The "Did you know" thread.....

[squigg58]

Originally Posted by Estreeter

Not sure how true this is, on a National Geographic short self promotion commercial I heard this

The Titanium that went into the building of the U2 spy plane came from.............................................. .................Russia

Not sure about that one Estreeter. As far as I'm aware, the U-2 was predominantly aluminium with only the non-structural wing-tip skids being made of titanium. However (as posted in the similar "Did you know" thread), the titanium used to manufacture the SR-71 did come from Russia. The titanium available in the US wasn't of a sufficiently high quality, so dummy companies were set up to buy it from Russia.

The story is detailed in the excellent book "Skunk Works" by Ben Rich who was the second director of the Lockheed Skunk Works, succeeding the legendary Kelly Johnson.

In a similar vein, the concept of stealth, as featured on the F-117 Nighthawk and B-2 Spirit, came from an article written by the Russian mathematician, Petr Ufimtsevin, which was published in the journal of the Moscow Institute for Radio Engineering in 1964. The engineers at Lockheed used Ufimtsevin's article as a basis for their work on the "Have Blue" project, which led to the design of the F-117.

Just going back to the U-2 for a moment, at it's operational ceiling of 70,000 ft, the stalling speed of the U-2 was just 10 knots below it's maximum speed!

[Greenman]

And did you also know that there no green mammals. There are green birds, some species of fish have a green tinge and of course reptiles but NOT mammals-ain't nature grand?

[electile disfunction]

Originally Posted by electile disfunction

Cool!

If "tortiseshell" means they have 'white and black and medium orange' coloured fur, then it is likely that those three colours are all dominant genetic traits (i.e.: not recessive) and they are all found on the X chromosomes (female sex chromosomes) of that cat. (I suppose they would be "co-dominant" in these circumstances.) ...

Does this sound kind-of correct to anyone?
e.d.

A timely coincidence ...

The Canadian, public radio, science program "Quirks and Quarks" talked about toriseshell &/or calico cats and why they are female this past weekend!
Listen for yourself here:
http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/episode/201...ember-24-2011/

[Mal Hombre]

Originally Posted by squigg58

In a similar vein, the concept of stealth, as featured on the F-117 Nighthawk and B-2 Spirit, came from an article written by the Russian mathematician, Petr Ufimtsevin, which was published in the journal of the Moscow Institute for Radio Engineering in 1964. The engineers at Lockheed used Ufimtsevin's article as a basis for their work on the "Have Blue" project, which led to the design of the F-117.

The brothers Horten, Reimar and Walter stumbled upon stealth with Their Horten IX flying wing,featuring wood veneers and charcoal to absorb radar waves.

[osmankara06]

[sweatyhat]

The power of modern lasers is measured in Watts.
Before this standard was adopted, early laser pioneers had to rely on their own derivations.
Theodore Maiman used the 'Giliette', which was the number of razor blades through which a laser would cut. The power of early models was in the 2-4 Gillette range.

[Greenman]

A light-hearted did-you-know...that the gorgeous blonde girl in the paddypower adverts on satellite and television is the ex-girlfriend of Jensen Button(F1 driver) and Prince Harry- Florence Brudenell-Bruce.
As you can see she can do chic and sexy.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...rie-shoot.html

[Greenman]

I bet many of you know the tune 'World In Motion' by by New Order that came out for the 1990 World Cup where we nearly, very nearly made the final. Anyway I bet you also know the lyrics but I bet none of you could hear what MC John Barnes was saying towards the end...well I can now reveal it was the following

"We ain't no hoo-lig-ans, this ain't a football song, three lions on my chest, I know we can't go wrong..." it is amazing how many fans didn't hear that

[rotobott]

Originally Posted by Greenman

And did you also know that there no green mammals. There are green birds, some species of fish have a green tinge and of course reptiles but NOT mammals-ain't nature grand?

Some slothes are green, but that's due to moss growing on them. That's what you get for being named after one of the seven deadly sins

[sweatyhat]

Originally Posted by rotobott

Some slothes are green, but that's due to moss growing on them. That's what you get for being named after one of the seven deadly sins

I don't either, but surely Mr Sloth is good candidate.