Off Topic The "That's interesting"/geek thread

**** me, H&S would have a heart attack if they saw this what harness?

 

Madness

 

http://www.worldometers.info/
check this out

 

How do you make your daily cuppa? Bet you're not doing it right........

 

But they are using milk which spoils/changes the flavour of tea. Surely if you want to enjoy tea, no milk or sugar

 

Skywatchers await 'super blood wolf moon'

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Media captionElizabeth Rizzini explains the "super blood wolf moon" - and forecasts the weather for UK skywatchers on Monday


Skywatchers are gearing up for a lunar eclipse, which some are referring to as a "super blood wolf moon".

During the spectacular event, the Earth's natural satellite turns a striking shade of red.

The entire eclipse will be visible from North and South America, as well as parts of western Europe (including the UK) and north Africa.

What is a total lunar eclipse?
This kind of eclipse occurs when the Earth passes precisely between the Sun and the Moon.

In this situation, the Sun is behind the Earth, and the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow.

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Will the moon appear red?
Yes. Some commentators are referring to the event as a "super blood wolf moon". The "super" part comes from the fact that the Moon will be near its closest approach to the Earth - when it will be marginally bigger in the sky than usual. The "wolf" part comes from the name given to full moons in January - "wolf moons".

Walter Freeman, an assistant teaching professor at Syracuse University in New York state, said: "A little bit of sunlight is refracted by the Earth's atmosphere and reaches the Moon, bending around the edges of the Earth. This small amount of red light still illuminates the Moon enough for us to see it."

Where and when can I see it?
The eclipse begins at 02:35 GMT on Monday and ends at 07:49 GMT, but the period when the whole Moon appears red occurs at 05:12 GMT.

In the UK, the Moon will be above the horizon throughout the eclipse, though from the extreme south-east of England the Sun will have risen as it comes to an end.

This eclipse will also be visible in north-western France, north-western Spain, Portugal, a small part of west Africa, almost the whole of North and South America, the eastern Pacific, and the north-eastern tip of Russia.

Is it safe to look at?
While solar eclipses are dangerous to view directly, the light from lunar eclipses is much fainter and so is completely safe to view without special equipment.

Why is it significant?
The event is the last chance for skywatchers in the UK to see a total lunar eclipse in its entirety until 2029 - weather permitting

 

Well that was a waste of a lie-in.....got up at 5 this morning to catch some of the blood moon over the mountains and River Clyde - guess what.....pissing down

 

In pictures: 'Super blood wolf moon'

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The start of the total lunar eclipse seen in San Diego, California

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Stargazers have been scanning the skies for sightings of a highly unusual lunar eclipse, which began on Sunday night.

During the spectacle, known as a "super blood wolf moon", the moon appears to glow red while seeming brighter and closer to Earth than normal.

The event was initially visible from North and South America, as well as areas of western Europe. In parts of the UK some clouds obscured the view.

The next total lunar eclipse is expected in two years, on 26 May 2021.

• Skywatchers see 'super blood wolf moon'

"A little bit of sunlight is refracted by the Earth's atmosphere and reaches the Moon, bending around the edges of the Earth," says Walter Freeman, an assistant teaching professor at Syracuse University in New York state.

"This small amount of red light still illuminates the Moon enough for us to see it."

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The total lunar eclipse, seen here from Madrid

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The best time to see the totality of the eclipse was around 05:12 GMT

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This kind of eclipse occurs when the Earth passes precisely between the Sun and the Moon.

In this situation, the Sun is behind the Earth, and the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow.

The eclipse began at 02:35 GMT on Monday and ended at 07:49 GMT, but the point of greatest eclipse occurred at 05:12 GMT.

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All the phases of the so-called super blood wolf moon, seen here from Panama City

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The rare celestial event gets the "super" part of its name from the fact that the Moon will be near its closest approach to the Earth - when it will be marginally bigger in the sky than usual.

The "wolf" part comes from the name given to full moons in January - "wolf moons".

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The celestial event, seen here from Brighton, UK, was later blocked by some clouds

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The moon seen beside a quadriga on top of the Cinquantenaire arch in Brussels

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A view of the lunar eclipse above the St Elizabeth Church in Nuremberg, Germany
Many of you have been sending your photographs to the BBC. Here is a selection of your images:

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Armed with a 500mm lens and an all important cup of coffee, Tom Starr took this snap in his pyjamas at home in Speldhurst, Kent, England

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Peter Simmans took this photo of the blood moon alongside All Saints Church in Brightlingsea, Essex, England

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Peter Alden took this shot through the trees from outside his home in Seaford in East Sussex, England

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Joe Sheridan, who completed a photography degree three years ago aged 60, plans to enter this in the Washington Camera Club competition in the north east of England.

