Random Science Facts Thread!

[PB666]

7 minutes ago, p1t1o said:

Showing that, mass-wise, in the order of Jupiter-Earth-Pluto, they are all 3 orders of magnitude different from the next, none of the 3 can easily be grouped together by mass.

Size-wise, Jupiter is 11 times larger than Earth, but Pluto only 5 times smaller - Pluto is within the same order of magnitude, Jupiter is not.

Both metrics however, pale into insignificance given that one is solid and the other is fluid!

 

In response to Brotoro . . . . .Plutos mass has not been estimated to that level of precision.

Edited January 25, 2018 by PB666

[Green Baron]

I think the current definition of planet tries to avoid using composition or size as criteria for a planet. Only that it must have an orbit around a sun without being a sun, being roughly ball shaped and having cleared its path from competition. According to this Jupiter is a planet and we live in a unary system.

Otherwise there would problems distinguishing between small brown dwarfs or large gas giants or whatever lies in between.

 

[p1t1o]

11 minutes ago, Green Baron said:

I think the current definition of planet tries to avoid using composition or size as criteria for a planet. Only that it must have an orbit around a sun without being a sun, being roughly ball shaped and having cleared its path from competition. According to this Jupiter is a planet and we live in a unary system.

Otherwise there would problems distinguishing between small brown dwarfs or large gas giants or whatever lies in between.

 

Oh I bet you just LOVE barging into conversations with nothing but SENSE huh? 

 

[Green Baron]

Looks like i now have a reputation to defend ... :-)

[Bill Phil]

1 hour ago, PB666 said:

In response to Brotoro . . . . .Plutos mass has not been estimated to that level of precision.

New Horizons probably helped in that regard. Flybys can actually provide a lot of data. Even better would be observations of the Pluto-Charon system before and after the flyby, observing their movements and the like. 

[p1t1o]

Ooh, I have a fact.

Since its discovery in 1930, Pluto has yet to complete even half an orbit of the Sun.

[kerbiloid]

7 minutes ago, p1t1o said:

Since its discovery in 1930, Pluto has yet to complete even half an orbit of the Sun.

So, speaking formally, we even have no practical proof that it orbits around the Sun at all. We have never seen its return to the original place.

Edited January 25, 2018 by kerbiloid

[Green Baron]

20 minutes ago, kerbiloid said:

So, speaking formally, we even have no practical proof that it orbits around the Sun at all. We have never seen its return to the original place.

On the danger of further annoying @p1t1o, yes we have a proof. Its speed. Its too slow for escape and too fast for coming closer.

[insert_name]

So far the only recorded animal to ask a question and have an understanding of what it was saying is an african grey parrot.

[p1t1o]

1 hour ago, Green Baron said:

On the danger of further annoying @p1t1o, yes we have a proof. Its speed. Its too slow for escape and too fast for coming closer.

Yeah I'd assume that we've been observing its motion, and the motion of every other significant body in the system, for long enough to be able to have a pretty good idea of whats going on, within certain limits.

Edited January 25, 2018 by p1t1o

[James Kerman]

8 hours ago, insert_name said:

So far the only recorded animal to ask a question and have an understanding of what it was saying is an african grey parrot.

Perhaps using spoken language but Koko the gorilla is capable of understanding English and communicating with a modified version of American sign language.

She is also capable of humor or wit:
 

Quote

When she was asked, “What can you think of that’s hard?” the gorilla signed, “rock” and “work.” She also once tied her trainer’s shoelaces together and signed, “chase.”

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/features/2014/the_humor_code/do_animals_have_a_sense_of_humor_new_evidence_suggests_that_all_mammals.html

[insert_name]

Apollo, the space shuttle, and Orion use the same engine for RCS, the HTV, ATV, cassini, and several commercial commsats including Bulgaria Sat use it as their main engine

[KAL 9000]

On 1/25/2018 at 2:29 PM, insert_name said:

So far the only recorded animal to ask a question and have an understanding of what it was saying is an african grey parrot.

