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

[Kyriakos]

Lazily combining the two previous posts:

Asbestos in Obstetrics was a fictional sitcom in the Beavis & Butthead show.

 

[Takhisis]

For the unenlightened.

 

[Kyriakos]

Quality tv.

 

[EvaDK]

Static electricity was known by the ancient Greeks; perhaps even the concept of basic electricity. They also built steam machines/turbines in small scale, but never made the leap to exploit steam generation on anything resembling an industrial scale.

 

[Samson]

Static electricity was known by the ancient Greeks;

But we still do not know how it works.

They also built steam machines/turbines in small scale, but never made the leap to exploit steam generation on anything resembling an industrial scale.

You know the Aeolipile was a really inefficient way to get energy from fire? If you tried to exploit it you would be better getting the people who stoked the fire to just turn the machine.

 

[Birdjaguar]

But we still do not know how it works.

Quantum Physics explains it: Top quark gets horny and uses its charm on bottom quark which then starts feeling strange but goes along. Up and down get into the action and the electrons start moving around such that static electricity is generated.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Static electricity was known by the ancient Greeks

Static electricity is known to anyone who pets a cat in non-humid surroundings. I'm lucky all my cats have forgiven me over the years for accidentally zapping them on the nose or ears, either after petting them or scuffing my feet on the carpet and then touching them (no, I didn't do this on purpose).

 

[Broken_Erika]

Static electricity is known to anyone who pets a cat in non-humid surroundings. I'm lucky all my cats have forgiven me over the years for accidentally zapping them on the nose or ears, either after petting them or scuffing my feet on the carpet and then touching them (no, I didn't do this on purpose).

Or when the cats all charged up and goes to sniff your nose and zap. Happened to my mom a couple times.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Or when the cats all charged up and goes to sniff your nose and zap. Happened to my mom a couple times.

Yep, that happens as well. "Sorry, didn't mean to zap you" is part of my routine vocabulary when talking to my cat(s).

 

[Arakhor]

TIL: Asbestos is a natural mineral. I always thought it was something industrially produced, but apparently it has already been used in ancient times.

The Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne was said to have had an asbestos napkin, which he allegedly liked to cast into the fire to amuse dinner guests by it not burning.

 

[Samson]

The Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne was said to have had an asbestos napkin, which he allegedly liked to cast into the fire to amuse dinner guests by it not burning.

And it may have killed him.

Spoiler Exert from a paper that thinks it was not Mesotelioma :

Mesotelioma as a potential cause of death:some historical accounts mention that the Frankish emperor used a tablecloth made of asbestos which, at the end of banquets, would be thrown into the fire(Pritchard, 2000). The tablecloth would not burn to the great astonishment of Charlemagne’s guests. This account led Pritchard to speculate a potential inhalation of asbestos particles by Charlemagne that ultimately caused mesotelioma, a well-known occupational hazard to abstestos workers. Nonetheless, Pritchard himself also cautioned against such an interpretation as univocal, additionally proposing other hypotheses such as a much more trivial influenza

 

[Kyriakos]

And it may have killed him.

Spoiler Exert from a paper that thinks it was not Mesotelioma :

Mesotelioma as a potential cause of death:some historical accounts mention that the Frankish emperor used a tablecloth made of asbestos which, at the end of banquets, would be thrown into the fire(Pritchard, 2000). The tablecloth would not burn to the great astonishment of Charlemagne’s guests. This account led Pritchard to speculate a potential inhalation of asbestos particles by Charlemagne that ultimately caused mesotelioma, a well-known occupational hazard to abstestos workers. Nonetheless, Pritchard himself also cautioned against such an interpretation as univocal, additionally proposing other hypotheses such as a much more trivial influenza

It's what happens when you have no singing robots and mechanical lions and elevating thrones; you resort to a simple napkin trick

 

[Chukchi Husky]

Asbestos in Obstetrics was a fictional sitcom in the Beavis & Butthead show.

My first thought was,

 

[Sofista]

 

[Kyriakos]

Not sure when it was first named (yes, too lazy for a 0.5 second of googling, you should know that already) but "asbestos" literally means "inextinguishable".
So it was apparently named due to its known qualities regarding fire. Can't set fire to something already on fire

 

[Sofista]

"asbestos" literally means "inextinguishable".
So it was apparently named due to its known qualities regarding fire. Can't set fire to something already on fire

True, but for anything to be on fire requires another party to set it on fire - some pyromaniac, lightning, Brian Eno...

 

[Kyriakos]

According to Heraklitos, fire is the primordial element and it is burning because it was forced to acquire one form but can never reach that so is in constant flux

Speaking of which, the original greek for flame is conspicuously close to the latin term "flux". It even is pronounced exactly the same way (φλοξ)
(pyr is for fire)

 

[Takhisis]

Those are false cognates.
Latin ‘flux’ corresponds with Greek φλέω and φλύω.
It is actually Latin flagro (→conflagration) that corresponds with Greek φλέγω and φλόξ.

 

[EgonSpengler]

A group of geese is only called a gaggle when they're on the ground. If they're flying, they're a skein of geese. Ducks in flight are also a skein. A group of ducks on land is called a waddling. A group of ducks on the water is called a paddling. And a group of ducks on your table is called a feasting.

Okay, I made the last part up.

 

[Birdjaguar]

And a group of ducks all lined up is called a "row".