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Post by creature386 on Jul 18, 2020 15:54:09 GMT 5
I'm kind of terrible person. Park of me feels happy about such news due to the whole "Take that, global warming deniers!" aspect, even though it isn't good news at all.
At least recent summers have shown what such news concretely mean.
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Post by theropod on Jul 19, 2020 1:05:14 GMT 5
^hmm well maybe it’s actually just you feeling happy that there is research that demonstrates this while it is the case, not that it is the case itself? I don’t think that makes you a bad person. At any rate, TIL that the rate of temperature change now is approximately 20 times as fast as the fastest rate during the last deglaciation, based on comparing the maximum slope in the 9-datapoint running means from the dataset of Shakun et al. 2012 to the NOAA data from the previous diagram. Also that the temperature rise predicted for the end of the century (3.3° above PI) is approximately comparable to that from the last glacial maximum to the Holocene (also Shakun et al. 2012 and Marcott et al. 2013). Marcott, S.A., Shakun, J.D., Clark, P.U. and Mix, A.C. 2013. A reconstruction of regional and global temperature for the past 11,300 years. Science 339 (6124): 1198–1201. NOAA. 2020. Global Surface Temperature Anomalies | Monitoring References | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). Downloaded from www.ncdc.noaa.gov/monitoring-references/faq/anomalies.php on 17 July 2020. Shakun, J.D., Clark, P.U., He, F., Marcott, S.A., Mix, A.C., Liu, Z., Otto-Bliesner, B., Schmittner, A. and Bard, E. 2012. Global warming preceded by increasing carbon dioxide concentrations during the last deglaciation. Nature 484 (7392): 49–54. |
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Post by Infinity Blade on Jul 20, 2020 21:43:42 GMT 5
TIL that Soviet cosmonauts carried a special survival pistol, called the TP-82, with them to space. This pistol was invented due to concerns that capsules could end up crash landing in the Siberian wilderness, after this actually happened one time. It has three barrels: the top two were shotgun barrels (firing 40 gauge, or 12.5x70mm, shells) and the bottom one was a rifle barrel (firing the 5.45x39mm round, the same one used for the AK-74), but it could also fire distress signals. Even the detachable stock was a machete that came with its own canvas sheath. It was used for hunting, defense against predators (particularly bears and wolves, which the 9mm round was thought to be ineffective against), and to send out distress signals.  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TP-82_Cosmonaut_survival_pistol |
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Post by theropod on Jul 21, 2020 17:07:48 GMT 5
TIL that you can find Elephant Bird eggs in Australia. Apparently they floated straight across the Indian Ocean, which is pretty crazy. According to this they appear to be reasonably sure they really are elephant bird eggs (so supposedly they can exclude it being from one of the giant birds native to Australia which would have been the more obvious candidate): www.newscientist.com/article/mg13718660-600-australian-schoolchildren-find-ancient-egg-on-coast/However sadly I haven’t been able to find a publication describing them in detail and confirming their identity. |
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Post by Infinity Blade on Jul 21, 2020 17:17:42 GMT 5
Here's a PDF. pdfs.semanticscholar.org/2c1f/006c7c384aab57354ec6142404cc4acf4636.pdfThe (extinct) native giant birds of Australia are considered, namely Genyornis, from which they do find distinct differences. According to this paper, this wouldn't be the first time bird eggs have floated from some distant island to Australia. King penguin eggs have done it, and so have ostrich eggs. When that paper about that giant fossil soft-shelled egg came out recently, some folks on Twitter, including Darren Naish, disputed its attribution to a mosasaur. I remember Naish saying it might have been a dinosaur egg that got drifted out; I definitely believe that's possible now. |
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Post by Infinity Blade on Jul 25, 2020 6:50:09 GMT 5
TIL that least weasels usually avoid adult rabbits, despite their reputation for successfully killing them. In fact, these successful cases are extremely rare.  Source: The Natural History of Weasels and Stoats: Ecology, Behavior, and Management.  Source: Mammals of the Soviet Union. Thanks to one of our former members (Vivyx) for finding this. EDIT: and predictably, weasels can be killed by adult rabbits too. Also, adult rabbits can be disadvantaged if they find themselves in close quarters where it's hard to maneuver (though not for the much smaller weasel). " In the wild, in an open chase, a weasel can kill young rabbits; but under the same circumstances, adult rabbits can kill a weasel by kicking it with their powerful hind legs and feet. The story is different, however, if an adult rabbit is confined to close quarters, which hampers its maneuverability but not that of the weasel (Allen 1938, Glover 1943, Nichols and Nichols 1935, Polderboer et al. 1941, Svilha 1931)." (Note: this is referring to the long-tailed weasel, which is bigger than the stoat or least weasel) Source: Natural History of Oregon Coast Mammals-> |
