Your interesting fact of the day.

[Dave7]

Would a mouse survive a 100 foot fall though?

Yes, I have witnessed it happen.
The poor thing was being chased by a puddy cat.
TBF he did get help from a kindly canary.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Its true. The mass to surface ratio is such that terminal velocity for a mouse would be unlikely to exceed 30mph, which could well be survivable.

The bigger you are, the more mass you have in relation to your surface area, the less aerodynamic braking you will endure. A humans terminal velicity will be in the order of 120mph, an elephant around 180mph.

Without an atmosphere a mouse, human and elephant would accelerate due to gravity at the same rate.

As Galileo famously proved when he threw a mouse and an elephant simultaneously off the tower of Pisa. It was never the same after he took that elephant up there.

 

[Beebo]

As Galileo famously proved when he threw a mouse and an elephant simultaneously off the tower of Pisa. It was never the same after he took that elephant up there.

If you have never seen the clip of the feather and the bowling ball, it really is amazing watching them fall in a vacuum.


View: https://youtu.be/E43-CfukEgs?si=d2pG9ce6CBgiEjj5

 

[C R]

If you have never seen the clip of the feather and the bowling ball, it really is amazing watching them fall in a vacuum.


View: https://youtu.be/E43-CfukEgs?si=d2pG9ce6CBgiEjj5

One of the Apolo missions performed the experiment on the Moon (saves having to pump out the air in the Ohio chamber)

View: https://youtu.be/Oo8TaPVsn9Y?is=K2xe2S9wZ4heC53O

 

[Drago]

Its a shame Brian Cox wasnt in the chamber when they pulled the air out. He makes my skin crawl.

 

[C R]

Its a shame Brian Cox wasnt in the chamber when they pulled the air out. He makes my skin crawl.

I don't understand all the hate for Brian Cox. He does a good job of trying to make physics and astronomy accessible and that has to be a good thing.

Incidentally, he was a postdoc when I was doing my PhD in Manchester. We were in different departments, but attended some of the same postgraduate courses. He was always quite personable and interested in other people's work, unlike other postdocs who acted like being there was beneath them.

 

[Dave7]

I don't understand all the hate for Brian Cox. He does a good job of trying to make physics and astronomy accessible and that has to be a good thing.

Incidentally, he was a postdoc when I was doing my PhD in Manchester. We were in different departments, but attended some of the same postgraduate courses. He was always quite personable and interested in other people's work, unlike other postdocs who acted like being there was beneath them.

I like the guy. I can 'sort of' understand Dragos comment as Cox has erhh uhmm interesting facial features but he seems genuine and doesn't speak down to the public.

 

[Dave7]

My interesting fact for the day is......
The word/name Acme as in eg the Acme Glue company as used by Wyle Coyote is a genuine name and comes from the word Akme, Greek for 'peak' or 'zenith'.
It was popularised by businessmen in the 19th century.

 

[ColinJ]

My interesting fact for the day is......
The word/name Acme as in eg the Acme Glue company as used by Wyle Coyote is a genuine name and comes from the word Akme, Greek for 'peak' or 'zenith'.
It was popularised by businessmen in the 19th century.

I checked that the other day as the answer to a cryptic crossword clue.

Interesting Brian Cox fact of the day... He was the keyboard player for D-Ream!

 

[Drago]

I don't understand all the hate for Brian Cox. He does a good job of trying to make physics and astronomy accessible and that has to be a good thing.

I take Britain's puny and weedy Brian Cox and raise you one US equivalent Adam Steltzner. Job done.

My under and postgrad are in astronomy related fields and im glad Brian Cox wasnt about then as id have changed courses to Morris Dancing or something.

 

[Punkawallah]

I take Britain's puny and weedy Brian Cox and raise you one US equivalent Adam Steltzner. Job done.

My under and postgrad are in astronomy related fields and im glad Brian Cox wasnt about then as id have changed courses to Morris Dancing or something.

You can still dream.

 

[Drago]

You can still dream.

But thankfully Brian Cox isnt in them.

 

[Dave7]

I take Britain's puny and weedy Brian Cox and raise you one US equivalent Adam Steltzner. Job done.

My under and postgrad are in astronomy related fields and im glad Brian Cox wasnt about then as id have changed courses to Morris Dancing or something.

Personally I think a short skirt, bells and a pair of clogs would suit you.

 

[Drago]

True interesting fact on a related note...

Every May Bee Gees fans make the long trek to Cornwall where they can still see Morris dancing.

 

[ColinJ]

And... the bananas that we normally eat are sterile, so they are not cultivated from seeds. Growers take cuttings from existing sterile banana plants and grow them.

Wild bananas have lots of big, hard, viable seeds. The flesh is good to eat, but the seeds are not, so they are taken out before eating.

Ha ha - Google has just done its Big Brother thing...

Yesterday, I searched for sterile banana information using the Google widget on my phone. Just now, Google showed me this on the YouTube app on my TV!