I bet you didnt know that

Conall Cernach · 19-02-2018 4:33pm

CruelCoin wrote: »

I wonder how much it cost to send that guitar up there.

ohnonotgmail · 19-02-2018 4:35pm

Conall Cernach wrote: »

I wonder how much it cost to send that guitar up there.

$10,000 a pound so about $40-50,000 just for the guitar. More if there were packing materials around it.

Realt Dearg Sec · 19-02-2018 4:58pm

Worth it from a PR point of view. Think about how many people watched that, and how beloved he became as a result. The view of astronauts as boring and space stuff as dull, technical, and uninspiring had very much taken hold by then (cf Simpsons episode where Homer goes to the moon). They need to keep the public imagination on their side as their funding is to a large extent dependent on it. Silly things like that make a big difference I'd imagine.

Also presumably he plays it as a hobby and keeping astronauts happy and occupied is probably critical to the whole operation.

valoren · 19-02-2018 5:23pm

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

Worth it from a PR point of view. Think about how many people watched that, and how beloved he became as a result. The view of astronauts as boring and space stuff as dull, technical, and uninspiring had very much taken hold by then (cf Simpsons episode where Homer goes to the moon). They need to keep the public imagination on their side as their funding is to a large extent dependent on it. Silly things like that make a big difference I'd imagine.

Also presumably he plays it as a hobby and keeping astronauts happy and occupied is probably critical to the whole operation.

When the guitar comes out at a house party, that's usually the cue to leave. But at 408km high and travelling at 7.6 km per second, leaving isn't an option :pac:

On the otherhand, if he started playing 'Wonderwall' then;

http%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F10%2Ffelix-jump-640-watermark-21.gif

:pac:

19-02-2018 5:25pm

Smallpox ravaged humanity for almost three thousand years, caused by the variola virus of the Poxviridae family. It's eradication is testament to the worth of vaccination programs, and that success has put an end to the massive death toll it took on the populations it invaded over the milenia. About a third of those infected died from Smallpox, many more were blinded, everyone it touched was scarred.

Vaccinations are so called because of the work of Edward Jenner in laying the groundwork for the eradication of smallpox after noticing that milkmaids didn't develop skin lesions after infection with smallpox - which he correctly attributed to their exposure to cowpox, a similar but milder disease. He used the pus (ugh) from a cowpox lesion on one milkmaid to infect a needle which he used to inoculate a number of people all of whom were exposed to, and subsequently found to be immune to, smallpox. The word vaccination comes from the Latin root vacca - meaning cow - thanks to that observation with the cowpox.

It took more than 180 years of cultural and religious hurdles before smallpox was declared eradicated by the WHO, the last known case was in the late 1970's. A theoretical threat exists for a resurgence of the disease thanks to our disregard for the environment. It's possible that the Northermost parts of our world harbour frozen infected bodies, and should they defrost as a consequence of global warming we could be facing the spectre of a resurgence. The only known samples are in a CDC lab in Atlanta, though one can only imagine the value to hostile groups and states of getting hold of some defrosted variola major.

Someone should tell Trump.

Skylinehead · 19-02-2018 5:44pm

Candie wrote: »

The only known samples are in a CDC lab in Atlanta, though one can only imagine the value to hostile groups and states of getting hold of some defrosted variola major.

The Russians have some as well, in their CDC equivalent.

It's also apparently quite easy to recreate from scratch, in a decent laboratory.

19-02-2018 5:58pm

Skylinehead wrote: »

The Russians have some as well, in their CDC equivalent.

It's also apparently quite easy to recreate from scratch, in a decent laboratory.

We should probably reconsider telling Trump, so!

Beethoven9th · 19-02-2018 6:56pm

The Black Death is the name used to describe the plague epidemic that swept through Europe from 1348 to 1351. One of the most frightening Black Death facts is that it was extremely fatal and spread very quickly. Although the exact death toll can only be estimated based on what we know now, it is thought between 75 and 200 million people died. It is estimated that 25% to 60% of the European population were wiped out during the epidemic. Some estimations are even set as high as two-thirds of the population.

