General Discussion Thread

[kjeks]

are we talking of two totally alien species here or about two different human species? I mean Neanderthaler already lost against homo sapiens, although there are theories stating that playing the flute was a neandertalean thing.

[Nimphy]

Is the discussion over? May I interrupt? *does not read the previous messages to check herself* I just had to say this, continue along if you must.

My sister has been listening to me singing anime openings in Japanese. And interpreted them her own way. We thus have (in FMAB's first opening) Naruto going to Kiko's to buy mascara, and (in the fourth opening) "Cuddle me oh tsunami". Apparently Attack on Titan's first ending is a recipe to make pumpkin soup (and it involves skulls). Oh and also "it tastes like skull, it tastes like skull, spring tastes like skull". How does a skull taste like anyway?

[kjeks]

Is the discussion over? May I interrupt? *does not read the previous messages to check herself* I just had to say this, continue along if you must.

My sister has been listening to me singing anime openings in Japanese. And interpreted them her own way. We thus have (in FMAB's first opening) Naruto going to Kiko's to buy mascara, and (in the fourth opening) "Cuddle me oh tsunami". Apparently Attack on Titan's first ending is a recipe to make pumpkin soup (and it involves skulls). Oh and also "it tastes like skull, it tastes like skull, spring tastes like skull". How does a skull taste like anyway?

depends on fresh or old skull I guess. Old would taste like sand? Rather dry?

_{Uhm.. I wrote that...}

[JoB]

Out of curiosity, do you know how long we've been recording weather/Climate patterns?

Observation and attempts at predicting the weather are likely as old as agriculture (or, as far as places with migrations are concerned, hunting). Aristotle theorized that thunder is produced as the wind slams into clouds. Nonetheless, he's credited as the founder of meteorology, and his book "Meteorologica" served as its textbook for two millennia.

Recording objective data started quite soon after the invention of the instruments (thermometer: Galilei, 1592; barometer: Torricelli, 1643; dependence between atmospheric pressure and elevation was discovered by Blaise Pascal, giving rise to the use of weather balloons).

Consistent series of measurements that allow data to be directly compared over time have existed for centuries as well, usually started by monks in cloisters; e.g., 1762 in Kremsmünster, Austria.

Deriving data post factum - chemical analysis of air bubbles in ice drill cores, matching tree rings in old buildings' wooden beams, etc. - can go back hundreds of millennia, depending on what data you want, of course.

[JoB]

Is it though? Salt water is a pretty excellent conductor for electricity ...

And the head of a swimmer needing to breathe, with said excellent conductor retained by the hair on top, can easily be the highest elevation around and thus attract the lightning. Not to mention that even a mild shock by a nearby lightning hit can turn out to be fatal when the stiffened muscles lead to drowning.

A nearby lightning strike on land has the potential of resulting in a higher step voltage between your feet, and thus more electricity flowing through your body, than when you're submerged in salt water. Then shoes and their (usually pretty insulating) soles come into play ...

[kjeks]

And the head of a swimmer needing to breathe, with said excellent conductor retained by the hair on top, can easily be the highest elevation around and thus attract the lightning. Not to mention that even a mild shock by a nearby lightning hit can turn out to be fatal when the stiffened muscles lead to drowning.

A nearby lightning strike on land has the potential of resulting in a higher step voltage between your feet, and thus more electricity flowing through your body, than when you're submerged in salt water. Then shoes and their (usually pretty insulating) soles come into play ...

what was it again you do at university? And what do you do in youre spare time that you have a vast knwoledge about things? Does this really come just because of age and maturity???

[Fimbulvarg]

Observation and attempts at predicting the weather are likely as old as agriculture (or, as far as places with migrations are concerned, hunting). Aristotle theorized that thunder is produced as the wind slams into clouds.

This is not climatology though. It's forecasting.

As for paleoclimatic data we have reliable numbers for temperature and a lot of atmospheric gases stretching 600 000 years back.

And the head of a swimmer needing to breathe, with said excellent conductor retained by the hair on top, can easily be the highest elevation around and thus attract the lightning. Not to mention that even a mild shock by a nearby lightning hit can turn out to be fatal when the stiffened muscles lead to drowning.

A nearby lightning strike on land has the potential of resulting in a higher step voltage between your feet, and thus more electricity flowing through your body, than when you're submerged in salt water. Then shoes and their (usually pretty insulating) soles come into play ...

That's pretty much what the first search result on google told me yesterday. What I want to know is what the odds are. Until then I'll still consider it marginally safe.

[Deirdre]

Okay, I see a great discussion going on, yet decide to interrupt with a bit of self-pitying, sorry.

