Today I Learned #3: There's a wiki for everything!

[H4run]

But I managed to combine rice, frozen peas, salt, and egg today. If I can do it, you surely can.

Very inspiring.

Not sure I know what it even tastes like.

I rarely cook it. I use it mostly to put it on the bottom of a glass, and pour warm water, let it soak in till the water changed color, and drink, keep repeat the process until I swallow all of it on the process. Like a tea.

 

[AmazonQueen]

The English town of Saffron Walden is named for the saffron growing it used to practice in the 15-16th centuries.
The trade supposedly died out because its labour intensive harvesting made it too expensive but the developing spice trade and new sea routes probably paid a part.

 

[H4run]

The English town of Saffron Walden is named for the saffron growing it used to practice in the 15-16th centuries.
The trade supposedly died out because its labour intensive harvesting made it too expensive but the developing spice trade and new sea routes probably paid a part.

They just took 2 pieces of it from each flower, like it required hundreds of thousands of that flower in order to reach 1 kg iirc. I think 90% of its production now is somewhat around Central-Asian and Middle East, while other countries just mostly bought and repackage, most notably Spain. It's quite neat to import it, 100 gram or 250 gram of it means quite much, while the tax afaik not so much different. It's an interesting area to explore.

 

[Birdjaguar]

...I am struggling with cooking. But I managed to combine rice, frozen peas, salt, and egg today. If I can do it, you surely can.

Next steps: add a bit of green onion or shallots; broken up bacon; chopped peppers of different colors; mushrooms.

Pan fry veggies of choice; add cold cooked rice and heat thoroughly; add eggs and cook until eggs are cooked; add salt and ground pepper to taste (fresh ground Himalayan pink salt is best naturally).

 

[Berzerker]

yahoo news had a story about the oldest plant in the world, its in the Namib desert in S Africa. Apparently the Namib has been around for 10s of millions of years and the plant has 2 leaves that grow like finger nails curled up taking on the appearance of an octopus.

Its named for some European who found it but the locals call it 'plant with 2 leaves' or something like that. The plant can live more than 3000 years, I think the oldest tree lives 5-6k (the bristlecone?) in the american southwest.

 

[Samson]

yahoo news had a story about the oldest plant in the world, its in the Namib desert in S Africa. Apparently the Namib has been around for 10s of millions of years and the plant has 2 leaves that grow like finger nails curled up taking on the appearance of an octopus.

Its named for some European who found it but the locals call it 'plant with 2 leaves' or something like that. The plant can live more than 3000 years, I think the oldest tree lives 5-6k (the bristlecone?) in the american southwest.

Cool plant:

In Angola it is called n’tumbo (stump), the Herero name it onyanga (desert onion) and in Afrikaans it is called “twee-blaar-kanniedood” (two-leave-can’t-die).

 

[Kyriakos]

It looks like a pile of garbage
Does it help with anything? Maybe the trisolarians could use it (@red_elk)

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Cool plant:

In Angola it is called n’tumbo (stump), the Herero name it onyanga (desert onion) and in Afrikaans it is called “twee-blaar-kanniedood” (two-leave-can’t-die).

There are parts of it that look dead. I guess they must eventually fall off and provide nourishment for the soil so the plant can keep on living?

It looks like a pile of garbage
Does it help with anything? Maybe the trisolarians could use it (@red_elk)

Hey, that plant could be 2950 years older than you. Have some respect for your elders.

 

[Zkribbler]

In Cebu City, because of Covid 16, all the hospitals and cemeteries, are full.

 

[Takhisis]

There are parts of it that look dead. I guess they must eventually fall off and provide nourishment for the soil so the plant can keep on living?

By definition that would never be enough because of entropy. Most of its nutrients should be brought by the wind renewing the upper layers of soil.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

By definition that would never be enough because of entropy. Most of its nutrients should be brought by the wind renewing the upper layers of soil.

Okay. Since the wind can literally move nutrients across oceans, that makes sense.

 

[Takhisis]

I'm just leaving this article (no paywall) here, which includes interesting bits about the beginnings of the automotive industry, titled The Lost History of the electric car - and what it tells us about the future of the electric transport. It is, I quote from the end of the article, an edited extract from A Brief History of Motion: From the wheel to the car to what comes next, published by Bloomsbury on 18 August, so it's not complete but a good starting point. I hadn't read about 19th-century electric cars in a number of years.

 

[Takhisis]

Okay. Since the wind can literally move nutrients across oceans, that makes sense.

Many parts of the desert actually have nighttime vegetation because once the heat dies down the permanent winds can penetrate deep inland and deposit moisture from the air, which includes, of course, not just the water but the substances dissolved in it.

 

[EgonSpengler]

TIL that I'm a bonehead.

Michael McDonald was in the Doobie Brothers.

Spoiler :

I was walking along and "What a Fool Believes" came on. I knew it was McDonald, I know the voice instantly, but I couldn't remember the name of the song. So I just glanced down at my handy-dandy palm computer...

Okay. It only took me, like, 40 years to put that together.

Also, the theme song of the old Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is an Eagles song, "Journey of the Sorcerer."

Spoiler :

Bone. Head.

 

[tjs282]

Also, the theme song of the old Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is an Eagles song, "Journey of the Sorcerer."

And now TIL...

 

[Valka D'Ur]

TIL that Pringles has some new chip flavors out... like Cream of Mushroom.

The prices on Amazon are insane, though, so I'll just have to imagine it.

 

[Traitorfish]

TIL that, in Australia, Burger King is branded as "Hungry Jack's". The owner of the national master franchise is a guy called Jack Cowin; unclear if that's a coincidence, or if he was really Hungry.

 

[Berzerker]

Michael McDonald was in the Doobie Brothers

Also, the theme song of the old Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is an Eagles song, "Journey of the Sorcerer."

Thats a good song, one that didn't get played on the radio and I didn't buy the album when I was younger so it was ages before I actually heard it.

One of the Doobie Brothers had a side career thats of interest, he was an advisor to the NSA or its predecessor organization during the cold war.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Baxter

he was into missile defense systems

 

[Berzerker]

"These data suggest that therapeutic fasting or calorie restriction has the potential to beneficially modulate infectious and potentially non-infectious gastrointestinal diseases," the researchers conclude.

The researchers add, "Our research highlights the important role that food plays in regulating interactions between the host, enteric pathogens and the gut microbiome. When food is limited, the microbiome appears to sequester the nutrients that remain, preventing pathogens from acquiring the energy they need to infect the host. While more research is needed, fasting or otherwise adjusting food intake could be exploited therapeutically to modulate infectious diseases in the future."

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-08-fasting-ward-infections-mice.html

feed a cold, starve a fever?

The popular advice to "feed a cold, starve a fever" is probably something you've heard time and again when nursing a cold or the flu. But is it advice you should heed? The answer is no. In actuality, you should feed both a cold and a fever — and starve neither, says Mark A.

maybe Mark A is wrong

 

[Sofista]

Carbs. Meat. Drinks.

Mark A might live longer. Those who disagree shall live larger.