Unclean !

&h=300&w=300&tbnid=2o5_IoMafDZbgM:&tbnh=160&tbnw=160&usg=__f7nG2kyS1hbKYV5rk4sFIhPSHyI%3D&vet=10ahUKEwjI8ZWLxrLZAhUIasAKHURQCZwQ9QEILTAA..i&docid=DUR2HmJt-wPjNM&client=firefox-b&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjI8ZWLxrLZAhUIasAKHURQCZwQ9QEILTAA#h=300&imgdii=4QXA8duU5OkfiM:&tbnh=160&tbnw=160&vet=10ahUKEwjI8ZWLxrLZAhUIasAKHURQCZwQ9QEILTAA..i&w=300

&h=300&w=300&tbnid=2o5_IoMafDZbgM:&tbnh=160&tbnw=160&usg=__f7nG2kyS1hbKYV5rk4sFIhPSHyI%3D&vet=10ahUKEwjI8ZWLxrLZAhUIasAKHURQCZwQ9QEILTAA..i&docid=DUR2HmJt-wPjNM&client=firefox-b&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjI8ZWLxrLZAhUIasAKHURQCZwQ9QEILTAA#h=300&imgdii=4QXA8duU5OkfiM:&tbnh=160&tbnw=160&vet=10ahUKEwjI8ZWLxrLZAhUIasAKHURQCZwQ9QEILTAA..i&w=300

jmayo · 19-02-2018 7:09pm

New Home wrote: »

A car with EURO1 rating pollutes as much as 28 EURO6 cars.

Were these VWs figures ?

CruelCoin wrote: »

https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/information/astronaut_faq.html#5

Between "Currently, a GS-12 starts at $65,140 per year and a GS-13 can earn up to $100,701 per year." for civvies.

military astronauts retian their rank and pay from the military.
Most of them being Majors and lt. Colonels, so thats, "Insignia of an Air Force Major Major Maj Field Officer $55,231 - $92,218 per year
O-5 Insignia of an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant Colonel Lt Co Field Officer $64,012 - $108,752 per year"
https://www.federalpay.org/military/air-force/ranks

Yuri Gagarin went into space as a 2nd Lieutenant but was promoted to Major in the field (well actually in space) because the Soviets did not want to say a lowly officer was first man in space

One of the reasons he was suitable for the Soviet space program was he was only 5' 2'' in height and their craft were pretty small.

Oh and he has interesting backstory.
He was son of a collective family with father carpenter/bricklayer and mother a milkmaid.
He had been an apprentice foundryman at 16, he had been a docker, he had studied at night and ended up studying tractors at a technical school.
He had learned to fly as a Soviet air cadet at a local flying club and after being drafted he went into air force.

On the other John Glenn was son of a teacher, went to university to study engineering and was already a Lieutenant Colonel before he entered space.
Oh and unlike most astronauts he was a Marine.

Skylinehead · 19-02-2018 7:13pm

jmayo wrote: »

Were these VWs figures ?

Yuri Gagarin went into space as a 2nd Lieutenant but was promoted to Major in the field (well actually in space) because the Soviets did not want to say a lowly officer was first man in space

One of the reasons he was suitable for the Soviet space program was he was only 5' 2'' in height and their craft were pretty small.

Oh and he has interesting backstory.
He was son of a collective family with father carpenter/bricklayer and mother a milkmaid.
He had been an apprentice foundryman at 16, he had been a docker, he had studied at night and ended up studying tractors at a technical school.
He had learned to fly as a Soviet air cadet at a local flying club and after being drafted he went into air force.

On the other John Glenn was son of a teacher, went to university to study engineering and was already a Lieutenant Colonel before he entered space.
Oh and unlike most astronauts he was a Marine.

He also has the greatest statue ever.

