The Community
General Category => Just for fun => Topic started by: Zzzptm on December 03, 2025, 11:40:19 AM
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Starting things off with "smelling your own farts is good for you!"
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/science-smelling-farts-alzheimers-disease-b2877346.html
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/newsroom/news-releases/2021/01/rotten-egg-gas-could-guard-against-alzheimers-disease
Pull my finger for your good health! :excited:
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That's amazing!
Here's one: Our eyes are not designed to process photons, therefore light waves themselves are invisible to people. So, the old spiritual, "I Saw the Light,"...well, no, you actually didn't Jethro.
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Whoaaaa cool
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Another: When you touch something, you're actually experiencing what it felt like in the past because it takes time for the nerves to send their signal and be processed by your brain.
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There is a gene in the fruit fly that makes them susceptible to alcohol's effects. The mechanism for fruit fly inebriation is also present in mammals, including humans, making fruit flies a good subject for further studies in alcoholism.
Now, had biochemist researchers done this study, they would have provided a methodical name for the gene. But because fly researchers were doing the research, they named it "cheapdate". :smug:
"I agree, we biochemists call proteins and genes in a methodical sequential manner; fly people name stuff based on the morning cereal or cartoon. I still like them however." - from a Reddit comment about the article.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11199289/
The study also involves an "inebriometer" to test the fruit flies for resistance to alcohol:
(https://cdn.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/blobs/9840/6709738/404f14c17925/arcr-24-3-185f1.jpg)
The inebriometer is an apparatus that is used to measure the sensitivity of Drosophila to alcohol vapor. Approximately 100 flies are introduced into the top of a 4-foot glass column through which a controlled concentration of alcohol vapor circulates. As they become intoxicated, the flies progressively lose postural control and tumble downwards; their fall is impeded by their ability to cling to oblique mesh baffles distributed along the length of the column. The time required for the flies to emerge at the bottom of the column is a measure of their alcohol sensitivity.
Fly researchers seem like they'd be fun people at parties.
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Another: When you touch something, you're actually experiencing what it felt like in the past because it takes time for the nerves to send their signal and be processed by your brain.
True, but it is hardly a distant past. You brain has the information in a tiny fraction of a second.
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This thread gets me to discover some really cool stuff.
Today I learned about total internal reflection. It can be demonstrated with water, but it's also how fibre optic cables work:
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And then that got me to look for stuff by Julius Sumner Miller. I loved watching his Physics presentations back in the day. I still do love them.
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Under extreme magnetic conditions, materials can behave as both insulators and conductors.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/11/251108083908.htm
Quantum materials are fascinating stuff!
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Manowar interrupts this regular programming to bring you this important information:
We fight to the death. To the last man.
To the last breath.
Death to False Metal
Into Glory Ride
Regular programming may now resume.
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As a self-styled smartass, I am prone to bouts of tomfoolery and hijinks. This weekend, I texted the following to the family group chat:
“I will be leaving to get dinner and should be back by 6:30 pm. If you would like to continue to receive status updates, text YES to this number. Normal text and/or data rates will apply.”
On one of the phones, there was a button to auto-send a YES response.
I had stumbled into the API!
Other family members tried to get that response with less, but it was clear that the full verbiage needed to be in there to make it work. I got a few more of those and we had a laugh.
Today, I went for two:
“Your appointment for 9:30 am is scheduled. Text CONFIRM to this number to confirm your appointment or CANCEL to cancel it. Normal text and/or data rates will apply.”
The result? Both a CONFIRM and a CANCEL button appeared on the other phone for autoresponses.
This means, of course, that the API is invoked via scanning the text message itself. There are no back-end flags in my packets or anything like that, it’s straight-up giving the system a prompt and getting a response out of it that leverages into the target system adding executable code as a result of reading the prompt.
As a security person, I find the upshot of this to be chilling. There are other functions that could be automated and if the API simply attaches code to a message based on its wording without any verification of authenticity or authority, then it is a massive hole in the system. To defend against possible abuses, I know that I have some autoresponders set up with professionals that I make appointments with. Those I already know. If I make a new appointment with a new person and get an autoresponse in the time frame of that appointment, then I’m OK with that. What’s most dangerous is some kind of scam targeting people over 50 who are already at higher risk of implicitly trusting without verification. By using official-looking texts, it already increases the risk that they make an error. By having the system attach code for autoresponses, it makes them look that much more legitimate and, therefore, gives such attacks a higher conversion rate.
Which thought leads me to a larger zero-trust concept: cybersecurity also involves the concepts and philosophies surrounding our work. When we unequivocally accept any new paradigm without sufficient testing, verification, and cautious observation, then we place ourselves into a potentially unacceptably high level of risk. And when we let proven flaws remain in our systems because we choose not to disrupt production, then we know we are set up for a terrible tragedy.
