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Open thread 2/28/22 — 30 Comments

  1. If all normal humans could rotate their heads 358 degrees in either direction, we would be watching videos explaining why this is so.

    I can imagine the arguments the experts would be forwarding.

    “When early humans were hunched over a kill or carrion, the ability to turn their heads almost in a full circle allowed these early humans to keep an eye on approaching predators. This gave early humans, who were not fleet of foot and were basically defenseless against faster and more deadly predators, the ability to better survive in the African savannas. This gave early humans an evolutionary advantage.”

    One can always find an argument to support a thesis when the “answer” is known.

  2. John Tyler–
    I think it was Stephen Jay Gould who called that kind of theory a “Just So” story after Kipling’s series.

  3. Just another comment about an information source for the war in Ukraine.

    More than any other war, this one has been captured by cell phone videos, which are then published to Twitter. MilitaryLand.net has done a good job of compiling those videos and images (https://twitter.com/Militarylandnet).

    The MilitaryLand site has also been publishing a daily summary, along all fronts, of the invasion. The summaries are illustrated with maps (https://militaryland.net/ukraine/invasion-day-4-summary/).

    According to the day-4 summary, Russian forces have reached the northern outskirts of Kiev.

  4. speaking of Ukraine:

    Cuba (run by Obama’s good pal and fellow baseball fan, Raul Castro), Venezuela (run by Chavez successor, Maduro), and Nicaragua (danny ortega’s kingdom) have all announced their support of Putin.

    I am not making this up, though I don’t think it’s a surprise.

    Remember this when leftist s**t heads – who have never seen a leftist tyrant they do not fall in love with – like Obama or Hollywood types (think Sean Penn’s love of Venezuela’s Chavez) or many demokrat politicians or Jesse Jackson make their pilgrimage to these nations and bend over for these tyrants.

  5. }}} 97% of all scientists agree with the sponsors of their grants.

    Now if only we could stop them adjusting the results to match their biases.

    :-/

  6. Art Deco @ 10:42am,

    Ouch! That song! And the dance number it’s set to! I remember seeing the original when I was a child, but had no idea there was a musical made of “Lost Horizon” in the ’70s.

    A sincere thanks. One of my guilty pleasures is big spectacles that bomb and your link led me down a path of reading about the film’s failure. It’s such a fascinating thing. Creative people with true talent can align to make something that works brilliantly, but so often cannot also see when something is failing, miserably.

  7. John,
    Iran and Syria have also expressed support. No surprises there, of course.

    (I assume that means that the Iranians will not get the chance to shoot down another Ukrainian airliner any time soon.)

  8. Ha, I remember seeing the Lost Horizon remake as a kid in the 70s, but had no memory of it being a musical.

  9. Regarding neo’s post,

    Because 5 digits is the optimal number. That’s how evolution works.

    Humans are born with extra digits. It’s rumored; Drew Carey, Oprah Winfrey and Halle Berry were born with extra digits. Tennis player Mariah Sharapova has an extra toe on each foot and major league baseball pitcher Antonio Alfonseca had extra fingers AND toes.

    I get that some things might be highly unlikely to evolve, and once they do they stick around, but we have examples of human DNA mutating to extra digits frequently, so that argument, made in the video, does not seem relevant in this case. And, surely it happens just as often with other species of animal.

    And the video itself gives examples of animals, like a type of frog, that have different numbered digits on their hands and feet. Some interesting information in the video, but I think the great mystery implied is a stretch. Why do all arachnids have 8 legs? Because 6 and 10 are less optimal. Why do all insects have six legs? Because 4 and 8 are less optimal.

