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I bet you didnt know that

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    #1472
    Cianmcliam
    Closed Accounts Posts: 715 ✭✭✭Cianmcliam


    Yourself isit wrote: »
    Which one?

    I don't see how your embedded test is any more convincing than this, and probably less so. The squares are the same sizes, the same shape (obviously), same exact shade except for the clearly different blue. Maybe they used the colour blind test too but I can't see how it would be more scientific.

    That said I'm sure they got causality wrong. This tribe are a forest tribe, they don't grow up seeing blue so they don't name it. It's not that lack of naming causes them not to see blue but not experiencing it as they develop that causes them to not see it and not name it.

    Well, as it turns out the results and pictures of the colour wheel test in the article are actually a fraud. They were staged for a BBC documentary using a different test for a separate experiment. In fact the study only showed that the tribe members had slower reaction times identifying the different colours and it seems that none of them actually failed to see the difference at all.

    See quotes from the researchers admitting it was a set up for the TV cameras:
    http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=18237

    "The BBC's presentation of the mocked-up experiment — purporting to show that the Himba are completely unable to distinguish blue and green shades that seem quite different to us, but can easily distinguish shades of green that seem identical to us — was apparently a journalistic fabrication, created by the documentary's editors after the fact, and was never asserted by the researchers themselves, much less demonstrated experimentally.

    This explains why the "experiment" was never published, and why the stimuli shown in the documentary don't make sense."


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    #1473
    IrishAlice
    Registered Users Posts: 557 ✭✭✭IrishAlice


    Nicholas Cage's real name is Nicolas Kim Coppola, he is Francis Ford Coppola's nephew.


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    #1474
    retalivity
    Registered Users Posts: 14,107 ✭✭✭✭retalivity


    Duffy the Vampire Slayer wrote: »
    Brazil was one of the allies in World War I, declaring war on the Central Powers in 1917. They had plans to send a large army to fight, most likely against the Turks, but this plan was cut short by the end of the war in 1918. Had the First World War lasted longer, Brazil might have played a key part.

    Mongolia was the last country to formally enter ww2, declaring war on japan on Aug 10, a day after the 2nd atomic bomb was dropped on nagasaki.


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    #1475
    ohnonotgmail
    Registered Users Posts: 40,286 ✭✭✭✭ohnonotgmail


    retalivity wrote: »
    Mongolia was the last country to formally enter ww2, declaring war on japan on Aug 10, a day after the 2nd atomic bomb was dropped on nagasaki.

    That is like kicking somebody unconscious on the ground.


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    #1476
    eisenberg1
    Registered Users Posts: 5,387 ✭✭✭eisenberg1


    ohnonotgmail wrote: »
    That is like kicking somebody unconscious on the ground.

    It's the thought that counts:D


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    #1477
    steddyeddy
    Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    Our atoms come from stars. I think Neil Degrasse Tyson said it best:

    "The most astounding fact is the knowledge that the atoms that comprise life on Earth the atoms that make up the human body are traceable to the crucibles that cooked light elements into heavy elements in their core under extreme temperatures and pressures. These stars, the high mass ones among them went unstable in their later years they collapsed and then exploded scattering their enriched guts across the galaxy guts made of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and all the fundamental ingredients of life itself. These ingredients become part of gas cloud that condense, collapse, form the next generation of solar systems stars with orbiting planets, and those planets now have the ingredients for life itself. So that when I look up at the night sky and I know that yes, we are part of this universe, we are in this universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts is that the Universe is in us. When I reflect on that fact, I look up – many people feel small because they’re small and the Universe is big – but I feel big, because my atoms came from those stars. There’s a level of connectivity. That’s really what you want in life, you want to feel connected, you want to feel relevant you want to feel like you’re a participant in the goings on of activities and events around you That’s precisely what we are, just by being alive…"


  • Options
    #1478
    snowflaker
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,922 ✭✭✭snowflaker


    mike_ie wrote: »
    The Immaculate Collection. A lot of people think it refers to Jesus' conception. Nope - it refers to Mary's conception.

    It was Madonna's greatest album :D


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    #1479
    Yourself isit
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,257 ✭✭✭Yourself isit


    Cianmcliam wrote: »
    Well, as it turns out the results and pictures of the colour wheel test in the article are actually a fraud. They were staged for a BBC documentary using a different test for a separate experiment. In fact the study only showed that the tribe members had slower reaction times identifying the different colours and it seems that none of them actually failed to see the difference at all.

