Ship of Fools: You learn something new every day

Thread: You learn something new every day Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Evensong (# 14696) on :

I am the epitome of suave and I know it all.

Yet sometimes I'm genuinely surprised by something I've learnt in the course of life. Sometimes its a tiny, silly thing that tickles me pink for no reason or sometimes its a really big deal.

So today my husband gets back from work and tells me he's seen an elderly woman in clinic. She is generally well functioning for her age ( runs a household, finances etc with some help from her husband and daughter) and is independently living at home yet she comes to my husband cos she feels something's not "quite right".

So my hubby has a CT scan done and discovers that her frontal lobe is almost entirely non-existent. According to current medical brain theory, the woman should be a vegetable.

Yet hubby tells me he wasn't that surprised (seen it before) and this is why Medicine is sometimes called an "art".

How cool is that??

So what cool little or big thing did you learn today?

Posted by Drifting Star (# 12799) on :

I learned that my anti-rabbit plant spray doesn't taste good to humans either.

Although I'm not sure that qualifies as a cool thing to know...

Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :

Yesterday I met two guys from Canada who are planning to kayak from Brazil to Florida.

I never knew that it was possible to kayak on the open sea like that! [Eek!]

Posted by Sarkycow (# 1012) on :

I learnt recently that Nigella Lawson is 53! 53!!! [Eek!]

When I think of her (not often, granted), I picture her as a sultry 30-something, pretending to orgasm over making soup or cake or something...

How did she get to 53???

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

I have had reason to purchase a hammock, so I asked the t'internet and discovered:

They are meant to sag ! And you are meant to lie in them diagonally !

I slept in the new hammock (on its stand) in my spare room last night, it appears to be slightly more comfortable than my double bed.

Unsolicited advice: never buy a hammock with a spreader bar and/or made of net, buy a mayan cloth hammock - it will be a transformational experience.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Sarkycow:
I learnt recently that Nigella Lawson is 53! 53!!!

When I think of her (not often, granted), I picture her as a sultry 30-something, pretending to orgasm over making soup or cake or something...

How did she get to 53???

She remains gorgeous - in fact I think she has become more attractive as she has aged. She'll be staggeringly beautiful when she's 70.

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:

quote:
Originally posted by Sarkycow:
I learnt recently that Nigella Lawson is 53! 53!!!

When I think of her (not often, granted), I picture her as a sultry 30-something, pretending to orgasm over making soup or cake or something...

How did she get to 53???
She remains gorgeous - in fact I think she has become more attractive as she has aged. She'll be staggeringly beautiful when she's 70.

She's taken care of herself but if anything has helped it has been that she has never tried to be stick-insect thin. If her BMI is under 25 (ie, in the "healthy" range) I'd be surprised.

Posted by LutheranChik (# 9826) on :

I learned that charcoal-grilled meat can be frozen and repurposed and not taste awful. We'd barbecued some pork a couple of months ago that we just couldn't eat in two days, so I vac-packed the leftovers and froze it. I was expecting some inedible mess when I cut the package open today, but it was fine. I cut the meat into small pieces, threw some cilantro/lime sauce on it and made terrific pork tacos. I hate wasting a good charcoal fire on only one part of one meal, so this experiment told me I can grill a number of meats as long as the fire holds out and freeze some of them for later use.

[ 24. June 2013, 02:09: Message edited by: LutheranChik ]

Posted by Gill H (# 68) on :

And I learned that the word 'repurposed' does actually get used outside of programmes on the Food Channel!
[Biased]

Only ever heard it on 'Chopped'!

Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :

I went to an interesting lecture on the Beatles and the making of the album "Revolver".

I learned a few things, most memorably that the string section of "Eleanor Rigby" is very similar to Bernard Hermann's soundtrack for "Psycho".

Posted by Adeodatus (# 4992) on :

I learned yesterday that if you're making a fruit cake and intend to put marzipan on top, a thin layer of apricot jam will make the marzipan stick better.

I have no intention of making a fruit cake, but it's nice to know.

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :

The flavour of apricot has an affinity with almond, so is better than other jams.

Posted by angelica37 (# 8478) on :

if you use roll out chocolate fondant icing on a sponge cake nutella sticks it on nicely

Posted by que sais-je (# 17185) on :

That 'happy', 'haphazard' and 'perhaps' all have the same root 'hap' meaning 'lucky'.

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

And 'happenstance'?

Posted by Moo (# 107) on :

Also hapless.

Moo

Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :

Not to mention 'to happen'. The Indo-European root of these words is *kob- which indeed means 'good fortune'.

Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :

While researching for this word, I found out that there exists an organization that has developed a modern form of the Proto-Indo-European language, and that tries to stimulate its use.

You learn something new every day.

Posted by Huia (# 3473) on :

well this is so cool it's frozen.

I vaguely knew that some insects could survive being frozen because they have their own anti-freeze, but I didn't know that there is an alpine wetan NZ that survives being frozen not because of anti-freeze but because it's tissues ae not damaged.

Weta are cool insects anyway - not the biggest in the world but the heaviest and arguably the ugliest.

Weta info

Posted by que sais-je (# 17185) on :

quote:
Originally posted by LeRoc:
While researching for this word, I found out that there exists an organization that has developed a modern form of the Proto-Indo-European language, and that tries to stimulate its use.

You learn something new every day.

Much more interesting than my post.

Posted by churchgeek (# 5557) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Evensong:
So today my husband gets back from work and tells me he's seen an elderly woman in clinic. She is generally well functioning for her age ( runs a household, finances etc with some help from her husband and daughter) and is independently living at home yet she comes to my husband cos she feels something's not "quite right".

So my hubby has a CT scan done and discovers that her frontal lobe is almost entirely non-existent. According to current medical brain theory, the woman should be a vegetable.

Yet hubby tells me he wasn't that surprised (seen it before) and this is why Medicine is sometimes called an "art".

I'm only an interested consumer of whatever information on brain science gets produced for the general public, but doesn't another part of the brain often take over for a damaged part?

It occurs I could use the word repurpose here, perhaps, in a non-food context.

Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :

I learned yesterday that if one plays Bach very loudly, the unsupervised rugrats playing loudly in the sanctuary will suddenly disappear.

Posted by churchgeek (# 5557) on :

You learn a lot on cracked.com. I learned yesterday that parrots name their young, and the whole group uses the names. The individual parrots eventually alter their names a bit, making something like nick-names for themselves. They didn't say, though, whether the mother, father, either, or both together come up with the name - or whether they discuss it at all.

Posted by Moo (# 107) on :

quote:
Originally posted by jedijudy:
I learned yesterday that if one plays Bach very loudly, the unsupervised rugrats playing loudly in the sanctuary will suddenly disappear.

I have heard that groups of loitering teens will go elsewhere if Bach is played on loudspeakers.

Moo

Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :

quote:
Originally posted by jedijudy:
I learned yesterday that if one plays Bach very loudly, the unsupervised rugrats playing loudly in the sanctuary will suddenly disappear.

I wonder if this would work for bats...

Posted by Beardybard (# 17737) on :

I have learned today that the most effective measure for a person to avoid being spied on a cell is to drop it into a tin can during the important conversation, which will mess with the signal.

Posted by Starbug (# 15917) on :

I learned that ants can 'farm' aphids by clipping their wings to stop them flying away and then 'milking' them for the nectare they collect. Apparently they are doing this on the rose bushes in my front garden.

Posted by John Holding (# 158) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Starbug:
I learned that ants can 'farm' aphids by clipping their wings to stop them flying away and then 'milking' them for the nectare they collect. Apparently they are doing this on the rose bushes in my front garden.

Milking for nectar, yes. And they will actually pick the little suckers up and move them from place to place. But most aphids are not winged (just like most ants), despite infestations of them being called "greenfly".

John

Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Moo:

quote:
Originally posted by jedijudy:
I learned yesterday that if one plays Bach very loudly, the unsupervised rugrats playing loudly in the sanctuary will suddenly disappear.
I have heard that groups of loitering teens will go elsewhere if Bach is played on loudspeakers.

Moo

The downtown MacDonald's here suffered some notoriety. They had a fair number of hip hop teenagers hanging out outside the store. To dispel them they played Country Western music on the loudspeaker system.

Posted by Beardybard (# 17737) on :

I have started studyingphotoshop basics from a selection of tutorials here, some easier, some less so, but I at least I am taking the planned steps, listening to that james blacke retrograde track that fits the Saturday so well, I might break the repeat button [Yipee]

[ 29. June 2013, 15:10: Message edited by: Beardybard ]

Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :

I just learned that when the players of the Spanish national team keep their mouths shut while their National Anthem is played, they have an excuse for it. Their Anthem doesn't have lyrics (at least not ones that are officially recognized).

I actually lost a bet learning that.

Posted by Huia (# 3473) on :

I think the NZ national anthem would be improved by having no words.

Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :

I think the US national anthem would be improved by having no music.

Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
I think the US national anthem would be improved by...

...changing it to the song the late Ray Charles favoured,
America. It is actually singable by a middle-aged bass!

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