The thread of learning something new every day

NTA

I learned how to get around paywalls today.

dogmeat

I learned you can never truly please a woman. I learn this every day but somehow every night I seem to forget.

gollum

Over the weekend I learned how to technically surf the net from a different country.

Donsteppa

I've learnt of a new resource for stirring next time some idiot starts yelling SHEEPLE at you for generally believing scientists and members of the medical profession: <a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://jameskennedymonash.wordpress.com/category/infographics/all-natural-banana-and-other-fruits/'>http://jameskennedymonash.wordpress.com/category/infographics/all-natural-banana-and-other-fruits/</a>
 
Exhibit A:
 
<img src="http://www.senseaboutscience.org/data/images/SAS_-Dose_Makes_The_Poison_FINAL_1.png" alt="SAS-Dose_Makes_The_Poison_FINAL_1.png">
 
 
Exhibit B:
 
<img src="http://www.senseaboutscience.org/data/images/Chemicals/Chemicals_Infographic_Apples_LoveHearts_web.png" alt="Chemicals_Infographic_Apples_LoveHearts">
 
Exhibit C:
 
<img src="http://jameskennedymonash.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/ingredients-of-an-all-natural-kiwi-poster-2.jpg?w=604&h=853" alt="ingredients-of-an-all-natural-kiwi-poste">

NTA

Something I'd like to learn: what does this grey area on google maps represent in the UK? There are a couple of them, and I can't find a description of it when I zoom in.
 
<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.google.com.au/maps/@51.4056812,-1.0293918,10z'>http://www.google.com.au/maps/@51.4056812,-1.0293918,10z</a>

Tim

Shigella (bacillary dysentery, the primary diarrhoeal disease of World War 1), isolated from a British soldier who died from it in 1915, was found to be resistant to penicillin and erythromycin despite pre-dating their discovery by man.
 
<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)61789-X/fulltext'>http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)61789-X/fulltext</a>

JC

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="NTA" data-cid="460491" data-time="1415618334">
<div>
Something I'd like to learn: what does this grey area on google maps represent in the UK? There are a couple of them, and I can't find a description of it when I zoom in.
 
<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.google.com.au/maps/@51.4056812,-1.0293918,10z'>http://www.google.com.au/maps/@51.4056812,-1.0293918,10z</a>
</div>
</blockquote>
The area west of Reading has RAF Welford in it so that may be why.
 
<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Welford'>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Welford</a>
 
I've no idea what is going on with the area north of Skipton. As far as I know that's the Yorkshire Dales and shedloads of people traipse all over it <strike>enduring the bleak, bitter cold</strike> enjoying the fine landscape.

Tim

The testes of male mouse lemurs swell 5-10 times larger during the breeding season. 
<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/females-protect-offspring-from-infanticide-by-forcing-males-to-compete-through-sperm-instead-of'>http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/females-protect-offspring-from-infanticide-by-forcing-males-to-compete-through-sperm-instead-of</a>

Godder

The voice actor who played Uncle Scrooge in Duck Tales (and still does the voice for video games etc) was Wilbur Post (the owner) in Mr Ed.
 
The voice actor who plays Fred Jones in Scooby Doo is still the original voice actor from the 1960s.
 
Voice actor June Foray, best known for Granny-style voices (e.g. Tweety and Sylvester, Grammy Gummi) won an Emmy in 2012 at the age of 94 - the oldest nominee and winner.
 
The time gap between Stegosaurus and Tyrannosaurus Rex is more than the time gap between T. Rex and us.

dK

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Tim" data-cid="461198" data-time="1415961132">The testes of male mouse lemurs swell 5-10 times larger during the breeding season. <a class="bbc_url" href="http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/females-protect-offspring-from-infanticide-by-forcing-males-to-compete-through-sperm-instead-of">http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/females-protect-offspring-from-infanticide-by-forcing-males-to-compete-through-sperm-instead-of</a></blockquote>
 
I know how they feel

taniwharugby

it hurts alot when you hit your thumb with a hammer, and then almost as much again when you have to jam a needle through the nail to relieve the pressure...
 
I learnt this last year when putting up a shed, I dont however believe I learnt a lesson, nor this time as I suspect I might do it again one day!

Tim

Arnold Schwarzenegger classic The Running Man was directed by Paul Michael Glaser, aka David Starsky.

