Today I Learned #4: Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.

[EgonSpengler]

Til that Norway sunk a german heavy cruiser, in the opening phase of the ww2 invasion.
Not that this changed much; Oslo fell a few hours later.

I suppose this means Norway did better in ww2 than something like Holland

There was also the Norwegian commando raid on the Vermork hydroelectric station at Telemark, where the Germans were producing "heavy water" as part of their research on atomic power and weapons. A Norwegian spy inside the plant provided the SOE with schematics, and in October 1942, 4 Norwegian commandos parachuted into the mountains above the plant to establish an observation post. They were meant to be reinforced by 30 British paratroopers in November, but the British gliders crash-landed and they never made it. The 4 Norwegians stayed through the Winter. In February 1943, 6 more Norwegian commandos parachuted into the mountains. The Germans had increased security around the plant after the debacle with the gliders, but the 10 Norwegians got inside and blew up some vital equipment (and all 11 - the spy and the commandos - escaped; some of them by skiing a couple hundred miles overland to Sweden). Later, American bomber raids on the plant convinced the Germans to shut it down and move the project. They put the remaining materials on a train bound for Germany that had to be ferried across Lake Tinn/Tinnsjå. The Norwegian commandos sabotaged and sank the guarded, fully-loaded ferry. The consensus opinion since the war is that the Germans were not especially close to building an operational nuclear reactor or atomic bomb, but I don't think the Allies knew that in 1943.

 

[The_J]

TIL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanolin
A good part of human vitamin D3 supplements is not vegan, since it's extracted from sheep wool.
I know in the meantime that most wine is not vegetarian, neither are some food colours, but there's always again stuff which surprises me.
(there was also something with coffee, but can't remember)

 

[Samson]

neither are some food colours

If you like bugs you should know about Cochineal.

Spoiler This :

Spoiler Is made from this :

Spoiler Which live here :

 

[EgonSpengler]

TIL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanolin
A good part of human vitamin D3 supplements is not vegan, since it's extracted from sheep wool.
I know in the meantime that most wine is not vegetarian, neither are some food colours, but there's always again stuff which surprises me.
(there was also something with coffee, but can't remember)

If you like bugs you should know about Cochineal.

Spoiler This :

Spoiler Is made from this :

Spoiler Which live here :

I also remember something about insects in some figs. Those hardcore vegans who for example won't eat honey also can't eat figs, I suppose.

 

[The_J]

Yep, that's what I meant with the food colouring.
(and vinyl, but nobody eats that...)

EDIT: Yes, in figs there are the parasitoid wasps. I think we had that here a few pages back or so.

 

[EgonSpengler]

Yep, that's what I meant with the food colouring.
(and vinyl, but nobody eats that...)

EDIT: Yes, in figs there are the parasitoid wasps. I think we had that here a few pages back or so.

Some vegans extend it beyond food, won't wear wool sweaters or leather shoes. I suppose if they wouldn't eat honey, they wouldn't use beeswax candles either.

 

[The_J]

I do sympathize with the vegetarian cause, but this would seem nuts.

 

[Samson]

I also remember something about insects in some figs. Those hardcore vegans who for example won't eat honey also can't eat figs, I suppose.

I knew someone who would not eat commercial honey, because they kill the hive each year and only keep the queen. He would eat "local" honey as the less commercial bee keepers did not do that. Seems reasonably consistent to me.

The leather and wool also seem consistent, you are contributing to the meat industry both ways.

 

[EgonSpengler]

TIL the city where I work has been running an experiment in providing low-income residents with a $500-a-month no-strings debit card for more than a year. The final data aren't available yet, but the anecdotal information the mayor was able to share sounded promising. She thinks most people spent the money responsibly, on food and utilities and whatnot, and that nobody who got the card was less inclined to get a job, or a better job. She said one woman used the money to get training for a new job, and one guy actually returned the debit card when he got a job. It's an 18-month pilot, and it was successful enough that they're expanding it to include everyone in the city who's at 200% of the federal poverty level or below (about 2,000 families, they say).

 

[The_J]

TIL (and I should have learned that earlier) that the word vaccine is derived from the latin word for cow, vacca, since the first vaccine was derived from cow pox https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8216846/ .

 

[MaryKB]

TIL that not everyone at my company gets the same medical benefits as me. My friend who just got a job as a teller came by to visit me today, and we were talking about benefits and apparently her deductible is quite a bit higher than mine. She said the plan I have wasn't available as an option to her. I was very surprised.

 

[Takhisis]

That's how hierarchical pay works. Higher-ups get paid more and also get more perks, benefits, health coverage, vacation days, a parking space, etc.

 

[AmazonQueen]

TIL that Ted Heath once had a song banned by the BBC, "Cuddles" in 1954.
This was George Edward Heath, the bandleader, not Edward Richard George Heath, the yachtsman and musician (and PM).

 

[Lexicus]

TIL the police force of Uvalde, Texas is completely fudgin useless

 

[Kyriakos]

The Bismark was sunk in the same day (slightly different year ) that St. Petersburg was founded.

On a day like today, the 27th of May.

 

[Takhisis]

TIL the police force of Uvalde, Texas is completely ****in useless

They've once again proved that there's no situation that cannot be worsened by a cop, but there's probably a dedicated thread for it somewhere in OT.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

They've once again proved that there's no situation that cannot be worsened by a cop, but there's probably a dedicated thread for it somewhere in OT.

Didn't Commodore start one? Or at least something about security? It would be years old, though, so it's probably best to start a new one if anyone's interested.

 

[Broken_Erika]

I believe we did have a "General Police Brutality Thread" or something like that buried somewhere........

 

[Samson]

TIL that 40% of police dog deaths are from heat exhaustion, usually from being left in a squad car on a hot day.

 

[Takhisis]

Didn't Commodore start one? Or at least something about security? It would be years old, though, so it's probably best to start a new one if anyone's interested.

I actually meant a thread for this particular shooting.

TIL that 40% of police dog deaths are from heat exhaustion, usually from being left in a squad car on a hot day.

The what.