Something you know today that you didn't know yesterday

[Phaedrus]

Gatorade is named after Florida Gators, but it doesn't contain any gator ingredients.

[brewerb]

The guy (young man-30's) I hired for the water heater is a RFK jr/Trumper. My wife and I just smiled and nodded. Then he started in on autism and fluoride. I gave him the 'got things to do' excuse before he got completely wound up.

[Phaedrus]

The guy (young man-30's) I hired for the water heater is a RFK jr/Trumper. My wife and I just smiled and nodded. Then he started in on autism and fluoride. I gave him the 'got things to do' excuse before he got completely wound up.

Fringe conservatives and religious nutters have that in common: an uncontrolled desire to verbally divulge their absurd beliefs to anyone within earshot.

[Fireball]

^ Yup, and stupid goes with the loud. We evade most of it by doing most home repairs ourselves. One of my sons is 6'-1" and 240 pounds. He just picks up a water heater and sets it on the stand. Arthritis is cramping my style; I can't pick up water heaters any more.

[Cavebear]

You don't push a lawn mower uphill and downhill. You push it side to side.

Don't do your own car repairs.

A thread mop is an easy way to clean a car "good enough". Then use the garden hose for rinse.

Check your tire pressure every couple of months. And get the damn oil changed yearly.

The "other gender" is entirely non-understandable. Whichever one you are.

Regarding the above, men live day-by-day; women have archival memories.

Deer are very cute and rather graceful. But they will eat your landscape.

If a politician's mouth is moving, they are lying.

[SYZ]

Soviet spacecraft Kosmos 482 has plunged
 to Earth after 53 years stuck in orbit.

[SYZ]

...If a politician's mouth is moving, they are lying.

Seriously? I can't believe you only discovered that fact today!

[Cavebear]

...If a politician's mouth is moving, they are lying.

Seriously?  I can't believe you only discovered that fact today!

OK, yeah... I was thinking more it terms of "years ago" and "recently".

But I will say that "more recently", I've learned that better about politicians I even like.

[Dexta]

It's a relatively commonplace activity to fabricate your life story in order to impress and ingratiate. Yuk.

[brewerb]

It's a relatively commonplace activity to fabricate your life story in order to impress and ingratiate. Yuk.

[c172]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradford_C...adium_fire

The Bradford City stadium fire occurred during a Football League Third Division match on Saturday 11 May 1985 at the Valley Parade stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, killing 56 spectators and injuring at least 265. The stadium was known for its antiquated design and facilities, which included the wooden roof of the main stand. Previous warnings had also been given about a major build-up of litter in the cavity below the seats in the stand. The stand had been officially condemned and was due to be replaced with a steel structure after the season ended.

[Cavebear]

It's a relatively commonplace activity to fabricate your life story in order to impress and ingratiate. Yuk.

Actually, I'm old enough to want to sort of unspool my life. Living alone for decades can cause that.

[Phaedrus]

Never knew the place existed until tonight via ads while I watch a show. Liberty U is a place for theists.

[brewerb]

A first-in-human study of an investigational once-daily oral treatment for obesity (SYNT-101) demonstrated positive preliminary data for the safe and effective redirection of nutrient absorption into the lower intestine, the weight loss and metabolic management mechanism behind gastric bypass surgery.

https://www.news-medical.net/news/202505...tment.aspx

[SYZ]

https://www.news-medical.net/news/202505...tment.aspx

The makers of the experimental drug SYNT-101 claim
it mimics the effects of gastric bypass surgery.

Uh oh...      Bariatric surgeons aren't gonna like this.      

[Cavebear]

I was reading about "Planet X" in 'Scientific American', and discovered something I actually didn't know "yesterday".

I already thought Pluto wasn't really a "planet" for a couple decades. The orbit is tilted off the solar plane, it hadn't cleared its orbit of debris, and it wasn't much spherical, etc. So its demotion to "dwarf planet" didn't upset me.

But the 'Scientific American' article explained so much more! It described new observations of other ETNOs (Extra Trans-Neptunian Objects. There are several more ETNOs discovered. A new thing to me was that they all have the same "tilt" off the solar plane.

