To ask you to post the most intellectual thing you have learned recently?

[ethelfleda]

I dont care what subject it is about or how specific or random it may seem. I'm just in the mood to soak up some knowledge! I've been doing a lot of free course on the openlearn website and some of them are fascinating and I feel my self esteem is increasing just through learning. I didn't get the chance to study past GCSE level when I was younger and I have always regretted it.

I will start:

That I think in art history, it can almost be considered a hindrance to try and relate the artist's work with details of their life. This can discount many other factors influencing their work such as patronage or available materials and can cause you to read a painting 'incorrectly' - that is not in the manner in which it was intended'

[delphguelph]

10.26 brekkie rule

[BitOfFun]

I've been listening to an amazing podcast called The History Of English this week. I've learned that the word "duel" comes from the old Latin duellum, pertaining to war or conflict (it takes two!), which changed over time to bellum, giving us variations like "the ante-bellum South", or "bellicose", or "belligerent".

Fascinating!

[MarcieBlue]

Not that clever but makes me think.

When you lose body fat you breathe it out mostly. (Fat in basic terms is made up of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen so makes sense really.)

[ErrolTheDragon]

You'd probably have learned, cough. It's easy enough to know where north is if the sky is clear. Helps if you have a watch but so long as you're not too near the equator you could probably estimate time of day from shadow length.

[TheGr3atEscapez]

www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/antigravityworldgrid/ciencia_antigravityworldgrid08.htm this is where my interest started with noise and moving objects. There are videos on YouTube. It seems it's being going on for centuries

[ChazsBrilliantAttitude]

Ancient Greek statues and buildings were bright painted not minimalist white marble. Traces of paint have been found on the Parthenon marbled.

[ChazsBrilliantAttitude]

marbles

[talllikejerryhall]

I read that tech evolves so quickly that there is a small possibility that we are in fact stimulants featuring in a hologram in order to entertain our future descendants - but I acknowledge that's more crackpot than intellectual

[ChazsBrilliantAttitude]

The RAF and US Airforce jointly have what maybe the world’s most powerful listening station to intercept communications in N Yorkshire at Menwith Hill.

[steff13]

Over 100 million sharks are killed by humans every year. I went to the aquarium yesterday.

[TheGr3atEscapez]

Woad was processed in windmills and it used to smell. I believe a law was passed to stop people growing it near certain places, like palaces

[Amortentia]

How important marshland is to the environment, if it dries out a large amount of greenhouse gasses could escape.There is an EU directive that protects these areas but who knows what will happen post-Brexit. I understand Elon Musk has got his eye on an area of Kent that has a lot of marshland.

[JennyBlueWren]

Duty free airports and the sale of toblerone was invented to make money for Ireland from people passing through changing planes.

[speakout]

The colour - bright pink - is said to be the oldest colour in the world

That is so funny.

[speakout]

Mud was invented only two hundred years to amuse people who did not live in cities.

[Pengggwn]

When someone poses a question only to them answer it on behalf of the listener, this is called hypophora.

[Movablefeast]

The younger a society is demographically, the more violent it is. I came across this fact a few years ago, it seems so obvious once you think about it but then sheds new light and perspective on so many conflicts.

[Candyflip]

Ok, it’s not intellectual, but it is important. I always thought that Champagne, Cava and Prosecco were made in the same way using the same varietals etc, just named differently due to region. It is not true. Cava is double fermented in the bottle, like Champagne. Prosecco is not.

[speakout]

What is an "intellectual thing"?

[IfyouseeRitaMoreno]

The seemingly illogical tennis scoring system of Love: 15: 30:40 comes from the quarter sections of clock face which was used in French court to keep the score.

The 45 changed to 40 because a) it was too long to say, and/or b) one needed to allow for the two clear points needed to win the game if it went to deuce. These were indicated by 50 (advantage) and 60 (game).

OP agree with your take on interpretation of artists’ intentions 100%

[IfyouseeRitaMoreno]

Oh and the “love” bit either comes from “playing for love” meaning not money and therefore not keeping score OR the French for egg: “L’oeuf” which has the shape of a 0.

[CigarsofthePharoahs]

The part of a chilli pepper that gives it the hotness isn't the seeds, it's the white fibrous bits. The chemical that does this is called capsaicin.
Did you know that rabbits can develop a taste for very hot chilli's?

[cliffdiver]

This

[Warpdrive]

Spaniels originate from Spain. They are Espagnole.
If you say it out loud you’ll hear how they got their name.

[mumonashoestring]

We were watching the news yesterday and they were talking about the new Mars explorer vehicle and the competition to give it a name (Rovey McRoverface apparently ain't gonna happen ). DH suddenly piped up with 'They should call it Simmias' because that was the name of the officer Ptolemy III Euergetes (king of Egypt) sent to explore the shores of the Red Sea.