Recent comments in /f/todayilearned

QuentinUK t1_j926169 wrote

Reply to TIL about lipograms: written work in which a particular letter is intentionally omitted. Ernest Wright wrote his 1939 novel Gadsby without the letter "e," and his book was 50,000 words long. by class-in-a-glass

OuLiPo is a loose gathering of (mainly) French-speaking writers and mathematicians who seek to create works using constrained writing techniques. One member, Perec, wrote a similar book called 'La Disparition’.

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pfranz t1_j925xos wrote

Reply to comment by Minion_Soldier in TIL that "Lilo & Stitch" (2002) used exclusively watercolor backgrounds, since Disney, after some failures, was investing in other projects. This was later called a "hand drawn miracle". by starring2

I’m still confused what they are getting at. Treasure Planet came out after Lilo and Stitch. Because it was hybrid it isn’t hand drawn? My understanding was that Home on the Range the last hand drawn film before they stopped and that was done in Glendale.

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Ignitus1 t1_j925eag wrote

Reply to comment by PicardTangoAlpha in TIL beavers are a keystone species, which means they play an important role in ecosystems by modifying the area in a way that is beneficial to plants and animals by jewkakasaurus

It’s not hard to imagine that a species known for altering the environment would have an impact on the other species in that environment.

Besides, what sort of research would you expect to find? How is the fossil record going to show definitively that one species pushed another to extinction over a long period of time?

These interactions are inevitable in an ecological system.

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otclogic t1_j924t9n wrote

Reply to comment by Mammoth-Mud-9609 in TIL beavers are a keystone species, which means they play an important role in ecosystems by modifying the area in a way that is beneficial to plants and animals by jewkakasaurus

> The role of different types of keystone species; predators, builders and mutualists in changing or maintaining the habitat around them.

Beavers I can accept as a Keystone species, but I would think that at least one other animal on that list would prefer Tacatè or Miller.

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Nopatme OP t1_j923zyl wrote

Reply to comment by Norwegian_Thunder in TIL that Simo Häyhä AKA the sniper White Death kept a Winter War diary, that was discovered in 2017 from his nephew's drawer, when a local museum was looking for memorabilia for an exhibition on Häyhä by Nopatme

I think it is speculated that the wooden parts would not have held up with the elements so it would be mainly metal remains.

There have been some search parties in the area which is quite swampy but nothing has been found.

There is atleast a completely unverified rumor that a gun collector in Espoo, Finland would have Häyhä's rifle.

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Jackalodeath t1_j91z1r3 wrote

Reply to comment by McMeanface in TIL beavers are a keystone species, which means they play an important role in ecosystems by modifying the area in a way that is beneficial to plants and animals by jewkakasaurus

It's a somewhat similar reaction to our aversion to certain frequency noises; just with a different result.

Take "horror" movies for example; you know how a vast majority have violins/violas/etc playing a certain cacophonous note, gradually building in intensity until a climax (right before jumpscares for instance.) Or a monster will have a somewhat high-pitched "shriek."

The sounds are typically (not always) designed pretty similar to the frequencies emitted by a crying baby, which we're "hardwired" to seek out/identify.

A majority of folks are moved by the sound of a wailing babe in some form, whether it be general irritation to invoking sympathy. We're just at a stage where we can resist the urge to immediately act upon it, but if you can hear, you're still succinctly aware it's happening.

Beavers have a few other habits that drive them to dam it; most notably the habit of eating the bark/limbs of trees, and piling the less-nutritious, "dead" bits of wood into piles. Pack those piles with mud/sediment, as they grow it becomes relatively structurally sound. Very similar to "primitive" human dwellings, how quaint.

Eat bark in one area for long enough, you'll have to travel out further from home (safety), for fresh bark; they're not exactly graceful on land, but nimble as fuck underwater. Very, very few of their predators stand a chance in Hell catching them in water.

Let evolution and learning do its thing for a few centuries, and beavers realized packing their leftovers and mud around a certain sound - uneven, burbling water - it'll stop, and the water that was running to make said sound starts to well up/flood the area it was coming from, giving it more range and easy escape routes to forage over wider areas.

A side effect of those piles is they typically end up raising slightly above water level, leaving a pocket of well-insulted air inside. As the structures settle and become more structurally sound, the area becomes surrounded by water on some or all sides, which makes it far easier to escape a predator while out and about - they are rodents after all, and rodents are the meatballs of nature in terms of the food chain. Think of it as building a studio apartment with an entrance only accessible through a moat, and you're one of only a few world-class swimmers in the neighborhood.

Wood also floats pretty well, and due to further adaptions - namely having two sets of lips, one in front and one behind their iron-reinforced buckteefs - it's extremely efficient for transporting said wood/food back home.

Unlike most other rodents, this relative safety of dam life finds them being more "monogamous," having much smaller litters compared to their rodent brethren, and they actually spend the time/energy to raise/teach their offspring instead of always worrying about getting eaten. Dam building is instinctual to a point, but practice makes perfect; you can tell the difference between a youngin's dam and an elder beaver's dam.

Another thing to note; you know how beavers chew down trees? They're not eating the trees' innards like one would think; most the time, they're bringing the good stuff too high to reach - young, tender, nutritious limbs - down to them. The innards of most trees are akin to eating nothing but celery, while the bark/newly formed limbs are like celery with ranch or peanut butter; more nutrient dense. Granted they have to basically "chew their cud" the hard way to get the most out of it, it's still better than the hard, "dead" innards. They also seem to know exactly where to chisel away at said trees to get them to fall towards a body of water for a quick escape in case the sound attracts unwanted attention^_^

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i_cum_while_pooping t1_j91xpda wrote

Reply to comment by Nopatme in TIL that Simo Häyhä AKA the sniper White Death kept a Winter War diary, that was discovered in 2017 from his nephew's drawer, when a local museum was looking for memorabilia for an exhibition on Häyhä by Nopatme

Hmm this gives me ideas. Löylyläinen? Hölmäkääpä? Köljönhöyry? Ryönämöinen? Vääräkääpä? So many possibilites for when I change my surname as an old man.

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Kharon8 t1_j91v3ey wrote

Reply to comment by SPACEMAN_B1FF in TIL that Kraftwerk got paid 200.000 euros for the official Hannover Expo 2000 jingle. It was 4 seconds long! by krisolin

Yes and all the other stuff too: Permission to use images and band name and all.

At some point in rising fame you are not paying to the venue to show your name, venue pays you to show your name.

IMHO Kraftwerk passed that limit in 1970s, after Autobahn. In Germany, at least. Globally after The Man Machine.

They had a number of records (3) before Autobahn and having 2 of them, I can say they are ... shall we say ... 'experimental'. I'm still not sure if they are horrible or brilliant .... but nothing between is possible. :)

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