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JOHN
Starting Member
United Kingdom
42 Posts |
 Posted - 03/21/2007 : 14:49:17
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Did you know that a "Quark" is not a noise made by a duck with a sore throat. It's a sub atomic particle. Three quarks make a Proton, and another three quarks make a Neutron. A proton and a neutron make a Nucleus of an Atom.
Did you know that a duck's "Quack" is the only sound that doesn't have an echo, and nobody knows why. Unless, of course, you do.
Did you know that Echo was a wood nymph in Greek mythology. She fell in love with a shepherd boy called Narcissus. But his love lay elsewhere, so she pined away until only her voice was left.
Did you know that Narcissus saw his reflection in a pool of water, and immediately fell in love with it. He died of loneliness because he couldn't touch or hold the one he loved.
So what do you know?
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Ringo
New Member
United Kingdom
68 Posts |
 Posted - 03/23/2007 : 11:25:41
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I know that Greek mythology stories can be quite sad and sometimes brutal. They always seem to end in tears.
I know that there are 3 types of people in the world. Those who can count and those who can't. I also know that five out of every three people don't understand fractions.
I know not to sit on broken glass, not to boil my woollens and not to eat yellow snow.
I also know that tomorow the clocks spring forward and I can use the park until 7.30 every evening! |
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JOHN
Starting Member
United Kingdom
42 Posts |
Posted - 03/26/2007 : 04:57:41
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Did you know that the sun is 93 million miles away?
That means that the diameter of the earth's orbit is 186 million miles
That means that the circumference of the earth's orbit is 584.4 million miles, which takes 365.25 days to complete
That means that the earth travels 1.6 million miles every day at a speed of 66,667 miles per hour.
No wonder its windy on hill tops!
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Ringo
New Member
United Kingdom
68 Posts |
Posted - 03/26/2007 : 09:20:46
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.... So is it true that when you go on holiday abroad, if you fly with the earth's direction of spin it is quicker than flying against it? The reason I ask is that last year it took us 4.5 hours to fly to Turkey and 5 hours to fly back. I put it down to the spin of the arth.
Also, if we know the speed of light, what is the speed of dark?
The old ones are the best!!! |
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JOHN
Starting Member
United Kingdom
42 Posts |
Posted - 03/26/2007 : 14:42:38
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The distance around the earth at the equator is about 24,000 miles so your speed at the equator is 1,000 m.p.h. Whereas at the poles there is no circular speed at all. So. Flying by Turkey is not generally a good idea (cheapskate!) and I suggest that you change your airline to one that uses aircraft, otherwise a fully loaded Turkey at the equator would take more than 5 hours, and at the poles would not get off the ground, being frozen stiff.
The speed of dark is nil, because you can't see where you've been. |
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JOHN
Starting Member
United Kingdom
42 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2007 : 14:08:37
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Did you know that Arab traders called Ceylon - now Sri Lanka - "The island of Serendib". From this came the word Serendipity; the making of happy discoveries by accident.
Do you know why the water in your bath or sink spins as it goes down the plughole. The "Coriolis effect", named after a Frenchman who did the science bit, explains why air circulates anti-clockwise around a cyclone in the northern hemisphere, and clockwise around a cyclone in the southern hemisphere.There are two main factors affecting air flow. Heat from the sun, and the spinning of the Earth. There are others such as mountains, which is why you get monsoons in India and the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, but these don't affect the spin.
As the sun heats the air it rises and travels west to east with the rotation of the earth. As it rises it cools and air to the north of the equator drifts north, and to the south of the equator drifts south.As the air moves away from the equator the westward motion slows because the speed on the surface of the earth is less, and so the north or south drift increases imparting an anti-clockwise or clockwise motion to the air north or south of the equator. Between the equator and the poles there are several "bands" of circulating air because as it rises it cools and sinks to lower levels where it's heated up again. There are two forces affecting the circulation of water in your bath or sink. One is the angle at which the water enters, and the other is the shape of the bath or sink. The Coriolis effect has nothing to do with it. Water going down the plughole can go in either direction in both hemispheres. The draining of the bath or sink happens in only a minute or so and is in no way affected by the earth turning one revolution in 24 hours. The reason the water spinning speeds up as it gets less, is that it tries to maintain it's angular momentum. |
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JOHN
Starting Member
United Kingdom
42 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2007 : 04:34:29
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Do you know how Dandelions got their name?
The leaves of dandelions have deep serrations, known as "cuts". The French thought that these cuts looked like lion's teeth. The French for lion's teeth is "Dent de lion". A minor corruption by us English and we have Dandelion.
Do you know that, according to old English folk law, when making jam, if you stir the jam with a Hazel stick it will prevent it being stolen by the faeries. It works for marmalade too. Jill makes a lot and we haven't had any stolen yet!! |
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JOHN
Starting Member
United Kingdom
42 Posts |
Posted - 06/22/2007 : 02:49:26
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Did you know that fishing, with a rod and line, is recorded as far back as the 4th century B.C. The Chinese used a rod made of bamboo, a silk line, and a bent needle. The bait was congealed, cooked, rice.
Did you know that even in the 14th century "Mooning" was already an established method of displaying derision. When Edward III was taking Caen, on his way to Crecy, several hundred Norman soldiers exposed their backsides to the English archers. Unfortunately they forgot two important facts. First, you need to be fairly close for "mooning" to be effective. Second, the range of the English longbow was about 250/300 yards. Many of the the Norman soldiers paid a high price for the privilege |
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Well, Whadya -know
