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

[magnemoe]

On 4/1/2023 at 11:04 PM, SunlitZelkova said:

Did you know that Japan took Tesla’s ray gun concepts and put them into production during WWII?

https://sensha-manual.blogspot.com/2017/04/high-voltage-dynamo-tank.html?m=1

This article tells the lost story of the Type 100 Ka-Ha medium tank.

First of April post  
And lighting would had little effect on an tank because its an Faraday cage who is well grounded. Less so during WW 2 as it was little electronic. An laser is also of little use against an tank because its has heavy armor even if lasers start to become relevant against drones and missiles. 

[steve9728]

Tomorrow is the Qingming Festival - the festival for graveside ritual and memory of the deceased in China. Besides of it being a legal holiday, it's not a particularly happy one by any stretch of the imagination.

Why is the fun fact being because last year on this day, my Russian neighbour in my student flat in UK with glass of wine: knock knock, Happy Qingming Festival!

Of course, I suspect that guy was just looking for another excuse to have a drink.

Edited April 4, 2023 by steve9728

[kerbiloid]

SF6

Spoiler

 

 

Nobody wants to try UF6. It's has times greater atomic mass

[steve9728]

On 4/2/2023 at 10:49 PM, DDE said:

The plant, hitherto basically known as cyprian (kiprei), is now known mainly as Ivan-chai.

I googled it... no offence but it just doesn't look like something can brew and drink... at least I won't do that. And it doesn't have any caffeine...?

So, people drinking it for what?

Spoiler

 

[kerbiloid]

26 minutes ago, steve9728 said:

And it doesn't have any caffeine...?

It has tannins.

27 minutes ago, steve9728 said:

So, people drinking it for what?

As a tea and as a herbal medicine (maybe, imaginary).

27 minutes ago, steve9728 said:

like something can brew and drink

Spoiler

 

Just a historical rural exotics, no wide use today.

[Nuke]

just did my bi-weekly shopping run. eggs now cost more than fried chicken. 

[TheSaint]

31 minutes ago, Nuke said:

just did my bi-weekly shopping run. eggs now cost more than fried chicken. 

If you stop and think about it for a second...that doesn't make any sense at all.

[Nuke]

5 minutes ago, TheSaint said:

If you stop and think about it for a second...that doesn't make any sense at all.

especially when you consider you need a couple eggs for the batter. 

[AtomicTech]

I've learned that moderating is not easy

[kerbiloid]

3 hours ago, TheSaint said:

4 hours ago, Nuke said:

just did my bi-weekly shopping run. eggs now cost more than fried chicken. 

If you stop and think about it for a second...that doesn't make any sense at all.

If these eggs are chicken's...

Who knows what creature is laying them. Maybe, cockatrice or griffin.

The first GMO meatbird hybride giving steaknuggets and eggmeatballs. No need in bacon anymore, just fry the eggs.

[Hyperspace Industries]

On the subject of eggs, people do occasionally eat ostrich eggs, and I have seen at least a few times ostrich eggs used as decorative pieces for display, mostly in middle of nowhere padstalle (road stalls).

It’s very common to see ostrich feathers glued to wood as a duster though.

Also: South Africa has no lakes, all free standing on land bodies of water are pools or dams. We also have the longest aquaduct in the southern hemisphere, and fourth longest in the world.

Edit: according to my parents ostrich meat is a red meat, more like a fatless steak than a chicken.

Edited April 5, 2023 by Hyperspace Industries
New info.

[Nuke]

10 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

If these eggs are chicken's...

Who knows what creature is laying them. Maybe, cockatrice or griffin.

The first GMO meatbird hybride giving steaknuggets and eggmeatballs. No need in bacon anymore, just fry the eggs.

i think id spend and extra couple bucks a dozen for griffon eggs. that would be an impressive omelette. 

gmos solve a lot of problems so its kind of funny how non-gmo has been the marketing slogan everyone goes with. meanwhile people are willing to eat cricket and fake meat products. for me food science involves predicting whether a cantilope on the counter will keep one or two days after purchase. my record is 4. who knows how long it lived on the barge. gmo the heck out of that thing so it can keep for a week. a lot less waste and id probibly eat more produce.

Edited April 5, 2023 by Nuke

[Nuke]

2 hours ago, Hyperspace Industries said:

On the subject of eggs, people do occasionally eat ostrich eggs, and I have seen at least a few times ostrich eggs used as decorative pieces for display, mostly in middle of nowhere padstalle (road stalls).

It’s very common to see ostrich feathers glued to wood as a duster though.

