what I have learned today.

[tiermat]

That Millenarianism has absolutely nothing to do with hats. Made a podcast make a whole lot more sense once I found that out!

[Paul]

That an Osnabruck mile is the distance a man (I think it's specifically a man) can walk in 2 hours.

That must make designing maps, speedometers and arranging meetings a nightmare.

[Bledlow]

When I was young I & a friend got a lift from someone in Sweden who didn't speak English. Well, that was long ago & he was old.  He carefully explained in simple words that even my limited understanding of Swedish was enough for (my companion knew even less, but she was much better in German than I was, which came in handy in the BRD & DDR) that he was turning off in two miles, which made us wonder why he'd bothered picking us up.

By the time he stopped at his turn-off, a lot more than 3.218 km down the road, we were wondering whether he'd tried to make it easy for us but didn't know old English measurements, or whether Swedish miles were different.

The latter. They're 10 km.

[T42]

That Millenarianism has absolutely nothing to do with hats. Made a podcast make a whole lot more sense once I found that out!

Reminds me of a translation I did for a French exam at school, all about this bloke who, on the first day of his retirement, opened a cupboard at home to disclose a rack full of cans of peaches. He selected a couple, then went and sat on the river bank and cast with a can into the river. At that point I realised that "canne à pêche" meant fishing-rod.

[Ham]

It appears that Custard Filled Speed Bumps (^TMThe Half-Bakery, c 1990 - the 2001 date is from the Great Rebuilding, not the original) are now a real thing!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxpvwKiOpag

Yay!

[Andrij]

The Secrets of the Wood Wide Web*

* Not a steam-punk internet.

[Andrij]

And another thing!  I'll have to forget something to make room...

The Ukrainian word for watermelon - кавун [kavun] - is a borrowing of the Turkish word for muskmelon (Cucumis melo): kavun.

[meddyg]

I thought it was bound to be 'Arbus'
which is it in Russian арбус
(pace Soviet realist novelist Alexei Arbusov which promoted sixth form sniggering).

[Andrij]

Ukrainian has the word гарбуз [harbuz], which mean pumpkin.  I assume same original source word, but I don't know what it is.

[ElyDave]

That among other things, Alfred Nobel invented several bicycle designs

[Jurek]

That among other things, Alfred Nobel invented several bicycle designs

As well as dynamite and intumescent paint.

[Andrij]

That among other things, Alfred Nobel invented several bicycle designs

As well as dynamite and intumescent paint.

I learned a new word.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Arbuz, which is watermelon in Polish too, is originally from Persian via Turkish, I think.

[Jurek]

That among other things, Alfred Nobel invented several bicycle designs

As well as dynamite and intumescent paint.

I learned a new word.

It should serve you well.
Feel free to come back and ask for another 

[Ruthie]

That among other things, Alfred Nobel invented several bicycle designs

As well as dynamite and intumescent paint.

I learned a new word.

It should serve you well.
Feel free to come back and ask for another 

I googled it too.  Must confess, I was a bit disappointed.   

[ElyDave]

That among other things, Alfred Nobel invented several bicycle designs

As well as dynamite and intumescent paint.

I learned a new word.

It should serve you well.
Feel free to come back and ask for another 

I googled it too.  Must confess, I was a bit disappointed.   

I didn't mention the dynamite, gelignite, smokeless gunpowder as I thought everyone knew them.

He also pioneered the use of aluminium after the Paris world fair, designing and building his own motor yacht.

[CAMRAMan]

Arbuz, which is watermelon in Polish too, is originally from Persian via Turkish, I think.

Paradicsom, which is Hungarian for tomato, and means fruit of paradise, is from a similar source, I think.

[ElyDave]

As we're on fruit, did you know the apple can be traced back to Kazakhstan, something they are very proud of apparently.

[Ruthie]

You can't get an erection in space.

[Basil]

You can't get an erection in space.

Really?  Why?

[Ruthie]

I'm not sure.  I'm guessing the changed fluid dynamics make it impossible.  When you're weightless there are significant fluid shifts and you carry more fluid in your upper body, and therefore possibly less in your lower body.

My son asked Cdr Chris Hadfield about masturbating in zero-G, and he said it's almost impossible to get an erection.  This should also be in the tenuous claims to fame thread, I reckon.

[Ruthie]

And a quick google says I'm right - it's the altered body fluid dynamics.


It's fascinating stuff.

AC Clarke wrote about intimacy in space, and suggested that falling asleep in one another's arms would actually be possible in space, since you wouldn't get a dead arm.  But it seems penetrative acts would be difficult or impossible.  You'd just have to do it orally - and talk about it.

[Feanor]

You can't get an erection in space.

I expect that's not true.
If the normal blood flow and pressure through my body required to keep me alive still works, then I can't see why other functions of blood pressure would not also continue to work.

All you lose is gravity, and the loss of h-rho-g hydrostatic head.
But if you are on Earth, lying flat on a bed, the h term in the equation becomes zero, and so g becomes irrelevant.
The pump ( heart )  still provides sufficient head for the purpose.

Now, if you were thrown out indo deep space ( perhaps after listening to Vogon poetry ), the pressure differential may indeed enhance your erection as in the manner of the manhood-enhancing vacuum pumps offered on the Internet (or is that just my Internet? ).

Anyways, enough of this...

[Tim Hall]

I'm not sure.  I'm guessing the changed fluid dynamics make it impossible.  When you're weightless there are significant fluid shifts and you carry more fluid in your upper body, and therefore possibly less in your lower body.

My son asked Cdr Chris Hadfield about masturbating in zero-G, and he said it's almost impossible to get an erection.  This should also be in the tenuous claims to fame thread, I reckon.

Weightless globules drifting around. Eew.

[Kim]

You can't get an erection in space.

All you lose is gravity, and the loss of h-rho-g hydrostatic head.
But if you are on Earth, lying flat on a bed, the h term in the equation becomes zero, and so g becomes irrelevant.
The pump ( heart )  still provides sufficient head for the purpose.

There's probably more to it than that, as erections work just fine while lying in bed...