INTERESTING: Why do cows align the way they do?

Saturday, February 18, 2023

Grazing Cows Naturally Align Themselves With?

The North Star, The Wind, The Sun, The Magnetic Poles

Correct!

Cows grazing, oriented North along the Earth’s North/South magnetic axis.

Answer: The Magnetic Poles

They might not be known the world over as the brightest creatures, but cows sure know how to keep an organized herd. Whether you’re watching a grazing herd in North Dakota or New Zealand, there’s one thing cows excel at: orienting themselves, en masse, along the axis of magnetic North/South.

Although scientists don’t have a definitive answer as to why cows align themselves with the magnetosphere, there are several theories: it coordinates movement among herd members, facilitates escape from a predator, ensures herd members are grazing the land efficiently by moving in the same direction together, and it may help the cows better map out their physical environment if they consistently orient themselves in the same direction.

# – # – # – # – # 

How little we understand the physical world we live in.  “Grazing efficiently” seems correct but it’s by no means factual.

I continue to be amazed at “factoids” that have no explanations.

We know so little.

—30—

Leave a Comment » | INTERESTING | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: The peak of air travel luxury?

Friday, February 10, 2023

#47 Lufthansa Serving Pork And Draft Beer On Planes In The 1960s

Beeronplanes

—30—

Leave a Comment » | INTERESTING | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: Svingerudsteinen rune pushes known history backby hundreds of years

Wednesday, February 8, 2023

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/sensational-runestone-discovered-in-norway-with-mysterious-inscription-may-be-worlds-oldest/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_medium=weekly_mailout&utm_source=02-02-2023

‘Sensational’ Runestone Discovered in Norway With Mysterious Inscription–May Be World’s Oldest
By Andy Corbley – Jan 31, 2023 

*** begin quote ***

A runestone was discovered in Norway recently that jumps back the origin date of runic writing by hundreds of years to a time before the fall of Rome.

Based on carbon-dated organic remains, the reddish-brown sandstone block may have been carved as far back as 250 to 1 CE—making it the oldest ever found.

Most runestones are named based on the location they were discovered, and this one is called the “Svingerudsteinen,” or “the Svingerud Stone.”

*** and ***

Runologists like Zilmer don’t have a large body of reference, as only 30 or so stones have been found with inscriptions dating from the 6th century or earlier.

*** end quote ***

Amazing about how little we know about human history.  Here’s some messages from the past (obits) that are cryptic bits.

What all did these people know that is lost in “history”.

—30—

Leave a Comment » | INTERESTING | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: THis “genius” carried is cell phone and made the job easy!

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

https://nypost.com/2023/01/12/bryan-kohbergers-amateur-mistakes-which-led-to-his-arrest/

News: university of idaho murders
Idaho murders: All the ‘amateur’ mistakes that led cops to arrest Bryan Kohberger
By Olivia Land 
January 12, 2023 7:17am Updated

*** begin quote ***

Cellphone records

According to an arrest affidavit released Jan. 9, Kohberger’s many mistakes began months before the killings, when he failed to turn his cellphone off while allegedly surveilling the victims’ King Road home.

*** end quote ***

It’s interesting how many crimes are being solved with cell phone records.  

Throw in some DNA and genealogy to sew things up.

If this fellow is a “genius”, then we need smarter ones.  

I still haven’t heard the motive and look forward to an insanity defense where he claims schizophrenia and “voices”.

Lock him up and throw away the key.

Argh!

—30—

Leave a Comment » | INTERESTING | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: Where does it all begin?

Saturday, December 24, 2022

https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/4-meanings-nothing/

Starts With A Bang — December 22, 2022
The 4 fundamental meanings of “nothing” in science

  • All the things that surround and compose us didn’t always exist. But describing their origin depends on what ‘nothing’ means.
  • Most of us, when we talk about nothing, refer to a state where the thing we’re referring to doesn’t yet exist.
  • But absolute nothingness, where space, time, and/or the laws of physics don’t exist, is only a philosophical construct, without physical meaning. Does the Universe truly create something from nothing?
  • That depends on what your definition of nothing is, and which of the four definitions you’re using. 

Ethan Siegel

*** begin quote ***

In the context of physics, this creates a problem: we cannot make any sense of this sort of nothingness. We’d be compelled to assume that there is such a thing as a state that can exist outside of space and time, and that spacetime itself, as well as the rules that govern all of the physical entities we know of, can then emerge from this hypothesized, idealized state.

*** end quote ***

Here’s a head scratcher.  If it doesn’t give you pause, then I guess I am just going down the rabbit hole.

Four different definitions of “nothingness” are puzzling.

At best, we’ll never know “the answer”.

—30—

Leave a Comment » | INTERESTING | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: Maybe Patton wasn’t everything he was made out to be?

Monday, December 5, 2022

The German View of Patton
Henrik Bering on Fighting Patton: George S. Patton Jr. Through the Eyes of His Enemies by Harry Yeide
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 

https://www.hoover.org/research/german-view-patton

*** begin quote ***

On Patton’s performance in Lorraine, Ellis gets caustic:

“Here is the story of the Normandy campaign in a nutshell. Acute German shortages on the one hand, and on the other an Allied cornucopia which could provide an overwhelming level of firepower and a remorseless stream of replacements that could compensate for the grossest tactical bêtise. Add skilled public relations and a press hungry for heroes, and you had the circumstance so propitious that even Montgomery and Patton could seem like great commanders.”

*** end quote ***

Found this interesting since most of my old relatives thought highly of him,

—30—

Leave a Comment » | INTERESTING | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: A crab annual migration that sparks traffic jams

Sunday, November 6, 2022

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11371617/Red-Crabs-migrate-Christmas-Island-millions-rainforests-ocean.html

Incredible moment tens of MILLIONS of red crabs march across a remote island – in annual migration that sparks traffic jams every year

  • Millions of red crabs have begun their annual migration across Christmas Island
  • More then 65 million crabs will trek 20km from the forests to the ocean to breed
  • The population has grown substantially due to the suppression of invasive ants

By Jesse Hyland and Olivia Day For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 20:25 EDT, 30 October 2022 | Updated: 21:56 EDT, 30 October 2022

*** begin quote ***

A sea of red has washed over picturesque Christmas Island – as tens of millions of red crabs march from the rainforests to the coast to breed.

*** end quote ***

How do the crabs know the calendar, phase of the moon, and high tide?

I love the “flyover bridge” that was constructed for their use.

And the signboard that tells drivers what roads are closed do to the migration.

Amazing that humans would allow themselves to be inconvenienced by nature.

Demonstrates how little we know and how out of tune we are with the world.

—30—

Leave a Comment » | INTERESTING | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: Where is Africa, Europe, South America, and the USA actually?

Friday, November 4, 2022

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/1e7f582d478a4b99bd0c70fffeac4c8b?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

Misconceptions
Some common geographic mental misplacements
John Nelson

*** begin quote ***

So what are some tantalizing locational mistakes that seemingly come pre-installed in American students’ minds that geography teachers wrestle to overcome?

So glad you asked! Here is a cherry-picked handful of examples that we’ll dive into…

  • The northiness of Africa
  • The northiness of Europe
  • The eastiness of South America

*** end quote ***

I think I knew these but it was good to get a feel for EXACTLY where these places are.

How does your mental map square with reality?

—30—

Leave a Comment » | INTERESTING | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: How fast is gravity, exactly? Fast enough to make my head hurt thinking about it.

Friday, October 28, 2022

https://bigthink.com/hard-science/speed-of-gravity/

Hard Science — October 24, 2022
How fast is gravity, exactly?

  • Thanks to observations of gravitational waves, scientists were able to settle a longstanding debate over the speed of gravity.

Key Takeaways

  • Throughout history, scientists have proposed many answers for the exact speed of gravity.
  • Broadly speaking, the two main propositions have been that gravity is either infinitely fast or as fast as the speed of the light.
  • Thanks to observations of gravitational waves recorded in 2017, we now know that gravity and light travel at the same speed.

Don Lincoln

*** begin quote ***

While gravitational radiation was predicted back in 1916, it took scientists nearly a century to develop the technology to detect it. To detect these distortions, scientists take two tubes, each about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) long, and orient them at 90 degrees, so they form an “L.” They then use a combination of mirrors and lasers to measure the length of both of the legs. Gravitational radiation will change the length of the two tubes differently, and if they see the right pattern of changes of length, they have observed gravitational waves.

*** and ***

So, that’s the answer. Gravity and light travel at the same speed, determined by a precise measurement. It validates Einstein once again, and it hints at something profound about the nature of space. Scientists hope one day to fully understand why these two very different phenomena have identical speeds.

*** end quote ***

Not only do I NOT understand the point that they are making. It gives me a headache to read about it. YMMV, but all the same very interesting.

—30—

Leave a Comment » | INTERESTING | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: Can humans hibernate?

Friday, July 8, 2022

https://www.cnet.com/science/biology/features/chasing-ghosts-unlocking-the-mysteries-of-human-hibernation/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Chasing Ghosts: Unlocking the Mysteries of Human Hibernation

A multiyear search attempts to explain one of the most extreme, and baffling, cases of human survival.

Jackson Ryan
July 5 2022 at 5:00 a.m. PT

*** begin quote ***

Mount Rokkō towers over the Japanese city of Kobe, a landscape of rolling hills complete with hiking trails and an unparalleled view of Osaka Bay. Every year, the 3,000-foot-high peak becomes awash with the red, yellow and orange leaves of fall, making it a popular destination for barbecues and youthful revelry.

In October 2006, Rokkō provided the perfect place for Mitsutaka Uchikoshi, a 35-year-old civil servant, to go picnicking with a group of friends. After a day spent sharing food and stories near the peak, Uchikoshi’s friends decided to take the cable car back to Rokkō’s base and head home. Uchikoshi chose to hike down one of the mountain paths alone.

Then he disappeared.

On his way down, Uchikoshi lost his footing, causing him to slip, knock his head and break his pelvis. Unable to move or call for help, he lay wounded on the side of the mountain. At night the autumn cold, dropping as low as 50 degrees Fahrenheit, crept into his bones. He passed out.

After 24 days, he was found by a passing climber and transferred to Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital. He was extremely hypothermic and cold to the touch. Many of his organs were failing. According to news reports at the time, Uchikoshi’s doctors reasoned he had fallen into a state “similar to hibernation,” just like a groundhog might.

*** and ***

Uchikoshi’s hibernation had become a holy grail, but it seemed like he’d become a ghost. Chasing that ghost first led me to zombies.

*** end quote ***

Fascinating article about what might be possible.

—30—

Leave a Comment » | INTERESTING | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »