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Everything you ever wanted to know but were afraid to ask

Started by The Region Legion, June 16, 2004, 12:31:07 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

terminallyrelaxed

On the contrary - many Kamikaze missions took place in daylight hours - easier to see the target, d'you see - and the Nipponese airforce made full use of the suicide-inducing Steve Wright In The Afternoon (which was surely broadcasting then, as it has been since the beginning of time) to keep the chaps on form.
Don't listen to any nonsense about radar-station-updates and communication between wingmen shouting "Torah! Torah!" at each other, you know I'm right.

Some Herbert

Quote from: "Santa's Boyfriend"What created the Big Bang?

Sir! Sir! I know the answer!

Actually, I don't, and neither does anyone else. But there are some interesting theories, my favourite being the theory of cyclic universes. This theory posits that the universe has neither a beginning nor an end - it just expands and contracts for an infinite period of time. At the 'crunch points' in each cycle, matter either disappears into a singularity (a point of infinite density) or fails to fully coalesce and becomes explosively unstable, thereby starting the big bang process over again.

Although ultimately unproveable, I like this theory because it neatly disposes of the need for a creator God. From a philosophical perspective though, I guess it's a matter of choice.

Some Herbert

Quote from: "Johnny Yesno"
Quote from: "DevlinC"I can understand black people having black skin.. something to do with it being hotter where they're from so they evolved to have extra protection or something (could be lies of course).. but this one totally puzzles me.

That's what I don't understand. I get called a numpty for wearing black when it's hot but lots of Arabs wear black in the desert and no one calls them a numpty. Lots of people from hot climates are black. They should be silver. People from colder climates should be black.

This is something I've wondered about for long time. In school you are taught that dark coloured objects absorb more heat energy than light coloured ones. Therefore surely white skin should afford better protection from the sun than dark skin?

gazzyk1ns

In my experience, most people here pride themselves on being the most intelligent/cultured people regularly posting on an internet forum. If nobody answers my brake caliper question, then I'll be forced to ask it on a gary boy site and have them provide me the answer.

no_offenc

Quote from: "Some Herbert"
Quote from: "Johnny Yesno"
Quote from: "DevlinC"I can understand black people having black skin.. something to do with it being hotter where they're from so they evolved to have extra protection or something (could be lies of course).. but this one totally puzzles me.

That's what I don't understand. I get called a numpty for wearing black when it's hot but lots of Arabs wear black in the desert and no one calls them a numpty. Lots of people from hot climates are black. They should be silver. People from colder climates should be black.

This is something I've wondered about for long time. In school you are taught that dark coloured objects absorb more heat energy than light coloured ones. Therefore surely white skin should afford better protection from the sun than dark skin?

Melanin, which is the pigment that gives colour to skin, hair etc, provides protection from UV radiation, and those with more active melanocytes (the things that produce it), who have brown to almost-black skin, tend to have a much greater resistance to skin cancer as well as other ailments caused by over-exposure to the sun.

Cerys

Quote from: "gazzyk1ns"In my experience, most people here pride themselves on being the most intelligent/cultured people regularly posting on an internet forum. If nobody answers my brake caliper question, then I'll be forced to ask it on a gary boy site and have them provide me the answer.

The front wheel and rear wheel have different drives.  The brake caliper shapes vary accordingly, as set down by Lord Cedric Brankstone (1892-1957).

Happy?

gazzyk1ns

No, I don't understand, I can see how the surface area of the pads would affect the level of grip on the disc, and how the thickness, and type of disc (i.e. vented, slotted, drilled) would affect braking... but not the position of the caliper's grip.

Cerys

Well, obviously, one is going up as the other is going down, and the pressure required varies accordingly.  By about fifteen, usually; although it tends to depend on the weather.

gazzyk1ns

What? If one set of wheels was going in any other direction than "forward", then there would be massive tyre screeching from one or both sets each time you braked. This would result in massive noise, discomfort, and unnacceptable tyre wear/"spotting".