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Reading your latest post reminds me of this exchange from the movie Full Metal Jacket:
Hartman: "If there is one thing in this world that I hate, it is an unlocked footlocker! You know that, don't you?"
Pyle: "Sir, yes, sir!"
Hartman: "If it wasn't for dickheads like you there wouldn't be any thievery in this world would there?"
Pyle: "Sir, no, sir!
Hartman: "GET DOWN!
In response to Hartman's command, of course Pyle gets into push-up position. I always thought it'd be funnier than hell if instead of push-up position, Pyle would have started dancing.
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Female spider monkeys have their sexual organs on the outside, and the male spider monkey has its sexual organ retracted at all times unless erect...so, if you saw a male and female spider monkey side by side it would be easy to mistake the female for the male and the male for the female...Amazing Biology!
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The size of the universe should amaze everyone.
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To remove the water filter in the fridge, I have to take out the tray just underneath it so that it can descend to a full 90-degree angle with its housing, then it pops right out.
Also, ^^space is biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig!
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(https://static.the-independent.com/2021/05/27/09/newFile-2.jpg?quality=75&width=1368&auto=webp)
Ross' couch problem finally solved!
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Just read an article about a report concluding that opening one's windows can be a good thing.
AMAZING SCIENCE
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Depends which version... Opening Windows 10 nowadays might get you into trouble with cyber security!
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Depends which version... Opening Windows 10 nowadays might get you into trouble with cyber security!
Haha!
Amazing Science:
Scientists claim that quantum physics can CHANGE THE PAST!
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^^^^^^
Loaded with double-talk. :rolleyes:
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Depends which version... Opening Windows 10 nowadays might get you into trouble with cyber security!
SCIENCE CONTROVERSY! I love it! :rofl:
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Pink Noise is no good.
https://academic.oup.com/sleep/advance-article/doi/10.1093/sleep/zsag001/8452884
Sorry, Mr. Gilmour, but we can't drift away to your guitar solos anymore... :D
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Hmm...eventhough I really don't like nor ever listen to Pink Floyd I still have trouble sleeping....Maybe Black noise is a problem too?
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Hmm...eventhough I really don't like nor ever listen to Pink Floyd I still have trouble sleeping....Maybe Black noise is a problem too?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colors_of_noise#Black_noise
Today I learned that black noise is mostly silent.
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https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/fukushima-nuclear-powerplant-disaster-pig-boar-b2917940.html
"Radioactive pig-boar hybrids are thriving in Fukushima after nuclear disaster – now scientists know why"
Domesticated pigs went feral after the Fukushima disaster and now live in a highly radiated area, so it's not some kind of zombie apocalypse thing. But after several pig generations, most of the domesticated DNA has faded out of the picture, with a key exception being the bit that gives the pigs more than one litter per year, something that limited the boar population. Seeing these results helps to explain what's likely going on with other feral pig populations and why they're more disruptive than a native boar population without any domesticated pig interbreeding.
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https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaotolaryngology/article-abstract/2845565
You can turn down the volume on that workout music and still get a good workout. No need to go deaf as you get ripped. :smug:
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Finally I can get my tai-chi forms done without hearing the Commodores screaming, "Celebrate," in my ears at 195 dB!
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Finally I can get my tai-chi forms done without hearing the Commodores screaming, "Celebrate," in my ears at 195 dB!
No more Kool & The Gang doing "Brick House" at top volume whilst doing goat yoga!
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You all may seen this before, but if not: The guy not only shows a close-up of a stylus running in the grooves of a record, but discusses how he went about capturing/generating the video. Out of all of this, I am most impressed that the guy was able to snag a scanning electron microscope for his shop. That's something you just don't hear about everyday!
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Very cool!
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Electron microscope rock and roll science!
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The stolen fries are sweetest - science proves it!
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/chips-fries-stolen-tastes-better-study-b2966173.html
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So, extrapolating out from that, one could posit that thievery leads to a more pleasurable life!
Finally I can get my tai-chi forms done without hearing the Commodores screaming, "Celebrate," in my ears at 195 dB!
No more Kool & The Gang doing "Brick House" at top volume whilst doing goat yoga!
I just caught this. lol Don't ask me what I was thinking. Although they do have a tune called Celebrate, that obviously was not what I was going for.
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So, extrapolating out from that, one could posit that thievery leads to a more pleasurable life!
Finally I can get my tai-chi forms done without hearing the Commodores screaming, "Celebrate," in my ears at 195 dB!
No more Kool & The Gang doing "Brick House" at top volume whilst doing goat yoga!
I just caught this. lol Don't ask me what I was thinking. Although they do have a tune called Celebrate, that obviously was not what I was going for.
:smug: