Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 3]

[iambeowulf]

Do tanks have horns?

Not specifically in WW2 but also nowadays.

[GokTweed]

iambeowulf said:

Do tanks have horns?

Not specifically in WW2 but also nowadays.

Seems a bit redundant having a horn on a tank, if you don't see it coming you deserve to be crushed. And if you don't want to move out of its way you also deserve to be crushed!

[iambeowulf]

GokTweed said:

iambeowulf said:

Do tanks have horns?

Not specifically in WW2 but also nowadays.

Seems a bit redundant having a horn on a tank, if you don't see it coming you deserve to be crushed. And if you don't want to move out of its way you also deserve to be crushed!

Yes, thanks Mr point-out-the-obvious.
Why do massive fk off ocean liners have horns then?

That doesn't answer my question though.

[Brother D]

iambeowulf said:

Yes, thanks Mr point-out-the-obvious.
Why do massive fk off ocean liners have horns then?

That doesn't answer my question though.

No idea about tanks but ships have horns for collision avoidance (especially in fog where they may be stationary, or under way).

[DervVW]

why do diesel exhausts tend to point down... It's probably really obvious but I don't know why.

[gazzarose]

I've wondered about the diesel exhaust thing before. my dads Td Omega had a pointy down one, and when you gave it a bootful it would blow all the soot towards the floor. I've noticed a few new diesels don't now so I wonder with the advent of DPFs if they don't need to try and hide the soot so much.

[iambeowulf]

Brother D said:

iambeowulf said:

Yes, thanks Mr point-out-the-obvious.
Why do massive fk off ocean liners have horns then?

That doesn't answer my question though.

No idea about tanks but ships have horns for collision avoidance (especially in fog where they may be stationary, or under way).

I was being fecesiius.
I'm sure I read that those ginormous earth moving things in Australian mines have horns. They move at 1 meter per hour so it can't be for safety!

Oohh my head hurts.

[amusingduck]

andyb28 said:

OK, here is one thats always bothered me.

In Red Dwarf, Rimmer was repairing a drive plate, which in turn killed all the crew. So my question is this... Why is Rimmer, a 2nd Technician repairing a drive plate, instead of fixing vending machines?

Another RD one for you, how many appendixes has Lister got? Hes had it out at least twice!

1. 1 - When Lister gives Rimmer 6 months of his memory (Melissa Yates), Rimmer wondered why he'd had his appendix out for the second time; meaning Lister had his appendix removed during his relationship with Melissa Yates

1. 2 - Legion removes Listers appendix

[john2443]

Issi said:

Why is it that despite Birmingham being the second biggest city in the UK, but you very rarely see or hear a Brummie in the media?

There are loads of celebrities/bands from Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester etc, but the Midlands is like a cultural black hole.

Slade, Black Sabbath, UB40, ELO, Duran Duran, Moeen Ali, Adrian Chiles, Sue Lawley, Jamelia, Benjamin Zephania.

Maybe others don't speak in Brummie accents so you don't realise.

[Andy RV]

iambeowulf said:

Do tanks have horns?

Not specifically in WW2 but also nowadays.

I've got no idea however it would have to be a bloody loud horn, the noise of a big tank on full chat is very loud!

[scarble]

iambeowulf said:

I was being facetious.

FTFY

[TREMAiNE]

If I went back in time to the start of the space race and gave my top spec smart phone to the leading scientists at NASA, how much different to you think our world would be today?

[walm]

TREMAiNE said:

If I went back in time to the start of the space race and gave my top spec smart phone to the leading scientists at NASA, how much different to you think our world would be today?

I have seen that one.
Skynet becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th 1997 IIRC.

[P-Jay]

TREMAiNE said:

If I went back in time to the start of the space race and gave my top spec smart phone to the leading scientists at NASA, how much different to you think our world would be today?

Not much, well other than you getting probed at Area 51 for the rest of your days.