Cerys


Disco Dalek

Not so long ago I was search-dot-clicking frustratedly for some piece of (in retrospect no doubt criminally useless, irrelevant and tedious) information on the WorldGasmicPanGlobalInterglazedCommunityMcNet(TM), and I'd drawn a blank everywhichwhenwherewise. As a last resort, I found myself interrogating the Ask Jeeves website for guidance. After an interminable period which I can only assume constituted Jeeves' frenzied scrabblings amongst the musty shelves of his illustrious employer, this pleasantly attired sprite rematerialised on my screen to politely inform me that he was unable to assist me with my enquiry, but might I be interested in purchasing the following books / CDs / DVDs / tap-rinsable masturbation appliances incorporating sustainable resources of non ecologically-threatened shellfish? Declining this generous offer, I then typed in the following question (based on prior experience with Ask Jeeves):

"Why is it that whenever I ask Jeeves anything (even elliptically, courtesy of the pathologically sodomised geometry intrinsic to the mathematics of Jeeve's core search engine) relevant to such obscure themes as life, death, the universe, the human condition, technology, literature, politics, the arts, philosophy, birth control issues in Milton Keynes among the under-13's, special-offer Habitat sofas or recommended chamfer-specific die-cast machining tolerances for low-volume injection moulded plastics production runs, Jeeves invariably responds with a latently supercilious catalogue of banal consumer products he coyly suggests I might like - but which I can find and pick up at my local HMV cheaper anyway when I factor in the postal charges?"

I forget the original question that took me to Jeeves.
But I think his final answer had something to do with Leerdammer cheese and nitrous oxide.

And the DVD's great

Hope someone can help.
Or be helped.

gazzyk1ns

Quote from: "Cerys"Exactly!

No, you don't understand.

Can someone answer it please? Cheers.

Cerys

Damn, I'm sorry.  I wanted to see how long it would take.  I am a bad and nasty person, and am punishing myself accordingly with copious amounts of icecream.  That'll teach me.

gazzyk1ns

Yeah and I'm a rapist, get over it...

...if someone thinks your question has been answered then they'll not offer their knowledge, that's the only reason I was saying I needed an actual answer.

Cerys

Oops, sorry!  Although since I asked what kind of brakes you were talking about, and you didn't reply, I assumed you were taking the piss....

Speciality meat product

Well, I asked it on the Car forum i'm a member of (not a 'gary-boy' forum, I might add), and I only got one reply, which went a bit like:

Quote from: "Not a gary-boy"Ususally the rears are trailing calipers and the fronts leading, but some cars, Audi, porsche etc have both set in the trailing position.

I have no ide why though....

So there we go. Nobody knows.

gazzyk1ns

Hehe cheers Greedy (and sorry to Cerys for being a bit of a grump last night). What a mystery, I shall have to investigate further.

JJJJH

Why have I never seen anyone other than a caucasian with Downs Syndrome? Having said that, Google just turned up:

http://www.sujeet.com/

which doesn't mention where he was born or a great deal about his parents, but this guy is the only exception I've ever seen.

Anyone able to shed any light on this? I know it's caused by an error in the way the pattern of chromosomes are arranged, but (with my very, very limited knowledge of genetics) I can't see how that would make Downs Syndrome predisposed more towards caucasians, if it actually is, that is. Any help?

sproggy

Quote from: "Santa's Boyfriend"What created the Big Bang?

The Big Gas Leak.

5 Knuckle Shuffle

Quote from: "JJJJH"Why have I never seen anyone other than a caucasian with Downs Syndrome? Having said that, Google just turned up:

http://www.sujeet.com/

which doesn't mention where he was born or a great deal about his parents, but this guy is the only exception I've ever seen.