This is actually not true.

My first counter-example: Homo sapiens sapiens 

[Green Baron]

19 minutes ago, KAL 9000 said:

My first counter-example: Homo sapiens sapiens 

And even that is by far not the first or only one :-) Evolution of language ... i think (without proof ;-)) that we can put it among earlier forms than even archaic Homo sapiens, like Homo heidelbergensis, ...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC454200/

But this is all under discussion.

https://www.nature.com/articles/nature01025

Edit: but i think @insert_name meant "other than humans" ... :-)

Edited January 27, 2018 by Green Baron

[insert_name]

1 hour ago, Green Baron said:

And even that is by far not the first or only one :-) Evolution of language ... i think (without proof ;-)) that we can put it among earlier forms than even archaic Homo sapiens, like Homo heidelbergensis, ...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC454200/

But this is all under discussion.

https://www.nature.com/articles/nature01025

Edit: but i think @insert_name meant "other than humans" ... :-)

Yes I meant other than humans, also living prehumans have never been observed by scientists for hopefully obvious reasons

[kerbiloid]

Bill Gates gave 40 mln USD to make cow perfect.
http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-dfid-investment-galvmed-perfect-cow-edinburgh-2018-1

Spoiler

For me, still more questions than answers.

Will the cow run only under MS Windows X, or XP and 7 also will be supported?
(And what about Linux? Can we?... Or maybe a Milkintosh?)
Can it be distributed under OEM license only, or Corporate Cow Edition will be available, too?
Will the cow be gathering and sending the farmer's data and making screenshots of the stable?
Can we use only touchskin and gestures, or cabletailble mouse will remain for compatibility?
Will the cow shape be a perfect cylinder, to pack them in a hive rack?

 

Edited January 28, 2018 by kerbiloid

[Racescort666]

I don't know if I'd call this a random science fact or not but according to Aerojet Rocketdyne, they can throttle the RL10 from 104% to 5.9%

Source: http://www.rocket.com/files/aerojet/documents/Capabilities/PDFs/RL10 data sheet Feb 2016.pdf (page 2, 2010 milestone)

Edited January 30, 2018 by Racescort666

[Green Baron]

If you add 1cm to the radius of a 10cm circle, its circumference increases by ~6.3cm.

If you add 1cm to the earth's radius, its circumference increases by ~6.3cm.

 

Ok, that was trivial. But that's not why i am here ... what was it ... ah !

Hydrodynamic simulation of the universe in new quality: http://www.mpa-garching.mpg.de/515751/news20180131

From: http://www.tng-project.org/

I find it cool.

[kerbiloid]

ISS crowdfunding?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/02/11/the-trump-administration-wants-to-turn-the-international-space-station-into-a-commercially-run-venture/?utm_term=.d88a84378cf8

[Gargamel]

Spermology is the study of trivia.

This is the science spermology thread. 

[kerbiloid]

Found a nice random science&spaceflight-related picture, didn't know for which thread.

RS-25

Spoiler

 

[Whovian41110]

19 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

Found a nice random science&spaceflight-related picture, didn't know for which thread.

RS-25

  Hide contents

 

Well that engine is much larger than I thought it was...

[Ultimate Steve]

5 hours ago, Whovian41110 said:

Well that engine is much larger than I thought it was...

Spacey things always are.

Fact: If SpaceX landed a booster in my town by accident, it would be the tallest building for 30km in each direction (would be 50km if not for one city). 

[Whovian41110]

35 minutes ago, Ultimate Steve said:

Spacey things always are.

Fact: If SpaceX landed a booster in my town by accident, it would be the tallest building for 30km in each direction (would be 50km if not for one city). 

Holy excrements! That's a short town/big booster

[Ultimate Steve]

Just now, Whovian41110 said:

Holy excrements! That's a short town/big booster

Excluding radio antennas and stuff.

Image for scale: