Kornblumenratte

@Kornblumenratte@feddit.org

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Hertz, showing the difference between science and engineering⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago⁩:

  They did not use coal back then – I’m not sure whether it was even known to the Mediterranean culture. Forests were plundered for shipbuilding. Crude oil was only available as naphtha in the Middle East, barely enough for the local fishermen to pitch there boats and for the Byzantines to use in their flamethrowers. Furthermore, crude oil was not used in steam engines — you cannot shovel a heep of oil under a kettle. Fuel existed, yes, but they had no access to it.

  All it would have needed is fixing the steam exhaust and have it drive a shoveled wheel.

  So a completely different machine? Shoveled wheels were invented centuries after Heron. Even if they played with such a setup – an open, non-pressurized turbine has no usable power. To use steam, you’ll have to pressurize it, and the technology to tame high pressure was only developed to build cannons that do not burst.

  In the history of the steam engine, the fuel supply was available before the engine. IIRC, Watt’s incentive for the invention of the steam engine was the need to drain coal mines.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Hertz, showing the difference between science and engineering⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Herons steam “engine” had no power whatsoever and was not scalable. And even if it would have been scalable, they had had no fuel to drive it.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨I'll just take the bus⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  I just checked some brands, and you are correct: currently both cost the same.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨world changes so fast⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  [1939](en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flash}

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨I'll just take the bus⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Actually there used to be another, more important reason:

  Back in the old days, automatic transmissions accelerated pretty slowly. It was not possible to accelerate normally – or what we thought to be normal. No one in their right mind would pay ~5–10 % more (automatic transmissions used to be expensive) to get a lame car and annoy everybody at every traffic light. I don’t know when automatic transmissions got as fast as manual shifting, but this memo hasn’t reached Europe yet.

  And, last but not least, and only still valid argument: automatic transmissions are still more expensive than manual ones. Why should I pay extra money for some fancy tech with no extra benefit that takes away my illusion of control and feels horrible to drive?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Exposure might cause suffocation⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Depends on a lot of circumstances – weight, kidney and heart function, temperature, activity. The people I saw developing hyponatriema drank more than 4–5 l tap water. Desalinated water will cause problems sooner.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Ah, I got that wrong. Yes, Windows XP was the rebranded Windows NT 5. Thank you for the correction.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨>:)>⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  No, it wasn’t. Or to be exact, we don’t know, but it’s highly unlikely. In 2009, the bone growth pattern of Myotragus was thought to occur only in cold blooded animals, but in 2012 they found it is widespread in extant mammals as well.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  AFAIK, Windows was discontinued after Vista. Windows 7 is actually the 7^th iteration of the Microsoft version of OS/2, which was rebranded as Windows NT with the release of the third version, and as Windows sine NT with the seventh version. Windows 9 had to be skipped because a sloppy version check for Windows 95/98 would have failed.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨doctors⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  People are more complicated than cars, and surgeons are no magicians. I think your idea of the reason of your mother’s surgeon for refusal might be a bit off:

  1. Without adequate pre- and post-op physiotherapy, a joint will likely be worse after surgery.

  2. If simple physiotherapy is already too painful, cutting into this overexcited tissue risks inducing a complex regional pain syndrome.

  3. If someone suffers from both depression and from too much pain to do physiotherapy, they need a multimodal pain therapy to prepare for surgery.

  So, based on the bit of info you provided, refusing surgery was very likely the right thing to do to avoid worsening your mother’s situation. What I di hate is when doctors don’t explain themselves and just say “I can’t help you”, but do not point patients to someone who can.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨RIP obsolete tech⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  On work we accumulate a wealth of pesonal notes, forms, links, articles etc. We are strictly forbidden to use USB-Sticks, but the DVD-Burner are still working…

  My last DVD was a Knoppix though, just for the fun of it.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why didn't *I* think of that?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  They would look super cool? They do look super cool!

  Krämerbrücke Erfurt

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  That’s actually not true. It’s made out of dozends independent non-profit organizations that are backed by hundreds of companies. And thousands of different independent hobby projects.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨You have got to be kidding me...⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Dementia kills very slowly – if at all.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨You'll never see it coming⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  “We like to destroy the universe at least every couple of months.”

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Huh? ϡψφϟβμχ⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  No, I don’t get the joke of conflating Yiddish and Russian. Would you be so kind to enlighten me?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Huh? ϡψφϟβμχ⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I’m pretty sure that “Oy wey” is Yiddish, not Russian.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Boil em, Mash em, Stick them in a Stew⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Maybe the glycoalkaloid content differs between potatoe sorts? I have used sprouted potatoes my whole life without any issues whatsoever. Might have been just lucky that our potatoes are low on glycoalkakoids?

  Ok – this is the official statement of the German Federal Agency for Risk Assessment.

  TL;DR

  • there have been only a couple of reports of glycoalkaloid poisoning through potatoe consumption during the last 100 years.
  • sprouts, green parts and the skin of potatoes contain glycoalcaloids
  • cooking reduces glycoalcaloids.
  • peeled and cooked potatoes are safe to eat.

  Culinary preferences might make the difference: in Germany potatoes are eaten peeled = very low risk of poisoning, while my Canadian host family ate potatoes with their skin = slightly higher risk of poisoning, especially if you cut out sprouts but leave the skin.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Subscribe now for more clicks!⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s not a meme.