Factoids - useless but interesting snippets

[Page Scrawler]

According to the HE calendar (Holocene Era or Human Era), the current year is 12023. This marks the period when humans transitioned from hunting and gathering, into an agricultural society with more permanent settlements.

[Bill W]

7 minutes ago, Page Scrawler said:

According to the HE calendar (Holocene Era or Human Era), the current year is 12023. This marks the period when humans transitioned from hunting and gathering, into an agricultural society with more permanent settlements.

I'll correct my calendar by adding the additional '1' in front of the year. 

[Zombie]

Exploding power station?

- just a minor distraction in a football game  

 

[drpaladin]

14 minutes ago, Zombie said:

Exploding power station?

- just a minor distraction in a football game  

 

Why are they laughing?

[Zombie]

28 minutes ago, drpaladin said:

Why are they laughing?

that was the evil Bond villain cackling with glee after he pressed the Big Red Destruction Button…  

[Page Scrawler]

33 minutes ago, drpaladin said:

Why are they laughing?

They're probably happy to see the towers removed from the skyline? I know I would be. 

[drpaladin]

11 minutes ago, Zombie said:

that was the evil Bond villain cackling with glee after he pressed the Big Red Destruction Button…  

But I wasn't there. It must have been another Bond villain.

[TalonRider]

Not all towers of that shape were for nuclear powered sites. Fossil fuel of some type is used in the generating process of electricity. 

[Bill W]

On 1/30/2022 at 7:45 PM, Zombie said:

In medieval England, blacksmiths forged swords by heating, hammering and then dunking (tempering) the sword in ginger-haired virgin boys’ urine. Yeah, blondes or brunettes just didn’t work…

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02cxcvx

(hope the video plays in your region - explains everything)

So, age didn't matter, as long as they were ginger-haired and virgins?  Maybe the blacksmith kept a bevy of them handy for the purpose.  

And I'll bet some of the younger ones asked if masturbation made them ineligible to donate.  😁 

[Page Scrawler]

In 1991, a transitory object entered Earth's field of gravity and began a slow orbit around the planetary body. The object, now called 1991 VG, measured 33 meters wide. Lacking the necessary mass to maintain orbital velocity, it fell to the surface after two or three months. This means that, for a brief period, we had a second moon.

[Bill W]

2 hours ago, Page Scrawler said:

In 1991, a transitory object entered Earth's field of gravity and began a slow orbit around the planetary body. The object, now called 1991 VG, measured 33 meters wide. Lacking the necessary mass to maintain orbital velocity, it fell to the surface after two or three months. This means that, for a brief period, we had a second moon.

Was this object actually in an orbit around the earth, or merely orbiting the sun?  If it wasn't actually orbiting the earth, then it wouldn't have been considered a second moon.  

[Page Scrawler]

3 hours ago, Bill W said:

Was this object actually in an orbit around the earth

It was indeed orbiting Earth, for several months. It's called "1991 VG".

[ReaderPaul]

1 hour ago, Page Scrawler said:

It was indeed orbiting Earth, for several months. It's called "1991 VG".

There is a small amount of debris orbiting the Earth in the Legrange points L4 and L5 points of the Moon's orbit around the Earth.  For an interesting article on what Legrange points are, see the Wikipedia article "Legrange point".  Most of the debris is interplanetary dust in the Legrange points.  Jupiter has some small asteroids in some of its Legrange points.

@Page Scrawler and @Bill W -- I remember seeing articles about the items Page Scrawler mentioned in 1991.

[Zombie]

6 hours ago, Page Scrawler said:

It was indeed orbiting Earth, for several months. It's called "1991 VG".

interesting 2018 paper on the chaotic orbit of this ‘sometime minimoon’

https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/473/3/2939/4265379#

 

[Bill W]

13 hours ago, Page Scrawler said:

It was indeed orbiting Earth, for several months. It's called "1991 VG".

When investigating 1991 VG, I discovered this is not a unique occurrence.  According to the article I read, similar events have occurred many times in the past and they'll probably happen many more times in the future.  These objects, however, are  usually far too small to be seen or considered a moon, but it's still very interesting.   

[Ron]

Useless — it depends.

As reported in The Washington Post as early as 2025, Wendy’s will begin using surge-pricing with digital menu boards that are able to be adjusted on the fly. An extra quarter for your frosty anyone? 

Edited February 27 by Ron

[Bill W]

1 hour ago, Ron said:

Useless — it depends.

As reported in The Washington Post as early as 2025, Wendy’s will begin using surge-pricing with digital menu boards that are able to be adjusted on the fly. An extra quarter for your frosty anyone? 

I believe that when they do that, they will begin to loose their customer base.  Something like that is happening today.  I believe part of the inflation problem is caused by greedflation, or business using the situation to raise/keep prices high so they earn more profits. 

[Ron]

@Bill W Of course it’s about greed. It has been proven that a nickel here or a dime there doesn’t make much of a dent in consumer spending. A Wendy’s spokesperson likened this to the airlines, prices go up when demand is high and drop when demand is low. But the better and more direct comparison would be the driver services such as Uber and Lyft. I don’t think there was anyone with a brain who thought surge-pricing was anything but a money grab when that began happening — first the nearly put the cab services out of business (not that they didn’t need shaking up) and then the price went up.

[Bill W]

25 minutes ago, Ron said:

@Bill W Of course it’s about greed. It has been proven that a nickel here or a dime there doesn’t make much of a dent in consumer spending. A Wendy’s spokesperson likened this to the airlines, prices go up when demand is high and drop when demand is low. But the better and more direct comparison would be the driver services such as Uber and Lyft. I don’t think there was anyone with a brain who thought surge-pricing was anything but a money grab when that began happening — first the nearly put the cab services out of business (not that they didn’t need shaking up) and then the price went up.

Yes, and even the companies that aren't raising their prices or only modestly rising their prices are giving you less for that amount.  

[Ron]

15 hours ago, Bill W said:

giving you less

Precisely. Otherwise known as shrinkflation.

[Ron]

In fairness to my former report concerning Wendy's. . . The company is now backtracking and saying that they will not implement surge pricing, and that they did not use that phrase. This is despite chief executive Kirt Tanner saying as reported that the company would test features like dynamic pricing at restaurants. 

[ReaderPaul]

2 hours ago, Ron said:

In fairness to my former report concerning Wendy's. . . The company is now backtracking and saying that they will not implement surge pricing, and that they did not use that phrase. This is despite chief executive Kirt Tanner saying as reported that the company would test features like dynamic pricing at restaurants. 

I agree, @Ron.  Many customers would be like me -- just avoid Wendy's completely.

[Zombie]

in 1995 Kermit the frog launched his own perfumed cologne, Amphibia, “Pour homme, femme, et frog”  

Miss Piggy, consumed with rage and jealousy, launched her own exclusive line of must-have beauty products, Moi, in 1998  

[Bill W]

1 hour ago, Zombie said:

in 1995 Kermit the frog launched his own perfumed cologne, Amphibia, “Pour homme, femme, et frog”  

Miss Piggy, consumed with rage and jealousy, launched her own exclusive line of must-have beauty products, Moi, in 1998  

And for years the women smelled like frogs and hogs.  

[drpaladin]

35 minutes ago, Bill W said:

And for years the women smelled like frogs and hogs.  

Having passed close to hog farms (rapidly, I might add), I have a reference for this aroma. But what does Eau de Frog smell like?