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

[Birdjaguar]

You are not their target audience.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

You are not their target audience.

Par for the course, isn't it?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Make it accessible or burn it down!

 

[Birdjaguar]

Many of the houses shown are prototypes or proof of concept buildings. For others they are oriented towards places where the goal is to build inexpensive and easily constructed houses, with improvements, to replace current housing. As is usual, the largest audiences are "served" first. Now, since it is easy to contact any of the designers or builders shown in the article, you should choose one or two and make sure they do not for get to add "accessible" options to their work.

 

[Kyriakos]

TIL of a very charming theorem, proven in... 2002! Again a triangle-related theorem. This too was presented (and solved) by a non-academic, to be specific it was a highschool maths teacher

(Δ means the entire area of the triangle, area of the quadrateral AEFD is the originally unknown to be calculated thus)

Although it is termed "Ladder Theorem" above, its actual name is the Extended Ladder Theorem, for the other one is about crossing ladders (presented by Gardner and others).
But they both rest on the height from the base to F, being a type of mean of the heights from E and D. So this is simply Thales theorem of analogy (heights from E,F,D to BC are in analogy to corresponding lengths from B and C to A).

So to present something you already had the tools to do since... circa 600 BC, we had to wait for a highschool teacher in 2002 Now that is charming, and more proof that triangles are not deserving of the scorn shown to them!

 

[Gori the Grey]

For me, a non-mathematician, this is the coolest part of math: that there are problems posed centuries ago, that anyone in the subsequent centuries had the chance to have their try at, and that do sometimes get solved. If I were a mathematician, I would get lost in one of these and squander my life trying to solve it (differently than I'm squandering my life at present, that is).

 

[Kyriakos]

For me, a non-mathematician, this is the coolest part of math: that there are problems posed centuries ago, that anyone in the subsequent centuries had the chance to have their try at, and that do sometimes get solved. If I were a mathematician, I would get lost in one of these and squander my life trying to solve it (differently than I'm squandering my life at present, that is).

But also other problems (like the one above) which simply no one bothered to come up with and then solve, when it wouldn't take long It's why so many (20th century, even later as above!) new triangle theorems exist.
But such can be useful in more complicated math. It's also why by now no single person is aware of the entirety of existing math.

Of course there's always the chance that some such little theorems were once proven, but the works got lost.

 

[Birdjaguar]

How healthy is your gut?

Here is a chart

 

[Takhisis]

Today I learned that Germany has a "Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure," which seems like two odd things to combine together. Also, they may provide funding for video games.

Transport and digital infrastructure can be integrated if you build a mass public transport system that includes special-purpose payment cards.

Or, well, these days, digital infrastructure is everywhere.

 

[Birdjaguar]

TIL: Tradwives are a thing....

'Tradwives' promote a lifestyle that evokes the 1950s. But their nostalgia is not without controversy | CNN

Tradwives, short for traditional wives, are a small subculture of women who promote traditional gender roles and submission to one's husband. In showcasing their seemingly idyllic lives on social media, they signal to young women that true security and fulfillment might be achieved by reverting...

www.cnn.com

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

How healthy is your gut?

Here is a chart

Google image search "Bristol stool scale cake."

 

[Valka D'Ur]

TIL: Tradwives are a thing....

'Tradwives' promote a lifestyle that evokes the 1950s. But their nostalgia is not without controversy | CNN

Tradwives, short for traditional wives, are a small subculture of women who promote traditional gender roles and submission to one's husband. In showcasing their seemingly idyllic lives on social media, they signal to young women that true security and fulfillment might be achieved by reverting...

www.cnn.com

In the real 1950s, it wouldn't have been considered a proper housewifely thing to go around making political speeches unless you were the spouse of a male politician, trying to persuade other women to vote for him/persuade their husbands to vote for him.

Aprons are useful, but I don't recommend high-heel shoes while doing housework. I wonder if these "tradwives" clean their bathrooms while wearing a pearl necklace and a moronic smile on their faces.

