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

[Valka D'Ur]

Previous threads:

The alpha version
The beta version
Today I Learned #3: There's a wiki for everything!


As I've mentioned occasionally, not all knowledge is found on Wikipedia. There are many places, sources, and ways to learn. When we gain a better understanding of something than we had before, it can be an incredible feeling.

 

[Ferocitus]

Cacti were once considered a pest. Now they're the most illegally trafficked houseplants in the world
Cacti smuggling can be a lucrative business, with some rare cacti selling for upwards of $10,000 each.
In February 2020, there was a huge trafficking bust in Italy, which saw more than 1,000 of the world's rarest cacti seized.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-18/cacti-trafficking-illegal-trade-international/100349306

 

[Zkribbler]

Gills! I want gills!

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Gills! I want gills!

Why?

 

[GinandTonic]

Gills! I want gills!

If you're craving whiskey that bad there are groups

 

[Zkribbler]

Why?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

The question remains. Why?

 

[amadeus]

Joe Biden’s middle name is Robinette.

Joe and the Robinettes sounds like a sixties band name, or Robinettes could be something found in a theater concession stand.

Let’s all go to the Senate
Let’s all go to the Senate
Let’s all go to the Senate
And vote ourselves a raise

 

[Berzerker]

This undated photo issued on Thursday Nov. 25, 2021 by the University of Leicester Archaeological Services shows a Roman mosaic unique to Britain and depicting one of the most famous battles of the Trojan War. Nearly a decade on from uncovering the remains of King Richard III under a car park near Leicester Cathedral, the university's archaeological team have unearthed a Roman mosaic featuring the great Greek hero of Achilles in battle with Hector during the Trojan War — this time in a farmer's field in Rutland, England. (University of Leicester Archaeological Services via AP)

 

[The_J]

You forgot the pic, but yes, this is pretty cool.

 

[Berzerker]

https://phys.org/news/2021-11-extraordinary-roman-mosaic-villa-beneath.html

in other news

from 50k-6kya large grazing animals were going extinct and the result was more fires

earliest jewelry from Morocco 150kya, little sea shells strung together

 

[amadeus]

A Douglas C-47 used to drop paratroopers over the battlefield in Normandy is still in service in Colombia, refitted as a gunship.

Spoiler Source/link: Mark Felton :

 

[Samson]

The total length of fungal mycelium in the top 10cm of soil is more than 450 quadrillion km: about half the width of our galaxy.

Also good for global warming.

 

[Ferocitus]

There was probably such a need for it around 1230, that the index was invented separately in Oxford and Paris.
The Parisian variant was a concordance index, one that showed where every word in a book was located.
The Oxford index listed topics and the book and/or the pages on which they could be found.

(A little anecdote to make you the darling of the cocktail parties you'll be attending around Christmas...
In the index of one of his books, William F. Buckley Jr. included an item for Mailer, Norman which just had the word "Hi."
He assumed that Mailer was such a narcissist that he would immediately turn to the index to see if he was listed.)

https://www.abc.net.au/radionationa...ve/a-brief-history-of-the-book-index/13663002

 

[Samson]

Americans have a thing about keeping animals in the bath:

Arizona:
• Donkeys cannot sleep in bathtubs.
Arkansas:
• Alligators may not be kept in bathtubs.
Georgia:
• Donkeys may not be kept in bathtubs.
New York:
• Donkeys are not allowed to sleep in bathtubs in Brooklyn, N.Y.
South Carolina:
• Horses may not be kept in bathtubs.

 

[tjs282]

I once had a book which collated a whole bunch of such strange US State laws -- called, coincidentally, "Donkeys Can't Sleep in Bathtubs".

Unfortunately I can't find it right now (but I'm sure I didn't throw it out), and I can't remember who put it together.

 

[CKS]

Americans have a thing about keeping animals in the bath:

My dad had a large dog once that was not allowed into the bedroom half of the house. She was very good about staying where she was supposed to be unless there was a big storm. Then she always hid in the shower. I guess it is good he didn't have a pet donkey instead.

 

[Kaitzilla]

TIL that if I shake my smartphone really hard, the flashlight turns on!

 

[Narz]

Learned cool new bicep exercise

 

[Valka D'Ur]

YIL that a second is 1/60 of an hour.

It's in the newest version of the math portion of the daft curriculum, so it must be true.