    See quotes from the researchers admitting it was a set up for the TV cameras:
    http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=18237

    "The BBC's presentation of the mocked-up experiment — purporting to show that the Himba are completely unable to distinguish blue and green shades that seem quite different to us, but can easily distinguish shades of green that seem identical to us — was apparently a journalistic fabrication, created by the documentary's editors after the fact, and was never asserted by the researchers themselves, much less demonstrated experimentally.

    This explains why the "experiment" was never published, and why the stimuli shown in the documentary don't make sense."

    Ha! Well as an empiricist I accept that's now bollocks - which was my position before I read that piece (and naively assumed the experiment was not staged). The BBC is a caricature of what it used to be.

    Still we have the problem with the Greeks. I'm thinking that maybe the sky wasn't blue, or as blue, which could be caused by volcanic erruptions.


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    #1480
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 90,965 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    ohnonotgmail wrote: »
    That is like kicking somebody unconscious on the ground.
    They had already defeated the Japanese Sixth Army a little earlier in 1939* in perhaps the most important WWII battle that most people haven't heard of.

    It meant that the Empire of Japan would strike south to the East Indies and East into the Pacific instead of going through Mongolian. It meant Russia didn't have to fight Japan as well as Germany. It meant that the US was drawn in to the war earlier than they might have otherwise.


    *OK they had a little help from the Russians.


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    #1481
    EndaHonesty
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,544 ✭✭✭EndaHonesty


    Capt'n Midnight wrote: »
    They had already defeated the Japanese Sixth Army a little earlier in 1939* in perhaps the most important WWII battle that most people haven't heard of.

    It meant that the Empire of Japan would strike south to the East Indies and East into the Pacific instead of going through Mongolian. It meant Russia didn't have to fight Japan as well as Germany. It meant that the US was drawn in to the war earlier than they might have otherwise.


    *OK they had a little help from the Russians.

    Do you really believe that the Japanese chose to pick a fight with the US because they were afraid of the mighty Mongolian army?


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    #1482
    Skylinehead
    Registered Users Posts: 11,690 ✭✭✭✭Skylinehead


    EndaHonesty wrote: »
    Do you really believe that the Japanese chose to pick a fight with the US because they were afraid of the mighty Mongolian army?

    You missed the bit about where they had help from the Russians ;)

    It did change things quite a bit, the Army wanted resources from Siberia. This battle changed their thoughts towards the Navy-favoured Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) in the south instead.


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    #1483
    EndaHonesty
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,544 ✭✭✭EndaHonesty


    Skylinehead wrote: »
    You missed the bit about where they had help from the Russians ;)

    It did change things quite a bit, the Army wanted resources from Siberia. This battle changed their thoughts towards the Navy-favoured Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) in the south instead.

    I didn't miss anything. It's not credible.

    Fight the mighty Mongolian army and a somewhat distracted Russian army or face they full force of the US?

    I don't believe for a second the chose the US because they saw them as the easier fight.

    My understanding is that the Japanese had limited supplies left and went "all in" against the US.

    I don't believe the Mongolian aspect was any part of the decision.


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    #1484
    Junkyard Tom
    Registered Users Posts: 10,117 ✭✭✭✭Junkyard Tom


    There was a punch-up in the Apollo 11 orbiter to see who got to be first to set foot on the Moon as NASA hadn't thought to decide on it.


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    #1485
    FanadMan
    Registered Users Posts: 3,820 ✭✭✭FanadMan


    steddyeddy wrote: »
    Our atoms come from stars. I think Neil Degrasse Tyson said it best:

    "The most astounding fact is the knowledge that the atoms that comprise life on Earth the atoms that make up the human body are traceable to the crucibles that cooked light elements into heavy elements in their core under extreme temperatures and pressures. These stars, the high mass ones among them went unstable in their later years they collapsed and then exploded scattering their enriched guts across the galaxy guts made of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and all the fundamental ingredients of life itself. These ingredients become part of gas cloud that condense, collapse, form the next generation of solar systems stars with orbiting planets, and those planets now have the ingredients for life itself. So that when I look up at the night sky and I know that yes, we are part of this universe, we are in this universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts is that the Universe is in us. When I reflect on that fact, I look up – many people feel small because they’re small and the Universe is big – but I feel big, because my atoms came from those stars. There’s a level of connectivity. That’s really what you want in life, you want to feel connected, you want to feel relevant you want to feel like you’re a participant in the goings on of activities and events around you That’s precisely what we are, just by being alive…"

    It's in here. Complete hippy song.....but the sentiment is there :)



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    #1486
    Duffy the Vampire Slayer
    Registered Users Posts: 5,378 ✭✭✭Duffy the Vampire Slayer


    What people have said about the Russians defeating Japan in 1939 is true. They also stomped them in 1945 when they invaded Manchuria. Another huge battle almost nobody has heard of.

