Author Topic: Things you find facinating  (Read 3495 times)

Roadrunner53

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Things you find facinating
« on: October 30, 2018, 10:26:39 AM »
I find reading about expeditions to the Antarctic fascinating!

Here is a great read: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/02/12/the-white-darkness

Henry Worsely was a modern day explorer but Mother Nature was not kind to him.

He was infatuated by Ernest Shakleton, an Antartic explorer from over 100 years ago.

This is a modern day story of perseverance.

From the book: He had just reached the summit of the Titan Dome and was beginning to descend, the force of gravity propelling him toward his destination, which was only about a hundred miles away. He was so close to what he liked to call a “rendezvous with history.” Yet how much farther could he press on before the cold consumed him? He had studied with devotion the decision-making of Shackleton, whose ability to escape mortal danger was legendary, and who had famously saved the life of his entire crew when an expedition went awry. Whenever Worsley faced a perilous situation—and he was now in more peril than he’d ever been—he asked himself one question: What would Shacks do?

If you don't read it, scroll thru it to see the pictures! You will see Shakleton's doomed ship when it was crushed by pack ice.

tungsten

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #1 on: October 30, 2018, 04:43:44 PM »
Shackleton's account of his antarctic adventure was one of the most riveting things I've ever read.  I resolved years ago after reading it to some day try to work in Antarctica, whatever the circumstances.  It's a post FI goal...

Roadrunner53

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #2 on: October 30, 2018, 05:51:40 PM »
I cannot imagine working in Antarctica or being an explorer! What is even more astounding is that those who went over 100 years ago and survived is mind boggling. They went with archaic supplies and almost no knowledge of what to expect but managed to survive!

I am looking to read more about these expeditions. Yes, riveting and beyond amazing!
 

markbike528CBX

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #3 on: October 30, 2018, 06:46:32 PM »
I am blown away sometimes with the sheer intelligence of the people I've met or worked with.


image copyright memorex or successors, or whomever.

Examples:  Glenn Seaborg (discoverer of Pu, element named after him, NRC chairman, Nobel Prize winner '51, and lots of etc,etc.)
- met him at a book signing, just wish I had my shit together at the age of 35 as much as he had at 85.

One of my colleagues pulled a lot of information out of a carefully designed experiment with minimal data (there wasn't going to be much data to go by, so the experimental design was key).

Another of my colleagues had a brilliant idea, that I (in the same field as I) on the removal of a decay chain (and associated radioactivity) by the removal of a key part of that chain.
I was barely able to keep up.

At one job, if I got stumped, I'd travel down the hallway asking colleagues for the answer to a question and often the answer was Yep, wrote up a paper X years ago, here you go. 

I'm not dumb (BS, MS, chemistry) but sometimes it is cool (if humbling) to realize I'm NOT at the end of the IQ bell curve.

I'm also glad that I'm not at the other end of the bell curve, as I have family (uncle) who was institutionalized due to that.  Luck happens.

   
« Last Edit: October 31, 2018, 07:48:09 PM by markbike528CBX »

magnet18

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #4 on: October 30, 2018, 08:29:22 PM »
Space race programs, and especially Niel Armstrong.  Dude was a humble, low key, Babyface, and also a complete badass and one of the worlds most shit hot pilots

This waiting until .5 seconds before death to eject thing
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=%23&ved=2ahUKEwiL6_eyuq_eAhVF9IMKHcqEClQQwqsBMAF6BAgJEAg&usg=AOvVaw0VTJzWxrN8ZFOD4xbU2nov



Gemini 8, Simply from Wikipedia
Quote
Armstrong started to move towards the Agena at 3.15 inches (8 centimeters) per second. In a matter of minutes, the Agena's docking latches clicked and a green light indicated that the docking had been successfully completed. "Flight, we are docked! Yes, it's really a smoothie," Scott radioed to the ground.


There was some suspicion on the ground that the Agena's attitude control system was acting up and might not have the correct program stored in it. This suspicion was found to be incorrect. Shortly before radio blackout, Mission Control cautioned the astronauts to immediately abort the docking if any abnormalities occurred with the Agena.

After the Agena began execution of its stored command program, which instructed the Agena to turn the combined spacecraft 90° to the right, Scott noticed that they were rolling. Armstrong used the Gemini's OAMS thrusters to stop the roll, but after it stopped, it immediately started again. Gemini 8 was out of range of ground communications at this time.

