Today I Learned

[DrmDoc]

Today I learned what Swedish Fish are. And no, I am not tempted

 

They are a decadent pleasure for which I bear no shame or remorse. Try one...just one...

 

 

The vegan version is made from sea salt and ocean plastic....

 

Ha!

[hdaackda]

Today, I learned about this forum. and now I can say bye bye to my work, as I have a LOT of reading to do now Loving the jokes section!

On a related note: Today, I learned that a beach in Russia is covered in "sea glass," small, polished, colorful pieces of glass that formed from garbage dumped into the ocean. The beach is so beautiful, it has become a tourist destination. Source: http://acsh.org/news/2017/02/02/russias-beautiful-garbage-beach-10818

[Sriman Dutta]

Today I learnt how to find the inverse of a matrix. Interesting!

[DrKrettin]

Today I was investigating quotations from Aristotle, and as often happens, discovered that there are many attributed to him which he did not say (or more exactly we have no record of his saying it). This is not a dig at the previous poster, but his signature is just one example. (Link) If anyone could disabuse me, I'd be grateful for an exact reference. Google is extremely bad at propagating quotations, because once a false quotation is made, everybody copies it without questioning its validity.

[Itoero]

Today I learned that a bowhead whale swims in front of our coast.

[CharonY]

Today I was investigating quotations from Aristotle, and as often happens, discovered that there are many attributed to him which he did not say (or more exactly we have no record of his saying it). This is not a dig at the previous poster, but his signature is just one example. (Link) If anyone could disabuse me, I'd be grateful for an exact reference. Google is extremely bad at propagating quotations, because once a false quotation is made, everybody copies it without questioning its validity.

 

In that context it is perhaps interesting that much of the writings of Aristotle that we have now is based on translations made between the 12th-13th century. Most of it based on translations of Arabic texts, which effectively saved his writings (and quotes) from vanishing from history.

Edited April 11, 2017 by CharonY

[DrKrettin]

 

In that context it is perhaps interesting that much of the writings of Aristotle that we have now is based on translations made between the 12th-13th century. Most of it based on translations of Arabic texts, which effectively saved his writings (and quotes) from vanishing from history.

 

I must take issue with this - I know that many ancient texts are known only through Arabic translations, but as far as I can make out, the vast majority of what we have of Aristotle is the original Greek. The texts listed here in the Corpus Aristotelicum are all in Greek, and I know this because I have them here on my computer in the original. I've just been searching the Nicomachean Ethics in Greek for the quotation I mentioned above.

 

I might well be completely wrong, so if you can find some Aristotle which we have exclusively from an Arabic translation, I would be very interested.

[CharonY]

I will have to dig out some books to be sure, but now that I reflect on it, I am likely (and embarrassingly) conflating events surrounding the spurt of Latin translations in the 12th century. Especially Aristotle's work were translated, circulated and maintained in the Middle East (but also Egypt and Constantinople), together with Greek manuscripts as early as the 8th century (via the Abbasid caliphate). To this point only few books were translated into Latin (of that I am fairly certain). At the same time few Greek works existed in Western Europe. However, as you rightfully pointed out, that does not mean that the books survived exclusively as Arabic translations. It would probably be somewhat more accurate to state that the works survived to a large extent due to contributions of Islamic scholars at a time when the ideas fell out of favor in the West.

So yep, after writing this I am now quite sure that I was wrong. Which again demonstrates the importance of coffee as a part of as breakfast.

 

Good call, btw. We cannot have something factually wrong be on the internet now, can we?

Edited April 11, 2017 by CharonY

[DrKrettin]

Something I discovered recently when (trying) to learn Spanish is that they have a charming expression "media naranja" = "half an orange" which means your soul mate, or other half, the person which fits exactly to you. A strange expression, I thought, so I looked for an etymology and found that it is taken from Plato Symposium 189e-190a. This is a description of the original state of the species, being spherical with four legs, so the two sexes split into two so that a male and a female each had a partner which fitted each other exactly.

 

The reason I mention this is that the Spanish rendering of Plato is taken from an Arabic translation, where the Arabic translator has inserted the words "like an orange" to the description of the original spherical being. This has then been faithfully translated into Spanish. The actual original Greek text does not mention an orange, which is not surprising since the Greeks did not know about oranges. This is what prompted me to investigate the etymology.

 

So the Spanish expression is from an Arabic interpolation of the original Plato. Not many people know this.

[DrmDoc]

Something I discovered recently when (trying) to learn Spanish is that they have a charming expression "media naranja" = "half an orange" which means your soul mate, or other half, the person which fits exactly to you. A strange expression, I thought, so I looked for an etymology and found that it is taken from Plato Symposium 189e-190a. This is a description of the original state of the species, being spherical with four legs, so the two sexes split into two so that a male and a female each had a partner which fitted each other exactly.