Our apartment-to-be was partly destroyed due to a fire above it (noone's hurt from what I know). Not totally, but seriously enaugh to be temporarily inhabitable. And on Friday the landlady demanded me leaving the flat a week earlier than it was previously agreed. Meaning - in four days I'll probably have nowhere to live. Dang, I should start doing something to avoid being totally homeless by the time (my fiance staying at his friend's after the fire, no space for one more person really), but instead I'm just sitting back doing nothing but being miserable.

Also, I'm supposed to do announcing on a charity concert in two days, yet noone sent me any info about the artists, programme, whatsoever.
Aaaand it's rainnig outside. What a wonderful afternoon.

[JoB]

what was it again you do at university? And what do you do in youre spare time that you have a vast knwoledge about things? Does this really come just because of age and maturity???

I left the university about a decade ago, after realizing that with all the systems+network administration I did, I wasn't getting any closer to getting my PhD anymore. The foundation of it all certainly was a broad interest in all things natural science from my child years on (I should have 1+ shelf meters of the old "Was ist Was" books hidden someplace in the cellar still), and I guess being able to read fluently even before Einschulung helped as well. The rest's all "keep reading, understand what you read, as putting it into context helps remembering and properly utilizing it", I'ld guess.

[JoB]

This is not climatology though. It's forecasting.

Well, yes. I did call it weather, after all.

What I want to know is what the odds are. Until then I'll still consider it marginally safe.

Well, that does of course depend on what you're comparing it to ...

I did a quick search, but - as expected - didn't find any hard numbers. The "head = highest point" issue seems to be less of a concern in reality than in people's minds, but: there's the additional point that while a human standing on the ground will have the current resulting from the step voltage going mainly through his legs, a swimmer not hit by lightning himself will always have the resulting in-water current go through his heart, which is exactly where electric shock is the most dangerous. (People who have received an electric shock are being put under medical observation for 24h because that's how long after the event arrhythmia and cardiac arrest may set in from one second to the next.)

Also, it's a fact that during a thunderstorm, fishes will retreat to the seabottom, apparently to get as much distance from the center of the hemisphere of spreading electric current as they can. Proof by evolution?

[Varjohaltia]

I left the university about a decade ago, after realizing that with all the systems+network administration I did, I wasn't getting any closer to getting my PhD anymore.

Who are you and why are you me? :-) (Though seriously, I gave up on my PhD path after four years of full time work and just got another master's instead.)

Either way, I wish wisdom and success for you.

[kjeks]

The foundation of it all certainly was a broad interest in all things natural science from my child years on (I should have 1+ shelf meters of the old "Was ist Was" books hidden someplace in the cellar still), and I guess being able to read fluently even before Einschulung helped as well. The rest's all "keep reading, understand what you read, as putting it into context helps remembering and properly utilizing it", I'ld guess.

ohhh being able to read before school was my entrance into the school system. If I had not been able to, they would have set me aside, because my motorics were pretty bad, I could barely draw or cut anything

I had to sell and donate some of my was ist was books. I have kept one english one though and two granny gave to me when I was little. I loved them. There was a similar series as wel.

[Sigrid Marie]

Okay, I see a great discussion going on, yet decide to interrupt with a bit of self-pitying, sorry.

Our apartment-to-be was partly destroyed due to a fire above it (noone's hurt from what I know). Not totally, but seriously enaugh to be temporarily inhabitable. And on Friday the landlady demanded me leaving the flat a week earlier than it was previously agreed. Meaning - in four days I'll probably have nowhere to live. Dang, I should start doing something to avoid being totally homeless by the time (my fiance staying at his friend's after the fire, no space for one more person really), but instead I'm just sitting back doing nothing but being miserable.

Also, I'm supposed to do announcing on a charity concert in two days, yet noone sent me any info about the artists, programme, whatsoever.
Aaaand it's rainnig outside. What a wonderful afternoon.

That sounds awful :/ Don't you have any friends or family you can stay with, at least for a few days?

[Nimphy]

Okay, I see a great discussion going on, yet decide to interrupt with a bit of self-pitying, sorry.

Our apartment-to-be was partly destroyed due to a fire above it (noone's hurt from what I know). Not totally, but seriously enaugh to be temporarily inhabitable. And on Friday the landlady demanded me leaving the flat a week earlier than it was previously agreed. Meaning - in four days I'll probably have nowhere to live. Dang, I should start doing something to avoid being totally homeless by the time (my fiance staying at his friend's after the fire, no space for one more person really), but instead I'm just sitting back doing nothing but being miserable.

Also, I'm supposed to do announcing on a charity concert in two days, yet noone sent me any info about the artists, programme, whatsoever.
Aaaand it's rainnig outside. What a wonderful afternoon.

Awwww. That's awful. Hugs to you, for what they're worth. Can't you live at some friend's house? Or your neighbours'?

[mithrysc]

What a wonderful afternoon.

Bleh. Not fun. Virtual hugs can't replace physical housing (or missing sort-of-critical information), but here's some anyway. I hope you do manage to find a place to stay.