Armstrong reported that the OAMS fuel had dropped to 30%, indicating that the problem could be on their own spacecraft. With concern that the high yaw rate might damage one or both spacecraft or even cause the propellant-heavy Agena to rupture or explode, the crew decided to undock from the Agena so they could analyze the situation. Scott switched the Agena control back to ground command, while Armstrong struggled to stabilize the combined vehicle enough to permit undocking. Scott then hit the undock button, and Armstrong fired a long burst of translation thrusters to back away from the Agena. Without the added mass of the Agena, Gemini starting rotating more rapidly.

The astronauts realized that the problem was on the Gemini. By now the tumble rate had reached one revolution per second, blurring the astronauts' vision and threatening loss of consciousness or vertigo.

I could go on for days

Monocle Money Mouth

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #5 on: October 31, 2018, 04:31:38 AM »
I find redwood trees fascinating. I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to visit Seaquoia National Park a couple of times and Redwood National Park once. If you think you’ve seen a big tree and you haven’t been to either of those parks, you haven’t seen a big tree.

I love the primeval atmosphere of the coast redwood forests. I love the seeing a cluster of giant sequoias in the middle of a forest otherwise dominated by pine and fir trees. They are relicts of the past and super rare in the wild, particularly in their old growth forms.

One other thing I find fascinating about them is there are only 3 species of redwoods left in the world. The coast redwoods and giant sequoias in California and the dawn redwood in China. A cool fact about the dawn redwood is they found fossilized leaves for that species before finding them still living in a remote part of China in the 1940’s. The dawn redwood is now planted as an ornamental tree all over the world now. It’s actualy a little more robust than the California species which need Goldilocks conditions to thrive and reproduce by seed.

slackmax

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #6 on: October 31, 2018, 08:22:21 AM »
Recent European politics. New parties forming in reaction to current parties ignoring significant problems endured by the citizens. Fascinating and hope-inspiring.

GuitarStv

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #7 on: October 31, 2018, 08:35:32 AM »
In general I find history is pretty fascinating.  Specifically the changes over time.  WWII documentaries were kinda a gateway drug for me into this area because they're old enough that a lot of stuff was truly different than it is today, but not so old that I have trouble wrapping my head around why people did what they did.

Roadrunner53

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #8 on: October 31, 2018, 09:40:38 AM »
In general I find history is pretty fascinating.  Specifically the changes over time.  WWII documentaries were kinda a gateway drug for me into this area because they're old enough that a lot of stuff was truly different than it is today, but not so old that I have trouble wrapping my head around why people did what they did.

History is amazing! Can you believe the Brooklyn Bridge was opened in 1883 and still in use! No computers back in the day!

GuitarStv

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #9 on: October 31, 2018, 09:55:01 AM »
In general I find history is pretty fascinating.  Specifically the changes over time.  WWII documentaries were kinda a gateway drug for me into this area because they're old enough that a lot of stuff was truly different than it is today, but not so old that I have trouble wrapping my head around why people did what they did.

History is amazing! Can you believe the Brooklyn Bridge was opened in 1883 and still in use! No computers back in the day!

It's the little day to day differences that fascinate me the most.  Like the fact that up until the 70s pretty much everyone wore something on their head.  Then everyone just stopped.  So weird.  And then you go through the different hat styles over time  . . .

magnet18

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #10 on: October 31, 2018, 12:18:06 PM »
In general I find history is pretty fascinating.  Specifically the changes over time.  WWII documentaries were kinda a gateway drug for me into this area because they're old enough that a lot of stuff was truly different than it is today, but not so old that I have trouble wrapping my head around why people did what they did.

History is amazing! Can you believe the Brooklyn Bridge was opened in 1883 and still in use! No computers back in the day!


This is why I find the space race so inspiring as an engineer!

They did it all with slide rules!!

Roadrunner53

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #11 on: October 31, 2018, 12:23:15 PM »
In general I find history is pretty fascinating.  Specifically the changes over time.  WWII documentaries were kinda a gateway drug for me into this area because they're old enough that a lot of stuff was truly different than it is today, but not so old that I have trouble wrapping my head around why people did what they did.

History is amazing! Can you believe the Brooklyn Bridge was opened in 1883 and still in use! No computers back in the day!