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Post by Infinity Blade on Jul 30, 2020 0:52:54 GMT 5
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Post by Infinity Blade on Aug 3, 2020 5:46:51 GMT 5
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Post by Infinity Blade on Aug 10, 2020 5:03:40 GMT 5
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Post by Infinity Blade on Aug 11, 2020 19:28:03 GMT 5
TIL that in 1984 Marvel was actually very close to buying DC Comics. Someone from Warner Bros. (Bill Sarnoff) decided that while their characters were great for action figures and other licensed products, DC was losing a lot of money making comics. 1 On the other hand, Marvel was doing great with comics but apparently not doing much licensing. 2 So basically, Warner Bros. thought they'd be better off if they let someone else publish those comics, and that was Marvel. Jim Shooter from Marvel was contacted about this, and after some talk, the negotiations with Sarnoff began in earnest. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), that same year a smaller comic company, First Comics, filed a lawsuit against Marvel for supposedly being an illegal monopoly that violated antitrust laws. In the words of Shooter, " I think it’s safe to say that when you’re being sued under anti-trust laws, it’s a bad time to devour your largest competitor." Marvel backed out of the DC deal accordingly.  Image taken from 1. 1 www.looper.com/195650/the-untold-truth-of-the-marvel-vs-dc-rivalry/2 geektyrant.com/news/2011/8/29/how-marvel-almost-ended-up-owning-dc-comics-superman-batman.html#:~:text=Apparently%20it%20actually%20almost%20happened,thriving%20and%20dominating%20the%20market. |
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Post by Infinity Blade on Aug 19, 2020 2:18:09 GMT 5
TIL that Carl Linnaeus' Systema Naturae classified the natural world into the animal, vegetable, and...mineral kingdoms. The so-called "mineral kingdom" was called regnum lapideum and Linnaeus had three different classes for it. - Classis 1. Petræ (rocks)
- Classis 2. Mineræ (minerals and ores)
- Classis 3. Fossilia (fossils and aggregates (sediments))
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systema_NaturaeIncidentally, this is Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man. And in his backstory he was a Swedish scientist, just like Carl Linnaeus. I have zero proof for it, but I like to think this was a nod to Linnaeus and his Systema Naturae.  Taken from DC Universe Encyclopedia-> |
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Post by Infinity Blade on Aug 19, 2020 7:42:41 GMT 5
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Post by Ceratodromeus on Aug 19, 2020 7:58:21 GMT 5
TIL that small breed dogs are most significantly and affected by dental disease in the premolar and molar regions of the mouth. In larger breeds dental disease in these areas is not as significant or severe, but most small breed dogs suffer the consequences of varying degrees in dental disease. Not so much a TIL, But more of an observation i've made while working in my hospital's dental suite, substantiated by the literature as early as 1965.
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Post by Infinity Blade on Sept 5, 2020 3:17:32 GMT 5
TIL, through one of the most recent papers I posted in 'Recommended literature', who this man was. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peder_WinstrupHe was the Bishop of Lund in Scania (now part of modern day Sweden) from 1638 to his death in 1679. During this timespan Scania was part of the Denmark-Norway empire, and later Sweden. Apparently he was also a skilled scientist, architect, and had his own book printing. He's probably more famous now for his mummified body. It seems that the reason he was well preserved was because his body was dried out in the cold climate in his crypt (instead of being embalmed and all the usual stuff, I presume). Also, the species of insects and other invertebrates found in his coffin (a lack of carrion fauna) suggest he was buried in winter, when such species are inactive ( Fägerströma et al., 2020). Winstrup seems to have suffered from a number of ailments (arthritis, gout, dental caries, type 2 diabetes, etc.) throughout his life, been bedridden for a prolonged period before his death (as indicated by dried fluid in his sinus), and of course, shows evidence for tuberculosis in his lungs. Also, the body of a 6 month old fetus was discovered at the foot of his coffin. It's not known whether or how it is related to Winstrup. |
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Post by Infinity Blade on Sept 8, 2020 5:57:53 GMT 5
Not too long ago I saw some old illustration of an orangutan wielding a walking stick (see Figure 39-> towards the end of this PDF). I thought that was peculiar, but TIL what's behind it. 16th century Europeans had a concept of "wildmen", which were depicted wielding gnarled wooden clubs. "Wildmen" declined in popularity after the 16th century, but since then a mishmash of myths about hairy wild men from other cultures, encounters with other apes, racism, etc., etc. eventually led to a conception of apes wielding clubs by the 18th century. In their minds, they used them to help them stay upright.  Image source-> |
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