Brock_Way
Brock_Way t1_jaov45d wrote
Reply to TIL "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps" is an example of an impossible task. The idiom dates at least to 1834, from the Workingman's Advocate: "It is conjectured that Mr. Murphee will now be enabled to hand himself over the Cumberland river or a barn yard fence by the straps of his boots. by meat-juice
Even earlier than that the expression was used to indicate effort necessary to get something done. It was equivalent to today's expression "put your work boots on."
The meaning of the phrase has been changed by those who want the things done for them so they wouldn't have to put their work boots on, and who used the excuse that the task was impossible from the start to absolve them from not even bothering to try.
Brock_Way t1_j5nsu4d wrote
Reply to TIL that NBA Player Lou Williams was almost carjacked in 2011, until the thief recognized him and stopped because he was a Lou Williams fan. Lou Williams took him to McDonald's as thanks. by FiNN8778
Paying people to not commit violence against you is called extortion.
EDIT: Correct where necessary because of my terrible wording.
Brock_Way t1_iy675x3 wrote
Reply to TIL More than 80 percent of the ocean has never been mapped, explored, or even seen by humans and as a result, we know more about the surface of Mars than Earth by [deleted]
Uhm...the bottom of the ocean isn't on the surface.
Brock_Way t1_ixp0s70 wrote
Yeah...mostly
As it turns out, you CAN get Alice.
Brock_Way t1_ixcxaez wrote
Reply to TIL that in 2003, scientists "resurrected" an extinct species of Ibex, bringing back one living specimen, only for it go extinct again seven minutes later when the specimen died of a lung defect by mausoliam95
If living specimens were alive post facto, then it wasn't extinct the first time - it was only dormant.
Brock_Way t1_iue5un7 wrote
Reply to comment by sonsofgondor in TIL We are currently amidst the longest gap between EF5 tornadoes in history by Danielnrg
How many of those "earlier decades" have been in the last 7 years?
Brock_Way t1_iuauu88 wrote
Brock_Way t1_iuau6vc wrote
Reply to comment by Danielnrg in TIL We are currently amidst the longest gap between EF5 tornadoes in history by Danielnrg
We will all die due to habitat destruction long before climate issues.
Brock_Way t1_iuattjs wrote
ACTUALLY, if you look at the data, it clearly shows that CO2 emissions is causing us to have global warming, which leads to more unstable atmosphere, which leads to MORE EF5 tornadoes, not fewer. So these people at Fox need to consider that they need to "correct" their data so that it comes into alignment with the computer models.
The "corrected" data clearly show that we are having 1.6 EF5 tornadoes per day. This is a dramatic INCREASE in EF5 tornadoes.
Brock_Way t1_iu55dvs wrote
Reply to comment by bigbbypddingsnatchr in TIL that although lambskin condoms protect against pregnancy, they are not effective at preventing the transmission of STDs. by bigbbypddingsnatchr
Condoms in general. For example:
HIV sexual transmission risk among serodiscordant couples: assessing the effects of combining prevention strategies [AIDS. 2014 Jun 19; 28(10): 1521–1529]
Pay attention to the author list, because there is probably going to be quiz later on at some point.
EDIT: Condom and Nonoxynol-9 use and the incidence of HIV infection in serodiscordant couples in Zambia [25+ years ago now]
Brock_Way t1_iu3c2p6 wrote
Reply to TIL that although lambskin condoms protect against pregnancy, they are not effective at preventing the transmission of STDs. by bigbbypddingsnatchr
This is one of the many things I said 20 years ago about HIV in particular and got hounded into oblivion by the nutters talking about "you're going to get people killed; if you knew anything about science... "
Meanwhile I was QUOTING the science. All these variables were published in the sero-discordant couples articles. They even published the statistics related to seroconversion after single instance of vaginal sex. People thought wearing a condom reduced your chance of seroconversion from near certain to one in a million or some shit.
The truth turned out to be that wearing a condom changed your odds from about 1:1,000 to about 1:5,000.
If that is going to change your behavior fundamentally, okay....
Brock_Way t1_jcji2sm wrote
Reply to TIL about Saint-Malo, Brittany. This city on the French coast has some of the highest tides in Europe, rising as high as 40 feet during parts of the year, and the water withdrawing hundreds of yards. A sea wall, built in the 17th century, protects the city from the tides. by marmorset
Now Saint-Malo is under 40 feet of water.
Climate change is real, people!