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Today I Learned

DrmDoc
in The Lounge

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On 2/2/2019 at 5:40 PM, MigL said:

You would think they would standardize on one side or the other.
If only to avoid the confusing messes at the gas pumps.

But as some people insist on using the pump on the same side as the gas tank (I have often seen long queues at a half-empty filling station) having a "random" distribution makes more efficient use of space!

All 14 short episodes take about 1 hour to watch, the first one is really short, takes only 2 minutes. I'm learning a lot from these:
 

 

Edit: These series deal with PHD level math knowledge which correlates directly in this case to modern physics, I find this series digestable having no background in math or physics and having no academic background. I recommend this to anyone who's a math semi-moron like me who wants to learn. 

Edited by koti

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    • 2 weeks later...
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    Hey,

    There is a new Trivia app which is based on voice recognition.
    The questions are read out loud and the answer is recognized so you don't event need to touch the phone.
    Perfect for car rides, kids or the visually impaired or blind.

    Available in the Play Store
    commercial link removed by moderator

    On 2/2/2019 at 10:40 AM, MigL said:

    You would think they would standardize on one side or the other.
    If only to avoid the confusing messes at the gas pumps.

    I wonder about the lack of normalization. In some cases (e.g. sliding doors, perhaps tank design?) there may be simple mechanical reasons. Or perhaps different sides optimize the use of filling stations, which can be easier be used from the opposite sides? I wonder whether there are statistics on which cars have the tank on either side, or perhaps trucks vs sedans and so on...?

    • 2 weeks later...

    Today I learned what happens if you glue two Mobius strips together and then cut them down the middle. You may be surprised...

     

    There is an interview Tokieda here: https://www.quantamagazine.org/tadashi-tokieda-collects-math-and-physics-surprises-20181127/

    He is an interesting guy. He taught himself maths from a book he found in the library. Only the book was in Russian, so first he had to learn Russian....

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    37 minutes ago, Strange said:

    Today I learned what happens if you glue two Mobius strips together and then cut them down the middle. You may be surprised...

     

    There is an interview Tokieda here: https://www.quantamagazine.org/tadashi-tokieda-collects-math-and-physics-surprises-20181127/

    He is an interesting guy. He taught himself maths from a book he found in the library. Only the book was in Russian, so first he had to learn Russian....


    Wow, that is surprising and amusing. It shows how much were (I'm) unprepared to process even simple geometry inside my head without the use of tools like Math. Not to mention raw processing of more complex geometries of GR or higher dimensions. 

    • 3 weeks later...

    Today I learned a new verb, ‘antfucking’. It has pretty much the same meaning as ‘nitpicking’ - giving too much attention to minor,  unimportant details.

    Today I learned why there are so many disparate words for "bear" in Indo-European languages. Apparently, bears were so terrifying that the word for them was taboo (in case naming them caused them to appear) and so a variety of euphemisms were sued: "bruin" (the brown one) and related forms in Germanic languages (which is where we get bear" from); "medved" (honey eater) and similar names in Slavic languages; and so on.

    https://www.charlierussellbears.com/LinguisticArchaeology.html

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    • 2 months later...

    Today I learned that electrons can pass through a dielectric medium at a speed greater than the phase velocity of light in that medium which results in Cherenkov radiation.

    Today I learned 2 things

    1. dont mess with sfn women, they bite.
    2. It's not just science you learn here (English, Music, History, Literature, Jokes) you name it....

    Ok, I’ll add this one as Curious layman didn’t.

    The other day I learned the word psithurism which means the sound of leaves or wind rustling through the trees.

    https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/psithurism

    The p is not pronounced.

    Edited by nevim

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    2 hours ago, nevim said:

    The p is not pronounced.

    It's not even in susurration.

    2 hours ago, John Cuthber said:

    Is it onomatopoeic?

    I don’t believe it is...

     

    18 hours ago, John Cuthber said:

    Is it onomatopoeic?

    It is Greek.

    ψίθυρος (pseetheeros) whisper

    1 hour ago, John Cuthber said:

    So is ονοματοποιημένος
     

    Any particular reason?

     

    Because it doesn’t seem that way to me. Might to other people though, I suppose.

    Today I learned that the Molecular motor is a truly wonderful beautiful thing. Amazing.

    And loads about DNA.

    Edited by Curious layman

    11 hours ago, Curious layman said:

    the Molecular motor is a truly wonderful beautiful thing.

    Note that there are a lot of complexes that qualify as molecular motors.

    • 2 weeks later...
    • 4 weeks later...

    Is the US space program being stabbed in the Back? Howard Bloom thinks so and the Chinese are taking advantage it! 

     

     

    • 3 weeks later...

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