Oddities, curiousities and strangness in history

Oooh-er
That was fun

Is it some fancy artificial hydrophobic material or like ... how does that work?

this is fun:

http://blog.cosmosmagazine.com/blog/2015/3/3/what-earths-other-moon-could-tell-us-about-the-solar-system

Mmm, seems to be some debate in the comments section about the facts in that article- both the dating of the discovery and if its orbiting us or the sun.

Looks like we only get to keep it for another 8,000 years. It's just a casual hook-up really. Still, we might as well enjoy the relationship while it lasts....

On cloning wooly mammoths:
http://phys.org/news/2014-11-year-old-blood-mammoth-cloning-closer.html

The quote of the day:

'So actually coming face-to-face with a mammoth in the flesh, and being up to my elbows in slippery, wet, and frankly rather smelly mammoth liver, counts as one of the most incredible experiences of my life.

The molar teeth of mammoths and elephants, which are closely related, are replaced six times throughout their lives. Once the last set wears down, the animal generally starves and dies.

Though given all the other horrible ways to die I suppose starvation is one of the gentler options.

talking of horrible ways to die, theres this tv programme called Outlander with a redhead in a kilt, I was wondering whether to watch it. doesn't seem to mention Buckie so maybe its safe to watch.

Eiffel Tower being built, I never imagine this bit, only think of it when its done.



Same with The Statue of Liberty. I only imagine it when its complete.

Weird to think it was meant to be up for only a year.

Cool

azriel wrote:
Eiffel Tower being built, I never imagine this bit, only think of it when its done.
Same with The Statue of Liberty. I only imagine it when its complete.

That's the part that always interested me. I was one of those obnoxious kids that was always asking. "But how did they do that? HOW? HOW?"

Theres things that boggle my brain like, how do they erect piers ? & Dams, imagine laying down the 1st blocks, & cable cars in the mountains ? & how on Earth does a lighthouse,perched on a tiny rock in the sea, keep upright & doesnt succumb to the powerful pounding of the waves ?

Hundreds of workers were killed or damaged for life by caisson's disease during the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. Metal caissons were sunk down, and compressed air pump in to expel the water, and people went down airlocks to work, and usually get debilitating cramps and joint aches.

Decades later it was identified as nitrogen narcosis, and scuba divers licked it by mixing in other gasses and slow decompression. But it was pure mystery in the Gilded Age.

And I thought I had a large pleco in my tank, which was at least 15 years old ... This one is huge. What you see here is only its head. "Pleco" stands for Plecostomus (or sucker fish), the ones that clean your tank windows.

"A Dull-Eyed Royal Pleco is displayed during a news conference before the 2012 Taiwan International Aquarium Expo in Taipei. The fish, more than 60 cm in length, is estimated more than 60 years old, according to its owner."

1902 lighthouse workers,



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