GoGaslightYerself

GoGaslightYerself t1_j63jdhr wrote

Reply to comment by NOVAbuddy in TIL that after scientists sequenced the genome of a tiger they found that it shares 95.6% of its DNA with the domestic cat, from which it diverged 10.8 million years ago. by countdookee

> What kind of organs and capabilities are locked up in that DNA that we can no longer access because we don’t have the raw inputs to make the code useful?

I don't know and am not qualified to even guess. But being that so much of it is identical -- the same sequence repeated over and over (a million times in the case of Alu) -- I suspect it carries about as much useful information as a dial tone.

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GoGaslightYerself t1_j63b2ez wrote

Reply to TIL that after scientists sequenced the genome of a tiger they found that it shares 95.6% of its DNA with the domestic cat, from which it diverged 10.8 million years ago. by countdookee

Only about 2% of the human genome codes for protein synthesis. On the other hand, about 50% of human DNA is so-called "junk DNA" that has no apparent function. It's believed that much of this DNA originally came from viruses.

Roughly 10% of the human genome consists of about a million scattered copies of a single 286-base sequence (or "sentence") of this "junk DNA" called "Alu." It's the genomic equivalent of meaningless SPAM, repeated endlessly...

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GoGaslightYerself t1_j602ssc wrote

Reply to comment by CareerMicDrop in TIL that World War II Spitfires only had about 20 seconds of 'gun time' before running out of ammo, making most movie depictions wildly inaccurate by TimmyIsBaller

> Every movie is wildly inaccurate.

Ya mean to tell me you can't get 23,573 rounds out of a seven-shot 1911 magazine without reloading? Who knew?!?

What I like best -- and this is in like every movie ever produced -- is how the bad guys never actually load their firearms until they get really mad and then it's SNICK-SNICK as they cycle the slides on their pistols or load their shotgun/rifle. The rest of the time, they're running around with unloaded guns! So realistic!

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GoGaslightYerself t1_j5jlvej wrote

Reply to comment by Jrubas in TIL that Titanic crewman Herbert Pitman made an attempt to row his lifeboat over to rescue people in the water, but was overruled by the other occupants of the boat, who were worried about people swarming them and duly complied. Pitman said that this haunted him throughout his life. by ChadExtra

There is also the issue in ethics/maritime law where you are obligated to render aid unless/until doing so endangers the safety of your vessel and the lives of those on board. If Pitman had rendered aid, and his decision to do so ended up with the lifeboat sinking or additional people dying as a result, he would have been culpable for that, too.

Basically, it's "damned if you do, damned if you don't."

No matter what happens, if anything goes wrong, it is generally always the master's fault, since he/she is "the boss."

At least that's what they taught us when I got my captain's license.

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GoGaslightYerself t1_j4qrqzh wrote

Reply to comment by ClamatoDiver in TIL The oldest known map of New York City, the Manatus Map, is lost; however, two 17th century copies of the map exist with slight differences. by wil540_

Lots of old history on the island. It's wild to imagine there once being farmland on Manhattan!

https://www.businessinsider.com/manhattan-nyc-farmland-photos-2017-6?op=1

So much has changed...my grandfather had his office in Manhattan, and my Dad said that when he was a kid, he used to take his 22 rifle with him on city buses to get from his home in north Jersey to a shooting range in Manhattan, and he said nobody really batted an eye ... can you imagine that happening today?

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GoGaslightYerself t1_j4q8hdg wrote

Reply to comment by ClamatoDiver in TIL The oldest known map of New York City, the Manatus Map, is lost; however, two 17th century copies of the map exist with slight differences. by wil540_

I also always heard that the skyline of NYC echoed the bedrock below -- with tall buildings built where the bedrock was near the surface, and shorter buildings built where the bedrock was deeper and harder to access without caissons -- but more recently I've read that this is a myth that is largely untrue...

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GoGaslightYerself t1_j4q30ec wrote

Reply to TIL The oldest known map of New York City, the Manatus Map, is lost; however, two 17th century copies of the map exist with slight differences. by wil540_

Municipal engineers still use the old maps of NYC to locate water-main breaks, etc., since an underground water-main break in one location will often follow old stream beds and then come up above-ground somewhere else...this helps them locate the broken pipe by following the old stream bed back uphill/upstream...

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GoGaslightYerself t1_j44yus3 wrote

Reply to comment by MadFxMedia in TIL Duck is considered a red meat by culinary standards. by BertyBert1

Huh. Here in many parts of the US, so-called "non-migratory" Canada geese (meaning that part of the population that takes up permanent residence) are considered pests and they have special hunting seasons to reduce their numbers. They'll do a number on a pond and the grass that surrounds it...it's like trying to walk on a greased floor.

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GoGaslightYerself t1_j2dawds wrote

Reply to TIL: in 2002 amateur astronomer Bill Yeung accidentally rediscovered the 3rd stage of Apollo 12s Rocket, after NASA misscalculated its discarding burn, causing it to enter a 40 year cycle switching between sun and earth orbits. by Anubis17_76

Are they saying that the object orbits the Earth for a while until all the planets align right, then leaves Earth orbit to orbit the Sun, then orbits the Sun for a while until all the planets align right, then returns to orbit the Earth again?

If so, that's wild. What are the chances? Seems like that's the kind of thing you couldn't pull off if you tried!

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GoGaslightYerself t1_j25iwd8 wrote

Reply to comment by PeachSnappleOhYeah in TIL Snow is an excellent insulator because it consists of about 90–95 percent trapped air (fresh). This is the reason why igloos are warmer inside than outside, and why some animals in colder regions build snow caves to spend the winter while hibernating. by SunCloud-777

The reason it takes a lot of heat to change the temperature of water, or to cause a phase change from solid to liquid, or from liquid to gas, isn't because "water is a poor conductor of heat," but rather because "water has a high specific heat," which is the amount of energy (calories, BTUs, etc) needed to change a given weight of the material (one gram) by a given amount (one degree celsius).

This is what makes water pretty much the "ideal material" to use to transmit power in things like steam engines (turbine steam engines are still heavily used in power generation) or to carry heat in things like engine cooling systems or residential/commercial heating systems.

Water really has quite a few remarkable properties from a scientific or engineering standpoint.

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GoGaslightYerself t1_j20wndx wrote

Reply to comment by shadow_pico in TIL Betty White was nominated in the 1st Emmy category for female performers in 1950, 1 of the first women to have full creative control of her own TV show, while she was still living at home with her parents, the1st woman to host her own talk show and 1st woman to win an Emmy for game show hosting by 54_actual

> she made it to 100 and did it with style.

She was definitely a good sport!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf4Q1FkC8Qg

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GoGaslightYerself t1_iydwc58 wrote

Reply to comment by bougienative in Today I learned that poinsettias were first cultivated by the Aztecs. They were brought to America by Joel Poinsett, from who they get their English name. by Underworld_Denizen

> America being a single continent divided into four regions

Wait, do what?

North America, South America, Central America, East America, West America, the Northeast, the Southeast, the South, the Southwest, the Midwest, the Sun Belt, the Bible Belt, the Rust Belt, and Tierra del Fuego.

I count 14

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GoGaslightYerself t1_ixj4qki wrote

Reply to TIL the band Grateful Dead got its name in 1965 after Jerry Garcia found the term in the Britannica World Language Dictionary along with the definition "the soul of a dead person, or his angel, showing gratitude to someone who, as an act of charity, arranged their burial". by big_macaroons

"The Grateful Dead Man" has a long history in folktales, so long that it is one of the numbered folk tale "motifs" cataloged by anthropologists like Stith Thompson. If I recall right, it is found in folk tales all over the world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grateful_dead_(folklore)

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GoGaslightYerself t1_ixb78qc wrote

Reply to TIL Before he was an actor, JOE PESCI was a barber and a musician. In his earliest days, he played guitar with several bands, including JOEY DEE AND THE STARLIGHTERS, an outfit that JIMI HENDRIX and Joe played guitar with at different times in the 1960s. by ftank318

He also played golf every day before working on "Home Alone"!

He also seems to be becoming a daily fixture on TIL!

Because he's funny and he amuses us, like a clown!

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