Science that makes you cringe

[Cudzoziemiec]

I remember consistently misreading cwt as kilowatt. Not only for the obvious visual reason but because hundredweight just weren't, and aren't, a part of daily life. I can't remember where I was seeing this; pretty sure it wasn't at school, must have been some sort of old documents or something. In fact I'd say hundredweight are one of the most contextually confusing measurements; not only the UK-US difference but in a metric context it can be either 100kg or 50kg (as a metricised equivalent of the imperial measure). I suppose centner and quintal at least avoid that confusion.

[tatanab]

hundredweight just weren't, and aren't, a part of daily life.

Not many decades ago, almost everybody knew what a British hundredweight was.  It was a sack of coal delivered by the coal man.

[Cudzoziemiec]

That would have been a great improvement on the electric storage heaters we had.

[citoyen]

hundredweight just weren't, and aren't, a part of daily life.

Not many decades ago, almost everybody knew what a British hundredweight was.  It was a sack of coal delivered by the coal man.

"Not many decades ago" - yes, slightly fewer than 10 decades ago!

It's all relative, I suppose.

Coal will be banned for domestic use from next year.

[Mr Larrington]

hundredweight just weren't, and aren't, a part of daily life.

Not many decades ago, almost everybody knew what a British hundredweight was.  It was a sack of coal delivered by the coal man.

I presume the FOREIGNS used 50 kg sacks.  We got through tonnes of coke when I was a tiny Mr Larrington charged with monitoring the Kohlträger in 1969-70.

[ElyDave]

I remember consistently misreading cwt as kilowatt. Not only for the obvious visual reason but because hundredweight just weren't, and aren't, a part of daily life. I can't remember where I was seeing this; pretty sure it wasn't at school, must have been some sort of old documents or something. In fact I'd say hundredweight are one of the most contextually confusing measurements; not only the UK-US difference but in a metric context it can be either 100kg or 50kg (as a metricised equivalent of the imperial measure). I suppose centner and quintal at least avoid that confusion.

8 stone IIRC, which would be 112 lb or 50.9kg.

I've never seen it equated to 100kg

[Cudzoziemiec]

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/centner

[Legs]

Brian Bilston's poem of the day is rather excellent

[ElyDave]

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/centner

the Swedish/German make more sense than the stupid English version. 

[Wobbly John]

I remember some graffitti, in the '70s, on a bridge over the A47 (in Norfolk): "Fight metrication - We don't want no foreign rulers"

[Kim]

I remember consistently misreading cwt as kilowatt.

You think that's bad? I keep misreading km as Kim...

[Cudzoziemiec]

I remember consistently misreading cwt as kilowatt.

You think that's bad? I keep misreading km as Kim...

[Pingu]

BSJ - hiding his shite under a bushel.

[TheLurker]

BSJ - hiding his shite under a bushel.

  Ta.

[citoyen]

Working on a health blog today, which includes this snippet...

A US study that followed more than 18,500 male doctors (all aged 40 or over) found that those who took multivitamins for at least 20 years were almost half as likely (44%) to experience a heart attack or stroke as those who hadn’t taken a multivitamin long-term. ‘This suggests the long-term use of supplements appears to offer significant cardiovascular protection,’ explains Dr XXXX. ‘Consider taking a multivitamin and mineral supplement as a nutritional safety net to help safeguard against diet deficiencies.’

Had a look at the study cited, this was its conclusion:

In this long-term prospective study in initially healthy men, multivitamin use for ≥20 y was associated with a lower risk of major CVD events.

I think there's a fair bit of mental gymnastics going on by Dr XXXX to get from the conclusion to her advice.

And I'm sure it's purely a coincidence that Dr XXXX is Medical Director for a nutritional supplement brand.

Everything that's wrong with mainstream health journalism in a nutshell.

[hellymedic]

Anyone remember those exercise books that had the back cover with lists of chains, rods, troy weight, cwt, etc

Silvine for the win...

[ElyDave]

BBC presenter, on Click no less, "this can produce 100 kilowatts per hour" 

[Bluebottle]

Billy Bragg is not correct when he asserts that "every alpha particle hides a neon nucleus".

[Pingu]

Billy Bragg is not correct when he asserts that "every alpha particle hides a neon nucleus".

This is the thread you are looking for.

[Bluebottle]

Billy Bragg is not correct when he asserts that "every alpha particle hides a neon nucleus".

This is the thread you are looking for.

Crikey. Can I buzz myself for repitition! Had forgotten all about that...

[spesh]

Billy Bragg is not correct when he asserts that "every alpha particle hides a neon nucleus".

This is the thread you are looking for.

Why not both?

Either way, Braggs's got his alpha process stellar nucleosynthesis the wrong way round (Neon being created by the fusion of oxygen with a helium nucleus).

This may prove useful to some of you some day, perhaps, in a somewhat bizarre set of circumstances.

[fd3]

Working on a health blog today, which includes this snippet...
<snip>
I think there's a fair bit of mental gymnastics going on by Dr XXXX to get from the conclusion to her advice.

And I'm sure it's purely a coincidence that Dr XXXX is Medical Director for a nutritional supplement brand.

Everything that's wrong with mainstream health journalism in a nutshell.

Some 6th form science understanding would suggest that the sort of people who take vitamin supplements for the last 20 years (e.g. starting in their 20s) would tend to be more health conscious and will likely do other things that will be good for their health, hence less chance of heart attacks.  Correlation vs causality.

[ian]

It is technically a confounder, but a core reason while the vast majority of correlations aren't causal relationships. Of course, if most of the world knew this, social media would collapse.

[Kim]

It is technically a confounder, but a core reason while the vast majority of correlations aren't causal relationships. Of course, if most of the world knew this, social media would collapse.

But not necessarily because everyone understood that correlation is not causation.

[Mr Larrington]

It is technically a confounder, but a core reason while the vast majority of correlations aren't causal relationships. Of course, if most of the world knew this, social media would collapse.

Of course, that's just what They want you to think!  Wake up, sheeple!

["cont. Metal Milliners' Monthly Mercury" - Ed.]