    By the way, this guy also played an important role in deciding what would happen in Asia....

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Sorge
    Sorge is most famous for his service in Japan in 1940 and 1941, when he provided information about Adolf Hitler's plan to attack the Soviet Union, although he did not succeed in finding out the exact date of the attack.

    In mid-September 1941, he informed the Soviet command that Japan was not going to attack the Soviet Union in the near future, which allowed the command to transfer 18 divisions, 1,700 tanks, and over 1,500 aircraft from Siberia and the Far East to the Western Front against Nazi Germany during the most critical months of the Battle for Moscow; one of the turning points of World War II.

    A month later Sorge was arrested in Japan on the counts of espionage. The German Abwehr legitimately denied he was an agent; USSR repudiated him and refused three offers to spare him through a prisoner exchange. He was tortured, forced to confess, tried, and then hanged in November 1944. Two decades passed before he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union in 1964.


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    #1487
    ohnonotgmail
    Registered Users Posts: 40,286 ✭✭✭✭ohnonotgmail


    Capt'n Midnight wrote: »
    They had already defeated the Japanese Sixth Army a little earlier in 1939* in perhaps the most important WWII battle that most people haven't heard of.

    It meant that the Empire of Japan would strike south to the East Indies and East into the Pacific instead of going through Mongolian. It meant Russia didn't have to fight Japan as well as Germany. It meant that the US was drawn in to the war earlier than they might have otherwise.


    *OK they had a little help from the Russians.


    a little help in the form of practically all of their arms and equipment and russian officers to train them?

    ETA they were basically a russian proxy.


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    #1488
    stimpson
    Registered Users Posts: 7,815 ✭✭✭stimpson


    The fastest train in the world is the Shanghai Maglev. It's top speed is faster than a Bugatti Veyron. It hits its top speed of 431km/h in 4 minutes and completes its 19 mile journey in 7 minutes 20 seconds. It uses electromagnets to suspend the train over a concrete track which reduces friction compared to train wheels.


    Source: me. I was on it yesterday!


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    #1489
    Wibbs
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,111 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    Junkyard Tom wrote: »
    There was a punch-up in the Apollo 11 orbiter to see who got to be first to set foot on the Moon as NASA hadn't thought to decide on it.
    Nope. It had been decided before the flight that Neil as commander would be the first out. The Apollo landings are an outlier in this as the protocol on previous and subsequent missions was the commander stays inside with the ship(EG on the Gemini spacewalks the second in command went outside).

    There had been much internal chat about who would be first when it they ruminated on the importance of that first step. It hadn't been written in stone until quite late on. For a few reasons. One major one being the rotation of crews and uncertainty of success. If Apollo 11 had to abort then it would have been Al Bean and Pete Conrad who would have got the nod(Conrad would have been the first*). The head of flight crews had originally wanted Gus Grissom to be the man of the hour, but he died in the Apollo 1 ground fire.

    Aldrin had pushed to be first and indeed even his dad got involved in pushing for it, but Armstrong got the nod. Some suggest it was also because he was a civilian and NASA wanted to emphasis this, but that's dubious enough too, because as I say they weren't sure of success and it could have been the next all military crew that made it. Armstrong was also a very measured, cool and collected person and not one for the limelight at all and this seems to have been a major factor in the choice. A choice that proved a good one.

    Another more basic practical reason was the commander's position in the Lander was closest to the door. Now they could have squeezed around each other before suiting up, but space was tight in that very delicate craft, so would increase the risks of a failure.







    *His first words were a little less serious. He was shorter than Neil and found the drop from the ladder to the pad less easy, so he said; "Whoopie! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but
    it's a long one for me!"     :D For me they were the coolest crew and genuine friends. They could barely contain their sheer excitement on the approach to the landing. They also had two lightning strikes on launch from Florida which temporarily crippled the Saturn V guidance and electrical systems. After they sorted that they giggled the rest of the way into orbit.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



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    #1490
    Hagar7
    Registered Users Posts: 724 ✭✭✭Hagar7


    pickarooney wrote: »
    I'd love to go on a date with Candie. Don't care what she looks like but there'd be so much to talk about.
    She told me she was only 75,this is your lucky day Mr R.


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    #1491
    Junkyard Tom
    Registered Users Posts: 10,117 ✭✭✭✭Junkyard Tom


    Wibbs wrote: »
    Nope.

