Interesting Links for 01-12-2014

[andrewducker]

• Stunning resin art. Seriously, I thought this was real.
  (tags: art reality fish )
• How speakers make sound
  (tags: physics speakers sound )
• What do all the controls in an aeroplane cockpit do? (a _very_ detailed explanation)
  (tags: airplanes control design flight )
• English devolution: More than 100 councils demand more powers
  (tags: devolution

Comments

[bart_calendar]

Wait, it's been a while since I read the books, but didn't Mr. Weasley get a ton of shit from the Ministry Of Magic for driving his muggle car (or at least have to hide it or something?)

[simont]

I think the problem was that it was blatantly magical, wasn't it? He'd have been fine with an ordinary car that went on roads and obeyed traffic laws like anyone else's, but he thought it was more fun to have one that could fly, which meant the Ministry had to keep wiping the memories of Muggles who'd seen it.

[bart_calendar]

Gotcha!

It has been years - I just remembered there was something about him getting busted by them over driving a car.

[don_fitch]

Re: Saturated fats. About 20 years ago, following my first heart attack, I went on a strict no-fat diet (and I can be Really Compulsive when I want to). After six months, my blood-lipids/fats level was just about precisely where it had been. So, yeah, I can easily believe that for many or most people this stuff is not about food intake but about the individual's metabolism. As it happens, i rather dislike fatty/greasy food, generally avoid it, and suspect that this Study was paid-for by grease/diary people & might be Suspect, bur errr...mmm, yeah, I bought a dozen eggs a few days ago, and expect to eat them with no perceptible feelings of Guilt.

[andrewducker]

Yeah, I think the important thing here is not to feel guilty about eating fat.

(And possibly to eat less white bread and sugar.)

[drdoug]

The different airflow in nostrils giving you a better sense of smell is one of those things that makes me feel much dumber than evolution. That is a genius idea, that I would never have thought of.

It's a useful antidote to, say, the recurrent laryngeal nerve.

[andrewducker]

Now there's a body part with significant technical debt!

[kalimac]

My nostrils get stuffy at the same time. I feel unevolved.

If those Harry Potter trivia facts are all canon, why are they specifically labeled as from the 2014 editions? Didn't the last book come out seven years ago, or am I missing something?

Illuminated Silmarillion: This is impressive, and (according to my understanding of copyright) entirely legal as long as you make only one copy and don't sell it. I am reminded that the fan artist Patrick Wynne once created what claimed to be a woodcut illustration from a 15th century German edition of the Silmarillion. It was a real stunner.

[andrewducker]

The last book came out aaaages ago, but the 2014 editions have a "Facts" section at the start of each one - pulled from things JK Rowling wrote for Pottermore.

[octopoid_horror]

Watching the cold start videos of the DCS: KA-50 Blackshark or A-10 sims will also show what all those fiddly knobs in an aircraft do.

(a surprising amount of them appear to stop you bursting into flames on the tarmac, seemingly)