  10. I’m going to promote this because, hey, “Open Thread”
    as well as
    SCIENCE!!

    American Heritage of Invention and Technology Magazine
    Archive (1985-Present)
    https://www.inventionandtech.com/magazine/archive

    In particular, you may find the following stories good:
    The Color War
    https://www.inventionandtech.com/content/color-war-1

    The Color War Goes To The Moon
    https://www.inventionandtech.com/content/color-war-goes-moon-1

    And, if you’d read this in 1992, then what happened with Katrina would have been no surprise at all.
    The Pumps Of New Orleans
    https://www.inventionandtech.com/content/pumps-new-orleans-1

  11. RTF– I can’t help noticing that the video shows a cute kitten at one point but fails to mention polydactyly as a common variant in domestic cats. Ernest Hemingway was once given a polydactyl white cat by a ship’s captain and thereafter made room on the grounds of his house at Key West for other polydactyl cats. He named his cats after famous people, and the curators of his home/museum continue that tradition (no, I don’t think any of them are named either “Biden” or “Putin”). As the Hemingway cats’ web page notes, polydactyly can appear in any breed or color of Felis catus.

    “The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum is home to approximately 60 polydactyl (six-toed) cats. Cats normally have five front toes and four back toes. About half of the cats at the museum have the physical polydactyl trait but they all carry the polydactyl gene in their DNA, which means that the ones that have 4 and 5 toes can still mother or father six-toed kittens. Most cats have extra toes on their front feet and sometimes on their back feet as well. Sometimes it looks as if they are wearing mittens because they appear to have a thumb on their paw.”

    Pictures of some of the Hemingway cats at the link:
    https://www.hemingwayhome.com/our-cats

  12. PA Cat,

    Thanks! I was not aware of that!

    Have you watched the film, “The Electrical Life of Louis Wain” on Amazon Prime?

  13. OBloody Hell,

    The story of what RCA did to poor, Philo Farnsworth is really terrible.

  14. I also didn’t understand the video’s claim that legs may be uniquely difficult to evolve and may have only evolved once. Isn’t the commonly accepted theory that the cetaceans evolved from land dwelling animals that had evolved from marine animals? If flippers evolved to legs, then back to flippers, why not legs again, if needed?

  15. RTF–

    More on polydactyl cats, including two who lived in the White House: TR had a polydactyl cat named Slippers, and GWB had an orange polydactyl named Ernie (after Hemingway, natch).

    More about Slippers: “Slippers also had no sense of decorum. Once, during a formal dinner, Slippers flopped himself down for a nap right in the middle of the corridor that the dignitaries were using to get to the dining room. What could they do? All those important people walked around the imperial feline. Perhaps this attitude was born because Roosevelt often allowed Slippers to ‘attend’ formal dinners in the White House, so Slippers simply assumed he belonged at the head of the line.”

    https://www.presidentialpetmuseum.com/theodore-roosevelts-slippers/

    Ships’ captains considered six-toed cats to be good luck for their vessels: “Because of the regional exclusivity of the trait, polydactyl cats have been instrumental in helping researchers plot human population migrations [IOW, that particular aspect of human evolution]. Researchers have found that areas settled by Boston immigrants or that were on commercial shipping routes have a noticeably higher population of extra-toed cats.”

    https://www.bhg.com/pets/cats/cat-health/extra-toe-cats/

  16. RIP Gary Brooker, founder of classy Procul Harum, whose “A Whiter Shade of Pale”, along with albums “Salty Dog” and “Grand Hotel”, earned their places in many a fan’s rock pantheon.

  17. Fool: The reason why the seven stars are no more than seven is a pretty reason.
    Lear: Because they are not eight?
    Fool: Yes, indeed: thou wouldst make a good fool.

  18. I always thought Vivian’s nose ring on “The Young Ones” looked like he had snot dangling perpetually from his nose. It was on purpose — that was a humor show. It still looks like snot dangling from this chick’s nose and is kind of distracting. I keep thinking of Vivian from ‘The Young Ones.”

  19. Lee Also,

    “The Young Ones” was quite good. Very topical. (and I agree, I found the woman’s choice of jewelry distracting)

  20. RIP Gary Brooker, founder of classy Procul Harum, whose “A Whiter Shade of Pale”, along with albums “Salty Dog” and “Grand Hotel”

    Le Mot Juste:

    Yes, indeed. A toast to Gary Brooker and Procol Harum!

