Today I learned...

[Abarbarian]

TIL that fantasy does become reality if you live long enough.

1949

2019

Gravity Industries are beginning to expand their Race Series jet suits.



I want one.

 

[nivrip]

TIL that fantasy does become reality if you live long enough.

Very true. I watched the first episode of The Prisoner the other day, which was shown originally in September 1967. They had phones with no cables !!!

 

[Abarbarian]

Very true. I watched the first episode of The Prisoner the other day, which was shown originally in September 1967. They had phones with no cables !!!

I have the series on VHS along with a working player so that you get the original atmosphere of the time.

 

[nivrip]

TIL some facts about Uranus.

First planet discovered using a telescope.

27 moons. They are named after characters from Shakespeare and Alexander Pope.

13 rings.

A day on Uranus lasts 17 hours.

A year on Uranus lasts 84 Earth years.

2.87 billion Km from the sun.

 

[Becky]

Uranus's axis of rotation is also quite odd - it's almost on it's side! It is thought it was hit by a large body at some point in the distant past.

 

[nivrip]

Uranus's axis of rotation is also quite odd - it's almost on it's side! It is thought it was hit by a large body at some point in the distant past.

It's sometimes described as "rolling round the Sun" .

 

[Ian]

TIL there are salmon pipelines for transporting fish :

https://gfycat.com/scholarlywillingekaltadeta

 

[Becky]

TIL there are salmon pipelines for transporting fish :

https://gfycat.com/scholarlywillingekaltadeta

That's hilarious!!

 

[Abarbarian]

TIL

Internet artist Guo O Dong created the “The Persistence of Chaos” at the behest of cybersecurity company Deep Instinct.

 

[Becky]

TIL

Internet artist Guo O Dong created the “The Persistence of Chaos” at the behest of cybersecurity company Deep Instinct.

The eventual selling price is obscene!

 

[nivrip]

I always liked that definition of art that I saw somewhere :

"Art is anything you can get away with."

Just about sums up some of the things that masquerade as art.

 

[nivrip]

Well, I didn't know that but I suppose it's logical when you think about it.

 

[EvanDavis]

 

[nivrip]

TIL that jellyfish can be huge.

This one was seen off Falmouth this week. The camera angle makes it look bigger but it was reckoned to be 50 inches or 125 cm in length.

It's nicknamed the dustbin lid jellyfish and its head can be up to 40 inches or 100cm across. They can weigh up to 35 kg.

 

[V_R]

Saw that on the news yesterday, imagine coming face to face with it! Although its sting is very weak, the size of it would certainly worry you!

Giant jellyfish filmed off Cornwall

Huge barrel jellyfish filmed off the coast of Cornwall.

news.sky.com

 

[Abarbarian]

Transportation of the future is arriving daily.

Air-board inventor makes it more than halfway across Channel


Quote
SANGATTE, France — Looking like a superhero, the French inventor of an airborne hoverboard glided partway over the English Channel on his personal flying machine then crashed in the sea Thursday.

I want one.

 

[nivrip]

TIL a good way to keep cool in this heatwave.

But you need to find a skip that is perfectly clean !! I've never actually seen one.

 

[V_R]

I've never seen a skip stay empty long enough to fill it with water to be honest. As soon as anyone gets sight of a skip that isn't overflowing it becomes a dumping ground for everyone's rubbish!

 

[nivrip]

I've never seen a skip stay empty long enough to fill it with water to be honest. As soon as anyone gets sight of a skip that isn't overflowing it becomes a dumping ground for everyone's rubbish!

I have to admit that I have put junk in other people's skips.

And they cost a fortune these days. Friend of mine recently had a pretty big one that cost him £200.

 

[nivrip]

TIL that the Sun is large enough that approximately 1.3 million Earths could fit inside (if squashed in) or if the Earths retained their spherical shape then 960,000 would fit.