 

[The_J]

Today I learned that Germany has a "Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure," which seems like two odd things to combine together. Also, they may provide funding for video games.

one side builds roads , the other side lays the wires for the internet using the same machines . ı guess .

That's pretty much part of the actual reasoning.
Furthermore much of internet traffic is legally treated as phone traffic, and phone infrastructure was once upon a time owned by the post, which then brings this also back to the trasnport part.

 

[Takhisis]

TIL: Tradwives are a thing....

'Tradwives' promote a lifestyle that evokes the 1950s. But their nostalgia is not without controversy | CNN

Tradwives, short for traditional wives, are a small subculture of women who promote traditional gender roles and submission to one's husband. In showcasing their seemingly idyllic lives on social media, they signal to young women that true security and fulfillment might be achieved by reverting...

www.cnn.com

But if she stays at home all day, then how can a husband do that as well?

 

[Birdjaguar]

SLEEP TIGHT
Weighted blankets may boost melatonin, a sleep hormone, study shows
BY MEERI KIM
THE WASHINGTON POST

The weighted blanket has risen in popularity in the past few years, with manufacturers and users touting its benefits, including helping with sleep and anxiety issues. A recent study suggests a mechanism that could explain why weighted blankets seem to help some people sleep better. The use of a weighted blanket may result in more melatonin — a sleep-promoting hormone produced by the brain — being released, the research reveals. Melatonin reduces alertness and makes sleep more inviting. During the day, light that enters the eyes sends a signal to the brain’s “master circadian clock” — a region of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus — which then blocks melatonin production by the pineal gland, a pea-size organ in the brain. After the sun goes down, the suprachiasmatic nucleus releases its hold on the pineal gland, allowing melatonin to set the stage for the body to sleep. Core body temperature drops, and drowsiness ensues.

“I met many pediatric doctors and occupational therapists who told me about the magic effects of the weighted blanket, but we don’t know if it acts as a placebo or what,” said study author Christian Benedict, associate professor of pharmacology at Uppsala University in Sweden. “This was one of the reasons I decided to do this study.” In the study, 26 young men and women with no sleep problems or other medical conditions were asked to sleep in the laboratory with a weighted blanket one night and a light blanket another night. None of the participants had a history of using weighted blankets. The weighted and light blankets corresponded to, respectively, 12.2% and 2.4% of each person’s body weight. The researchers took saliva samples every 20 minutes between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. to measure changes in hormone levels. On average, the rise in melatonin was 32% greater on the night the participants slept with a weighted blanket.

“Body sensations, including gentle pressure on the skin, can activate brain regions that can influence the release of melatonin,” Benedict said. “We believe that a similar mechanism accounts for the observed rise in melatonin when using a weighted blanket.” Weighted blankets have weights such as metal chains or glass beads sewn into them, along with traditional stuffing, to apply even, deep pressure to the body. Occupational therapists in the 1990s discovered that weighted vests and blankets had a calming effect on children and adolescents with developmental and sensory disorders. They later were used in adult mental health settings as a humane alternative to restraint and seclusion, which are known to cause physical and psychological harm to patients. Applying a gentle pressure across large swaths of the body activates the autonomic nervous system, which regulates heart rate, digestion, breathing rate and other functions. Specifically, deep pressure stimulation is associated with reduced sympathetic arousal, or fight-or-flight response, and increased parasympathetic arousal, or rest-and-digest response.

Research has suggested that deep pressure stimulation from weighted blankets, in particular, may improve sleep. In 2020, Håkan Olausson, a neuroscientist at Linköping University in Sweden, and his colleagues performed a randomized controlled trial of 120 patients with psychiatric disorders, giving them a weighted blanket every night for two weeks. The patients reported less severe insomnia, reduced daytime fatigue and better sleep maintenance throughout the night when sleeping with a weighted blanket vs. a light blanket.