Beethoven9th · 19-02-2018 8:09pm

As far as we know, the "entire universe" is infinite in size but If we just look to the observable universe (i.e. everything that we're able to see given the age of the universe and the speed of light), we can actually say something numerically.

If the Universe was the size of the Earth:

The Milky Way would fill an Olympic swimming pool a bit over halfway(1400 out of 2500 m3 ).
The solar system is a fairly loosely defined volume, so picking a generous definition we say its maybe 2 light years in radius. Our solar system would then be the size of a large grain of sand.
Humanity and all our artefacts would be contained in a sphere about 16 times larger than a virus (our most distant artefact is Voyager 1, at ~125 AU from the Sun).
The Sun would be about 1/15th the size of a hydrogen atom.

dxhound2005 · 19-02-2018 8:28pm

Some Americans collect vast numbers of one cent coins in the hope that they can realise the copper value.

ohnonotgmail · 19-02-2018 9:24pm

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Some Americans collect vast numbers of one cent coins in the hope that they can realise the copper value.

the same for nickels minted during WW2. they have a silver content of 35%.

Peregrine · 19-02-2018 9:55pm

Beethoven9th wrote: »

As far as we know, the "entire universe" is infinite in size but If we just look to the observable universe (i.e. everything that we're able to see given the age of the universe and the speed of light), we can actually say something numerically.

If the Universe was the size of the Earth:

The Milky Way would fill an Olympic swimming pool a bit over halfway(1400 out of 2500 m3 ).
The solar system is a fairly loosely defined volume, so picking a generous definition we say its maybe 2 light years in radius. Our solar system would then be the size of a large grain of sand.
Humanity and all our artefacts would be contained in a sphere about 16 times larger than a virus (our most distant artefact is Voyager 1, at ~125 AU from the Sun).
The Sun would be about 1/15th the size of a hydrogen atom.

Eh, what?

Capt'n Midnight · 19-02-2018 9:58pm

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

The more i read about the astronaut thing the worse it sounds.

Just in case you were worried about a fart in a space suit.

Only 45% of those who have been to space loose their lunches for the first few days.

There's a reason why the planes that the zero g training is done on are called vomit comets.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 19-02-2018 10:08pm

Beethoven9th wrote: »

As far as we know, the "entire universe" is infinite in size.

The field of astronomy is completely divided on this. There is nothing like consensus on whether it is finite or not.

Capt'n Midnight · 19-02-2018 10:19pm

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Some Americans collect vast numbers of one cent coins in the hope that they can realise the copper value.

Idiots.

Up to $10,000 fine or up to 5 years in prison or both if you try it with more than $5 of pennies.

There are plenty of examples from history of how trying to debase currency is treated as serious business by the powers that be.

Eureka and Archimedes was all about detecting counterfeit metal.

When Isaac Newton was head of the UK mint he had a Mr Chaloner hung, drawn and quartered for making counterfeit coins

cdeb · 19-02-2018 10:23pm

Actually, the report covers that - they're storing them in the hope that the US will eliminate the pennies and the coins no longer become currency (similar to what's happened here, although I think 1c/2c are still legal currency)

Beethoven9th · 20-02-2018 12:07am

Anders Shy Aircraft wrote: »

The field of astronomy is completely divided on this. There is nothing like consensus on whether it is finite or not.

Thats why i said "as far as we know".......

As far as we know you are a robot

Beethoven9th · 20-02-2018 12:08am

Peregrine wrote: »

Eh, what?

But..... wait
wha?

Are Am Eye · 20-02-2018 12:47am

Not a particularly big infinity though.

david75 · 20-02-2018 12:56am

Speaking of Endurance. Has anyone read that book of the same name, about Shackletons expedition to the Antarctic to cross it on foot?
The never ending series of disasters and efforts and trials and endurance’s the crew went through, being stuck down there for years, If it was a film it would be totally completely unbelievable.
Amazing read no matter what. Can’t recommend it enough.

Oldtree · 20-02-2018 1:40am

Are Am Eye wrote: »

Not a particularly big infinity though.

