Random Articles (Page 3)
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๐ Recursive Islands and Lakes
A recursive island or lake is an island or lake that is itself within an island or lake.
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- "Recursive Islands and Lakes" | 2022-02-08 | 11 Upvotes 1 Comments
- "Recursive Islands and Lakes" | 2020-06-12 | 10 Upvotes 2 Comments
๐ Graphite Bomb
A graphite bomb is intended to be a non-lethal weapon used to disable an electrical grid. The bomb works by spreading a dense cloud of extremely fine, chemically treated carbon filaments over air-insulated high voltage installations like transformers and power lines, causing short-circuits and subsequent disruption of the electricity supply in an area, a region or even an entire small country. The weapon is sometimes referred to as blackout bomb or as soft bomb because its direct effects are largely confined to the targeted electrical power facility, with minimal risk of immediate collateral damage. However, since water supply systems and sewage treatment systems depend on electricity, widespread outbreaks of cholera and other waterborne diseases, causing large numbers of civilian deaths, have in the past been the direct consequence of this bomb's use.
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- "Graphite Bomb" | 2023-12-05 | 27 Upvotes 3 Comments
๐ Seikilos epitaph
The Seikilos epitaph is the oldest surviving complete musical composition, including musical notation, from anywhere in the world. The epitaph has been variously dated, but seems to be either from the 1st or the 2nd century AD. The song, the melody of which is recorded, alongside its lyrics, in the ancient Greek musical notation, was found engraved on a tombstone (a stele) from the Hellenistic town Tralles near present-day Aydฤฑn, Turkey, not far from Ephesus. It is a Hellenistic Ionic song in either the Phrygian octave species or Iastian tonos. While older music with notation exists (for example the Hurrian songs), all of it is in fragments; the Seikilos epitaph is unique in that it is a complete, though short, composition.
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- "Seikilos epitaph" | 2018-06-06 | 160 Upvotes 23 Comments
- "Seikilos epitaph" | 2015-07-11 | 62 Upvotes 16 Comments
๐ Fazlur Khan: The engineer who made it possible to live in the sky
Fazlur Rahman Khan (Bengali: เฆซเฆเฆฒเงเฆฐ เฆฐเฆนเฆฎเฆพเฆจ เฆเฆพเฆจ, Fozlur Rรดhman Khan) (3 April 1929 โ 27 March 1982) was a Bangladeshi-American structural engineer and architect, who initiated important structural systems for skyscrapers. Considered the "father of tubular designs" for high-rises, Khan was also a pioneer in computer-aided design (CAD). He was the structural engineer of the Sears Tower working with Architect Bruce Graham, since renamed Willis Tower, the tallest building in the world from 1973 until 1998, and the 100-story John Hancock Center.
Khan, more than any other individual, ushered in a renaissance in skyscraper construction during the second half of the 20th century. He has been called the "Einstein of structural engineering" and the "Greatest Structural Engineer of the 20th Century" for his innovative use of structural systems that remain fundamental to modern skyscraper design and construction. In his honor, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat established the Fazlur Khan Lifetime Achievement Medal, as one of their CTBUH Skyscraper Awards.
Although best known for skyscrapers, Khan was also an active designer of other kinds of structures, including the Hajj airport terminal, the McMathโPierce solar telescope, and several stadium structures.
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- "Fazlur Khan: The engineer who made it possible to live in the sky" | 2014-06-12 | 86 Upvotes 9 Comments
๐ Spanish Wikipedia also shuts down in protest at proposed EU copyright law
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- "Spanish Wikipedia also shuts down in protest at proposed EU copyright law" | 2018-07-04 | 272 Upvotes 96 Comments
๐ Considered for deletion โ Mass killings under communist regimes
Mass killings under communist regimes occurred throughout the 20th century. Death estimates vary widely, depending on the definitions of the deaths that are included in them. The higher estimates of mass killings account for the crimes that governments committed against civilians, including executions, the destruction of populations through man-made hunger and deaths that occurred during forced deportations and imprisonment, and deaths that resulted from forced labor.
In addition to "mass killings," terms that are used to define such killings include "democide", "politicide", "classicide", and "genocide."
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- "Considered for deletion โ Mass killings under communist regimes" | 2021-11-24 | 16 Upvotes 15 Comments
๐ 1593 Transported Soldier Legend
A folk legend holds that in October 1593 a soldier of the Spanish Empire (named Gil Pรฉrez in a 1908 version) was mysteriously transported from Manila in the Philippines to the Plaza Mayor (now the Zรณcalo) in Mexico City. The soldier's claim to have come from the Philippines was disbelieved by the Mexicans until his account of the assassination of Gรณmez Pรฉrez Dasmariรฑas was corroborated months later by the passengers of a ship which had crossed the Pacific Ocean with the news. Folklorist Thomas Allibone Janvier in 1908 described the legend as "current among all classes of the population of the City of Mexico". Twentieth-century paranormal investigators giving credence to the story have offered teleportation and alien abduction as explanations.
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- "In 1593 a soldier of the Spanish Empire was teleported from Manila to Mexico" | 2024-07-02 | 16 Upvotes 4 Comments
- "1593 Transported Soldier Legend" | 2020-10-27 | 67 Upvotes 8 Comments
๐ Hitler and Mannerheim Recording
The Hitler and Mannerheim recording is a recording of a private conversation between Adolf Hitler, Fรผhrer of Nazi Germany, and Field Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Defence Forces. It took place on a secret visit made to Finland by Hitler to honour Mannerheim's 75th birthday on 4 June 1942, during the Continuation War, a sub-theatre of World War II. Thor Damen, a sound engineer for the Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (YLE) who had been assigned to record the official birthday proceedings, recorded the first eleven minutes of Hitler and Mannerheim's private conversationโwithout Hitler's knowledge. It is the only known recording of Hitler speaking in an unofficial tone.
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- "Hitler and Mannerheim Recording" | 2022-06-26 | 11 Upvotes 1 Comments
๐ Colorless green ideas sleep furiously
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously is a sentence composed by Noam Chomsky in his 1957 book Syntactic Structures as an example of a sentence that is grammatically correct, but semantically nonsensical. The sentence was originally used in his 1955 thesis The Logical Structure of Linguistic Theory and in his 1956 paper "Three Models for the Description of Language". Although the sentence is grammatically correct, no obvious understandable meaning can be derived from it, and thus it demonstrates the distinction between syntax and semantics. As an example of a category mistake, it was used to show the inadequacy of certain probabilistic models of grammar, and the need for more structured models.
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- "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously" | 2021-02-06 | 15 Upvotes 18 Comments
๐ The Biggest Star
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- "The Biggest Star" | 2010-01-08 | 17 Upvotes 3 Comments