Fun Fact Thread! (previously fun fact for the day, not limited to 1 per day anymore.)

[Nazalassa]

Next: Everything is the same color.

In ollaboration with a new page ;D

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

Due to Voyager's interstellar location, it takes light 20 hours and 33 minutes to travel one way

 

 

 

 

 

... 

I already posted about this yesterday - and this morning realized that it's a fun fact as well as science news 

(related article posted in the Science News thread) 

[Maria Sirona]

Which one is it? Either way, that's almost a light day away!

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

6 hours ago, Maria Sirona said:

Which one is it? 

One. 

[kerbiloid]

One. But which one?

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

16 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

One. But which one?

The one on the left 

[kerbiloid]

So, the right one is left.

[SunlitZelkova]

OPFOR is military units dressed up to look like foreign soldiers and equipment for training purposes.

Legend has it that in the 1980s, Chinese OPFOR was so realistic that a civilian who happened upon the troops during an exercise called the police to report that the Soviets were invading.

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

14 hours ago, SunlitZelkova said:

1980s, Chinese OPFOR was so realistic that a civilian who happened upon the troops during an exercise called the police to report that the Soviets were invading.

Country of origin?  Chinese civilian called police?

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

Playing OPFOR is about the most fun you can have during military training exercises.  In the Marines we used to call this 'turning your blouse inside out'.  (The over-shirt worn by military troops is called a 'blouse' - not to be confused with 'blousing your boots' which is tucking trouser legs into an elastic band so they look tucked into the boots).

By turning the blouse around you give a visually different look to people wearing the same uniform.  (The camouflage dye is brightest on the outside of the garment).

Getting to play OPFOR - you no longer have to 'play by the rules' (aka your own doctrine) and get to do creative, even mean things to mess up the training unit's plan.  All 'uniformity' went out the window.  Do-Rags, Boonie Covers, bare heads - all of the thing that careerist officers and staff NCO's hate - they got to be worn while playing OPFOR.  The good thing for the training unit is that they're forced into having to deal with the unexpected.

This is notably different from the 'professional' OPFOR employed by the military (these 'turn the blouse around' situations are done in-unit whenever needed to enhance training).  On the professional side; we do employ people who use the uniforms and equipment and sometimes language of potential adversaries, as well as 'in-character non-combatants' to help soldiers and Marines train for real-world scenarios on a messy battlefield.

Edited May 27, 2022 by JoeSchmuckatelli

[SunlitZelkova]

14 hours ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Country of origin?  Chinese civilian called police?

Yes.

------

These were the professionals btw. Nowadays they use Type 59 (T-54/55 license built) dressed up to look like an M1 Abrams.

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

6 hours ago, SunlitZelkova said:

These were the professionals btw

Lucky for them it was China.  In the States you need to do advanced PR about OPFOR so the locals don't start spray painting "Wolverines" on everything 

 

(OPFOR only carry blanks!) 

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

7 hours ago, SunlitZelkova said:

These were the professionals btw. Nowadays they use Type 59 (T-54/55 license built) dressed up to look like an M1 Abrams.

Makes sense.  Remember the brouhaha about 'China built an Aircraft Carrier target in the desert'?

Of course they did. 

I think those of us who consider ourselves 'military professionals' were not offended by that.  Frankly, they'd be kind of stupid if they didn't.  It's the kind of thing rational state actors do.

[kerbiloid]

6 minutes ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

built an Aircraft Carrier target in the desert'?

Why not? Camels are ships of desert.

[steve9728]

11 hours ago, SunlitZelkova said:

These were the professionals btw. Nowadays they use Type 59 (T-54/55 license built) dressed up to look like an M1 Abrams.

ah the 'M1A59 SEP'

Spoiler

1  2345

But in fact, during the live-fire phase of PLA's military exercises, blanks are used to simulate sound and light, and laser devices mounted on the muzzles of guns or cannons are used for mutual military confrontation. The 'blues' who simulate an imaginary enemy use in-service equipment but with correspondingly 'slightly' different data on the system. Which means what you see on the field probably is Type 59 but the data probably will be compilation of the most powerful theoretical data of all the most powerful tanks on this planet, and they are really acurate.

However, after 2016, the professional hypothetical simulator, a blue army brigade, switched to the better-performing Type 96 tank. Now what 'reds' facing on the exercises field is not M1A59 SEP anymore but M1A96 SEP

 

And fun fact: the 'blues' in around 2010 to 2013, they have played the role of the Korean People's Army during times of tension on the Korean peninsula. Yep, the north one.

Edited May 28, 2022 by steve9728

[kerbiloid]

On the "Mercury consisting of mercury" idea.

Say, we land on a mercury planet.

A lander can float.

Spoiler

But the hull and the legs get pfffffff.

Spoiler

 

And the propellant fluids feel strange.

Spoiler

 

What a plot for a sci-fi horror.

[StrandedonEarth]

48 minutes ago, kerbiloid said:

But the hull and the legs get pfffffff.

  Hide contents

 

 

Hmm, wonder what happens if there is no oxygen present...

[kerbiloid]

4 minutes ago, StrandedonEarth said:

Hmm, wonder what happens if there is no oxygen present...

Yes!

Somebody of the crew occasionally breathes at it while observing, and the reaction begins.

[StrandedonEarth]

1 hour ago, kerbiloid said:

Yes!

Somebody of the crew occasionally breathes at it while observing, and the reaction begins.

Breathe? Where there’s a non-oxygen atmosphere?

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

3 hours ago, steve9728 said:

fun fact: the 'blues

Interesting choice.  We joked about following the big blue arrows in Iraq (friendlies always blue, bad guys always red). 

If we ever meet on the battlefield, at least the graphics won't need translation! 

[kerbiloid]

5 hours ago, StrandedonEarth said:

Breathe? Where there’s a non-oxygen atmosphere?

Human exhale, accidentally exhausted out.

5 hours ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

We joked about following the big blue arrows in Iraq (friendlies always blue, bad guys always red). 

Friendlies feel blue.

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

Fun fact: the phrase I rarely want to hear from someone I just met is "I just listened to this incredible podcast.  Let me tell you about it!"

[Superfluous J]

1 hour ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Fun fact: the phrase I rarely want to hear from someone I just met is "I just listened to this incredible podcast.  Let me tell you about it!"

Fun podcasting fact #2: If you have some secret - some terrible, horrible secret - that you must make absolute sure your family, friends, and employer never EVER find out, the only way to make 100% sure it will stay a complete and total secret is to mention it on your podcast.

[DDE]

1 hour ago, Superfluous J said:

Fun podcasting fact #2: If you have some secret - some terrible, horrible secret - that you must make absolute sure your family, friends, and employer never EVER find out, the only way to make 100% sure it will stay a complete and total secret is to mention it on your podcast.

On a similar note, a scenario I've run through my head is "how to list all the four Big 4 companies without tipping off which one of them I work at".

(Don't mind me, I dropped my doxx on this forum years ago)

[kerbiloid]

On 5/29/2022 at 1:05 AM, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

We joked about following the big blue arrows in Iraq (friendlies always blue, bad guys always red). 

If alien invaders attack the Earth, the Earth Defense Allied Forces will be purple (mixed red and blue), while the aliens - green  (because in every sci-fi and because opposite to purple in CMYK).

Edited June 1, 2022 by kerbiloid