TIL - adding to the list of what do smart phones partially replace - that they can be used as an ohmmeter to check for open circuits:

​

Not for use with car batteries. Or household fuses.
Trust me on this one.

 

[Hornbein]

TIL that the real name of the country of Georgia is Sakartvelo.

I already knew that Bhutan is Druk Yul, Hungary is Magyarstan, and Bangkok is really Krung Thep. Maybe the most amazing is that Thailand is the real name, taking after then-idolized Deutchland.