Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 2]

[PoleDriver]

Why do women use so much toilet paper?

When I'm on my own I use one roll in 3 weeks. When there's a woman in the house we get through 2 rolls in a week!

And what's wrong with the cheapest ones, do they really need to wipe their bums with Aloe Vera?

[HappySilver]

I'm sure this is a dumb question but here goes.

If I'm on a train travelling at 100mph and shine a torch along the length of the carriage in the same direction of travel, say 20 meters, I think the light from the torch has travelled at the speed of light plus 100mph. The light will have travelled faster than that from a torch covering 20 meters but stationary at the side of the track as the train passes. Therefore, why is it said to be not possible to travel faster than the speed of light?

[V8mate]

HappySilver said:

I'm sure this is a dumb question but here goes.

If I'm on a train travelling at 100mph and shine a torch along the length of the carriage in the same direction of travel, say 20 meters, I think the light from the torch has travelled at the speed of light plus 100mph. The light will have travelled faster than that from a torch covering 20 meters but stationary at the side of the track as the train passes. Therefore, why is it said to be not possible to travel faster than the speed of light?

Relativity, innit.

Same reason a bird flying the length of that carriage isn't suddenly managing 115mph.

[HappySilver]

"Same reason a bird flying the length of that carriage isn't suddenly managing 115mph."

But isn't the bird is passing over the ground below the carriage at 115mph, so the light is passing over that same ground at lightspeed plus 100mph - therefore faster than the speed of light?

[Hugo a Gogo]

HappySilver said:

I'm sure this is a dumb question but here goes.

If I'm on a train travelling at 100mph and shine a torch along the length of the carriage in the same direction of travel, say 20 meters, I think the light from the torch has travelled at the speed of light plus 100mph. The light will have travelled faster than that from a torch covering 20 meters but stationary at the side of the track as the train passes. Therefore, why is it said to be not possible to travel faster than the speed of light?

's a paradox, innit
http://casa.colorado.edu/~ajsh/sr/paradox.html

[HappySilver]

Hugo a Gogo said:

's a paradox, innit
http://casa.colorado.edu/~ajsh/sr/paradox.html

Hhmm, thanks, I'm not sure I'm any the wiser...

The words make sense but not the logic, maybe my brain is too small to compute!

[mattdaniels]

PoleDriver said:

Why do women use so much toilet paper?

Apparently the answer is "because we use it every visit, you [men] don't"

[PoleDriver]

mattdaniels said:

PoleDriver said:

Why do women use so much toilet paper?

Apparently the answer is "because we use it every visit, you [men] don't"

They should learn to shake off the drips then!

[southendpier]

marshalla said:

torqueofthedevil said:

What was the format of old wars / battles - you see these huge fortified castles that were heavily guarded sat out by themselves or even on islands just out to sea. Why didn't invaders just march straight past them? Why engage the enemy at such a difficult position?!?

Castles are places to live in and designed to make it difficult for attackers to get into. They aren't designed as launch pads for systems to repel invaders. Since they were effectively seats of power and administrative centres, invaders would need to get in to deal with the incumbent management at some stage, but not until the defenders outside had been dealt with.

Proper old battles involved one side lining up opposite the other on the field of battle and charging. Assuming the invaders could win that game, prolonged sieges were not uncommon, relying on breaking the supply lines and starving those inside the castle into submission.

true.

If you think of castles as the police stations + council offices + bank of their day. Designed to maintain the power base of the local land owner/state.

If armies invaded, if the local population had enough people they would meet the opposing enemy in battle. If not or when and if defeated. The population would shelter within the walls of the castle the men would
fight. The other castles/land owners in the area would rush to their aid or leave them to their fate depending on what was going on.

The castle would then be under siege. Seiges were nasty affairs that could last for months. Nasty for the army sorting out the siege who of course would need food shelter, suffer from illness etc.

The invading force wanted the rich knights alive for hostage and valuable artefacts to keep/return home. They of course didn't realy want to get into big fights. Just win. But the longer a siege went on the more likely the defending force would get friendlies to come to their aid. Or the invading force would be weakened through illness - dysentry being common.

