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A strange world full of odd facts


Beardie

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50 minutes ago, Bigdave22014 said:

I worked with an American chap, and we had to date all documents etc. Oh the confusion that caused until he was educated.

Also worked with a chap called Ronald Finch. Nice old boy, knew more than anyone else. Always signed things 1/2".

In my employment with H  M Customs and Excise we would end letters with 

 

(Name)

Officer of Customs & Excise.

 

Among the people I worked with were a married couple, Andrew and Ann Keen.They each signed letters

 

A. Keen

Officer of Customs and Excise.

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Here is a couple of interesting ones...

 

Firstly, I am not going to tell you anything here but only say that, if you are not of a nervous disposition, look up 'Carrington Event'. We live in a fragile state of grace on our little ball of rock!

 

Secondly, I believe that it is a fact that hot water freezes more rapidly than cold water - I am looking for an explanation for this one from one of our 'Chemical Brothers' (I'm looking at you @LostCosmonauts)

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59 minutes ago, Beardie said:

I believe that it is a fact that hot water freezes more rapidly than cold water

I first learned that hot water can freeze faster than cold water in a sci.engr. thread on Usenet some time in the 90s. Being a technical group, experiments were duly conducted and the hypothesis verified. Clearly, that's hearsay.

 

Here are some more discussions of the Mbemba Effect

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

https://www.livescience.com/32128-does-hot-water-freeze-faster-than-cold-water.html

http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/hot_water.html

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6 hours ago, Beardie said:

Here is a couple of interesting ones...

 

Firstly, I am not going to tell you anything here but only say that, if you are not of a nervous disposition, look up 'Carrington Event'. We live in a fragile state of grace on our little ball of rock!

 

Secondly, I believe that it is a fact that hot water freezes more rapidly than cold water - I am looking for an explanation for this one from one of our 'Chemical Brothers' (I'm looking at you @LostCosmonauts)

RE: That Carrington Event. The Earth's magnetic field is through to be a result of flows of molten iron in the liquid section of the core but these currents can and do change. The geology around spreading plate boundaries records the field over time like an old magnetic cassette tape which shows that the field varies and flips on a regular basis. South pole was magnetic North and vice versa. It is even thought there may have been multiple Norths and Souths and rapid pole movements during flips. That flipping process is overdue and the poles are wandering around quite quickly at the moment.

 

https://www.universetoday.com/128899/earths-magnetic-field-getting-ready-flip/

 

Other that Auroras it might not impact the natural world but a flip would certainly play havoc with electrical grids and a lot of technology

 

RE: hot water freezing faster than cold. I've yet to see it happen or hear of it being used in a practical application so I've always thought it was an old wives tale

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I was referring more to the effects of a Coronal Mass Ejection hitting the Earth. I believe there is a new telescope being constructed in Hawaii specifically to try and give us a better view of the Sun in order to try and predict the next CME in the hopes of getting some warning that would enable us to take steps to protect electronic/electrical infrastructure that will otherwise be completely fried. I gather that, in worse case scenarios of a large direct hit on the Earth, the entire world could be left without any power networks/communications etc. for a year or more.

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8 minutes ago, Beardie said:

I was referring more to the effects of a Coronal Mass Ejection hitting the Earth. I believe there is a new telescope being constructed in Hawaii specifically to try and give us a better view of the Sun in order to try and predict the next CME in the hopes of getting some warning that would enable us to take steps to protect electronic/electrical infrastructure that will otherwise be completely fried. I gather that, in worse case scenarios of a large direct hit on the Earth, the entire world could be left without any power networks/communications etc. for a year or more.

 

And possibly smoke the hard drive out of every PC plugged into the power grid and all those cell towers.

 

 

 

Chris

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20 minutes ago, bentwaters81tfw said:

That will stuff the electric car fantasists then. I wonder how many electric cars are hardened against such a likelyhood?

While electric vehicles certainly do present a larger attack surface, I expect all vehicles save pedal cars are susceptible to such events.

 

My 2013 diesel RV drive train has a massive reliance on a computer for its throttle-by-wire. shift-by-wire, and electronic dash. My 1990 auto had the same features. 

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1 hour ago, Beardie said:

I was referring more to the effects of a Coronal Mass Ejection hitting the Earth. I believe there is a new telescope being constructed in Hawaii specifically to try and give us a better view of the Sun in order to try and predict the next CME in the hopes of getting some warning that would enable us to take steps to protect electronic/electrical infrastructure that will otherwise be completely fried. I gather that, in worse case scenarios of a large direct hit on the Earth, the entire world could be left without any power networks/communications etc. for a year or more.