Stockcar86

If you place a rubber sheet on a mattress, cover it in icing sugar, then put a normal sheet on top of it, most people won't notice. As their body heat kicks in over night, the icing sugar wicks through the sheet, and they end up waking up glazed...

Tim

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote">Also nixed for season one: the Vietnam war allegory "The Omega Glory," which Roddenberry considered a brilliant script and which he did manage to film in season two. (Roddenberry kept trying to get the network to promote "The Omega Glory" for Emmy consideration, to no avail.)</blockquote>

Nepia

Human's aren't that much faster now than they were back in the day!
 
I was listening to a TED podcast and they were discussing 100m runners and Jesse Owens and Bolt. 
 
They started by saying how Bolt would finish 14 yards before Owens going by their 100m winning times. Which sounds like a big gap. They then did 3 beeps of how far about apart they would finish, with a 2nd place as the 3rd beep IIRC. Then they went on to explain that Owens would likely have come in at the 2nd beep (which was right after the first) if he had access to a modern running track and starting blocks as opposed to what he had to run on and the dug into the grass blocks he started with. 
 
I wonder how quick Owens would be with modern diets, training etc.

Paekakboyz

Owens was running on ashes! that was a great TED talk. The swimming speed records alongside new suit technology was awesome. Clear relationship between technology and swimming faster... like dope in cycling

Nepia

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Paekakboyz" data-cid="463439" data-time="1416889953">
<div>
Owens was running on ashes! that was a great TED talk. The swimming speed records alongside new suit technology was awesome. Clear relationship between technology and swimming faster... like dope in cycling
</div>
</blockquote>
I was listening to the TED Radio Hour podcast which has snippets of talks and interviews with the speaker's and groups similar topics so didn't hear the swimming discussion. I'll have to listen to the talk now.

Baxymoron

I read something along these lines on the internets one day:
 
Purple is regarded as a regal colour because it would take 10,000 oysters to create a single senatorâ€™s robe.
Conversely, carrots, which were originally purple, were bred to be orange as a delicacy for the Dutch royalty as they were known as the House of Orange.
 
So why didnâ€™t the Romans just use carrots in the first place?
 
Don't hold me to it.

Chris B.

Today I've been learning about cotton bedsheets. What I learned (perhaps not perfectly)....
 
1. Cotton. There are basically three varieties of cotton - American Upland, Pima (or Supima), and Egyptian. American Upland is generally a shorter staple cotton (i.e. short fibres in the same way that softwood radiata pine has short fibres making its pulp good for producing newsprint). If you pick up some twenty buck cotton sheets from the warehouse you'll be getting American Upland cotton. Pima is a fine, long staple cotton (like a hardwood eucalyptus used to make fine grade papers). Egyptian cotton is the longest and finest staple. There's nothing wrong with the first two. Pima's real,real good shit. But, Egyptian cotton is a fucking madman. When you slip between those sheets you'll know where that extra money went.
 
2. Thread count. That's the number of threads woven per square inch (warp and weft). The more threads per square inch, the softer the fabric will be - seemingly to a point. My research suggests that the maximum number of single-ply threads that can be woven into a square inch is 500-600. But, extra threads can be woven into the weft (they're called "picks"). Picks will increase the thread count into the thousands and increase the weight and density of the fabric, but not the overall quality of the fabric.
 
3. Weave. Seems like there's three types of weave used in sheets. Oxford (which some of you will know from Oxford cotton shirts - heavy, soft and hard wearing). But for sheets, more usually, the weaves are Percale or Sateen. Percale is a plain weave where the threads cross over one-another under and over to produce a fine and more durable finish. Sateen is a satin weave in which warp threads are interlaced with filling threads to create a more lustrous feel.
 
4. Origin. Italy is apparently the home of the most top-notch sheets. If not going Italian then other European is the next best.
 
Conclusion. Wait to buy your sheets until the New Year's half price sales. Then storm into the higher end sheets and pick up a set of 600 thread Egyptian cotton sateen sheets (a reasonable double-queen-king set fitting this description (but made in China) probably retails for $250-300 - grab it at $125-150) and you'll never go back (though maybe leave the hyper-expensive Italian ones for the bucket list).

Hooroo

That is ridiculously helpful! I have always wondered the materiality of the thread count. That all makes sense now.
 
I'll let true-love know next time as she is into this type of thing

The Silver Fern

The thread of learning something new every day