 

The reason I mention this is that the Spanish rendering of Plato is taken from an Arabic translation, where the Arabic translator has inserted the words "like an orange" to the description of the original spherical being. This has then been faithfully translated into Spanish. The actual original Greek text does not mention an orange, which is not surprising since the Greeks did not know about oranges. This is what prompted me to investigate the etymology.

 

So the Spanish expression is from an Arabic interpolation of the original Plato. Not many people know this.

 

Now, I do. Fascinating!

[Velocity_Boy]

Gosh I hope those 300 pounds are just a missed guess DrmDoc. Thats more than 50 teaspoons per day, I dont think you could live through that?

 

 

50 tspns./day is no big deal for many folks. Remember that your oaverage 12 oz. can of coke has about 12 tspns. So....two cokes a day and you're halfway there. And sugar is in everything! Ketchup...mayonniaise..salsa...chips....french fries...let alone the stuff we eat that we KNOW is sugar-laden like pastries and candy. We just don't realize how much sugar gets dumped into our processed foods. But people who come here to the US from somewhere else notice it straightaway. Just theother day my Brit friend who is here on a Sabbatical threw down his french fry with ketchup on it and asked, disgustedly "why do you Yanks insist on dousing everything with sugar?" LOL

[StringJunky]

 

 

50 tspns./day is no big deal for many folks. Remember that your oaverage 12 oz. can of coke has about 12 tspns. So....two cokes a day and you're halfway there. And sugar is in everything! Ketchup...mayonniaise..salsa...chips....french fries...let alone the stuff we eat that we KNOW is sugar-laden like pastries and candy. We just don't realize how much sugar gets dumped into our processed foods. But people who come here to the US from somewhere else notice it straightaway. Just theother day my Brit friend who is here on a Sabbatical threw down his french fry with ketchup on it and asked, disgustedly "why do you Yanks insist on dousing everything with sugar?" LOL

Is it more sweet than sharp, your ketchup?

Edited April 11, 2017 by StringJunky

[DrmDoc]

Is it more sweet than sharp, your ketchup?

 

I don't use it often but yes, certain ketchup brands here are a little more sweet than tart.

Edited April 11, 2017 by DrmDoc

[StringJunky]

 

I don't use it often but yes, certain ketchup brands here are a little more sweet that tart.

Right. Heinz, which is common here is probably the sweetest, relatively, but still has a fairly distinct tang. That's American isn't It? Maybe your version is different in sweetness. Most of the others are more tart. I like the tart, cheek-pulling stuff on my chips. I even sprinkle vinegar with it.

[imatfaal]

Right. Heinz, which is common here is probably the sweetest, relatively, but still has a fairly distinct tang. That's American isn't It? Maybe your version is different in sweetness. Most of the others are more tart. I like the tart, cheek-pulling stuff on my chips. I even sprinkle vinegar with it.

Big corps like Heinz make different versions for different localities - so it could well be sweeter

 

US Version per 100g

Energy 560kJ

Total Fat 0g 0%

Sat. Fat 0g 0%

Trans Fat 0g

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 1067mg 44%

Total Carbs. 33.3g 11%

Dietary Fiber 0g 0%

Sugars 26.7g

Protein 0g

Calcium 0mg

 

UK Version

Typical Values

Per 100g Per serving (15g)

Energy 435kJ 65kJ

102kcal 15kcal

Fat 0.1g Trace

-of which saturates Trace Trace

Carbohydrate 23.2g 3.5g

-of which sugars 22.8g 3.4g

Protein 1.2g 0.2g

Salt 1.8g 0.3g

 

So not exactly the same - and extra 4.5g of sugars per 100g. And a tonne of extra carbs and energy (does hi-fructose corn syrup come under sugars?)

[DrmDoc]

Right. Heinz, which is common here is probably the sweetest, relatively, but still has a fairly distinct tang. That's American isn't It? Maybe your version is different in sweetness. Most of the others are more tart. I like the tart, cheek-pulling stuff on my chips. I even sprinkle vinegar with it.

 

You know what? I like a little vinegar too, particularly on my fish-n-chips...yum...it's true, we Americans are getting fatter.

[StringJunky]

 

Big corps like Heinz make different versions for different localities - so it could well be sweeter

 

US Version per 100g

Total Fat 0g 0%

Sat. Fat 0g 0%

Trans Fat 0g

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 1067mg 44%

Total Carbs. 33.3g 11%

Dietary Fiber 0g 0%

Sugars 26.7g

Protein 0g

Calcium 0mg

 

UK Version

Typical Values

Per 100g Per serving (15g)

Energy 435kJ 65kJ

102kcal 15kcal

Fat 0.1g Trace

-of which saturates Trace Trace

Carbohydrate 23.2g 3.5g

-of which sugars 22.8g 3.4g

Protein 1.2g 0.2g

Salt 1.8g 0.3g

 

So not exactly the same - and extra 4.5g of sugars per 100g

Yes, it looks that way.

