RabidMortal
RabidMortal t1_jcn8fjj wrote
Reply to comment by War_Hymn in Grad Student Explores Ancient Warfare With Naval Ram Project by kratos2025
Very helpful photo. Thank you!
RabidMortal t1_jck1nnw wrote
How exactly were these attached to the ships? If the ram got stuck in the target ship, was there any way to detach the ram??
RabidMortal t1_j9zq5f4 wrote
Reply to comment by greenappletree in TIL: "Popcorn" is not simply a descriptive term, but also refers to a specific variety of corn which has the unique characteristic of being able to pop, while the other five varieties of corn do not have this capability. by greenappletree
Yeah. Being an old variety is very interesting. I wonder if the trapped water of popcorn conferred some sort of evolutionary advantage during the domestication process?
RabidMortal t1_j9zm9lm wrote
Reply to TIL: "Popcorn" is not simply a descriptive term, but also refers to a specific variety of corn which has the unique characteristic of being able to pop, while the other five varieties of corn do not have this capability. by greenappletree
>Corn was domesticated about 10,000 years ago, in what is now Mexico.[3] Archaeologists discovered that people have known about popcorn for thousands of years. Fossil evidence from Peru suggests that corn was popped as early as 4,700 BC.
Wow. I didn't know this! Love thinking of Native Americans enjoying popcorn for thousands of years before the rest of the world.
RabidMortal t1_j9mibmr wrote
Reply to TIL about Jamaican Ginger AKA "Jake" which was popular during Prohibition for its high alcohol content. Unfortunately it caused paralysis leading to a distinctive walk called the Jake Walk or the Jake Dance. by HeavyMetalOverbite
>To make their products more palatable, manufacturers of Jamaica ginger began to illegally replace the ginger oleoresin with cheaper ingredients like molasses, glycerin, and castor oil, cutting costs and significantly diminishing the unpleasant ginger flavor.
>When the price of castor oil increased in the latter portion of the 1920s, Harry Gross, president of Hub Products Corporation, sought an alternative additive for his Jamaica ginger formula. He discarded ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol as being too volatile, eventually selecting a mixture containing triorthocresyl phosphate (TOCP), a plasticizer used in lacquers and paint finishing.
>...
>TOCP was originally thought to be non-toxic; however, it was later determined to be a neurotoxin that causes axonal damage to the nerve cells in the nervous system of human beings, especially those located in the spinal cord.
>...
>TOCP-adulterated Jake was identified as the cause of the paralysis,[10] and the contaminated Jake was recovered. But by that time, it was too late for many victims. Some did recover full, or partial, use of their limbs. But for most, the loss was permanent.
Nothing could go wrong using a lacquer plasticizer , right?
RabidMortal t1_j9ahpdf wrote
Reply to comment by namezam in A first-generation iPhone from 2007 sold for $63,356 at auction — more than 100 times its original price by dakiki
> Tl;dr that iPhone would have had to sell for $86k to be 10x the price of what it was in 2007.
You mean 100x
RabidMortal t1_iydb3e2 wrote
Reply to comment by Iaskquesti0ns in Psychological richness is 1 of 3 primary components of a good life, along with eudaimonia (meaning) and hedonia (pleasure). A psychologically rich life has varied experiences and perspective-changing moments that make life interesting. by Iaskquesti0ns
>taking a hard deterministic POV or a hard free-will-focused POV
Is there someplace that I can learn more about what this means? It sounds very interesting.
RabidMortal t1_jdv2jpk wrote
Reply to comment by atlantis_airlines in Oldest tartan found to date back to 16th Century - A scrap of fabric found in a Highland peat bog 40 years ago is likely to be the oldest tartan ever discovered in Scotland, new tests have established. by ArtOak
I was confused too. But this clarifies the significance
>He said that because the tartan contains several colours, with multiple stripes, it corresponds to what would be considered a true tartan
So the earliest "true tartan"
As a group, "tartans" (checkered woven wool) ARE much older, with the oldest tartan associated with Scotland being the Falkirk Tartan dating to the 3rd century.
However, when most people imagine a Scottish tartan, they are envisioning the more colorful plaid patterns of the so-called "true tartan" that specifically requires the use of dyed wools