I bet you didnt know that

storker · 16-02-2017 1:23pm

stimpson wrote: »

Surely that depends on how fast you drive.

60mph is assumed, I think. Not many roundabouts of traffic lights between here and space if you're going srtraight up, but that statistic does seem to assume that there's a potential for speed traps.

Anders Shy Aircraft wrote: »

But Air and atmosphere are not the same thing.

Indeed. That's why one point was about "air" and the other was about "atmosphere".

Wossack · 16-02-2017 1:53pm

humans and giraffes have the same number of neck bones (7)

re_shaft · 16-02-2017 1:56pm

There are more atoms in the human brain, than there are lithium atoms in all the seagulls of the world.

Wossack · 16-02-2017 2:11pm

the human brain is the only organ to have named itself

ScrubsfanChris · 16-02-2017 2:46pm

Wossack wrote: »

the human brain is the only organ to have named itself

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 16-02-2017 2:49pm

Wossack wrote: »

the human brain is the only organ to have named itself

The brain has no pain receptors itself. Surgery can be carried out on the brain without it feeling any pain.

blastman · 16-02-2017 2:55pm

Terry Pratchett had ten honorary doctorates, and was also an honorary Brownie.

16-02-2017 8:23pm

Pediphobia is a fear or dislike of children and not, as I had speculated, a fear of pedicures.

IvyTheTerrible · 16-02-2017 8:38pm

Startling is the only 9 letter word that you can remove a letter at a time and form a word each time:
Startling - starling - staring - string - sting - sing - sin - in - I

pickarooney · 16-02-2017 9:38pm

Starlings works too but it's less impressive.

IvyTheTerrible · 16-02-2017 9:39pm

pickarooney wrote: »

Starlings works too but it's less impressive.

And it's a plural so it doesn't stand alone from starling, I suppose.

pickarooney · 16-02-2017 9:51pm

How about
O
No
Not
Note
Tones
Stoner
Thrones
Honester (good enough for Shakespeare)
Dethrones
Deathsnore (a snort before dying)

cdeb · 16-02-2017 9:53pm

Doesn't count as you're moving the letters around.

pickarooney · 16-02-2017 9:55pm

Or hornets, horniest, thorniest...

Ah, crap, forgot about that.

Noddyholder · 16-02-2017 10:19pm

Looking at a documentary tonight & I bet you didn't know ...

Skid Row or Skid Road

The term "skid road" dates back to the 17th century, when it referred to a log road, used to skid or drag logs through woods and bog.[3] The term was in common usage in the mid-19th century and came to refer not just to the corduroy roads themselves, but to logging camps and mills all along the Pacific Coast. When a logger was fired he was "sent down the skid road."[6]

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

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 16-02-2017 10:38pm

Travelling tradesmen when recruited to a job used to carry their tools in a sack. When laid off due to finish of the job or on other good terms they was given a new sack for their tools. Hence, they were given the sack. If they were guilty of malpractice, theft etc. their tools were burned to stop them working elsewhere. Hence, they were fired.

So be careful how you word it when laid off.

GritBiscuit · 16-02-2017 10:58pm

Despite its name, a light year is measure of distance: how far a beam of light can travel in a vacuum in a year. The speed of light has been precisely measured at 299,792,458 meters per second making the distance light can travel in a year at just shy of 10 trillion Km...to put that in context - In the time it takes you to snap your fingers, a light particle can travel around the world nearly 8 times...

Cartouche · 16-02-2017 11:37pm

On August 27, 1883, Krakatoa, an uninhabited volcanic island near Indonesia, erupted spectacularly, expelling huge clouds of gas and ash, generating massive tsunamis, and killing more than 36,000 people

Starting at 5:30 a.m, Krakatoa experienced four massive explosions over the course of 4.5 hours. The blasts were so loud they could be heard as far away as Perth, Australia—3000 miles away. The force of the final blast at 10:02 a.m. was 10,000 times more powerful than the one unleashed by the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima, and shockwaves generated by the eruption registered all over the world.

Mackman · 17-02-2017 1:10am

Anders Shy Aircraft wrote: »

The brain has no pain receptors itself. Surgery can be carried out on the brain without it feeling any pain.

What about headaches?

jimbobaloobob · 17-02-2017 1:15am

On this date in 1972 the 15,007,034th Volkswagen Beetle rolled out of the Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg, Germany, surpassing the Ford Model T's previous production record to become the most heavily produced car in history.

New Home · 17-02-2017 1:28am

Mackman wrote: »

What about headaches?

