What did you learn today TIL

[psiberzerker]

Yeah, we're at the height of the annual invasion right now, and the vampire gnats are out in force.  

[Jed_]

Like you two are scientists or some shit. Bitches, please! 




 

My job title at work actually has the word Scientist in it.  Scientist II in fact, which means I was promoted at one point from Scientist I and before that various levels of Associate Scientist.

But I admit, I’ve done no fart research with or without a gas chromatograph.  Although when my title was once Senior Analytical Associate, I was real careful how I abbreviated my title.

[psiberzerker]

Engineering is "Or some shit," I swear!  I had to use science and stuff.

[IdleBoast]

Nothing is easier than googling.

There's no search algorithm can [yet] match the human Mind for inter-relations and fuzziness - try searching for a subject based off of a description consisting mostly of the words "thingy" and vague mimes of its use...

[IdleBoast]

Mosquitos are our apex predator, the deadliest hunter of human beings on the planet. A swarming army of 100 trillion or more mosquitoes patrol nearly every inch of the globe, killing about 700,000 people annually.  Researchers suggest that mosquitoes may have killed nearly half of the 108 billion humans who have ever lived on our planet.

Mosquitoes drive the annual migration of reindeer - they're not moving to fresh fields of lichen, they're moving away from swarms of mozzies & gnats. Nothing to do with diseases - the fresh-hatched and hungry swarms are so dense, they can kill a newborn calf through blood-loss.

[RopeFiend]

...
FYI I'm typing this on my phone as I lean on my laser, while it cuts out 200 wooden coins a chap is going to give to guests at his wedding. This is a three hour job, that will earn me £40 after costs.

I need to raise my prices...

Damn.  It's too bad you're not local.  I need to do 3 rectangular cut-outs, 1 small slot and several small holes in a 7x11cm plastic project box to house my dust/AQI sensor.  Oh, well, Dremel tool & various files it is, as I don't have a Sherline mill.  My brother has one, but he's 1,700km away in Phoenix.

[IdleBoast]

Ugh, I hate doing jobs like that - high-end lasers have pre-visualisation cameras, that overlay the design on the object and ensure you have it bang on.

My cheap-ass Chinese knockoff doesn't even have a targetting dot...

I'd much prefer to build the whole enclosure, from scratch, then I can specify the cut0out locations precisely.

(Oh, and that three-hour job became a four-hour job when some idiot wasn't paying enough attention and hit "stop" instead of "pause" when he was fine-tuning the focus to account for the warping plywood...)

[RopeFiend]

Yep, it'll be NO end of fun filing off the rough edges to square them out, and there's little room for error as the box is pretty well jammed when it's done.  A mill would be my preferred tool, but although there's probably > 100 mills in Dallas, I don't know anyone with one.  $1500 USD is out of my range for occasional use.  I need a mill only once or twice per year to save a couple of hour's work.

Hopefully the trick of exhausting the air across the inside of the box will keep it cool enough.  It runs ~1.25W for 5 minutes with forced cooling, then idles at 0.15W for 25 minutes with no cooling other than passive radiation.  There's a temp sensor (the purple board) so I can track the heat rise the whole time.  Worst case, I take it apart and drill a lot of cooling holes in it.

[ObiDongKenobi]

That the USA is so interested in Brexit that it was mentioned on an episode of "Orange Is The New Black"

and

the very same scene featured a character viewing and talking about the UK reality TV show "Love Island". I have never seen LI but had assumed it was a copy of an American original format.

  Sorry to drag all the informative scientific and engineering talk back down to the gutter 

[IdleBoast]

 A mill would be my preferred tool, but although there's probably > 100 mills in Dallas, I don't know anyone with one.  $1500 USD is out of my range for occasional use.  I need a mill only once or twice per year to save a couple of hour's work.

Have you tried asking at a maker space, hack space or similar?

https://dallasmakerspace.org/

https://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/fort-works-makerspace-fort-worth

[wayne3218]

A single inhalation of vapor from dried toad secretion containing 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) in a naturalistic setting is related to sustained enhancement of satisfaction with life, mindfulness-related capacities, and a decrement of psychopathological symptoms

Where can I buy dried toad


https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/cwvdih/a_single_inhalation_of_vapor_from_dried_toad/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app

[msslave]

Wayne, if you find some, I've heard the a little eye of newt will make the effects last longer.   

[staci]

And, do not operate heavy machinery.

[psiberzerker]

Also, ask your doctor if medical research from Reddit is right for you?

[IdleBoast]

"Free medical advice from strangers on the internet is often worth far less than you originally paid for it."

(Source: Me, frequently.)

[ChirpingGirl]

Is it safe to eat runny eggs?

"While a runny yolk is a delicious treat for many people, children under 5 should eat their eggs fully cooked. There's no justification to risk your child's health for a runny egg, because it's tasty."

But is it safe to eat them drowned in ketchup like Jules fuckin' LOVES? 

[watcher1]

That three billion birds have vanished across the United States since 1970 stunning experts who see impact of mankind. Grassland birds make up the largest loss at 53%.

[_priapism]

That three billion birds have vanished across the United States since 1970 stunning experts who see impact of mankind. Grassland birds make up the largest loss at 53%.

They once used canaries in coal mines, to warn humans of toxic gas.  Heed the warnings.
 
10 States Could Lose State Birds

Climate Change Threatens 314 North American Bird Species

[msslave]

We've seen a decrease in ducks and geese at our favorite wild life area.  The number of Sandhill Cranes is growing, even tho' each pair only hatch one chick (Colt) a year.

The Trumpeter Swans, which were extinct in the Lower 48 have been restored, thanks to bringing eggs from Alaska and releasing the hatches to wetland areas. Now have a few thousand birds.

So even though there are a few success stories, loss of habitat and farm chemicals still take their toll.

[psiberzerker]

We've also imported a lot of Bird Flus from all over the world.  So, I'll just add airline travel, and industrial poultry farming to the causes of this Mass Exctinction.