A 2015 study tested weighted blankets on 33 people with chronic insomnia, reporting that they slept longer, found it easier to settle down, and felt more refreshed in the morning. And a study on two children with autism spectrum disorders demonstrated improved quality of sleep with weighted blankets. “Weighted blanket use has increased dramatically in the last few years, but most studies have limited sample sizes,” said Cara Koscinski, occupational therapist and co-author of “The Weighted Blanket Guide.” “We cannot jump to big conclusions,” about the latest study, she said, but the observed melatonin increase “provides another piece of the puzzle.”

CATHRYN CUNNINGHAM/JOURNAL


Benedict supported the need for larger trials, including, he said, “an investigation of whether the observed effects of a weighted blanket on melatonin are sustained over longer periods.” While the study observed an increase in melatonin, it observed no difference in participants’ sleep duration or feeling of sleepiness with use of a weighted blanket. The researchers also measured oxytocin, a hormone released in response to physical touch that is known to induce feelings of well-being and calm, but saw no increase for the weighted blanket condition.

\Users, like Aimee Walker Baker, say weighted blankets have helped with their health issues. “I feel like I’m in a cocoon of safety,” said Baker, 50, of Bay Minette, Alabama, who sleeps with a weighted blanket every night. A car accident in 2016 left her with severe injuries, along with nightmares as a result of posttraumatic stress disorder. “It took a couple nights to get used to (the weight), but once I did, I actually slept. Like, for the first time in over a year! It felt like a victory,” she said.

Along with people with sleep disorders, Koscinski says, those with autism, anxiety, arthritis, chronic pain and attention deficithyperactivity disorder also use weighted blankets. She adds that they may work very well for some people and not at all for others. A general rule is to choose a blanket that weighs less than 10% of your body weight, and they should never be used on individuals who cannot remove the blanket on their own, such as infants, Koscinski says.

 

[Kyriakos]

It's not a TIL, but relatively recent. Also it's just too good of a murder/headshot (against Hofstadter) to not mention ^^

If you want to see the exact moment of Hofstadter's (hof)stutter about his completely ruined thesis (about Escher, but has repercussions elsewhere) in Goedel/Escher/Bach, go to 43.30.
Tldr, it is about his view (proven wrong) that there is no completeness in the center of (some) curious world-within-a-world Escher drawings.
While Hofstadter is (was) a good writer, and I liked that book, it is also true that he is no mathematician and it always sucks to be definitely proven wrong...

(don't recall if he spelled world like that as a pun, he has many - bad - puns in that book, or if it's a bad typo in the video)

In the video you can see how the mist in the original work, was transformed into a spiral with the removal of the particular grid (left is the new form). So it becomes clear the person is watching himself in the painting - though this could already be established from the original.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

SLEEP TIGHT
Weighted blankets may boost melatonin, a sleep hormone, study shows
BY MEERI KIM
THE WASHINGTON POST

The weighted blanket has risen in popularity in the past few years, with manufacturers and users touting its benefits, including helping with sleep and anxiety issues. A recent study suggests a mechanism that could explain why weighted blankets seem to help some people sleep better. The use of a weighted blanket may result in more melatonin — a sleep-promoting hormone produced by the brain — being released, the research reveals. Melatonin reduces alertness and makes sleep more inviting. During the day, light that enters the eyes sends a signal to the brain’s “master circadian clock” — a region of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus — which then blocks melatonin production by the pineal gland, a pea-size organ in the brain. After the sun goes down, the suprachiasmatic nucleus releases its hold on the pineal gland, allowing melatonin to set the stage for the body to sleep. Core body temperature drops, and drowsiness ensues.

I have a weighted blanket. Her name is Maddy.

She comes with two bonuses: Purring and a free face wash.

 

[Takhisis]

And also she's a cat, which is another bonus.

 

[Gori the Grey]

suprachiasmatic nucleus

Suprachiasmatic melatonin-blocking nu-klus.
Even though pronouncing it makes you sound like a doofus
If you use a weighted sheet, your sleep will then improve, thus
Suprachiasmatic melatonin-blocking nu-klus.

 

[Narz]

How healthy is your gut?

Here is a chart

What a bunch of crap