AFAIK innovations in computing power and the size of the machines doing it has largely been down the better manufacturing methods so what would they do with your iPhone? They could take it apart, put it under a microscope and whilst they'd not doubt be amazed at it - they would probably think "yep, that's how we'd do it, if only we had the ability to do it".

Alternatively they could try to actually use it - whilst flappy bird and candy crush have limited use in landing a Man on the moon - it would easily be the most powerful computer on the planet at the time - but without speaking to the guy who built it, or at least a modern day expert (assuming your not) it could take them years, if not decades to understand it by which time of course the fking thing would have self-destructed.

[P-Jay]

BristolRich said:

Why our postman feels the need to fold our post twice and ram it through our standard sized letter box?

If you've got a sprung flap on your letter box, if they try to just slide it in it'll sometimes fold, then you've got to shove the thing in with your fingers and it plops all crumpled and whatnot out the other end (well they did when I delivered leaflets as a teenager) if you fold / roll them it makes them stronger and they can overcome the flap.

Of course these guys are doing the same thing, hundreds of times a day, everyday, so they're not putting to much thought into each delivery - I would imagine you'd develop a one-size-fits-all minimum fuss MO on the second day on the job and use it there after.

[scarble]

P-Jay said:

would easily be the most powerful computer on the planet at the time - but without speaking to the guy who built it, or at least a modern day expert (assuming your not) it could take them years, if not decades to understand it by which time of course the fking thing would have self-destructed.

Good answer.
But I think even if they couldn't replicate the manufacture they might learn a bit about architecture or instruction sets.
Maybe they could at least utilise it for some very fast for the time calculations.
If you had a development environment of some sort they could develop their own "aps" to.. I dunno, do Fourier transforms or calculate pi really precisely.
I'm not sure if the GPS would have given them anything, seems they already had it by 1964
They might learn a thing or two about GSM and bluetooth and other radiothingies.

[austinsmirk]

StevieBee said:

Let's say I start a bank - just a normal high street retail bank. Rates are prices are all competitive and inline with the market but I need customers.

So, I run a promotion. Switch you Mortgage and current account to my bank and you can have a year off paying your mortgage. Obviously there would be tie-ins and conditions and my bank would have to raise considerable funds to cover the deal for a year but in essence....is it doable?

did you ever see the excellent series "bank of dave" where a Burnley ( I think) businessman did set up the bank of dave.

doesn't quite answer yr question, but fascinating to watch and see the trouble he had doing it.

sure it'll be on you tube somewhere

[DoubleSix]

How do seedless varieties of fruit (satsumas etc) propagate?

[SpeckledJim]

austinsmirk said:

StevieBee said:

Let's say I start a bank - just a normal high street retail bank. Rates are prices are all competitive and inline with the market but I need customers.

So, I run a promotion. Switch you Mortgage and current account to my bank and you can have a year off paying your mortgage. Obviously there would be tie-ins and conditions and my bank would have to raise considerable funds to cover the deal for a year but in essence....is it doable?

did you ever see the excellent series "bank of dave" where a Burnley ( I think) businessman did set up the bank of dave.

doesn't quite answer yr question, but fascinating to watch and see the trouble he had doing it.

sure it'll be on you tube somewhere

Very interesting programme. In the end he wasn't allowed a bank. The powers-that-be seemed desperately keen that he not be allowed to do 'banking', but rather 'savings and loans'.

[Newc]

TREMAiNE said:

If I went back in time to the start of the space race and gave my top spec smart phone to the leading scientists at NASA, how much different to you think our world would be today?

Interesting question. The processors and circuits, and to some extent the memory would be quite recognisable in the 60's. They are futuristic versions of contemporary devices. If you said "it runs on Unix" that would make sense too. Most gasping would be caused by the screen and the battery, as the tech behind flat panel and lithium ion is a long way off. So you would jump start those technologies, giving flat panel TVs in the 70's and fuel cell powered hologram TVs for us by now.