Daily Question Thread - February 2023 - (GTKY)

[Chaoswolf]

I'm actually eating breakfast right now, and that looks way better than what I'm having.

[TGP]

Question, Feb 8th:

What is something cool or fun you learned recently?

 

[Thoramel]

23 minutes ago, TGP said:

Question, Feb 8th:

What is something cool or fun you learned recently?

 

 

I read a paper yesterday that found that isolated wetlands that dry up seasonally are up to 40% better at retaining nitrogen than wetlands with a significant nexus to a perennial stream. That's pretty cool and indicates we should rethink how we regulate these resources as a source of pollution abatement. I mean, I thought that was cool anyways. 

 

I also recently learned how to make sunflower butter. Haven't done it yet, but now I know how. So that's fun. 

[Great Khan Artist]

52 minutes ago, TGP said:

Question, Feb 8th:

What is something cool or fun you learned recently?

 

 

I read this really great Nat Geo article on the Black Pharaohs. Although they were a relatively small part of Egyptian history, (they ruled for around 75 years) they made a big impact. Instead of defacing other pharaoh's monuments, they erected their own. The Nubians were absolutely enamoured with Egyptian culture, and during a period when it was failing under a fractured Egypt, they came, saw, conquered and rebuilt. Unfortunatly, history doesn't really remember Taharqa, and future dynasties chisled out his head, an attempt at erasing history that was sadly too common. 

[TGP]

56 minutes ago, TGP said:

Question, Feb 8th:

What is something cool or fun you learned recently?

I learned about:

Maximilian Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf

 

(He is the guy Wolf 359 is named after. 359 is a Brown Dwarf star, and a very dim object, with a high proper motion. It is object number 359 in a stellar catalog that totals about 1500 items which all had notable proper motion values. Proper motion means moving, instead of appearing to be fixed. It turns out that any object with a large, measurable from Earth, motion is something that is relatively close by in the galaxy. )

[Thoramel]

1 hour ago, TGP said:

I learned about:

Maximilian Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf

 

(He is the guy Wolf 359 is named after. 359 is a Brown Dwarf star, and a very dim object, with a high proper motion. It is object number 359 in a stellar catalog that totals about 1500 items which all had notable proper motion values. Proper motion means moving, instead of appearing to be fixed. It turns out that any object with a large, measurable from Earth, motion is something that is relatively close by in the galaxy. )

 

You missed the most interesting fact (not really a fact) about that star! It's also where the Borg defeated the Federation at the Battle of Wolf 359.

[TGP]

1 minute ago, Thoramel said:

 

You missed the most interesting fact (not really a fact) about that star! It's also where the Borg defeated the Federation at the Battle of Wolf 359.

I didn’t miss it, that why the name was italicized and bolded. 

[ejala]

I read an article about a newly discovered set of snakes in Panama and surrounds. Doesn't this guy look cool for a paint job? 

 

 

[Corsair]

8 hours ago, TGP said:

Question, Feb 8th:

What is something cool or fun you learned recently?

 

That there are electrically powered fishing rods made for catfishing.

[Serenity]

2 hours ago, ejala said:

I read an article about a newly discovered set of snakes in Panama and surrounds. Doesn't this guy look cool for a paint job? 

Now I've read one, too.  Sadly, the article foretold the fact these arboreal species, and others not yet discovered, may not last long due to deforestation and water pollution from both legal copper mining and aggressive illegal gold mining.  Pollution of streams and rivers reduces the number of snails and slugs these snakes eat.

[Count Urlik]

10 hours ago, TGP said:

Question, Feb 8th:

What is something cool or fun you learned recently?

 

The old TB vaccine (BCG) apparently provides protective benefits against a range of other diseases, like diabetes, Alzheimer’s and various forms of cancer.  No one really understands why, which implies a valuable health mechanism is waiting to be understood.

[Chaoswolf]

10 hours ago, TGP said:

Question, Feb 8th:

What is something cool or fun you learned recently?

 

The reason why Six Flags is named that way.

[Pezler the Polychromatic]

12 hours ago, TGP said:

Question, Feb 8th:

What is something cool or fun you learned recently?

 

The snacks with the adorably disturbing mascot has more than one flavour:

 

[strawhat]

On 2/7/2023 at 10:53 AM, TGP said:

Terrain Tuesday Question, Feb 7th:

What is the last (most recent) piece of terrain you built?  (Purchased and finished off by painting can count for today’s inquiry.)

 

Ummm...

 

Hang on--Lemme think...

 

That would be the MYSTIC CIRCLE, completed last April.  It's been a while.  I don't scratch build.

 

12 hours ago, TGP said:

Question, Feb 8th:

What is something cool or fun you learned recently?

 

That they recently discovered a fossilized fish brain that is 319 million years old.  I haven't been taking in as much "fun" information lately.  Most of it seems to be work related, about controversial topics, etc.

[TGP]

Question, Feb 9th:

O hive mind, What would be a good name for an invisible dog?