My understanding is that it’s effect is similar to an EMP event - basically a nuke exploded in the atmosphere. That takes out every transistor* it can see. Four  EMPs can cover 90% of the populated world. Classic car enthusiast may still be OK as long as their car still has points.

 

* transistor.  aka the fastest fuse in the world

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I agree @Jo NZ as I read it myself, in an event like the original Carrington event of 1859 electronic and electrical items would fry even if they aren't plugged into the grid. I believe that, in the original event, batteries literally charged wirelessly until they fried/exploded, and telegraph wires overheated and melted. Basically everything that is in some way electrical would be at risk. Of course there are a huge number of factors involved from the magnitude of the blast, the direction and spread (Earth is a pretty small target) and it's polarity.

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Any Rocky and Bullwinkle fans out there?

Have you heard this story?

 

"Statehood for Moosylvania"

 

mooseandsquirrel-1.jpg?resize=1800,1022

 

In the fall of 1962, Jay Ward, producer of the Rocky and Bullwinkle show, decided to campaign for statehood for Moosylvania.  To be the 52nd state (after Puerto Rico).

Ward sent Skip Craig to Minnesota to buy an island in the Lake of the Woods. Craig wasn't able to find one for sale on the U.S. side of the lake (most of the islands in that lake belong to Canada), but managed to lease one for three years for $1500.

Ward and publicist Howard Brandy conducted a west-to-east cross-country tour in a decorated van, gathering signatures on a petition for statehood for Moosylvania.

While in Washington, D.C., they sought an audience with President John F. Kennedy. However, they arrived at the White House on the very day the Cuban Missile Crisis broke, and were ordered to leave.

 

A national anthem for Moosylvania was included on the mini-album A Salute to Moosylvania!!

Recorded Live at the Moosylvania Jazz Festival, self-released by Jay Ward in 1962.

 

For the full story:

https://www.insidehook.com/article/history/moosylvania-cartoon-comedy-cuban-missile-crisis-collided

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  • 2 weeks later...
1 hour ago, Little Timmy said:

I dont know this to be a "Fact" ( gonna have to do some experimenting )but I have been told......

Don't pick your nose while driving on a bumpy road.You could accidentally poke your brain.

 

That would probably depend on the length of your fingers.......or your nose..........or both!

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16 hours ago, Little Timmy said:

I dont know this to be a "Fact" ( gonna have to do some experimenting )but I have been told......

Don't pick your nose while driving on a bumpy road.You could accidentally poke your brain.

 

This is false. I learned to drive on a dirt road where our family farm was. For the last 40 years I've been driving on the so-called paved streets and roads in my section of Northern Alberta. Been drivin' and pickin' all that time without any major brain damage, though my left eye feels a bit odd now and then.

 

 

 

Chris

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No, a quick think about anatomy will make you realise that no way can any finger reach far enough up a nostril to puncture the quite thin bit of bone between the top of the bone and cranial cavity. If you were using a thin metal object, then you could and it is (was?) an occupational hazard of ENT surgeons that when clearing sinuses out they might  puncture the bone. Of course the Egyptians used to extract the brain that way during some forms of mummification. The lesson is

a) do not put thin sharp objects up your nose

b) drive on bumpy roads whilst doing a) 

😊🖊️🚗🤯=🚑🏥

Edited by Mr T
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On 10/11/2019 at 9:02 PM, Mr T said:

My paternal grandmother knew Albert Ball. Used to ride on the handlebars of his bike when young. My wife had a relative who was president of El Salvador for a short period in the early C20. Her grandfather apparently had song written about him about in El Salvador, centring on his relationships. 

Update on the El Salvadorean presidency. Her grandmother (Carmen) was the daughter of Antonio Ezeta whose brother  (Carlos) seized power in 1890 and appointed Antonio as vice president. They were overthrown in 1894, Carlos going into exile in Mexico and Antonio fleeing to Panama via the USS Bennington, where he died in 1897. Carmen seems to have been alright, perhaps being married to an English man helped. She died in 1910 shortly after giving birth to Mrs T's father. He was somewhat older than Mrs T mother and died when Mrs T was quite young. 

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On 13/02/2020 at 16:09, Beardie said:

I gather that, in worse case scenarios of a large direct hit on the Earth, the entire world could be left without any power networks/communications etc. for a year or more.

Drat, no Britmodeller fix then. What to do other than make some models but where to get the information for the AMS craving?  
 

And back to hairy stick painting unless you have a back up generator. 

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Ah well, the compressor problem can be fixed. As long as you have a compressor with a reservoir tank and piston based pump you just need to attach a winding wheel/treadmill to the crankshaft and get your good lady to keep the air flowing. Saves on gym memberships as well.

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