    Since Rufus is talking cats, wiki has settled the question of the band’s name via a quote from Keith Reid, the band’s lyricist:
    _______________________________

    It’s the name of a cat, a Siamese cat. It’s the pedigree name, and it belonged to a friend of ours, just somebody that we used to hang out with when we were forming the band. One day, somebody pulled out the cat’s birth certificate and said ‘Have a look at this’, and the name of the cat was Procol Harum.
    _______________________________

    In the years since I’ve come to regard “Salty Dog” as Procol’s best album, but I’m still quite fond of “Shine On Brightly” — my first Procol album.
    _______________________________

    …let me remind you of the pilgrim
    who asked for an audience with the Dalai Lama.

    He was told he must first spend five years in contemplation.
    After the five years, he was ushered into the Dalai Lama’s
    presence, who said,
    ‘Well, my son, what do you wish to know?’
    So the pilgrim said,
    ‘I wish to know the meaning of life, father.’

    And the Dalai Lama smiled and said,
    ‘Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn’t it?’

    –Procol Harum, “In Held ‘Twas In I” (Part 1)” (from “Shine On Brightly”)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDSFQzyfcHU

    _______________________________

    That says it all!

  21. @ Rufus > “The story of what RCA did to poor, Philo Farnsworth is really terrible.”

    You and OBH might want to watch this delightful movie.
    Would tell you more but that would spoil the mystery.

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110939/
    Radioland Murders (1994)

    The Internet Knows Everything!
    (Sure, you could read Wikipedia instead, but what fun is that?)

    https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/philo-farnsworth

    Philo Farnsworth conceived the world’s first all-electronic television at the age of 15. By the time he died, he had earned over 300 U.S. and foreign patents for electronic and mechanical devices.

    Philo Taylor Farnsworth was born in 1906 in southwestern Utah in a log cabin built by his grandfather, a follower of the Mormon leader, Brigham Young. As a young boy, Farnsworth loved to read Popular Science magazine and science books. By the time he entered high school in Rigby, Idaho, he had already converted most of the family’s household appliances to electrical power.

    Farnsworth was particularly interested in molecular theory and motors, as well as then novel devices like the Bell telephone, the Edison gramophone, and later, the Nipkow-disc television. In 1922, Farnsworth sketched out for his chemistry teacher his idea for an “image dissector” vacuum tube that could revolutionize television.

    Neither Farnsworth’s teacher nor anyone else around him had ever heard of the “television,” which in the 1920s meant a device that mechanically scanned an image through a spinning disc with holes cut in it, then projected a tiny, unstable reproduction of what was being scanned on a screen. Farnsworth imagined instead a vacuum tube that could reproduce images electronically by shooting a beam of electrons, line by line, against a light-sensitive screen.

    In 1922, Farnsworth entered Brigham Young University, but when his father died two years later, Farnsworth had to take a public works job in Salt Lake City to support his family. But he never abandoned his dream, and in 1926, he convinced some friends to fund his invention efforts. The next year, while working in San Francisco, Farnsworth demonstrated the first all-electronic television (1927). This helped him to secure more funding and threw him and his associates into a complicated contest to set industry firsts.

    In 1930, the same year that Farnsworth was granted a patent for his all-electronic TV, his labs were visited by Vladimir Zworykin of RCA, who had invented a television that used a cathode ray tube (1928) and an all-electric camera tube (1929). This led to a patent battle that lasted over ten years, resulting in RCA’s paying Farnsworth $1M for patent licenses for TV scanning, focusing, synchronizing, contrast, and controls devices.

    Meanwhile, there were widespread advances in television imaging (in London in 1936, the BBC introduced the “high-definition” picture) and broadcasting (in the U.S. in 1941 with color transmissions). During World War II, despite the fact that he had invented the basics of radar, black light (for night vision), and an infrared telescope, Farnsworth’s company had trouble keeping pace, and it was sold to ITT in 1949.

    Farnsworth’s other patented inventions include the first “cold” cathode ray tube, an air traffic control system, a baby incubator, the gastroscope, and the first (albeit primitive) electronic microscope. From the 1950s until his death, his major interest was nuclear fusion. In fact, in 1965 he patented an array of tubes, called “fusors,” that produced a 30-second fusion reaction.

    Farnsworth, who never enjoyed good health, died of pneumonia in 1971 before he could complete his fusion work. However, the average TV set sold that year included about 100 items originally patented by him. Today, amidst cable, satellite, digital, and HD-TV, Philo Farnsworth’s reputation as one of the “fathers of television” remains strong.

    There’s something about people named Vladimir …

  22. Wikipedia has more details, of course, including this:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philo_Farnsworth

    …A bronze statue of Farnsworth represents Utah in the National Statuary Hall Collection, located in the U.S. Capitol building.[69] On January 28, 2018, amid extended debate and over sizable public objection,[70][71] the Utah Legislature voted to replace it with one of Martha Hughes Cannon.[72][73]

    Footnote [73]
    https://www.sltrib.com/news/2018/01/29/bill-to-replace-utah-statue-of-tv-inventor-philo-farnsworth-with-martha-hughes-cannon-passes-senate/

    The Utah Senate voted 21-7 Monday to advance a bill that would replace a statue of TV inventor Philo T. Farnsworth in Washington, D.C., with that of Martha Hughes Cannon, the first woman state senator in Utah and the country.

    Supporters of the switch portrayed it as a way to both honor the past and acknowledge the present.

    Many senators wore yellow roses, which once signified support for the women’s suffrage movement, as they alluded to the current cultural reckoning around women’s role in politics and beyond. This was a nod to Cannon’s part in helping Utah women gain the right to vote more than 40 years before Congress passed the 19th Amendment.

    Weiler’s bill would swap Farnsworth’s statue with Cannon’s, which now sits outside the Utah state Capitol.
    But some senators spoke in favor of keeping Farnsworth, who was born in Beaver, Utah, and attended Brigham Young University, in his place in D.C. His statue has been on display there since 1990.

    Farnsworth created a number of inventions, and his corporation at one time held more than 150 patents. However, he is best known for the technology that made television possible.

    At the time the Legislature in 1987 selected Farnsworth to join the statue of Mormon leader Brigham Young, Utah was one of six states that had only one statute in D.C.

    Ridgecrest Elementary School principal Bruce Barnson was the mastermind behind the lobbying effort that secured Farnsworth’s place there. His students conducted research to determine which historical figures would best represent Utah in the nation’s capital, studying 21 prominent Utahns and surveying 400 residents across the state before settling on Farnsworth.

    Treva Barnson, Bruce’s wife said after the vote the couple was “very, very sad” that the measure had passed, but hopeful it would fail in the House.

    “I think Utah is just going to be a laughingstock,” she said, reiterating Farnsworth’s importance to both Utah and the United States. “To think that our senators don’t have anything better to do is just — it’s appalling. It really is.”

    The resolution now moves on to the House for consideration.

    More human interest here.
    https://www.cottonwoodheightsjournal.com/2018/05/08/172882/return-farnsworth-statue-to-capitol-urges-former-ridgecrest-principal

  23. The Utah Senate voted 21-7 Monday to advance a bill that would replace a statue of TV inventor Philo T. Farnsworth in Washington, D.C., with that of Martha Hughes Cannon, the first woman state senator in Utah and the country.

    Why is it wherever you look that about 2/3 to 3/4 of the Republican politicians in any venue are useless?

  24. The woman doing the presentation appears to have had some dort of piercing or something. It was shiny, and would catch the light, and thereby detract me from what she was saying.

    I asked a PhD friend of mine, maybe a decade ago, for my kid, why should they consider getting a PhD. What did they learn doing it? He responded that a good PhD program will greatly improve their ability to both speak and write. And, for my kid, it seemed to work. Their spouse-to-be commented at their dissertation defense how much better they spoke then, as compared to their senior thesis defense five years earlier.

    My point here is that this woman has, no doubt, spent years developing a good public speaking style, then apparently thrown much of that effort away through some sort of personal vanity or something. But then, I managed to make it to 70 without a single piercing or tattoo. Of our three kids, and their respective spouses, the three women have pierced ears, which my wife does too – except that hers keep healing shut. But there is one of our kids’ spouses who may have gone overboard, and I think that their career may have suffered. I don’t understand it. Never will at my age.

  25. AesopFan,

    Just watched the trailer for “Radioland Murders.” That’s one of the best trailers I’ve ever seen! I will definitely check that movie out. However, written by George Lucas is a big warning flag for me, but maybe ol’ George will surprise me. For once.

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