But the more important new thing I didn't know, they all have the closest approach to the sun in the same area of the solar system. The article went on about details and research, but the meaning was that it seriously suggests that there has to be a large gravitational body further out that influenced the orbits of the dwarf planets we have found. Planet 9.

A new telescope designed to find far-solar objects is apparently coming soon.

On a slightly humorous note, I hope (when such planet is discovered) they name it something that starts with "P". That would allow all the old memes to work again.

[brewerb]

A wireless forehead e-tattoo for mental workload estimation

...a wireless, ultra-thin forehead e-tattoo that enables high-fidelity EEG and EOG monitoring while maintaining comfort, stability, and motion resistance. Unlike conventional systems, our e-tattoo leverages adhesive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOTSS) composite-coated electrodes to achieve low skin impedance, robust adhesion, and reliable signal acquisition during dynamic tasks. Integrated with a flexible printed circuit for on-device processing and wireless transmission, this system provides a minimally obtrusive and long-lasting solution for ambulatory cognitive monitoring....

Future applications could include real-time cognitive load monitoring in pilots, operators, and healthcare professionals, advancing the field of human-machine interaction and personalized cognitive augmentation.

https://www.cell.com/device/fulltext/S26...25)00094-8

I find this a bit disturbing, however, at my age that's not saying much. A lot of new tech is disturbing.

[Dānu]

[brewerb]

Japan’s breakthrough plastic dissolves in hours, boosts ocean’s soil health

In collaboration with the University of Tokyo, scientists at the RIKEN Centre for Emergent Matter Science have developed a biodegradable plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours and breaks down in soil within 10 days, all while enhancing soil fertility.

https://www.texspacetoday.com/japans-bre...il-health/

[SYZ]

Packing peanuts from plant starches...

https://www.stanleypackaging.com.au/prod...s-biofill/

         

[brewerb]

Giant planet discovered orbiting tiny star

Astronomers at UCL and the University of Warwick, as part of a global collaboration including partners in Chile, USA and Europe, have discovered the smallest known star to host a transiting giant planet, which should not exist under leading planet formation theories. 

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/jun/gian...-tiny-star

[Paleophyte]

I find this a bit disturbing, however, at my age that's not saying much. A lot of new tech is disturbing.

No, that one's genuinely disturbing. If you weren't already wrapping yourself in tinfoil because of RFID tech, what you really need is a tattoo to broadcast your brainwaves. The good news is that wearable tech does pretty much the same job without ever being anything like that intrusive, and you can take that off. I could see this being useful for serious neurological problems, but I have no idea why anybody is developing it for commercial interests.

[pattylt]

I find this a bit disturbing, however, at my age that's not saying much. A lot of new tech is disturbing.

No, that one's genuinely disturbing. If you weren't already wrapping yourself in tinfoil because of RFID tech, what you really need is a tattoo to broadcast your brainwaves. The good news is that wearable tech does pretty much the same job without ever being anything like that intrusive, and you can take that off. I could see this being useful for serious neurological problems, but I have no idea why anybody is developing it for commercial interests.

Remember Musk implanting a computer chip into someone’s brain….who would fucking agree to that?

[brewerb]

Analyzing earwax may be used as a diagnostic tool for malignancies. 

'Recently, cerumen (earwax) has been identified as an exciting source of ROS-derived mitochondrial volatile metabolites for the study of metabolic disturbances in the human body, mainly because of its ability to concentrate polar and nonpolar compounds excreted by sebaceous and sweat glands'

'The panel of candidate biomarkers identified for humans and dogs comprised metabolites that may be mainly linked to lipid metabolism and oxidative stress associated with mitochondrial dysfunction24,25, a fingerprint of metabolic rewiring in malignant cell proliferation for several types of cancer26.'

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-97440-2

[Cavebear]

Giant planet discovered orbiting tiny star

Astronomers at UCL and the University of Warwick, as part of a global collaboration including partners in Chile, USA and Europe, have discovered the smallest known star to host a transiting giant planet, which should not exist under leading planet formation theories. 

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/jun/gian...-tiny-star

All kinds of possibilities about that. Incoming loose planet, passing star gravitational disruption, etc.

But here is a grammatical dilemma... We call our system of sun and planets "solar" because Sol is the name of our star/sun. What do you call a similar system with a star of a different name?