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All pictures subject to copyright

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Peter Simmans took this photo of the blood moon alongside All Saints Church in Brightlingsea, Essex, England

 

https://news.sky.com/story/english-...t-it-was-by-mistake-french-wine-boss-11623425

English invented champagne but it was by mistake - French wine boss

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It's been a point of contention for centuries, but now the French head of the Taittinger champagne brand has rekindled the age-old debate over who invented the drink with a surprising admission.

Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger told French newspaper Le Figaro the English were first to create champagne - but he claimed they did so "by mistake".


Taittinger said Benedictine monks were supplying England with still red and white wines from Champagne, a historical province in the northeast of France.

"The English left these inexpensive still wines on London docks and they got cold, so they started undergoing a second fermentation," Taittinger told Le Figaro.

The process of secondary fermentation in the bottle creates carbonation that gives champagne its trademark bubbles.


"Like all great mistakes, it led to a great invention," he said, adding that England is a big market for bubbly.

Only wines made from the grapes grown and harvested in the Champagne region and produced under a strict set of rules can bear the champagne name.

For a long time it was widely believed French monk Dom Pierre Perignon invented champagne in the 17th century. But it later turned out that Perignon was involved in stopping secondary fermentation that makes the bubbles, not enhancing it purposefully.

In 1662, English physician and scientist Christopher Merret documented in a paper how the addition of sugar to wine leads to a fermentation in the bottle and produces the distinctive fizz.

Initially perceived as a flaw, the wine's distinctive bubbles became popular with drinkers around the world, earning the French wine-making region its distinctive reputation for great sparkling wine in the 19th century.

But Taittinger's comments give the English the credit for being the first to appreciate the sparkle: "As the English have a little crazy side, they invented the whole thing," he said. "They invented the consumption of champagne."



Personally I can't stand fizzy wine but found this kind of interesting for some reason. I would like to add I do not hate the French, or anyone for that matter. OK I will make an exception for CFC......

 

clever
Teenager is arrested after buying PlayStation 4 for £8 by WEIGHING it in the fruit section and paying for 6lb of food at self-service till

• French teenager jailed for four months after buying PlayStation 4 for just £8
• 'Adel' weighed games console as if it was a large 6lb bag of fruit and paid for it
• By weight alone electronic device only cost £7.86 (€9) at shop in Montbeliard
• Caught by police when he went back next day to same shop and tried it again

By Chris Dyer For Mailonline
Published: 22:56 AEDT, 31 January 2019 | Updated: 03:52 AEDT, 1 February 2019

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• A French teenager has been jailed after buying a PlayStation 4 for under £8 by weighing it as if the games console was a huge bag of fruit.
  The 19-year-old man, named in the French media as Adel, picked the device off the shelf and took it to the fruit section and weighed it.
  He then put a sticker with the heavily reduced price tag on the expensive console and went to the checkout.
  Adel paid £7.86 (€9) for the 6lb bag of 'fruit' at a self-checkout at a supermarket in Montbeliard, eastern France, last September.
  
  A new PlayStation 4 at the correct retail price is usually around £297.30 (€340).
  Adel then went on to sell the PlayStation for £87.43 (€100) in order to pay for a train ticket to his home town of Nice, in south eastern France, French newspaper L'est Republicain reports.
  The hapless thief would have gotten away with the crime if he had not returned to the same shop the next day to try and carry out the scam again.
  He was arrested by police and charged with theft, but did not appear in court for the hearing.
  Last week at a magistrates court in the town of Montbeliard Adel was sentenced to four months in prison.

 

What a way to go!

How do you compost a human body - and why would you?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-47031816

 

A great and mind-boggling ariel view of Pluto.

 

Do you prefer Blue or Green sea?

Climate change: Blue planet will get even bluer as Earth warms http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-47092201

 

Nasa calls time on silent Opportunity Mars rover http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-47231247

 

Think big may not always be profitable.

Airbus scraps A380 superjumbo jet as sales slump http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47231504