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

[DDE]

Quote

There is nothing as unnatural as a Russian astronomer. The Russian simply does not see the stars, and he sees only the horizon.

Oswald Spengler, 1922

[kerbiloid]

17 minutes ago, DDE said:

The Russian simply does not see the stars,

A lie. It does.

Spoiler

 

[Vanamonde]

But does the Russian see the stars while he is in space? 

[kerbiloid]

1 hour ago, Vanamonde said:

But does the Russian see the stars while he is in space? 

The thing above works in space, as any other star sensor.

[Codraroll]

3 hours ago, Vanamonde said:

But does the Russian see the stars while he is in space? 

Probably not, because cosmonauts aren't allowed to get that drunk on the job.

[kerbiloid]

Nobody can see the stars when being drunk. Only green imps, and sometimes squirrels.

Edited May 12, 2023 by kerbiloid

[AckSed]

The 1st stage of Sea Dragon, the classic Big Dumb Booster, was projected to have a thrust-to-weight ratio of 2. That's 36,000 tons of thrust from one pressure-fed engine.

[Maria Sirona]

16 hours ago, Vanamonde said:

But does the Russian see the stars while he is in space? 

Of course, but only when he is in shadow as the Sun is still too bright to allow stars to be seen there

[kerbiloid]

Sun is a star.

[Maria Sirona]

29 minutes ago, kerbiloid said:

Sun is a star.

Vanamonde said stars, plural, and the Sun is only one star.

[kerbiloid]

1 hour ago, Maria Sirona said:

Sun is only one star.

There is a whole lot of the stars more, which belong to Milky Way, but I can't see them trough the body of the planet.

Spoiler

 

 

[DDE]

Khrunichev builds trams (indirectly)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ust-Katav_Wagon-Building_Plant

[kerbiloid]

19 minutes ago, DDE said:

Khrunichev builds trams (indirectly)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ust-Katav_Wagon-Building_Plant

Shouldn't it?

Spoiler

 

[farmerben]

https://www.livescience.com/space/saturn/scientists-discover-62-new-moons-around-saturn-raising-total-to-145-the-most-in-the-solar-system

 

[darthgently]

17 minutes ago, farmerben said:

https://www.livescience.com/space/saturn/scientists-discover-62-new-moons-around-saturn-raising-total-to-145-the-most-in-the-solar-system

 

Imagine the grind if Kerbin had 145 moons.  Or even Jool.

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

Fun Fact:  Salt & Vinegar potato chips are like crack. 

 

 

 

Thanks, Canada. 

https://www.tastingtable.com/944459/the-reason-some-salt-and-vinegar-chip-brands-are-more-acidic/

 

Spoiler

Sea salt and vinegar potato chips were invented in 1968 by a Canadian chemical engineer named Jim Connell

 

 

Edited May 13, 2023 by JoeSchmuckatelli

[Shpaget]

It's that time of the year again, when the serious try to compete against the whimsical. Loved and hated for the exact same reasons, not bound by the confines of its own name, the one and only - Eurovision Song Contest.

Any favourites?

[kerbiloid]

Euro vision. All colors of rainbow.

Spoiler

 

[Maria Sirona]

5 hours ago, Shpaget said:

Any favourites?

Well Käärijä, of course! One can't but love him! Close second being Sudden Lights, but they didn't make it to the final

[kerbiloid]

2 hours ago, Maria Sirona said:

Käärijä

It should win just for its name.

Triple umlaut.

And two single dots.

[kerbiloid]

https://www-m24-ru.translate.goog/articles/nauka/13082015/81898?_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=ru&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Just another story about the invigorating power of natural radiation.

I'm proud to state that Russia didn't hit the dirt, together with others.

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

7 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

https://www-m24-ru.translate.goog/articles/nauka/13082015/81898?_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=ru&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Just another story about the invigorating power of natural radiation.

I'm proud to state that Russia didn't hit the dirt, together with others.

I run into those every few years - and it never fails to amaze. 

I swear that my grandfather still had one of those radiation chemistry sets in a closet I rooted around in back in the 70s. 

[Ben J. Kerman]

Kind of doesn't belong on this thread, but I found out there are even versions of the Soviet folk song Katyusha in Ainu (a Japanese language with only about 10 native speakers left) and in some constructed language from Lord of the Rings. Granted, the Ainu version isn't the most high quality version, but it's amazing that there's even a version of this song I thought was sort of niche in such a small language. I also just found instrumental versions of the song on tesla coils and musical calculators. I at least though that was pretty interesting, don't know if anyone else will. 

For something more interesting, Mt. Chimborazo in Ecuador is farther from the Earth's center than Mt. Everest, while not being as high above sea level as Everest is. I guess I can't resist to point out interesting geography facts.

[Maria Sirona]

9 hours ago, Ben J. Kerman said:

For something more interesting, Mt. Chimborazo in Ecuador is farther from the Earth's center than Mt. Everest, while not being as high above sea level as Everest is. I guess I can't resist to point out interesting geography facts.

Then there's also Mauna Kea, which is the highest mountain from base to peak at 10-ish Km, but it's a bit less than halfway underwater.

[kerbiloid]

As the Earth polar and equatorial diameters differ by ~21 km, we can treat Everest as an underwater mountain, nearly at the Mariana Trench.

Its top is even lower than the North Pole bottom by several kilometers.