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Today I Learned / D...
 

Today I Learned / Discovered...

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I learned where the secret door in the library

Some mistake surely – only the study, kitchen, lounge and conservatory have secret passages.

I also searched for the pipe and rope, but my colleague Prof. Plum seemed to always distract me. 🤔
At least the hallway had multiple [s]guns[/s] muskets on display.


 
Posted : 22/11/2022 3:27 pm
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Albert Hoffman lived to 102. Ergot drugs aren't bad after all 😉 Apologies for the corny joke.


 
Posted : 22/11/2022 4:15 pm
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@bunnyhop
If you have scaffolding erected you'll get a handover certificate which covers you for the first 7 days - after that the scaffolding is your responsibility unless you have it inspected every 7 days (or after an 'event').

So if something/one falls off on day 8 then you're liable!!


 
Posted : 23/11/2022 11:04 am
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TIL that "tempus fugit," usually translated as "time flies," actually means "time flees" rather than time passes quickly. "Fly" here meaning "flee," as in "Fly, you fools!"

Cf. "Fugitive," someone who runs away.


 
Posted : 23/11/2022 4:45 pm
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That air traffic controller was David Gunson I think,got a recording of it somewhere.


 
Posted : 23/11/2022 6:13 pm
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That anaesthetic gases account for 2% of the NHSs carbon footprint


 
Posted : 23/11/2022 10:15 pm
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As someone with an A grade O level in English language, why have they taught my kids all this shit I never learnt or needed?

Why not? Language changes, learning something new is always interesting, even if it’s not always useful.


 
Posted : 23/11/2022 11:48 pm
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That anaesthetic gases account for 2% of the NHSs carbon footprint

7% of Australia's carbon footprint is apparently from healthcare.

And what's interesting, as i've discovered, is that anaesthetists can actually choose much better alternatives in some cases.

1 hour of desflurane is the equivalent of driving 2-400km, whereas 1 hour of sevoflurane just 5-10km (although most of the anaesthetists i know drive Teslas). And it costs about 25% as much.
Where i work we halved usage and are trying to get rid of it altogether.


 
Posted : 25/11/2022 6:31 am
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The meaning of 'Fetch' - in regard to waves.
The definition of the word ‘fetch’ is simple:
The distance that wind travels over open water.
But why do we need to know that?
Spend enough time on or near the sea and the reason becomes apparent.
Wave size is determined by three main factors:
The strength of the wind.
The length of time it has been blowing.
The distance of open water it has been blowing over: the fetch.
If any of these three variables increases then the size of waves will also increase. The reason that understanding fetch is so valuable is that the first two are intuitive and feel logical, if not obvious. Fifty foot waves after a Force 11 violent storm would not surprise anyone. Equally, a gusty force 6 breeze that has not relented for days on end would lead to expectations of choppy seas for most.

But a change in something less obvious and often invisible – the fetch – can have as big an impact as either of these factors. You cannot get big waves in a small pond, however hard or long the wind blows. But you can get very big waves if a modest wind blows over water uninterrupted for hundreds of miles.


 
Posted : 25/11/2022 4:08 pm
anorak reacted
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Mars is the only planet inhabited exclusively by robots.


 
Posted : 28/11/2022 2:56 pm
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Mars is the only planet inhabited exclusively by robots.

That we know of.... 😉


 
Posted : 28/11/2022 3:05 pm
J-R reacted
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Mars is the only planet inhabited exclusively by robots.

...that we know of.

EDIT: curses too slow.


 
Posted : 28/11/2022 3:05 pm
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1 hour of desflurane is the equivalent of driving 2-400km, whereas 1 hour of sevoflurane just 5-10km (although most of the anaesthetists i know drive Teslas). And it costs about 25% as much.
Where i work we halved usage and are trying to get rid of it altogether.

We use Des so sparingy it's usually a case of hunting for a vapouriser - @reeksy have you been looking at the new scavange systems?


 
Posted : 28/11/2022 3:17 pm
 5lab
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But a change in something less obvious and often invisible – the fetch – can have as big an impact as either of these factors. You cannot get big waves in a small pond, however hard or long the wind blows. But you can get very big waves if a modest wind blows over water uninterrupted for hundreds of miles.

from memory.. fetch more impacts the period of the waves, rather than the size of the swell (it has a impact on both, but its more on the side of period). Large period waves (period is the time between each wave) are more powerful than low-period waves (the relationship ramps up - ie double the period and you quadruple the power).

If you're interested in this stuff, this book is excellent. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Surf-Science-Introduction-Waves-Surfing/dp/0906720362


 
Posted : 28/11/2022 3:19 pm
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Mars is the only planet inhabited exclusively by robots.

But not the only celestial body inhabited exclusively by robots.


 
Posted : 28/11/2022 3:25 pm
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Today I Learned that the backwards-P "paragraph" symbol ¶ (sometimes seen in MS Word when you display markup) is called a pilcrow.


 
Posted : 29/11/2022 7:03 pm
J-R reacted
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That Stevie wonder's real name is Stevland Hadaway Morris.


 
Posted : 29/11/2022 7:39 pm
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Today I learned that a typical dimmer light switch isn't properly compatible with led light bulbs. This is after fitting a £40 triple dimmer in the kitchen in July, and now another single upstairs just last week.


 
Posted : 30/11/2022 6:15 pm
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Depends on the bulbs.


 
Posted : 30/11/2022 7:27 pm
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You mean the globes i think 😉


 
Posted : 01/12/2022 2:16 am
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I've lived in a house with Velux windows for more than 20 years and today youtube told me why there's a hole in the frame.


 
Posted : 27/06/2024 9:55 pm
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The other day I learnt there is a locomotive with a funny name, something like buttmunch*, but while googling for more info and something other than an instagram post to post to this thread about it, I learnt that a very popular train spotter went viral with this very same information a couple of years ago, and I recollected seeing his name mentioned on here, although I've now forgotten what his name actually is.

* I know it's not that specifically but it's something close I'm sure.


 
Posted : 27/06/2024 10:15 pm
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Francis Bourgeois?


 
Posted : 27/06/2024 10:40 pm
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Yes that's it and the train was Dickmabutt 🤣


 
Posted : 27/06/2024 10:51 pm
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