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Original poster

Things that are utterly bloody fascinating

784 replies

ElizabethBest · 06/03/2023 14:24

Let's hear it please - I love a good wikipedia rabbit hole. I'll start - The Willard Suitcases. Over 400 suitcases of possessions were found in an attic at the Willard Insane Asylum belong to patients who had died whilst inpatients so never left. The New York State Museum started a project to document the cases and their contents, and you can learn all about it and see the cases on their website.

OP posts:
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15
Britinme · 03/04/2023 21:43

@SqueakyDinosaur - clearly I shall have to revisit! If you ever get a chance to go to the Vasa museum in Stockholm, that is also spectacular.

SqueakyDinosaur · 03/04/2023 21:41

Mary Rose exhibition is absolutely stunning now, @Britinme - used to live in Hampshire so went a few times in the early years when it was basically a shed full of wet wood, but now they have her properly displayed it's spectacular, and the contents are just amazing - it's like the opposite of land archaeology because the things that survive are wood and leather rather than metal. And the skeleton of the ship's dog....

I went round it with my brother and sister-in-law, who said to brother in front of one display cabinet with personal possessions in it, "Ooh look, those shoes are nearly as tatty as the ones you keep refusing to throw away!"

Britinme · 03/04/2023 18:11

@Daftasabroom - I live in the USA but I have toured Victory and Warrior and seen the Mary Rose exhibit years ago

Daftasabroom · 03/04/2023 17:43

I probably ought to add that the Cutty Sark was 65m length on deck and sailed with a compliment of about 30 people.

Daftasabroom · 03/04/2023 17:39

@Britinme if you're ever in Portsmouth the Mary Rose, the Victory, the Warrior and HMS Dolphin make a really great long weekend agenda.(Assuming you like boats and ships).

The Mary Rose, the Victory and the Warrior had roughly the same number of people on board (700 to 800). The Warrior was 2x the length of the Victory. The Victory was 2x the length the Mary Rose.

Very roughly:

MR = 34m
Victory = 60m
Warrior= 127m

WigsNGowns · 03/04/2023 10:16

@Ourladycheesusedatum

That video about the muscial road and why it's out of tune is really interesting. The whole thing is mad.

After I watched that video, this was the next one on Youtube which is just as interesting about how water can solve a watertight maze by not taking wrong turns due to air presurre. I randomly found something interesting on the back of the interesting road.

Can water solve a maze?

Head to https://80000hours.org/steve to start planning a career that is meaningful, fulfilling, and helps solve one of the world’s most pressing problems.Her...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81ebWToAnvA

Emotionalsupportviper · 03/04/2023 09:27

Jesus wept!

It sounds like the souls of the damned are crying out for blessed relief from the flames of Hell!

Ourladycheesusedatum · 03/04/2023 09:02

Emotionalsupportviper · 03/04/2023 08:11

A "musical road", you say?

Thank you - I like weird stuff (as I think we all do on here, by the looks of things . . . )

Aye, and theres more than one, who knew.
I've just been to find the link and hilariously it's from 2017, I had no idea I'd been watching Tom for so long.

Why California's musical road sounds terrible

In Lancaster, California, there's a musical road. When you drive over it, it plays the William Tell Overture. Unfortunately, it's out of tune. Here's why.Tha...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ef93WmlEho0

Emotionalsupportviper · 03/04/2023 08:11

A "musical road", you say?

Thank you - I like weird stuff (as I think we all do on here, by the looks of things . . . )

Ourladycheesusedatum · 02/04/2023 19:47

Emotionalsupportviper · 02/04/2023 18:41

I did wonder about that cheesus - I bought they'd mislabelled the herons. (Though there weren't thousands . . . )

I will just blame menopause again, or early onset dementia, not quite sure. But either video is pretty good. Got the links from tom Scott a youtuber who sends out emails each week. His YouTube channel is pretty good too, some very interesting items and some not so cracking. If you go look for him he has a video of a musical Road (makes music as you drive over it) that went wrong and he explains how it went wrong.

Emotionalsupportviper · 02/04/2023 18:41

I did wonder about that cheesus - I bought they'd mislabelled the herons. (Though there weren't thousands . . . )

Emotionalsupportviper · 02/04/2023 13:42

Ourladycheesusedatum · 01/04/2023 12:31

Here is a murmuration resting on a ship on their journey. Fascinating.

