Things you've always wanted to know......

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Hammer1972
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Re: Things you've always wanted to know......

Post by Hammer1972 »

Clucking Bell wrote: It's mostly water - that would boil off and the solids would burn.

You really don't want to know how I know this ....
When they said you were a **** cook I just took it at face value...
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pablo jaye
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Re: Things you've always wanted to know......

Post by pablo jaye »

Reading the irritation about double barrelled names - I wondered what is the longest multi- barrelled name?

Interestingly weren't there about 4 in the England u20 side that beat Venezuela the other day?
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Hammers Dad
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Re: Things you've always wanted to know......

Post by Hammers Dad »

pablo jaye wrote:Reading the irritation about double barrelled names - I wondered what is the longest multi- barrelled name?

Interestingly weren't there about 4 in the England u20 side that beat Venezuela the other day?
Richard Plantagenet Campbell Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos must be a contender
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WHU_Del
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Re: Things you've always wanted to know......

Post by WHU_Del »

pablo jaye wrote:Reading the irritation about double barrelled names - I wondered what is the longest multi- barrelled name?
Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes can't be far off...
Oh, and I've just discovered Admiral Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurley Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax
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Georgee Paris
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Re: Things you've always wanted to know......

Post by Georgee Paris »

The name of the band that used to play in the vic after the games.
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Monkeybubbles
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Re: Things you've always wanted to know......

Post by Monkeybubbles »

Why does some stuff taste good and other stuff not? I mean I understand about fruit being nice to eat so that animals scatter the seeds, but how does cheese benefit from tasting good? And why do we think neopolitan ice cream tastes scrummy, but curly Kale tastes like anus?
What makes us choose, and why?
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The Old Man of Storr
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Re: Things you've always wanted to know......

Post by The Old Man of Storr »

Monkeybubbles wrote:Why does some stuff taste good and other stuff not? I mean I understand about fruit being nice to eat so that animals scatter the seeds, but how does cheese benefit from tasting good? And why do we think neopolitan ice cream tastes scrummy, but curly Kale tastes like anus?
What makes us choose, and why?
I've tasted curly kale so now I know to steer clear of anus .

I'll hazard a wild guess here - taste receptors on your tongue , salty , sweet , sour , bitter , umami and personal choice .

I like camembert but my Mrs thinks it stinks of , urrmm...kale .
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sendô
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Re: Things you've always wanted to know......

Post by sendô »

Your brains interpretation of chemical signals.
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Monkeybubbles
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Re: Things you've always wanted to know......

Post by Monkeybubbles »

sendô wrote:Your brains interpretation of chemical signals.
Well, yes, obviously. But why does the brain interpret Haribo as tasty and aubergines as rank? What purpose does it serve?
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southbrishammer
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Re: Things you've always wanted to know......

Post by southbrishammer »

What is in the middle of the sun? I know it's all a huge ball of gas, but if all the light and heat that radiates from it is caused by some of that gas burning at an unimaginable temperature, why isn't the whole thing burning at an unimaginable temperature? Is the gas in the middle a lot cooler than that on the surface, and if so, why?

If anyone knows the answer, please explain in a way unlike the BBC website's science pages, where I understand the first two paragraphs then they start talking about quarks and photons and my brain switches off. Thanks.
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Re: Things you've always wanted to know......

Post by DasNutNock »

It isn't combustion (burning), it's nuclear fusion. Hydrogen gas is being fused together to make Helium - literally, the temperature and pressures are so high that two molecules of hydrogen (1 proton, 1 electron) can be squeezed together to create a molecule of helium (1 proton, 1 neutron, 2 electrons). There needs to be high temperature & pressure to achieve this, because same-charged particles repel one another.

This is the type of fusion happening https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton% ... n_reaction" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

You can't really understand fusion behaviour unless you're willing to some reading about atomic and subatomic particles, and learn some of the major concepts of the behaviour of atoms, and the relationship between energy, light and matter. You'd be surprised what you can learn just by watching YouTube videos on the subject, although if you want to go further, you'll need to make sure your maths is in good shape.
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jastons
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Re: Things you've always wanted to know......

Post by jastons »

Why do people put compostable garden waste into a non bio degradable plastic bag?
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Hammers Dad
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Re: Things you've always wanted to know......

Post by Hammers Dad »

jastons wrote:Why do people put compostable garden waste into a non bio degradable plastic bag?
Because they are stupid?
All my compostable waste goes into my compost bins, peelings, garden waste etc. Once it has rotted down, I sift it and either spread it around the garden or on the allotment.
Cooked stuff goes into compost bags and is removed by the council.
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sendô
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Re: Things you've always wanted to know......

Post by sendô »

DasNutNock wrote:It isn't combustion (burning), it's nuclear fusion. Hydrogen gas is being fused together to make Helium - literally, the temperature and pressures are so high that two molecules of hydrogen (1 proton, 1 electron) can be squeezed together to create a molecule of helium (1 proton, 1 neutron, 2 electrons). There needs to be high temperature & pressure to achieve this, because same-charged particles repel one another.
Fascinating stuff isn't it?

The reason that heavier elements are so rare is that it takes even higher levels of heat and pressure to create them, levels that are generally not even present in most regular stars and need supernovae to create them (gold for instance).
Last edited by sendô on Thu Jun 22, 2017 3:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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DasNutNock
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Re: Things you've always wanted to know......

Post by DasNutNock »

Aye - you get stuff up to Iron mass in main-sequence stars, it's only when they run out of fuel, collapse under the gravity of the remaining mass, and kaboom into the really heavy stuff - a lot of it decaying as soon as it's created.

The stuff I'm currently most interested in is getting a better understanding of the subatomic particles. The proton-proton fusion reaction is about as basic as it gets, yet there's a load of stuff happening there I'd never thought about before. The obvious bit is "why do two hydrogen atoms fuse together to give us 1 proton and 1 neutron?". What process causes one of the protons to become a neutron? It's the loss of a neutrino, but where does that go, what are its properties etc?

The way subatomic particles interact with the universe has to be one of the most interesting fields of modern science. Wish I'd paid more attention in my degree.
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Johnny Byrne's Boots
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Re: Things you've always wanted to know......

Post by Johnny Byrne's Boots »

Doesn't hydrogen fusion go via an intermediate beryllium stage, rather than straight to helium?
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DasNutNock
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Re: Things you've always wanted to know......

Post by DasNutNock »

Johnny Byrne's Boots wrote:Doesn't hydrogen fusion go via an intermediate beryllium stage, rather than straight to helium?
Erm. Maybe? I don't know much of this stuff particularly well, but I thought that when the two hydrogen atoms are fused a neutrino is liberated, thus turning a proton into a neutron?

Clearly, I need to do more reading. Interesting stuff though, and no mistake.
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Johnny Byrne's Boots
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Re: Things you've always wanted to know......

Post by Johnny Byrne's Boots »

I'll try to find my astronomy book with the sequence in it.
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warp
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Re: Things you've always wanted to know......

Post by warp »

i'm on holiday in beijing digesting fried scorpions at the moment, so i'll give the physics lecture a miss (it's also two minutes to midnight™...)

but i'll be back sometimes next week and will happily tackle the fusion mechanisms in stars.

a word of warning though: the basic proton-proton reaction requires quantum physics to be properly explained... (15 million ºK are not enough to break the coulomb barrier)
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DasNutNock
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Re: Things you've always wanted to know......

Post by DasNutNock »

Aye, quantum mechanics are way off my chart. I read Electronic & Electrical Engineering, and there was only the briefest of references to any of that weird sh*t.
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