1

Just Chat! / Re: Are wine tasters legitimate?

« on: 08/12/2023 18:39:44 »

Yes, sommeliers are legitimate.

Is a Sommelier someone that fought at the Battle of the Somme?

2

Just Chat! / Are wine tasters legitimate?

« on: 08/12/2023 14:19:48 »

My late father was a wine enthusiast and I once brought up the topic of possible fakery in that little world he was in. I told him about a video I watched showing people like him getting fooled at a prestigious wine tasting. They were even fooled by glasses of cheap white wine with red food dye served in red wine glasses. The video's thesis, obviously, was to show that they're faking it. "Well, they're not wrong" was his response.

3

Physiology & Medicine / Do tranquilizers really work as fast as we see in crime fiction?

« on: 01/12/2023 17:16:28 »

It happens all the time, a character will instantly knock out another character with a tranquilizer such as etorphine. There was once a case where a woman killed herself in a way that made it look like a homicide. She bounded her hands and feet together behind her back and tightly tied a nylon stocking around her neck, all after injecting a lethal dose of morphine. Mustachioed cops and medical examiners agreed she was murdered, as they figured that a high amount of injected morphine would have made the task impossible. It would be a skeptical journalist who pointed out that an injection of morphine takes 15 to 30 minutes to take effect. Also, she had a motive for her suicide, which was a desperate act to finally convince people that her delusions were real.

4

Physiology & Medicine / Re: Does my mother possibly have ALS?

« on: 30/11/2023 17:26:48 »

If I had known that electromyography results are instant, I would have not posted this question. Anywho, she is fine. ALS has been ruled out.

5

Physiology & Medicine / Does my mother possibly have ALS?

« on: 30/11/2023 15:27:56 »

Last February my 74-year-old mother got surgery for her severe spinal stenosis and her recovery has not been great. She still feels weak and stuff walking around, and uses the walker her mom (my grandmother) used during the last few years of her life. Today she is getting an electromyography to rule out ALS. I explained to her how rare motor neurone disease is and that worrying about it has no benefit whatsoever. My mother, as her mother before her, lived a very active life and looks much younger than she actually is. So, you can see how awful it is for someone like her to have mobility problems..
ALS used to be a relatively unheard of disease until a decade ago with the the wave of viral Ice Bucket Challenge videos on YouTube. Now (for better or worse) almost everyone knows about this incurable menace and worry about having it or not. This, and the fact that my mom's partner died of ALS 13 years ago, will naturally produce these fears in one's mind.

6

Just Chat! / Would you fart in an elevator?

« on: 29/11/2023 16:25:01 »

The old belief that holding farts for too long can wreck internal organs has been thoroughly debunked. No need to worry about that. But, if you're in an elevator and have gas creeping in on you ready to be liberated- and have a minute or more to reach your destination-  would you, as a courtesy to fellow travelers, hold it in no matter how much it hurts?

7

Physiology & Medicine / If two people with full blown AIDS have sex, is there a risk? Can it get worse?

« on: 23/11/2023 14:43:18 »

Just a question.

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Just Chat! / Re: What is the purpose of "question of the week"?

« on: 13/11/2023 13:31:03 »

If it was switched to "Question of the Weak", what questions do you think people would ask?

9

Just Chat! / Re: Does every town in the UK have a football club?

« on: 12/11/2023 10:42:35 »

I think you guys also have a train station in every little town also. No people take more pride in their trains than the British. They invented them afterall.

10

Just Chat! / Does every town in the UK have a football club?

« on: 11/11/2023 16:20:21 »

I know you can count on an Anglican church, a pub and a World War One memorial, but is a football club another surefire thing?

11

General Science / Re: Why do candy bars thaw quickly?

« on: 05/11/2023 15:32:57 »

Softening of a liquid is not a phase change, just a reduction in viscosity.

I was about to report you to the British Physicist Guild or something for making up a scientific word until I found out it is an actual word.

12

General Science / Re: Why do candy bars thaw quickly?

« on: 04/11/2023 15:34:05 »

Because there's no phase change, there's no need to transfer latent heat.

If this is true, how do you explain their texture change?

13

Just Chat! / Wilson vs Heath

« on: 04/11/2023 15:30:36 »

It seems that in politics, the UK can be even more polarised than the U.S. During the 1960s there was Team Heath and Team Wilson. For the older englishmen reading this post, whose side were you on (or mostly on) and why?

14

General Science / Why do candy bars thaw quickly?

« on: 01/11/2023 09:35:34 »

When taken out of the freezer (the only good way to eat them I think) you have a good five minutes to devour them before becoming soft and boring to eat.

15

Physiology & Medicine / What challenges are there in building a better artificial heart?

« on: 28/10/2023 14:37:20 »

These mega-expensive devices were all the rave for a very brief period of time, until researchers apparently saw unimpressive results, which caused both private and public healthcare entities to not pay for them.

16

Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Can an arctic polar bear survive in Antartica?

« on: 25/10/2023 17:45:20 »

Obviously there's a reason why polar bears evolved around the North Pole instead of the South, and the conditions in Antarctica are colder and windier. The animals they kill and eat do not dwell in their southern counterpart. I mean, im sure penguins and seals would be hearty and tasty, but I doubt they would be able to catch them.

17

Physiology & Medicine / Re: Is consistently sweating under pressure a sign of bad health?

« on: 23/10/2023 14:43:39 »

I know you have doctors in America, half of the UK trained ones end up there.

This is true. My GP is from the Isles, and although he prefers his country's universal healthcare, he felt his long and strenuous medical education justifies a better paycheck. I'm sure he's right.

What is the rest of your family history like.

My paternal grandfather died a few days before his 30th birthday from Potts Disease, possibly caused by the treatment he received for his spinal injury, courteously a stielhandgranate. My maternal grandfather died at age 68 from an aneurysm, possibly caused by a 48 year battle with lupus which he acquired during the war. My uncle died from a heart attack last April at 59. I have another uncle that nine years ago had a heart attack at 67, and avoided a second one due to serious dietary modifications.

18

Physiology & Medicine / Is consistently sweating under pressure a sign of bad health?

« on: 21/10/2023 17:30:55 »

As I get older (i'm turning 42 on Halloween) I find myself more and more breaking a sweat when pressed for time on both mental and physical activities. I'm 6'2, 18 pounds overweight and had a father that died from sudden cardiac death at 66. Should I worry?

19

Technology / How accurate can AI be in determining color in B&W photos and videos?

« on: 14/10/2023 15:24:34 »

I read an article about a man selling his idea that there is a "DNA" in monochrome photos and video stills that reveal the actual color of objects and such by the shade of grey they project. My hang-up on this is he doesn't seem to acknowledge one important variable: shadows. Shadows of course affect the hue, which must sometimes fool AI in the final product. How can AI compesate them?

20

Just Chat! / Re: Should legislators receive royalties each time a law they wrote is enforced?

« on: 07/10/2023 15:29:23 »

Nothing wrong with the country - I appreciate every aspect of the landscape and natural history - but most of the time it seems to be governed by crooks elected by idiots obsessed with the right to kill each other and bankrupt the sick.

Perhaps the British Empire should rise again and bring their civility, stipulations and... uh never mind.