what I have learned today.

[The French Tandem]

The most produced Volkswagen part is Part no 199 398 500 A

(click to show/hide)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_currywurst

... and in VW dealerships in Germany, customers are treated with free samples of said part, while in all other countries, customers just get useless junk like pens, lighters, etc.

[Jurek]

The most produced Volkswagen part is Part no 199 398 500 A

(click to show/hide)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_currywurst

... and in VW dealerships in Germany, customers are treated with free samples of said part, while in all other countries, customers just get useless junk like pens, lighters, etc.

You can buy them in the UK from The Sausage Man

[ElyDave]

What Kelly take-offs are.

I was curious as I thought they'd be related to a Kelly Drive, so wondering why they'd be referenced here, but they are not at all related

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_drive

[rafletcher]

What Kelly take-offs are.

I was curious as I thought they'd be related to a Kelly Drive, so wondering why they'd be referenced here, but they are not at all related

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_drive

Ah, the Kelly deck, home to the three-fingered roughneck.

[Mr Larrington]

The most produced Volkswagen part is Part no 199 398 500 A

(click to show/hide)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_currywurst

... and in VW dealerships in Germany, customers are treated with free samples of said part, while in all other countries, customers just get useless junk like pens, lighters, etc.

You can buy them in the UK from The Sausage Man

How long before the Brexit bonus means they – and all their other exotic FOREIGN sossidges – are replaced with domestically-produced tubes of unicorn offal?

[Kim]

* Minimum 5% unicorn.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Narwhal sausages now we've taken control of our fishing fleet. (May contain traces of tusk.)

[Mrs Pingu]

There I was, looking for uses for inner tubes...
https://www.instructables.com/inner-tube-gimp-mask/

[PeteB99]

Alaska is the Northern most US state. It's also the Western most US state (I knew both of those already).

It's also the Eastern most US state. (That one I wasn't aware of). 

[ElyDave]

more so than hawaii? I'm off to check on a globe

[PeteB99]

You need to check where the International date line passes through the Aleutian islands.

[darkpoint]

https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/animals/2020/11/we-knew-platypuses-were-incredible-now-we-know-they-glow-too

Platypuses emit UV light.

[T42]

Ripe kakis have just as much tannin as unripe ones, but once the seeds appear the tannin is transformed into an insoluble form so we can't taste it.

[fimm]

The reason why a piggy bank is called a piggy bank:
https://twitter.com/AshmoleanMuseum/status/1349696793873940480

but these vessels were made out of clay, which was referred to as 'pygg' in the Middle Ages. The pronunciation eventually evolved to 'pig', and the shapes of the vessels followed suit.

[asterix]

There is No limit to the benefits of exercise in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Good news for us, I guess.

[mllePB]

Early discovery of the all-pervasive levels of lead pollution in the mid 20th century came through a phd student trying to study a meteorite to estimate the age of the earth. His investigations were being disrupted by contamination that he struggled to remove.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clair_Cameron_Patterson

[mark]

The quote at the end of that Wikipedia article is excellent.

“I’m a little child,” Patterson would say. “You know the emperor’s new clothes? I can see the naked emperor, just because I’m a little child-minded person. I’m not smart. I mean, good scientists are like that. They have the minds of children, to see through all this façade.”

I remember the controversy over lead in automobile fuels. It turns out that a lot of the crime and anti-social behavior in American inner cities was caused at least in part by lead poisoning.

[Mr Larrington]

The quote at the end of that Wikipedia article is excellent.

“I’m a little child,” Patterson would say. “You know the emperor’s new clothes? I can see the naked emperor, just because I’m a little child-minded person. I’m not smart. I mean, good scientists are like that. They have the minds of children, to see through all this façade.”

I remember the controversy over lead in automobile fuels. It turns out that a lot of the crime and anti-social behavior in American inner cities was caused at least in part by lead poisoning.

Take a bow, Thomas Midgley Jr.. Played a significant role in both the development of tetraethyl lead as a fuel additive and chlorofluorocarbons as a refrigerant.

[ian]

The hypothesis of lead and violent crime is a case study of correlation versus causation though.

But on balance, you still shouldn't eat lead.

[Mr Larrington]

It's probably not as dangerous as that white goo in the middle of golf balls, though, or indeed even as dangerous as most woo espoused by Gwyneth Paltrow.

[Mrs Pingu]

Ms Paltrow is indeed dangerous.

[Paul]

She certainly gets on one’s wick.

[Wowbagger]

That there is a word - sparko - and it means to be in a deep sleep.

My dear wife had heard the word before. I have attempted - unsuccessfully - to research its etymology but have drawn a blank. There's a suggestion that it dates from the 1960s but where and why was not explained.

[hatler]

Sounds WW2ish to me.

[Mr Larrington]

That there is a word - sparko - and it means to be in a deep sleep.

My dear wife had heard the word before. I have attempted - unsuccessfully - to research its etymology but have drawn a blank. There's a suggestion that it dates from the 1960s but where and why was not explained.

Shortened – quite possibly by the Australians – version of “sparked out” as in a dead fire, according to that The Internet, that they have now.