Not in the infinite multitude of multiverses (including both finite and infinite universe's), no. But wha.....

Professor Moriarty · 20-02-2018 1:41am

Oldtree wrote: »

Not in the infinite multitude of multiverses (including both finite and infinite universe's), no. But wha.....

I'll give Buzz a buzz. He'll know.

Capt'n Midnight · 20-02-2018 2:14am

david75 wrote: »

Speaking of Endurance. Has anyone read that book of the same name, about Shackletons expedition to the Antarctic to cross it on foot?
The never ending series of disasters and efforts and trials and endurance’s the crew went through, being stuck down there for years, If it was a film it ry the would be totally completely unbelievable.
Amazing read no matter what. Can’t recommend it enough.

They say an adventure isn't fun while it's happening.

The early UK explorers didn't have decent gear and didn't really test it. Imagine sleeping bags that didn't dry out, it's just constant misery, and cold and starvation and suffering from malnutrition and scurvy. And when it gets too cold snow is no longer slippery and it's like dragging the sledges through sand.

Try The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard sometime too.

"I thought, dear, that you would rather have a live ass than a dead lion."
Sir Ernest Shackleton - to his wife Emily, after deciding to turn back 97 miles from the Pole.

Nabber · 20-02-2018 3:04am

LIfe

All DNA required to build the 6.5billion people on earth would roughly be the size of a pea.

The odds of life are 10 to the 40,000th power.
To give that number some meaning. If the universe is 30 billion years old, then there would be 9.4x 10 to 17th seconds in 30 billion years. Round that up it’s 10 to the 18th power.

Even if you some how could run 1,000,000 chemical combinations a second for 30billion years you still wouldn’t reach 10 to 40,000th power.

If humans are able to recreate life in a test tube, then that life is created by intelligent design manipulating its creation. So the creationist vs evolutionist debate would likely rage on!

When Drawin penned his theory, at his time they believed that the cell was the most complex structure in nature. Today we believe it’s DNA, which is almost a meter long but less than a trillionth of a CM thick.

There are some fascinating recreations of how scientists believe a cell works. Well wort a watch.

I get that life is at the center of religious and and non religious beliefs. I’m just bringing some calculated probability theories I read, don’t shoot me down.

Riva10 · 20-02-2018 8:23am

Professor Moriarty wrote: »

I'll give Buzz a buzz. He'll know.

No point buzzing Buzz as Buzz's buzzer does'nt buzz any more.

CruelCoin · 20-02-2018 9:44am

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Just in case you were worried about a fart in a space suit.

Only 45% of those who have been to space loose their lunches for the first few days.

There's a reason why the planes that the zero g training is done on are called vomit comets.

Astronauts spend the first few days with new crewmembers helping them acclimatise.
They bumble around like babies, need help eating, need help going to the loo, sleeping etc.
Some people acclimatise fairly quickly, others take weeks.

CruelCoin · 20-02-2018 9:47am

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

And when it gets too cold snow is no longer slippery and it's like dragging the sledges through sand.

There is a cool documentary on Netflix, name escapes me. Follows some explorers trekking across Antarctica. The guy hates fresh snow as it drops his daily progress by a fairly hefty margin.

sbsquarepants · 20-02-2018 10:14am

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

. And when it gets too cold snow is no longer slippery and it's like dragging the sledges through sand.

On a slightly related note - we all know that ice is slippery (insert hilarious rte news video here:D) But nobody knows why it is so slippery.
To explain - ice itself does not have a particularly low co-efficient of friction as it's surface on the microscopic level is quite rough. What makes it so slippery is the thin layer of liquid water that appears on the surface when something moves on the ice, smoothing out the peaks and troughs - what nobody yet understands is the how and why of that liquid water appearing. It appears even on ice that should be far too cold for water to exist in a liquid state, it was assumed for a long time that some mixture of heat from friction and pressure was the cause, but the numbers just don't add up even when dealing with small contact areas and high speeds like in the case of an ice skate blade.

I bet you didnt know that

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