Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 4]

[V8mate]

JustinF said:

Clockwork Cupcake said:

ambuletz said:

Why aren't you allowed to use certain lifts? Like service lifts or ones that tends to get used for goods if it can handle lots of weight

Perhaps they don't have the same level of safety as passenger lifts?

They don't have way to call for help if jammed.

Source?

It's simply to keep hazards away from the public/customers. Heavy/awkward/unstable loads, hazardous materials (e.g. cleaning materials) etc.

[JustinF]

Only what I was taught in building where we had both lift types, but your comment makes a lot of sense.

[Frimley111R]

Why do you get permanent injuries? If I cut myself or break my leg my body heals and its good to go. But I, like many others, have strains/injuries that go away but are always there if you over stress that part of your body a little. My lower back, ankle and shoulder always paly up if i go to the gym too much/run too much. Why aren't they as good as new again?

[V8mate]

Frimley111R said:

Why do you get permanent injuries? If I cut myself or break my leg my body heals and its good to go. But I, like many others, have strains/injuries that go away but are always there if you over stress that part of your body a little. My lower back, ankle and shoulder always paly up if i go to the gym too much/run too much. Why aren't they as good as new again?

Loads of possible reasons.

Scar tissue is one example. I tore a patella tendon in my mid-teens, and then again in my mid-twenties. A tendon is designed to stretch, but scar tissue doesn't, so that knee has never been as capable since and never will be.

I had a [partial tear in my rotator cuff a couple of years ago, that will suffer now similarly. I can actually feel myself bench press wonkily

[RizzoTheRat]

glazbagun said:

Clockwork Cupcake said:

glazbagun said:

What was the first boat/watercraft to plane?

A surf board, I would imagine. Or, more likely, a canoe with a bunch of terrified Polynesians in it. And then one of them realised that surfing could be fun rather than frightening.

Or did you mean the first powered and deliberately planing hull?

I was thinking of deliberate but not neccesarily powered. Sailboats and windsurfers can both manage it but I'm guessing that it's still a fairly new invention- carracks and old sloops don't look like they could do it. Could viking longboats?

Turbinia was doing well over 30kts in the 1890s so was presumably planing.

[MartG]

RizzoTheRat said:

glazbagun said:

Clockwork Cupcake said:

glazbagun said:

What was the first boat/watercraft to plane?

A surf board, I would imagine. Or, more likely, a canoe with a bunch of terrified Polynesians in it. And then one of them realised that surfing could be fun rather than frightening.

Or did you mean the first powered and deliberately planing hull?

I was thinking of deliberate but not neccesarily powered. Sailboats and windsurfers can both manage it but I'm guessing that it's still a fairly new invention- carracks and old sloops don't look like they could do it. Could viking longboats?

Turbinia was doing well over 30kts in the 1890s so was presumably planing.

Nope - definitely a displacement hull, not a planing one - her speed was thanks to the hull's fineness ratio and installed power

[Fittster]

Do chain stores such as Next or M&S have a central design for things like windows displays which are then implemented by all stores or do individual stores have a degree of freedom on how goods are displayed?

[98elise]

Frimley111R said:

jet_noise said:

Lazadude said:

Why do energy suppliers push smart meters with the "itll save you energy/money" line? All they are is a standard meter with some added connectivity.

So you can see whats being used at the time if you really care, but in my house, the heating will still come on at the times its set for, and the TV/home cinema will still be turned on as and when I want to use it. There's no benefit apart for laziness and letting some IT unregulated/unknown company have a back door into your home network...

Because they are required by government so to do I believe.
It is of course as you say utter, utter bks as is most government energy meddling.
They do not deliver the claimed savings for more than a short period except for a small number of dedicated savers. Most people modify their energy usage initially but soon go back to their original usage as it is more convenient/easier.

I guess its the mentality that if you are suddenly faced with something that says 'Have you realised THIS is how much electricity you are using' that that will cause people to sit up and think about to reduce it. Personally it seems stupid to me, if the TV and the cooker is on I'll use more.

Someone did say something about reading your meter using wifi so they don't have to physically read it but not sure if that is true.

Since getting a smart meter my mother is very careful about and when how she heats the house. It's certainly working her case.

[FiF]

MartG said:

RizzoTheRat said:

glazbagun said:

Clockwork Cupcake said:

glazbagun said:

What was the first boat/watercraft to plane?

A surf board, I would imagine. Or, more likely, a canoe with a bunch of terrified Polynesians in it. And then one of them realised that surfing could be fun rather than frightening.

Or did you mean the first powered and deliberately planing hull?

I was thinking of deliberate but not neccesarily powered. Sailboats and windsurfers can both manage it but I'm guessing that it's still a fairly new invention- carracks and old sloops don't look like they could do it. Could viking longboats?

Turbinia was doing well over 30kts in the 1890s so was presumably planing.

Nope - definitely a displacement hull, not a planing one - her speed was thanks to the hull's fineness ratio and installed power

I'd stab a guess at the earliest powered planing boats were the largely amateur built hydroplane racing boats in the 1920s. The first real attempt at a planing sailing boat commercial design was by Uffa Fox again in the 1920s.

Certainly by WW2 the Royal Navy and others had planing fast torpedo boats well established. I guess for powered craft things developed as more powerful lighter engines were produced for the car and aircraft.

