Couldn't find a thread of this nature.
Lots of time you'll read stuff or get interesting bits of trivia, that doesn't warrant it's own thread.
1) Saw "The Conjuring" recently (definitely recommend it for those who are into horror movies or if your girl likes that kind of stuff).
Reminded me about Infrasound:
This has also been proposed as an explanation for feelings of dread related to hauntings.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrasound
http://truthseekers.cultureunplugged.com...lence.html
2) With all the economic/finance threads lately, been thinking of how "Perverse Incentives" produced some historical oddities:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive
3) Reading about some of the most notable harems in history, led me to Ismail Ibn Sharif, a ruler of Morocco from 1672–1727:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismail_Ibn_Sharif
I didn't know much about the slave trade in Europeans, there's a book about that too: http://www.amazon.com/White-Gold-Forgott...0340895098
Post up what you've learned recently, or what's interesting and on your mind.
Truth is stranger than fiction.
Lots of time you'll read stuff or get interesting bits of trivia, that doesn't warrant it's own thread.
1) Saw "The Conjuring" recently (definitely recommend it for those who are into horror movies or if your girl likes that kind of stuff).
Reminded me about Infrasound:
Quote:Quote:
Infrasound, sometimes referred to as low-frequency sound, is sound that is lower in frequency than 20 Hz (Hertz) or cycles per second, the "normal" limit of human hearing. Hearing becomes gradually less sensitive as frequency decreases, so for humans to perceive infrasound, the sound pressure must be sufficiently high. The ear is the primary organ for sensing infrasound, but at higher intensities it is possible to feel infrasound vibrations in various parts of the body.
Quote:Quote:
Sound is a waveform, with low infrasonic frequencies having a long wavelength that can cover great distances, and with high ultrasonic frequencies having a short wave length. The medical profession, chiefly for diagnostic imaging, employs ultrasound most usefully. Both ultrasound and infrasound are inaudible to humans but can, on occasion, be felt resonating within the body itself. Exposure of unprotected ears to infrasound can also cause an increase in pressure within the middle ear, disturbing the sense of balance.
It is alleged that many feature films, particularly horror movies, employ the use of infrasound to produce a heightened state of unease in the audience. The most recent addition to this list is the film ‘Paranormal Activity’. Perhaps this subtle effect is partly to do with the film’s extraordinary success. The only film to date that is known for a fact to have employed infrasound is the French film ‘Irréversible’. The rolling camera-work as well as infrasound was purposely used to create total disorientation in the viewer. Some audience members found the film so disturbing that they had to exit the theatre. If you ever find yourself watching a film that, on appearance, does not seem so affecting, and yet you are physically disturbed by it, then it might be a simple case of the soundtrack having bursts of infrasound at tense moments.
This has also been proposed as an explanation for feelings of dread related to hauntings.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrasound
http://truthseekers.cultureunplugged.com...lence.html
2) With all the economic/finance threads lately, been thinking of how "Perverse Incentives" produced some historical oddities:
Quote:Quote:
A perverse incentive is an incentive that has an unintended and undesirable result which is contrary to the interests of the incentive makers. Perverse incentives are a type of unintended consequence.
In Hanoi, under French colonial rule, a program paying people a bounty for each rat tail handed in was intended to exterminate rats. Instead, it led to the farming of rats.[1]
Funding fire departments by the number of fire calls made is intended to reward the fire departments that do the most work. However, it may discourage them from fire-prevention activities, which reduce the number of fires.[2]
19th century palaeontologists traveling to China used to pay peasants for each fragment of dinosaur bone (dinosaur fossils) that they produced. They later discovered that the peasants dug up the bones and then smashed them into many pieces, greatly reducing their scientific value, to maximise their payments.[3]
Paying medical professionals and reimbursing insured patients for treatment but not prevention encourages the ignoring of medical conditions until treatment is required.[4]
Bangkok police used tartan armbands as a badge of shame for minor infractions, but they were treated as collectibles by offending officers forced to wear them. Since 2007 they have been using armbands with the cute Hello Kitty cartoon character to avoid the perverse incentive.[5]
The Endangered Species Act in the US imposes development restrictions on landowners who find endangered species on their property. While this policy is well intentioned and has some positive effects for wildlife, it also encourages preemptive habitat destruction (draining swamps or cutting down trees that might host valuable species) by landowners who fear losing the use of their land because of the presence of an endangered species.[6] In some cases, endangered species may even be deliberately killed (shooting, shoveling, and shutting up) to avoid discovery.
Providing company executives with bonuses for reporting higher earnings encouraged executives at the Federal National Mortgage Association and other large corporations to artificially inflate earnings statements and make decisions targeting short term gains at the expense of long term profitability
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive
3) Reading about some of the most notable harems in history, led me to Ismail Ibn Sharif, a ruler of Morocco from 1672–1727:
Quote:Quote:
Moulay Ismaïl is also known as a fearsome ruler and used at least 25,000 slaves for the construction of his capital.[6] His Christian slaves were often used as bargaining counters with the European powers, selling them back their captured subjects for inflated sums or for rich gifts. Most of his slaves were obtained by Barbary pirates in raids on Western Europe.[7] Over 150,000 men from sub-Saharan Africa served in his elite Black Guard.[8] By the time of Ismail's death, the guard had grown tenfold, the largest in Moroccan history.[citation needed]
Moulay Ismaïl is alleged to have fathered 888 children. A total of 867 children, including 525 sons and 342 daughters, was noted by 1703 and his 700th son was born in 1721.[3]This is widely considered the record number of offspring for any man throughout history that can be verified.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismail_Ibn_Sharif
I didn't know much about the slave trade in Europeans, there's a book about that too: http://www.amazon.com/White-Gold-Forgott...0340895098
Post up what you've learned recently, or what's interesting and on your mind.
Truth is stranger than fiction.