    Twas covered up. The lads battered the heads off each other and Neil Armstrong was the last one standing (or floating I guess).


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    #1492
    PMBC
    Registered Users Posts: 1,109 ✭✭✭PMBC


    FanadMan wrote: »
    It's in here. Complete hippy song.....but the sentiment is there :)

    Deja Vu one of the best. Loaned it on vinyl and never got it back; so bought it on CD


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    #1493
    bonzodog2
    Registered Users Posts: 6,210 ✭✭✭bonzodog2


    John Connolly has a new Charlie Parker novel out - A Game of Ghosts. I shall be lashing into this next!

    edit:OOPS! I meant to post this in the 'what are you reading' thread. Feck!


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    #1494
    cdeb
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 7,170 Mod ✭✭✭✭cdeb


    In fairness, at least I didn't know that...


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    #1495
    Chancer3001
    Registered Users Posts: 5,480 ✭✭✭Chancer3001


    A certain type of cave bat has gay sex every day.

    10,000s of them all flutter around frantically trying to have sex and the men sometimes just find another man.

    It's their nightly and morning ritual

    David attenborough did a documentary piece about them


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    #1496
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 26,052 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Interesting things happen to us when we sleep and scientists have long tried to unlock the reasons why humans sleep so much. Cats sleep up to 20 hours a day, elephants only 3, and humans average about 7 -8 hours of sleep a night, if we're lucky. Research has shown that brain size - as well as other factors - has a role in how much sleep we need, the bigger the brain the more space between brain cells for cerebrospinal fluid to circulate as well more room for waste to accumulate, and the more efficient the nightly clean-up

    When we're awake, our physical functions use about 80% of our energy and that changes only slightly even when we're shut down and still for the night. At night, our brains start to use slightly more of our energy for some general housekeeping. Our brains use sleep for memory consolidation and storage, discarding the stuff we don't need anymore and storing the important stuff that'll benefit us in the future, but the really interesting thing about sleep is that we brainwash ourselves on a nightly basis.

    Mice brains are used as a good model for humans in brain research, and by investigating the so-called 'glymphatic system' it's been observed that the amount of cerebral spinal fluid circulating the brain is increased during sleep. This fluid washes away toxins that brain cells produce during waking hours, eventually to be flushed through the system and processed by the liver. At the same time, your brain cells shrink in size by about 60%, making more space between them for the fluid to wash around and take out the waste. Among the trash flushed out at night are toxic proteins like amyloid-beta, which builds up to form the plaque found in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.

    It seems that if a person is sleep deprived and the brain isn't efficiently cleared of all it's toxic waste, it can have more implications than ever thought previously and we may be getting closer to the definitive answer to why we shut down for a third of our lives.


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    #1497
    Zubeneschamali
    Registered Users Posts: 16,686 ✭✭✭✭Zubeneschamali


    steddyeddy wrote: »
    Our atoms come from stars.

    All except our Hydrogen atoms. Humans are about 10% Hydrogen by mass, and Hydrogen has been around since the Big Bang, much longer than the heavier elements made later in stars and supernovas.


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    #1498
    snowflaker
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,922 ✭✭✭snowflaker


    Roald Dahl assisted in the development of the WDT valve which drains excess fluid from the brain, to assist his son after a brain injury.


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    #1499
    stimpson
    Registered Users Posts: 7,815 ✭✭✭stimpson


    Chancer3001 wrote: »
    A certain type of cave bat has gay sex every day.

    10,000s of them all flutter around frantically trying to have sex and the men sometimes just find another man.

    :eek:
    David attenborough did a documentary piece about them

    Did he get the ride?


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    #1500
    Four Phucs Ache
    Registered Users Posts: 1,017 ✭✭✭Four Phucs Ache


    Our saliva has a natural painkiller up to six times more powerful than morphine

    Its called opiorphin, and people in white coats are developing a new generation of natural painkiller that relieve pain as good as morphine but it's not addictive.

    When researchers injected a pain-inducing chemical into rats paws, 1 milligram of opiorphin per kilogram of body weight achieved the same painkilling effect as 3 milligrams of morphine.

    It was so successful at blocking pain that, in a test pad of sharp pins, the rats needed six times as much morphine as opiorphin to render them oblivious to the pain of standing on the needle points.

    Hard to believe but when we are scared or in a state of shock we produce less saliva so we can locate the point of pain.


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    #1501
    maudgonner
    Registered Users Posts: 5,455 ✭✭✭maudgonner


    The poor rats :(


This discussion has been closed.
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