Also: South Africa has no lakes, all free standing on land bodies of water are pools or dams. We also have the longest aquaduct in the southern hemisphere, and fourth longest in the world.

Edit: according to my parents ostrich meat is a red meat, more like a fatless steak than a chicken.

quail eggs can be had in some places. we mosly use chickens because they have a pretty high rate of egg laying. i did have ostrich saussage though, im not a fan, its rather gamy and very beeflike in its texture. ive eaten such a large variety of critters, and large birds seldom rank very high, i dont even like turkey that much and merely tolerate it during the holiday season. i recently had some gater jerky that was pretty good. 

Edited April 5, 2023 by Nuke

[StrandedonEarth]

We had some farm-fresh chicken and duck eggs last weekend.  More on the way…

[miklkit]

16 hours ago, Nuke said:

just did my bi-weekly shopping run. eggs now cost more than fried chicken. 

The largest egg corporation in USA reported that their profits are up 718%.  Have you ever played Monopoly?

[steve9728]

2 hours ago, miklkit said:

The largest egg corporation in USA reported that their profits are up 718%.  Have you ever played Monopoly?

Give me the dice!

[Nuke]

2 hours ago, miklkit said:

The largest egg corporation in USA reported that their profits are up 718%.  Have you ever played Monopoly?

part of the expense comes from the fact that i live in alaska. i paid $5.99/dozen. some of that is shipping. 

[darthgently]

4 hours ago, miklkit said:

The largest egg corporation in USA reported that their profits are up 718%.  Have you ever played Monopoly?

Scarcity should drive up prices.  It leads to conservation and less wastage of the rarer commodity on the consumer's part and leads to the ability of producers to expand supply.  All without passing yet another law

[LHACK4142]

Because bats use echolocation to hunt moths, some of them have evolved stealth, and others have evolved long tails that basically act the same as chaff in a fighter jet. Isn't it freaking awesome that nature basically invented radar and radar countermeasures?!

Edited April 6, 2023 by LHACK4142
rewording

[miklkit]

19 hours ago, darthgently said:

Scarcity should drive up prices.  It leads to conservation and less wastage of the rarer commodity on the consumer's part and leads to the ability of producers to expand supply.  All without passing yet another law

Nice hypotheses totally unsupported by facts.   Egg production actually went up!  https://joemiller.us/2023/04/eggs-tortion-profits-for-largest-u-s-egg-producer-soar-718/

[darthgently]

5 hours ago, miklkit said:

Nice hypotheses totally unsupported by facts.   Egg production actually went up!  https://joemiller.us/2023/04/eggs-tortion-profits-for-largest-u-s-egg-producer-soar-718/

It is nowhere near as simple as that.  The price of diesel going up drove up the price of all transported products.  Eggs are very expensive to transport; they are delicate and must be refrigerated (more diesel).  Ask that company how much more it cost to transport the eggs.  I doubt profits "soared" but sales and cost to market surely did.  So while not scarce, more dear

1% production increase at one company.  Wow

[steve9728]

Back to 1973, the first French president who make a visit to China, Georages Pompidou, was suffering from cancer. Just in case, China gov converted a CA770 courtesy car into a CA770JH: It looks like same to the other cars in the fleet, except that the boot is slightly higher and the stretcher can be tucked into the car from here along the slides.

Edited April 7, 2023 by steve9728

[Hyperspace Industries]

Turbine race cars were tested in the 1960’s, here is one that still races:

PS: it starts moving around 03:10
And one nearly won the indy 500:

 

Edited April 7, 2023 by Hyperspace Industries

[darthgently]

5 hours ago, Hyperspace Industries said:

Turbine race cars were tested in the 1960’s, here is one that still races:

PS: it starts moving around 03:10
And one nearly won the indy 500:

 

Have turbine engines been paired with the newer CVTs yet?  Seems like a natural combo

[miklkit]

19 hours ago, darthgently said:

It is nowhere near as simple as that.  The price of diesel going up drove up the price of all transported products.  Eggs are very expensive to transport; they are delicate and must be refrigerated (more diesel).  Ask that company how much more it cost to transport the eggs.  I doubt profits "soared" but sales and cost to market surely did.  So while not scarce, more dear

1% production increase at one company.  Wow

Moving the goalposts.   First it is scarcity and then it is inflation.  Actually 2019 seems to be a high point in production as it went down 1% in 2020, 2% in 2021, and 3% overall in 2022.  Still, 3% = 718%?  Inflation is at a 40 year high while corporate profits are at a 50 year high.