How about the pyramids? No slide rules back then!


This is why I find the space race so inspiring as an engineer!

They did it all with slide rules!!

magnet18

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #12 on: October 31, 2018, 12:39:59 PM »
In general I find history is pretty fascinating.  Specifically the changes over time.  WWII documentaries were kinda a gateway drug for me into this area because they're old enough that a lot of stuff was truly different than it is today, but not so old that I have trouble wrapping my head around why people did what they did.

History is amazing! Can you believe the Brooklyn Bridge was opened in 1883 and still in use! No computers back in the day!


How about the pyramids? No slide rules back then!


This is why I find the space race so inspiring as an engineer!

They did it all with slide rules!!

I've always found the pyramids fascinating, but not nearly as inspiring as a lot of other things

Thousands of slaves spent decades stacking rocks in a pile... An awe inspiring display of brute force, but...

The obelisks build on their sides and rotated vertically into place, however, that's amazing

And the antikythera mechanism

Roadrunner53

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #13 on: October 31, 2018, 01:07:46 PM »
antikythera mechanism

Never heard of this but looked it up and WOW fascinating!

magnet18

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #14 on: October 31, 2018, 01:28:05 PM »
Check out the YouTube channel "clickspring"
I get the feeling you'll be interested :)

ysette9

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #15 on: October 31, 2018, 01:30:33 PM »
For a while I found North Korea fascinating and read a number of books about it. The idea that the society is so locked down and backwards and the extreme situations people find themselves in to survive is interesting. Somehow after having kids though it just got too personal for me and I had to stop reading about it. I really look forward to the day something happens to open that country up, though I know it will be a massive problem to solve. Just look at how easy Germany is still behind the west side though the wall fell decades ago and the gap between the east and the west wasn’t nearly as stark as between the koreas.

SunnyDays

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #16 on: October 31, 2018, 06:46:53 PM »
I've always found the pyramids fascinating, but not nearly as inspiring as a lot of other things

Thousands of slaves spent decades stacking rocks in a pile... An awe inspiring display of brute force, but...

[/quote]

Mmmmm, Nope!  Physically impossible to do this with only human power.  Look at the size/weight of the stones.  Plus, the quarry was many miles away.  We still do not have the capability to build the pyramids.  What IS fascinating is speculating who did it!!


magnet18

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #17 on: October 31, 2018, 08:28:44 PM »
Mmmmm, Nope!  Physically impossible to do this with only human power.  Look at the size/weight of the stones.  Plus, the quarry was many miles away. 

So you think... Aliens?

Quote
We still do not have the capability to build the pyramids.

Umwat?

At this point i just assume you're trolling

markbike528CBX

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #18 on: October 31, 2018, 08:29:26 PM »
I've always found the pyramids fascinating, but not nearly as inspiring as a lot of other things

Thousands of slaves spent decades stacking rocks in a pile... An awe inspiring display of brute force, but...

Mmmmm, Nope!  Physically impossible to do this with only human power.  Look at the size/weight of the stones.  Plus, the quarry was many miles away.  We still do not have the capability to build the pyramids.  What IS fascinating is speculating who did it!![/quote]
Only human power, maybe , but with beer power anything is possible.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/06/5000-year-old-pay-stub-shows-that-ancient-workers-were-paid-in-beer/

expatartist

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #19 on: October 31, 2018, 09:43:05 PM »
Artisans I've met and worked with like this lady who's close to 80. In this village they make paper in the river like they have for hundreds of years. It's made of 4 other ingredients:

* Bamboo that grows around the village
* Lime from nearby rocks they've burnt
* A vine from the forest across the river [to make bamboo fibres stick together]
* Natural dyes (also used for their clothing) made from locally growing materials like annatto fruit, indigo, jackfruit wood etc

The paper is soft and spongy and absolutely amazing, and they're rightfully proud of it.

Edited to add: she's from the Lenten hill tribe in Laos near the border of Thailand.