Anyone able to shed any light on this? I know it's caused by an error in the way the pattern of chromosomes are arranged, but (with my very, very limited knowledge of genetics) I can't see how that would make Downs Syndrome predisposed more towards caucasians, if it actually is, that is. Any help?
Well from what I have read, and I have very limited knowledge too, it doesn't matter what race you are. I am supposing, and this is just a suppose, that I know significantly less black people than white in this country, which is not surpising as there are many more white people than black. Now DS affects 1 in 800 births in the UK, so by subdividng the opposite cosine over the square root of the triangular prime number of the right sided isosceles, you get a result which says that you are less likely to come into contact with a black DS child/adult than you would do an adult.

Come to think of it, I only know, personally, of one DS child anyway, so the odds of meeting a black one is obviously far more remote surely?
However, this is what one website had to say about it:

QuoteDown syndrome prevalence is known to vary by race/ethnicity. Hispanic infants exhibit higher rates of Down syndrome than other infants, even after differences in maternal age was considered (CDC, 1994). Another investigation also found Down syndrome rates to be highest in Hispanics, followed by Asians, whites, Native Americans, and African-Americans (Chavez et al., 1988). One study reported increased risk of Down syndrome among offspring of Vietnamese mothers when compared with offspring of non-Hispanic white mothers in Californoa (Shaw et al., 2002). Racial/ethnic differences in Down syndrome rates may be due partly to differential use of prenatal diagnosis services.

sproggy

Quote from: "gazzyk1ns"
Quote from: "Cerys"Exactly!

No, you don't understand.

Can someone answer it please? Cheers.

It's probably something to do with the vector forces excerted on the cars chassis and suspension during braking.  If you notice, the axis of most cars front and rear suspension are not parallel, so the caliper is probably orientated to exert most force along each suspension's axis.

JJJJH

Cheers 5KS, which website did you grab that last bit from?

5 Knuckle Shuffle

Quote from: "JJJJH"Cheers 5KS, which website did you grab that last bit from?
http://www.tdh.state.tx.us/tbdmd/risk/risk3-downsyndrome.htm
It references some really interesting journals at the bottom of the page, if you can get hold of any of them.

zozman


Jet Set Willy

Cakes go hard when they get old, biscuits get soft when they get old

Jaffa cakes go hard when they get old

falafel

Quote from: "Jet Set Willy"Cakes go hard when they get old, biscuits get soft when they get old

Jaffa cakes go hard when they get old

There must be some sort of central point at which the cake-hardening and biscuit-softening converges: cakes rarely go as hard as biscuits, and vice versa. There is clearly a normative dough consistency, which can surely be worked out using simple algebra.

Or not.

hencole

Quote from: "JJJJH"Why have I never seen anyone other than a caucasian with Downs Syndrome?

I have. So ner. He was chinese by the way.

mwude

What are those circular black spinny things on the top of vans & what function do they serve?

Cerys

Quote from: "sproglette"
Quote from: "gazzyk1ns"
Quote from: "Cerys"Exactly!

No, you don't understand.

Can someone answer it please? Cheers.

It's probably something to do with the vector forces excerted on the cars chassis and suspension during braking.  If you notice, the axis of most cars front and rear suspension are not parallel, so the caliper is probably orientated to exert most force along each suspension's axis.

Ahem:

Quote from: "I"The front wheel and rear wheel have different drives.  The brake caliper shapes vary accordingly....

Quote from: "I also"Well, obviously, one is going up as the other is going down, and the pressure required varies accordingly.

I feel vindicated.  A bit.

Morrisfan82

Quote from: "zozman"Jaffa cakes - cakes or biscuits??
That old chestnut.

Surely it's as simple as: Jaffa Cakes do not contain biscuit, for a start. But additionally, they do contain sponge, which is usually the main component of a cake.

The exception being cheesecakes, which don't contain sponge, but confusingly contain biscuit.

Quote from: "mwude"What are those circular black spinny things on the top of vans & what function do they serve?
I was thinking about that the other day. I think they're just air vents, although I'd prefer to believe that they're driving a big wind-powered kebab in the back of the van.