tell me something random

[astronelson 339]

Awful was once a synonym of awesome, but the meaning inverted over time.

[Hamish 1,370]

The human eyeball weighs approximately 28 grams.

[pagenotfound 53]

The world's largest calcite quarry is located in the northern part of my state, Michigan.

[Meg 368]

If you lay the Washington Monument down on its side, it would fit into main aisle of the National Cathedral in Washington, DC.

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: Meg

If you lay the Washington Monument down on its side, it would fit into main aisle of the National Cathedral in Washington, DC.quote>

Not as amazing as it sounds when you think about it. George's obelisk is 555 feet and change high. Seems huge looking at it, but horizontally, that's less than two football fields.

It's an interesting quirk of human perception that a vertical distance always seems a lot larger than horizontal distance of the same magnitude.

This is no doubt because in our world, we travel far more horizontally than we do vertically, and it's easier to do. Walking 555 feet is nothing. Climbing 555 feet up a ladder would be a daunting task. Many people commute several miles to work five days a week. Burj Dubai is half a mile high. Even Mount Everest tops out at only about 5½ miles above sea level, and the Challenger Deep is less than seven miles down from the surface.

Which brings me to another one of those little fun perspective facts: if you scaled a shiny new billiards ball up to the size of the Earth, the Earth would be smoother.

[Muck308 55]

Originally posted by; Duke87; Which brings me to another one of those little fun perspective facts: if you scaled a shiny new billiards ball up to the size of the Earth, the Earth would be smoother. quote>

Shut the front door, are you serious? That, my friends, is amazing, but after thinking about it, seems quite logical.

I don't have anything terribly interesting for you today. I'll just tell you last night was match night. My team was down 6-0 and ended up finishing the match 8-7. Still a loss but not a total wash like it started out. And guess who had 2 high tons last night? Your friendly neighborhood muck with a 20x3, 20x2, 20x3 (160 points) and a 19x3, 19x3, 19x3 (171points, also a "three in a bed").

I'm talking about a dart match by the way. Go Westies.

[Barbarossa 51]

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  Edited September 8, 2012 by Barbarossa  

[Chptrk 86]

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band put on an amazing show Sunday night. (According to my dad, it was one of their best.) For the middle part of the set, they played the entire Born to Run album, something they only did in Chicago and someplace else. And it was also my first Springsteen concert.

[astronelson 339]

The Grand Canyon is, on average, 1 mile deep and the bottom can be 15C (40F) hotter than the rim.

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: Chptrk

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band put on an amazing show Sunday night. (According to my dad, it was one of their best.) For the middle part of the set, they played the entire Born to Run album, something they only did in Chicago and someplace else. And it was also my first Springsteen concert.

quote>

Seriously?    I saw him in concert when Born to Run was released.  It was great.   Maybe I can catch him if he is coming to this area.

My random note of the day:

I was digging through a closet and found an old hair dryer.  Turns out it was recalled because it has an asbetsos lining.  Now I have to figure out how to dispose of asbetsos.

[SomeRandomAmerican 5]

The introduction of the EMD FT diesel locomotive, first produced in 1939, has been declared the single greatest advance in railway technology in history since George Stephenson's Rocket.

[Duke87 1,070]

Traffic on the Cross Bronx Expressway actually wasn't too bad this afternoon.

[Blazerhawk 162]

The Iowa Hawkeyes are currently ranked 1st in the ELO_CHESS system used by the BCS. Second is Boise State.

[SomeRandomAmerican 5]

I forgot to do the homework that is due first period tommorrow.

[Barbarossa 51]

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  Edited September 8, 2012 by Barbarossa  

[Hamish 1,370]

Dolphins can swim and sleep at the same time.

[SomeRandomAmerican 5]

Last year, it cost $40,000 to fill the gas tank of the average American diesel locomotive.

[Barbarossa 51]

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  Edited September 8, 2012 by Barbarossa  

[astronelson 339]

You can make a pythagorean triple by:

1: Taking any two whole numbers (a and b).
2: Finding twice their product (2*a*b).
3: Finding the difference of their squares (a²-b²).
4. Finding the sum of their squares (a²+b²).

The square of step 2 + the square of step 3 equals the square of step 4.

Using 1,218,426 for a, and 1,104,213 for b, I found:

265,274,568,107² + 2,690,803,657,476² = 2,703,847,266,845²

Proof that step 2 squared + step 3 squared = step 4 squared:

(2ab)2 + (a2-b2)2 = (a2+b2)2
4a²b² + a⁴ - 2a²b² + b⁴ = a⁴ + 2a²b² + b⁴
QED.
 

[pagenotfound 53]

I just got finished eating a sandwich and some milk.

[SomeRandomAmerican 5]

I tried out to be the emcee for all school events, and felt good about it. Then I got denied. Oh well.

[Barbarossa 51]

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  Edited September 8, 2012 by Barbarossa  

[Blazerhawk 162]

There are exactly 16,277,216 colors possible using 24-bit color patterns.

[astronelson 339]

The square root of -1 is i.

One of the fifth roots of i is i.

[Barbarossa 51]

.

  Edited September 8, 2012 by Barbarossa  

[SomeRandomAmerican 5]

The seven largest railroads in North America all pass through Chicago, and they are: Norfolk Southern Railway, CSX Transportation, Union Pacific, BNSF Railway, Kansas City Southern, Canadian Pacific, and Canadian National.

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: astronelson

The square root of -1 is i.

One of the fifth roots of i is i.quote>

Alright, now you're asking for it.

e^ix = i sin(x) + cos(x)

Oh, but I'm not going to just post that formula, I'm going to prove it:

Got all that?

[Chptrk 86]

Duke87 just started something that we're all going to regret...

[SomeRandomAmerican 5]

Duke87 made me remember why I suck at math.

[astronelson 339]

I understood all that Duke87 posted. And can spot a major omission. x must be measured in radians, as per mathematical convention. This leads to the very beautiful solution e^i*pi + 1 = 0.