Roadrunner53

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #20 on: November 01, 2018, 03:41:36 AM »
Anyone hear of the giant skeletons found that were dug up in various places in the USA? Why would the Smithsonian hide these skeletons away for over 100 years?

https://www.sott.net/article/256712-A-giant-mystery-18-strange-giant-skeletons-found-in-Wisconsin-Sons-of-god-Men-of-renown

http://www.sydhav.no/giants/newspapers.htm

ysette9

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GuitarStv

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #22 on: November 01, 2018, 07:39:52 AM »
Anyone hear of the giant skeletons found that were dug up in various places in the USA? Why would the Smithsonian hide these skeletons away for over 100 years?

https://www.sott.net/article/256712-A-giant-mystery-18-strange-giant-skeletons-found-in-Wisconsin-Sons-of-god-Men-of-renown

http://www.sydhav.no/giants/newspapers.htm
Nonsense

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/creation-schism/


https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/giant-human-skulls/

It is mind-boggling how many people come across an article on the internet that seems unbelievable and then believe it immediately.  No check of other sites to verify the truth, no critical thought to determine if it even passes a basic smell test . . . just jumping to straight up faith in their unverified internet source.  I've often wondered if the public education system is letting everyone down by not focusing enough on critical thinking, or if there's a certain set of people who are genetically predisposed to be 'believers'.

ysette9

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #23 on: November 01, 2018, 07:56:15 AM »
Anyone hear of the giant skeletons found that were dug up in various places in the USA? Why would the Smithsonian hide these skeletons away for over 100 years?

https://www.sott.net/article/256712-A-giant-mystery-18-strange-giant-skeletons-found-in-Wisconsin-Sons-of-god-Men-of-renown

http://www.sydhav.no/giants/newspapers.htm
Nonsense

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/creation-schism/


https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/giant-human-skulls/

It is mind-boggling how many people come across an article on the internet that seems unbelievable and then believe it immediately.  No check of other sites to verify the truth, no critical thought to determine if it even passes a basic smell test . . . just jumping to straight up faith in their unverified internet source.  I've often wondered if the public education system is letting everyone down by not focusing enough on critical thinking, or if there's a certain set of people who are genetically predisposed to be 'believers'.
Let us just assume for a moment that there is actually truth to this. That there is some giant (har har) conspiracy to across millions of scientists and reporters and government workers to suppress information for over a hundred years. For the purpose of what? For whom? With what motivation? Can you just imagine the infrastructure it would take to manage? You would need something on the scale of Russia or China or North Korea with propaganda and info suppression.

We already have a complex government system in place to suppress information: it is called classified information security. There we have the threat of jail time and hundreds of thousands of dollars of fines, and the system still leaks. You have a long way to go to convince me some random scientists can do a better job of keeping “truth” from the public than a motivated federal government.

EscapeVelocity2020

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #24 on: November 01, 2018, 07:28:48 PM »
Economics.  Also, how other countries go about things like education, social programs, and retirement.  And recently, how workers in other countries feel about early retirement.  America is but one permutation of 'the human condition' and in many ways it is visibly struggling more than others with the average citizen's most pressing problems.

John Galt incarnate!

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #25 on: November 03, 2018, 03:53:12 PM »
Economics.  Also, how other countries go about things like education, social programs, and retirement.  And recently, how workers in other countries feel about early retirement.  America is but one permutation of 'the human condition' and in many ways it is visibly struggling more than others with the average citizen's most pressing problems.

Microeconomics and its rational agents interest me.

I'm fascinated by the relatively new discipline of behavioral finance.

 

John Galt incarnate!

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #26 on: November 03, 2018, 03:56:45 PM »
Economics.  Also, how other countries go about things like education, social programs, and retirement.  And recently, how workers in other countries feel about early retirement.  America is but one permutation of 'the human condition' and in many ways it is visibly struggling more than others with the average citizen's most pressing problems.

Microeconomics and its rational agents interest me.

I'm fascinated by the relatively new discipline of behavioral finance.

 

iris lily

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Re: Things you find facinating
« Reply #27 on: November 03, 2018, 07:25:03 PM »
I find the ethics of beginning of life very interesting, and to a somewhat lesser extent,  the ethics surrounding end of life. Both are interesting to me just the first one is a little bit more interesting. I don’t mean abortion because that is so boring, there is such a narrow range of discussion on that topic and it has been discussed yo death.

I mean, for instance, the ethics of creating and holding fertilized human eggs. What do with them if the parents separate, who determines that? Whay if the parents die? Who does have, and who should have, ultimate decision making power about very sick babies newly born? What does the medical community really know about the potential lives of tiny babies botn with serious physical problems?etc etc