 

You know what? I like a little vinegar too, particularly on my fish-n-chips...yum...it's true, we Americans are getting fatter.

About a quarter of the UK is obese, so we aren't exactly a healthy nation. It's a Pan-Western problem and not uniquely American .

[koti]

Vinegar on fries?! It's blasphemy, you folks are mad.

Edited April 11, 2017 by koti

[StringJunky]

Vinegar on fries?! It's blasphemy, you folks are mad.

Chips, salt and vinegar; the perfect menage a trois

[Phi for All]

Chips, salt and vinegar; the perfect menage a trois

 

If you can say that without smiling, you have a good pucker face.

[koti]

Chips, salt and vinegar; the perfect menage a trois

 

Chips are those greasy, moist, bulky chunks of potatoes right ?

Blasphemy I say !

 

Today I learned from the film below that Edward Witten whose voice and style of speech is not the easiest to get used to is actually capable of very effectively conveying difficult concepts in a surprisingly accessible way. The 10 minutes between 12:00-22:00 are very interesting to me:

 

https://youtu.be/RfwsvSjXkJU?t=731

[DrmDoc]

 

Today I learned from the film below that Edward Witten whose voice and style of speech is not the easiest to get used to is actually capable of very effectively conveying difficult concepts in a surprisingly accessible way. The 10 minutes between 12:00-22:00 are very interesting to me:

 

https://youtu.be/RfwsvSjXkJU?t=731

 

What an interesting fellow!

[CharonY]

 

Big corps like Heinz make different versions for different localities - so it could well be sweeter

 

US Version per 100g

Energy 560kJ

Total Fat 0g 0%

Sat. Fat 0g 0%

Trans Fat 0g

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 1067mg 44%

Total Carbs. 33.3g 11%

Dietary Fiber 0g 0%

Sugars 26.7g

Protein 0g

Calcium 0mg

 

UK Version

Typical Values

Per 100g Per serving (15g)

Energy 435kJ 65kJ

102kcal 15kcal

Fat 0.1g Trace

-of which saturates Trace Trace

Carbohydrate 23.2g 3.5g

-of which sugars 22.8g 3.4g

Protein 1.2g 0.2g

Salt 1.8g 0.3g

 

So not exactly the same - and extra 4.5g of sugars per 100g. And a tonne of extra carbs and energy (does hi-fructose corn syrup come under sugars?)

 

Yes, cor syrup would show up there, after all it is the US' favorite (subsidized) sweetener. It is true that it is literally everywhere, and coming from a elsewhere it is hard not to notice. Even things like sausages are often disgustingly sweet. Sometimes it is even worse if you buy a product that you think should be the same as in Europe (as in the Ketchup example) but even things that are supposed to be sweet (e.g. chocolate) are made sweeter and creamier in the US. That being said, it seems that the sugar content is slowly increasing in Europe, too, from what I heard. The highest levels were ~125g/day, whereas Germany is around 100 and UK about 93 g. In comparison China has about 28g daily intake and India only 10g.

[StringJunky]

 

If you can say that without smiling, you have a good pucker face.

I can't.

[imatfaal]

 

Yes, cor syrup would show up there, after all it is the US' favorite (subsidized) sweetener. It is true that it is literally everywhere, and coming from a elsewhere it is hard not to notice. Even things like sausages are often disgustingly sweet. Sometimes it is even worse if you buy a product that you think should be the same as in Europe (as in the Ketchup example) but even things that are supposed to be sweet (e.g. chocolate) are made sweeter and creamier in the US. That being said, it seems that the sugar content is slowly increasing in Europe, too, from what I heard. The highest levels were ~125g/day, whereas Germany is around 100 and UK about 93 g. In comparison China has about 28g daily intake and India only 10g.

 

I average around 30g a day - but then I keep to a fairly strict and puritan diet; I don't add sugar to anything, eat practically zero hyper-processed food, and don't really have a sweet tooth. My indulgences tend to be bitter / sour rather than sweet - espresso coffee, pale ale, and citrus fruit.

 

BTW - you mention India; how old are your figures because I have read that India is actually spiking in sugar intake. Generations of hypo low sugar intake has suddenly been reversed to a hyper high sugar diet similar to US diet for large numbers - such that diabetes is in exponential growth. As an aside to the aside. I think there may be some very interesting epi-genetic studies coming out of India soon - the whole science was put on an empirical footing by research around a dramatic change in diet (WW2 Netherlands etc) and that situation is being replicated albeit in reverse