There is a claim that someone developed a planing proa in 1890s, but proa brings to my mind the same issue as Turbinia a very long fine hull, which isn't necessarily planing except down waves maybe. Which is planing sort of, but to me a true planing hull needs the capability in flattish water.

Edited by FiF on Monday 21st May 07:24

[Clockwork Cupcake]

A planing hull is simply designed to more easily get the boat "on the plane".

A boat that gets on the plane by other means (eg. With a long narrow hull) is still planing.

[FiF]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

A planing hull is simply designed to more easily get the boat "on the plane".

A boat that gets on the plane by other means (eg. With a long narrow hull) is still planing.

Depends what you mean by "on the plane." There's a 47 page thread on boat design site, one of many discussions, and a definition is still not nailed down.

Lots of folks think they can recognise a boat when it planing, but are mistaken. Starting point when the boat's weight is more supported by hydrodynamic forces than buoyancy. But difficult to measure and define. It's true long thin hulls can exceed their theoretical hull speed, but really not sure that is planing.

For example some of these large fast catamaran wave piercing ferries aren't planing, or are they, perhaps at least a bit, with some flattish aft sections.

People prattle on about it's planing when the Vertical Centre of Gravity is higher when moving than it is when static. But it's higher when only 1% of the weight is supported hydrodynamically, ignoring squat. Is that planing? I'd say not but that is just my opinion.

Folks think it's a simple matter, reality is far from it.

[Roofless Toothless]

Why do wine bottles often have a big concave dimple in the bottom? Why does it tend to be larger in some types of wines than others?

[JustinF]

Roofless Toothless said:

Why do wine bottles often have a big concave dimple in the bottom? Why does it tend to be larger in some types of wines than others?

Originally to allow the sediment to settle in an area where it'd not be distrurbed whilst pouring, nowadays with the majority of wine being filtered it's just a more expensive bottle that may or may not indicate the quality of the wine within, amazing how an extra few pennies in glassware can allow you to bump up the percieved value.

[alorotom]

So I’ve recently started looking to seriously buy my dream car and there is one overriding trend that keeps cropping up and I can’t quite understand why ... in each of the 3 I’ve seen so far, in the front ‘boot’ space there has been a new fan belt and/or toothed belt, why??

The car in question is a Ferrari 348 and I don’t believe they’re synonymous with throwing belts??! Just seems odd - answers on a postcard!

[MartG]

alorotom said:

So I’ve recently started looking to seriously buy my dream car and there is one overriding trend that keeps cropping up and I can’t quite understand why ... in each of the 3 I’ve seen so far, in the front ‘boot’ space there has been a new fan belt and/or toothed belt, why??

The car in question is a Ferrari 348 and I don’t believe they’re synonymous with throwing belts??! Just seems odd - answers on a postcard!

Are they for sale because they are due a belt change and the owner has just found out how difficult/expensive they are to do ?

[Clockwork Cupcake]

MartG said:

Are they for sale because they are due a belt change and the owner has just found out how difficult/expensive they are to do ?

Myth: Plausible.

[alorotom]

MartG said:

alorotom said:

So I’ve recently started looking to seriously buy my dream car and there is one overriding trend that keeps cropping up and I can’t quite understand why ... in each of the 3 I’ve seen so far, in the front ‘boot’ space there has been a new fan belt and/or toothed belt, why??

The car in question is a Ferrari 348 and I don’t believe they’re synonymous with throwing belts??! Just seems odd - answers on a postcard!

Are they for sale because they are due a belt change and the owner has just found out how difficult/expensive they are to do ?

I thought that at first ... however, at least 2 state and receipt recent belt changes so poss not (if it’s legit)

[glazbagun]

Question that has only now occured to me as I *disclaimer* have drunk slightly too much for a tuesday, but-

Eat a raw carrot. There's an inner core and an outer one. You can actually, with practice, bite the outside off leaving a carrot that looks a lot like a root but tastes much swèeter than bog standard carrot.

So why is the centre of a carrot so different fron the rest. What purpose does each serve?

[48k]

JustinF said:

Roofless Toothless said:

Why do wine bottles often have a big concave dimple in the bottom? Why does it tend to be larger in some types of wines than others?

Originally to allow the sediment to settle in an area where it'd not be distrurbed whilst pouring, nowadays with the majority of wine being filtered it's just a more expensive bottle that may or may not indicate the quality of the wine within, amazing how an extra few pennies in glassware can allow you to bump up the percieved value.

Everyone knows the "rule of thumb" - that if you can stick your thumb in the dimple in the bottom of the bottle, its a good wine. I thought everyone chose their wine that way?

[Roofless Toothless]

48k said:

JustinF said:

Roofless Toothless said:

Why do wine bottles often have a big concave dimple in the bottom? Why does it tend to be larger in some types of wines than others?

Originally to allow the sediment to settle in an area where it'd not be distrurbed whilst pouring, nowadays with the majority of wine being filtered it's just a more expensive bottle that may or may not indicate the quality of the wine within, amazing how an extra few pennies in glassware can allow you to bump up the percieved value.

Everyone knows the "rule of thumb" - that if you can stick your thumb in the dimple in the bottom of the bottle, its a good wine. I thought everyone chose their wine that way?

I thought that was girlfriends.