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-   -   Things that make you go "Hmmmm…" (https://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?t=1256)

Dr Sardonicus 2019-06-21 20:29

Ahh, yes, the evils of nuclear radiation. [i]Them![/i] was the ants mutated into giants. Likewise with [i]Tarantula![/i]. There were giant grasshoppers, too.

[i]Gojira[/i] (Godzilla) was the monster awakened by nuclear radiation. A revised version had added scenes with an American reporter portrayed by Raymond Burr.

The giant insects and other unnaturally large animals apparently were impervious to the "square-cube law" first enunciated AFAIK in [u]Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences[/u] by Galileo Galilei.

jasong 2019-06-25 07:15

Why does it seem like all stars in adverts have 5 points on them?

Do rich CEOs look up at the sky and say,"Those stars totally have 5 points on them, no doubt about it. Not 4, not 6, not 7 or 8, no triangles or squares up there. They all have exactly 5 points."

Other than the star of Bethlehem, it seems like everybody wants stars to have 5 points.

Nick 2019-06-25 08:43

The stars on the flag of the European Union each have 5 points too.
I guess that 4 points would make them look like squares, while 6 points is a star of David.

retina 2019-06-25 08:54

Real stars don't have any points. They are, for the most part, circles (maybe slightly flattened circles if you look real close from the appropriate viewpoint).

xilman 2019-06-25 10:16

[QUOTE=retina;520036]Real stars don't have any points. They are, for the most part, circles (maybe slightly flattened circles if you look real close from the appropriate viewpoint).[/QUOTE]There are many images of real stars which have four or six points to them! Luckily my scope has a circularly symmetrical support for the secondary mirror and the (properly focused) images are circular, seeing permitting.

Close up, though, almost all stars are very nearly perfect oblate ellipsoids. Some are tidally distorted into ovoids and this effect can be measured by ground-based telescopes. Explanation on request.

retina 2019-06-25 10:58

[QUOTE=xilman;520042]There are many images of real stars which have four or six points to them![/QUOTE]There are also examples of hexagons and other shapes. But those are just imaging effects, not the actual star itself.

I am more impressed by the hexagon shape in the pole of one of those outer planets in our very solar system. What is that all about?

ewmayer 2019-06-29 18:39

[QUOTE=retina;520046]There are also examples of hexagons and other shapes. But those are just imaging effects, not the actual star itself.

I am more impressed by the hexagon shape in the pole of one of those outer planets in our very solar system. What is that all about?[/QUOTE]

Perhaps it's the frozen remains of a gigantic [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayleigh%E2%80%93B%C3%A9nard_convection]Rayleigh–Bénard convection cell[/url].

retina 2019-06-29 22:16

[QUOTE=ewmayer;520340]Perhaps it's the frozen remains of a gigantic [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayleigh%E2%80%93B%C3%A9nard_convection]Rayleigh–Bénard convection cell[/url].[/QUOTE]It changes with the seasons. Perhaps the aliens are still experimenting with their boiler.

kladner 2019-06-30 01:35

A brief explanation here.
[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn%27s_hexagon[/url]

pinhodecarlos 2019-06-30 18:03

This week three days traveling in and out of Cambridge visiting schools and a python on loose...

[url]https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-48818178[/url]

retina 2019-07-08 14:12

[url=https://www.moonofalabama.org/2019/06/boeings-software-fix-for-the-737-max-problem-overwhelms-the-planes-computer.html]Boeing's Software Fix For The 737 MAX Problem Overwhelms The Plane's Computer[/url]

They use 80286 CPUs. It won't even run P95 code, but it will control the entire aeroplane.

From the comments:[quote]But the concept of taking control away from the pilot to cover for an unstable hardware design is just simply out of this world, from the management land of greed and stupidity.[/quote]Short term profits are more important than lives, it seems.


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