Today I Learned

[Mordred]

lol that's why I usually spend that time answering physics posts lol.

[koti]

7 hours ago, Mordred said:

lol that's why I usually spend that time answering physics posts lol.

On second thought, the fact that I learned nothing is not the worst thing. I might a actually gotten more stupid which is scary.

[DrmDoc]

Today I learned that fetal gene expression in the spinal cord, rather than a functional motor cortex, may be the genesis of whether we are right or left-handed.  I emphasized may because this study is base on a limited sampling ("five human fetuses).

[Itoero]

17 hours ago, DrmDoc said:

Today I learned that fetal gene expression in the spinal cord, rather than a functional motor cortex, may be the genesis of whether we are right or left-handed.  I emphasized may because this study is base on a limited sampling ("five human fetuses).

I've often read how prenatal testosterone level is a determining factor for being left or  richt-handed. Testosterone is known to have an effect on gene expression. This fits with the fact that there are more left-handed boys  then girls.http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask206

[DrmDoc]

Today I learned about Morgan's Wonderland.  It's a $32 million San Antonio, TX, theme and water park for special needs children inspired by Morgan and built by her father.

Edited August 9, 2017 by DrmDoc
punctuation

[DrmDoc]

Today I learned about the French Pompeii.  According to CNN:

Quote

Archaeologists in France have unearthed a well-preserved ancient Roman Empire-era town, complete with mosaics and furniture left intact.

The site was apparently covered in ash after a great fire destroyed the town.

[Endy0816]

Today Iearned if you take the first initial from the months July through November, they spell out the name Jason.

[Strange]

8 hours ago, Endy0816 said:

Today Iearned if you take the first initial from the months July through November, they spell out the name Jason.

I think that is the last of the 9 billion names of God: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nine_Billion_Names_of_God

[DrmDoc]

Today I learned about Arthur C. Clarke's The Nine Billion Names of God.

[DrmDoc]

For those of you who have interest, here's a SciShow Psych link where you may learn about the 5 distinctive brainwave patterns our brain produces.  They are delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma.  The video also discusses a study suggesting how gamma wave exposure might influence our brain biology.  According to the host, researchers found that mice-with genetically modified light-sensitive neurons--produced "half as many plaques in their visual cortex compared to controls."  The implications of this finding in the treatment of Alzheimer could be enormous.  Enjoy!     

[Itoero]

Today I learned about the Scanning Tunneling Microscope. A scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is an instrument for imaging surfaces at the atomic level. Its development in 1981 earned its inventors, Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer (at IBM Zürich), the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986.

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

 

[Itoero]

Today I learned about inverted river channels.

In the Late Jurassic period, a network of braided rivers flowed across the Colorado Plateau in an area about 8 kilometers (5 miles) northwest of Hanksville, Utah. The rivers cut through layers of bedrock, chiseling valleys and depositing sand and gravel on their bottoms.

Over the past 150 million years, geologic processes have reversed the area’s topography. The sandy deposits from the channel beds hardened into erosion-resistant caps of sandstone, while winds and water chewed away at the shale and claystone rocks on the river’s adjacent floodplains. Today, the shales and claystones have largely eroded and the sandy deposits that were stream channels are now sinuous ridges that rise above the landscape.https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=79863

This is inverted relief. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_relief

[CharonY]

On 8/16/2017 at 9:53 AM, Itoero said:

Today I learned about the Scanning Tunneling Microscope. A scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is an instrument for imaging surfaces at the atomic level. Its development in 1981 earned its inventors, Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer (at IBM Zürich), the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986.

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

 

Take a look at the atomic force microscope, which is a further development of that principle. One of my favorite toys.

Edited August 18, 2017 by CharonY

[Lord Antares]

Today I learned that drones are being used to plant trees, lots of them. Apparently, 100 000 plants are planted daily just by drones.

http://mymodernmet.com/biocarbon-engineering-drone-reforestation/

[MigL]

That's right about the time large numbers of men started wearing briefs, DrmDoc.
I just don't like 'things' flopping around, down there.

And I don't need a high sperm count anymore, anyway.

[DrmDoc]

18 hours ago, MigL said:

,,,And I don't need a high sperm count anymore, anyway.

Thankfully, neither do I.

Today I learned that American whiskey brand Jack Daniel's owes its founding to Nathan Green, a slave who taught a teenaged Daniel how to distill.  According the New York Times, sales of JD brands generate about $3 billion in annual revenue.

Edited August 19, 2017 by DrmDoc

[DrmDoc]

Today I learned why getting kicked in the groin hurt so much.  The culprit is referred pain, which is our brain's generalized signaling of injury rather than injury of the specific organ involved.

[Itoero]

Today I learned that people with a darker skin need more sun exposure then people with a whiter skin. Larger amounts of the pigment melanin in the epidermal layer result in darker skin and reduce the skin's ability to produce vitamin D from sunlight.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3356951/

[DrmDoc]

Today I learned that the average life expectancy for humans plateaus at 114.1 years for male and 115.7 years for females.   According to a Tilburg and Erasmus University study published in Nature. 

[DrmDoc]

Today I learned more than I though I knew about the smallest levels of reality.  I learned that neutrinos are measure in yoctometers (10⁻²⁴  yotos). 

[Area54]

Today I learned that the cowcatcher device fitted to the front of railway locomotives to displace any objects blocking the line was invented by Charles Babbage, the same Charles Babbage who designed the first (mechanical) computer. "A well made cow-catcher could throw a  buffalo weighing 2000 lbs some 30 feet."

Source: The Historical Atlas of North American Railroads ISBN 978-0-7858-2781-8 page 44.

Prizes on offer for whomever comes up with the best "on-line" pun!

[iNow]

Instead of cowcatcher, they should've called it a moo-ver

[DrKrettin]

40 minutes ago, Area54 said:

A well made cow-catcher could throw a  buffalo weighing 2000 lbs some 30 feet."

 

That would not help much if the buffalo landed back on the lines. Why didn't he call it a bison-catcher?

[Area54]

7 minutes ago, DrKrettin said:

That would not help much if the buffalo landed back on the lines. Why didn't he call it a bison-catcher?

The angular placement of the two blades imparts a sideways motion. Unless you were unfortunate enough to hit it when negotiating a very tight bend, combined with an equally unfortunate independent velocity of the buffalo, this would be very unlikely.

Babbage was English. There are more cows in England than buffalos or bisons. As Babbage himself may have said in his Engish accent, "What's the difference between a buffalo and a bison? You can't wash your hands in a buffalo."

[Tub]

1 hour ago, Area54 said:

Today I learned that the cowcatcher device fitted to the front of railway locomotives to displace any objects blocking the line was invented by Charles Babbage, the same Charles Babbage who designed the first (mechanical) computer. "A well made cow-catcher could throw a  buffalo weighing 2000 lbs some 30 feet."

Source: The Historical Atlas of North American Railroads ISBN 978-0-7858-2781-8 page 44.

Prizes on offer for whomever comes up with the best "on-line" pun!

Shouldn't you have said " on railway-line " pun?

Edited September 10, 2017 by Tub
language