Show quote history

This is wonderful!

It would be worth getting press-ganged to see this in real life!

Ourladycheesusedatum · 01/04/2023 12:31

feellikeanalien · 07/03/2023 11:09

Something I saw for the first time at the weekend and was absolutely blown away. A murmuration of starlings. The sky was black and the birds were just going round and round in a massive flock.

I googled it when we got home and there are whole websites dedicated to it. I find birds generally really fascinating

www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/spot-a-starling-murmuration-this-winter.html#:~:text=At%20sunset%2C%20huge%20groups%20of,group%20of%20starlings%20in%20flight.www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/spot-a-starling-murmuration-this-winter.html#:~:text=At%20sunset%2C%20huge%20groups%20of,group%20of%20starlings%20in%20flight.

Here is a murmuration resting on a ship on their journey. Fascinating.

Bird Migration on Merchant Ships

https://youtu.be/TRFyIsX8pq4

SqueakyDinosaur · 01/04/2023 11:21

I've just gone and looked at tardigrades waddling around and they are adorable!

Thanks, I think, to a PP on here, I am now hopelessly addicted to the Rabbit Hole Detectives podcast. Great recommendation, and I'm surprised how normal and personable Charles Spencer seems.

Peverellshire · 01/04/2023 08:35

Sent too soon…AI say ‘how long until they twig, how dumb are they’.

Peverellshire · 01/04/2023 08:30

ElsieWelsie · 31/03/2023 21:44

I read in my dc's reading book that some scientists believe that one of Saturn's moons could support life and it has lakes and mountains. Also have you ever seen how cute tardigrades are just waddling around under microscopes. It feels like someone's messing around with us.

Show quote history

Interesting, are we a massive ‘Wordle’ game how many guesses before ‘time’s up’? Hey, say AI…

Sweetpea1532 · 01/04/2023 07:11

@Ineke Hope to see you there!

Ineke · 01/04/2023 02:50

@Sweetpea1532, many thanks for the info, will take a look.

Trixiefirecracker · 31/03/2023 23:03

Moss Piglets ❤️

ElsieWelsie · 31/03/2023 21:44

Peverellshire · 19/03/2023 00:47

@CriticalAlert what might the ‘Garden of Eden’ & ‘original sin’ & ‘Apple’ mean if used as an allegory for today’s (or tomorrow’s) world? Is ‘life cyclical’? We destroy ourselves & are recreated? The dinosaurs an earlier‘experiment’? How would they have evolved if not wiped out?

if there is life out there, that’s more advanced, it’s not likely to be carbon based. A sort of AI?

I also read about the sky being the blue screen of death…

The lack of proven life elsewhere in universe could point again to a simulation hypothesis.

I read in my dc's reading book that some scientists believe that one of Saturn's moons could support life and it has lakes and mountains. Also have you ever seen how cute tardigrades are just waddling around under microscopes. It feels like someone's messing around with us.

Sweetpea1532 · 27/03/2023 04:08

@Ineke
I MADE A MISTAKE ABOUT THE OP FOR THE HAPPY PLACE CAFE!!!! I'm sorry! I decided to attach a photo that has the info on both threads...as you can see the OP for HPC is NOT ssach but , sashh... my dyslexia is showing Confused
The different categories can be seen on each thread...

Things that are utterly bloody fascinating
Sweetpea1532 · 27/03/2023 04:01

@Ineke
I'd forgotten I'd mentioned those.
They are two fun threads started by fun, positive people like@ElizabethBest . WAG stands for word association game. Very easy to play...We've gotten to know each other a bit over the months..it's very fun and not at all strident and competitive.
I don't know how to do links, but you can do a search by the OP 'Annekipankitoo' ...the thread going on now is called Wagbunny. Come join us!
The Happy Place Cafe is another fun thread started by 'ssach' during the pandemic and ssach decided to bring it back...it's a thread about the OPs virtual cafe where people can go virtually and order whatever they like with no concern for calories. Hope to see you there! There's lots of free tables!

Ineke · 27/03/2023 03:48

@Sweetpea1532, What is the WAG gang and the Happy Café Group please?