The Cellar / Today I Learned....

**Posted by xoxoxoBruce** 1/03/2023 7:27 am

The Earth has that big old liquid Iron core which I'd guess has much more mass per cubic whatevers than the crust does.
So you'd have to know if the core was increasing proportional to the radius/diameter of the surface,
There are so many possible scenarios you can't legitimately make statements like they were making.
Or maybe you can because nobody can prove you wrong without knowing what parameters you used.
If the Earth was 50% larger in diameter but the additional girth was made up of Rice Krispie bars...

**Posted by tw** 1/03/2023 12:10 pm

Kellogg products only have a large price - not a large mass. Mass (not that thing in a church) is the relevant parameter.

Last edited by tw (1/03/2023 12:12 pm)

**Posted by TheNeverWas** 1/18/2023 8:02 pm

Today I Learned about:

Missouri’s Great Escaped Snake Scare of 1953

**Posted by monster** 1/18/2023 10:08 pm

Laypersons guide to calculating gravity: make a tiny joke and see whose lips twitch

**Posted by griff** 1/19/2023 7:31 am

TheNeverWas wrote:
Today I Learned about:

Missouri’s Great Escaped Snake Scare of 1953

That story had everything. Modern America's garden hoe shortage would probably lead to a series of burned buildings and stupid firearm accidents.

**Posted by Diaphone Jim** 1/19/2023 12:36 pm

This says 14 escaped, 11 killed and a "few" were caught.
Who the hell would import cobras?
It was only 12 years later that my car broke down in Springfield and everyone was super nice helping me.
I have read recently that that public safety has become a real concern there.

Cobras in Springfield, Missouri’s cobra scare of 1953 (thevintagenews.com)

**Posted by Diaphone Jim** 1/19/2023 12:44 pm

And then this: Cheers!
Ozarks Life: The Great Cobra Scare of 1953 (ky3.com)

**Posted by Diaphone Jim** 1/19/2023 12:50 pm

And
COBRA Scare Springfield, MO 1953 - YouTube

**Posted by tw** 1/19/2023 6:51 pm

Outside of a reptile show, I was talking to some who had just purchased baby pythons. They were also quite angry at one vendor. Who had a snake for which no anti-venom was nearby available. He had it in a plastic (tupperware type) box held closed only by duct tape.

Quite legal is to be irresponsible.

**Posted by TheNeverWas** 1/28/2023 1:19 pm

TIL about Tacoma WA's Ash Street Shootout.

Let me get this straight...You willingly entered into a gunbattle with Army Rangers???

Sure. Like ya do...

**Posted by tw** 1/28/2023 2:18 pm

TheNeverWas wrote:
TIL about Tacoma WA's Ash Street Shootout.

Somewhere between 100 and 300 rounds fired by between 17 and 35 shooters? And not one person (apparently) ended up in the hospital? This sound like another scene from the "A Team".

Apparently it is safe to get into a gun fight with Army Rangers.

**Posted by monster** 4/03/2023 9:12 pm

TIL don't take sudafed at night.

yes, I do now know that everyone else knew, but I so rarely take and drugs and they so rarely have the same effect on me as others.... this seemed to have passed me by.

As someone who struggles to sleep anyway.... it was an "interesting" night. All of it. Every damned second.

**Posted by griff** 4/04/2023 5:56 am

That's not great.

**Posted by footfootfoot** 4/17/2023 4:18 pm

I'm in North Carolina visiting my sisters.

TIL that those big ass trees that I would have sworn were rhododendrons turned majestically sylvan are, in fact, Sweetbay Magnolias and not giant rhododendrons.

In my defense they don't really grow up north and the leaves fucking look exactly like rhododendrons. Nevertheless, I now have about 30 photos of giant Magnolia tress...

**Posted by glatt** 4/18/2023 8:00 am

It's not that I dislike magnolia trees, but they make me uneasy. I feel comfortable around an oak, maple, tulip poplar, sycamore and many others. But the magnolia has these large stiff leaves that just seem almost like plastic or something when they fall. So tough. It's like a fake tree.

They are not uncommon here, and they look "fine" as in "ok" but they just don't sit well with me.

**Posted by tw** 4/18/2023 8:24 am

That one large tree is so close that its roots might be compromising the house foundation.

**Posted by footfootfoot** 4/18/2023 9:37 am

https://gardens.si.edu/learn/blog/the-botany-of-magnolias/
"Magnolias evolved on Earth as far back as 95 million years ago during the Cretaceous period. While there were dinosaurs at that time, bees still did not exist, so magnolias evolved to be pollinated by ancient insects—you may know them today as beetles. Due to this relationship magnolia flowers have tough carpels—the female parts of the flower—to avoid damage from beetle mandibles as they feed looking for pollen. The carpels also mimic the stamens—the male parts of the flower—to help trick the beetle into spending more time on the flower and ensuring pollination. "
Seems the leaves also developed to be beetle proof.

And yeah, that foundation was a bit uplifted by the tree.

Last edited by footfootfoot (4/18/2023 9:38 am)

**Posted by glatt** 4/18/2023 9:43 am

Yeah. Exactly. They are not of this world.

**Posted by Diaphone Jim** 4/18/2023 11:19 am

Uplift problems: Tree may have been there first. If planted after. there never seemed a good time to remove it
:

**Posted by griff** 4/19/2023 6:25 am

footfootfoot wrote:
https://gardens.si.edu/learn/blog/the-botany-of-magnolias/
"Magnolias evolved on Earth as far back as 95 million years ago during the Cretaceous period. While there were dinosaurs at that time, bees still did not exist, so magnolias evolved to be pollinated by ancient insects—you may know them today as beetles. Due to this relationship magnolia flowers have tough carpels—the female parts of the flower—to avoid damage from beetle mandibles as they feed looking for pollen. The carpels also mimic the stamens—the male parts of the flower—to help trick the beetle into spending more time on the flower and ensuring pollination. "
Seems the leaves also developed to be beetle proof.

And yeah, that foundation was a bit uplifted by the tree.

TIL

**Posted by Clodfobble** 4/19/2023 5:18 pm

There was a magnolia tree in front of my best friend's house, across the street from the house I grew up in. It was absolutely great for climbing--strong branches parallel to the ground, smooth bark that didn't scrape your legs... I have a special place in my heart for magnolia trees.

**Posted by Flint** 5/12/2023 12:31 pm

Remember this, "Reality hits you hard, bro?"
The newscaster in that viral video was Kari Lake, the election-denying MAGA politician.
She appears at 1:23 in this longer clip from Fox 10 Phoenix.

**Posted by monster** 11/11/2023 6:19 pm

TIL Chinese (Mandarin) for "know" sounds a little like Jedi.

**Posted by monster** 11/26/2023 9:20 pm

TIL what a Dutch Rub is. Not sure I needed to know, but now I do.

**Posted by Pete Zicato** 12/12/2023 1:42 am

Learned this factoid from my goddaughter who is in vet school: Female possums have two vaginas. Male possums have forked penises.