Headaches are not 'in the brain', even though it might feel that way. Brain haemorrhages generate incredibly painful headaches, too, but they're caused by the rupture of a blood vessel, and the subsequent increase in pressure inside the skull caused by the blood. That's a very rough, imprecise explanation, anyway. This is a better one:

The pain originates from the tissues and structures that surround the skull or the brain because the brain itself has no nerves that give rise to the sensation of pain (pain fibers). The thin layer of tissue (periosteum) that surrounds bones, muscles that encase the skull, sinuses, eyes, and ears, as well as thin tissues that cover the surface of the brain and spinal cord (meninges), arteries, veins, and nerves, all can become inflamed or irritated and cause headache.

http://www.medicinenet.com/headache/article.htm

ILikeBoats · 17-02-2017 9:46am

You can't play Polo (on a horse, not in water) if you are left handed.

EndaHonesty · 17-02-2017 9:51am

Anders Shy Aircraft wrote: »

The brain has no pain receptors itself. Surgery can be carried out on the brain without it feeling any pain.

You can't perform surgery on the brain without cutting open the skull.

That might sting a little...

Digital Solitude · 17-02-2017 10:17am

ILikeBoats wrote: »

You can't play Polo (on a horse, not in water) if you are left handed.

Surely you can play with your right hand

GritBiscuit · 17-02-2017 10:25am

Digital Solitude wrote: »

Surely you can play with your right hand

Iirk, there is actually a ban on lefties...to try and minimise head-on collisions. So, technically of course you can play with either hand if you're just messing but not in an official match. Even left-handed polo players hold the mallet in their right and play right-handed.

maudgonner · 17-02-2017 11:02am

EndaHonesty wrote: »

You can't perform surgery on the brain without cutting open the skull.

That might sting a little...

They numb the scalp to take care of that.

For epilepsy or brain surgery on tumours in critical areas of the brain that control speech, movement etc surgeons can perform awake brain surgery. They put you to sleep, open your skull up, then bring you around from the general anaesthetic while they are operating on you.

They'll map the function of the area of the brain, using electric probes to stimulate the brain and see what effect it has on you - asking you questions, checking your responses to make sure they're not hitting anything important while they're digging around in your head. Once they've built up a map of the areas they can safely remove they put you back under and complete the operation. Pretty amazing stuff.

Kat1170 · 17-02-2017 11:09am

^^^^^^^^^

Digital Solitude · 17-02-2017 11:14am

GritBiscuit wrote: »

Iirk, there is actually a ban on lefties...to try and minimise head-on collisions. So, technically of course you can play with either hand if you're just messing but not in an official match. Even left-handed polo players hold the mallet in their right and play right-handed.

Ah I was joking but that's fairly interesting, I wonder how big an issue it was

AndyBoBandy · 17-02-2017 11:38am

Probably not very interesting but here goes;

Gas & Steam Turbines rotate at 3,000 rpm in 50Hz countries (Europe and most of the world), thats 60 revolutions per second, which doesn't sound too exciting until you see how big/heavy they are;

A Steam turbine usually consists of a HP/IP section (High pressure & Intermediate pressure) as well as up to 3 LP sections (Low Pressure), these are all connected to form 1 big shaft (shaft line), which also includes the generator field (generator rotor).

The entire shaft line (HP/IP, LP & Generator) can all together weigh up to 150-200 tons, and as they are all bolted together the alignment from shaft to shaft must be accurate to within the thickness of a human hair, otherwise vibration will occur and shake the sh1t out of everything, resulting in catastrophic failure.

So thats up to 200 tons of large diameter shafts rotating 60 times per second.

All that weight couldn't run on regular bearings (with moving parts) so the journal bearings used have no moving parts, and instead, oil is injected (lift oil) into the bearings to lift the shafts up (only about 0.1mm) to allow them to rotate freely (you can actually rotate them by hand when lift oil is on), and once up to speed, the rotation of the shaft and the oil inside the bearings (now lube oil, as lift oil is no longer needed) creates an oil wedge which the shaft actually floats on.

Gas Turbines (essentially huge jet engines) operate in a similar way.

So now, thats where most of your electricity comes from!

jimgoose · 17-02-2017 11:43am

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

...All that weight couldn't run on regular bearings (with moving parts) so the journal bearings used have no moving parts, and instead, oil is injected (lift oil) into the bearings to lift the shafts up (only about 0.1mm) to allow them to rotate freely (you can actually rotate them by hand when lift oil is on), and once up to speed, the rotation of the shaft and the oil inside the bearings (now lube oil, as lift oil is no longer needed) creates an oil wedge which the shaft actually floats on...

Michell/Kingsbury tilting-pad fluid bearings, most likely. It's a form of hydrodynamic lubrication, which most modern-ish car engines use as well.

I bet you didnt know that

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