Fascinating. If you want bit of light reading "Azincourt" is an historical novel written by Bernard Cornwell. The book relates the events leading to the Battle of Agincourt, a rip roaring read.

[Hugo a Gogo]

HappySilver said:

Hugo a Gogo said:

's a paradox, innit
http://casa.colorado.edu/~ajsh/sr/paradox.html

Hhmm, thanks, I'm not sure I'm any the wiser...

The words make sense but not the logic, maybe my brain is too small to compute!

it doesn't make any sense, clearly but light is always the same speed (in a vacuum)

the experiment you are talking about, with the train etc is going on all the time, with the sun, stars (light sources) and planets etc all moving all time, yet we measure light as a constant speed

[tank slapper]

HappySilver said:

I'm sure this is a dumb question but here goes.

If I'm on a train travelling at 100mph and shine a torch along the length of the carriage in the same direction of travel, say 20 meters, I think the light from the torch has travelled at the speed of light plus 100mph. The light will have travelled faster than that from a torch covering 20 meters but stationary at the side of the track as the train passes. Therefore, why is it said to be not possible to travel faster than the speed of light?

Light always travels at the same speed (unless it's going through something, where it can slow down), so the light coming out of your torch which is going exactly the same speed as the light from a torch stationary at the side of the track. It doesn't matter from which perspective you view it from, you could always measure it to be the same. When you are travelling at a different speed relative to someone else, you are actually experiencing time passing faster or slower.

It isn't possible to accelerate to the speed of light because the faster you go, the more energy it takes to accelerate you. To be able to actually achieve the speed of light you would require infinite energy.

[sleep envy]

Why don't they make mouse flavoured cat food?

[DannyScene]

sleep envy said:

Why don't they make mouse flavoured cat food?

I'd guess because cats don't chase mice because they taste nice, they chase them because they are small and furry and fun to chase. (Thi is going from the fact that out of the 6 cats I've owned only 1 of them has ever eaten anything they've killed, the rest we're presents for me to find in my shoe or next to my bed)

[V8mate]

DannyScene said:

sleep envy said:

Why don't they make mouse flavoured cat food?

I'd guess because cats don't chase mice because they taste nice, they chase them because they are small and furry and fun to chase. (Thi is going from the fact that out of the 6 cats I've owned only 1 of them has ever eaten anything they've killed, the rest we're presents for me to find in my shoe or next to my bed)

Additionally, pure stupidity. People humanise their pets. They want them to eat what they eat; the more of a delicacy a food is to humans, the more so it must be for their pets.

Ditto, putting coats on dogs. They managed for thousands of years without coats. But people need coats when it's cold, so ...

[sleep envy]

DannyScene said:

I'd guess because cats don't chase mice because they taste nice, they chase them because they are small and furry and fun to chase. (Thi is going from the fact that out of the 6 cats I've owned only 1 of them has ever eaten anything they've killed, the rest we're presents for me to find in my shoe or next to my bed)

mrs envy's cat always eats the mice he catches, we know this as he always leave their stomachs on the floor (I'm guessing they taste rather bitter)

in fact he eats pretty much everything he catches

[Hugo a Gogo]

sleep envy said:

Why don't they make mouse flavoured cat food?

because cats prefer their natural prey, like tuna

a 100kg, four foot long, 50mph deep ocean fish

[DrTre]

sleep envy said:

Why don't they make mouse flavoured cat food?

Mouse just takes like chicken anyway.

[sleep envy]

DrTre said:

Mouse just takes like chicken anyway.

Roasted or pan fried?

[HereBeMonsters]

Hugo a Gogo said:

because cats prefer their natural prey, like tuna

a 100kg, four foot long, 50mph deep ocean fish

I've always wondered why they don't make sandwich-flavoured pet food. That's all these animals seem to want to eat.

[BigBob]

Willy Nilly said:

Can a man have too many tools?

NO .......... but a woman can






BB