geniice

geniice t1_j63z5bv wrote

Reply to comment by GoGaslightYerself in TIL that after scientists sequenced the genome of a tiger they found that it shares 95.6% of its DNA with the domestic cat, from which it diverged 10.8 million years ago. by countdookee

> Roughly 10% of the human genome consists of about a million scattered copies of a single 286-base sequence (or "sentence") of this "junk DNA" called "Alu." It's the genomic equivalent of meaningless SPAM, repeated endlessly...

At least some of it controls gene expression. Beyond that the fact its highly conserved in primates suggests it does something.

1

geniice t1_iu4o14x wrote

Reply to comment by Jthundercleese in TIL Devon Allen, track & field athlete/Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver, was disqualified in the World Athletic Championships for a controversial false start. The starting blocks measured his reaction time from the time the gun went off at 0.099, which is 0.001 seconds faster than legally allowed. by The_Critical_Cynic

The athletes are free to show that can pass a random reaction time test with a better than 0.15 second time. Until then we can ignore such claims.

1

geniice t1_iu4nqx6 wrote

Reply to comment by SatansMoisture in TIL Devon Allen, track & field athlete/Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver, was disqualified in the World Athletic Championships for a controversial false start. The starting blocks measured his reaction time from the time the gun went off at 0.099, which is 0.001 seconds faster than legally allowed. by The_Critical_Cynic

>So did he anticipate the gun sound

Yes. Humans ability to physicaly react maxes out around .2 seconds. Maybe exceptional people under ideal conditions can go a bit bellow that but 0.1? No.

−8

geniice t1_iu4nhm4 wrote

Reply to comment by ARoundForEveryone in TIL Devon Allen, track & field athlete/Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver, was disqualified in the World Athletic Championships for a controversial false start. The starting blocks measured his reaction time from the time the gun went off at 0.099, which is 0.001 seconds faster than legally allowed. by The_Critical_Cynic

> Wind difference, both speed and direction, between inside and outside lanes. Not even for the obvious reason of helping/hurting some runners differently than others, but for the fact that it will affect the time it takes for the sound of the pistol to reach them.

sound is played from speakers behind each athelete.

>I wonder if eliminating the pistol and going strictly to a red/yellow/green light system like drag racing would work. I guess it could, but then these differences all crop up again if you start measuring down to the trillionth of a second...

You can't usefuly do anything at the trillionth of a second level because light can only travel 0.3mm in that time.

2

geniice t1_iu4mmnh wrote

Reply to comment by JuzoItami in TIL Devon Allen, track & field athlete/Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver, was disqualified in the World Athletic Championships for a controversial false start. The starting blocks measured his reaction time from the time the gun went off at 0.099, which is 0.001 seconds faster than legally allowed. by The_Critical_Cynic

> However... (also IIRC) that 0.1 seconds standard isn't actually based on science - it's literally just a number some bureaucrat from the World Athletic Championships decided upon because it sounded good.

There are a bunch of tests on the limits of human reaction times (mostly how fast you can push a button after a screen flashes). Human limit is around .2 seconds. Human perception is around 0.1 but it take a bit of time for humans to do anything with that.

So .1 seconds is a good point to chose since it gives you enough of a margin of error not to be an issue but not so massive that athletes can rely on anticipating the gun.

1

geniice t1_ituoi1g wrote

Reply to comment by TheRed_Knight in TIL The European 30 Years' War 1618 - 1648 began with Czech nobles throwing two Habsburg governors out of Prague castle window onto a huge dungheap. The corresponding carnage - fought over the issue of religious freedom following the Protestant Reformation - left millions dead. by Royal_Bumblebee_

The dungheap appears to be a later protestant invention. The catholics of course claimed angelic intervention. In practice fall was short enough that they just got lucky.

2