Random Articles (Page 4)
Have a deep view into what people are curious about.
π Solresol
Solresol (Solfège: Sol-Re-Sol) is a constructed language devised by François Sudre, beginning in 1827. His major book on it, Langue Musicale Universelle, was published after his death in 1866, though he had already been publicizing it for some years. Solresol enjoyed a brief spell of popularity, reaching its pinnacle with Boleslas Gajewski's 1902 publication of Grammaire du Solresol. An ISO 639-3 language code had been requested on 28 July 2017, but was rejected on 1 February 2018.
Today, there exist small communities of Solresol enthusiasts scattered across the world, able to communicate with one another thanks to the Internet.
Discussed on
- "Solresol" | 2018-01-17 | 72 Upvotes 7 Comments
π Wikipedia Is Down?
Discussed on
- "Wikipedia Is Down?" | 2022-03-08 | 12 Upvotes 8 Comments
π Quasicrystals
A quasiperiodic crystal, or quasicrystal, is a structure that is ordered but not periodic. A quasicrystalline pattern can continuously fill all available space, but it lacks translational symmetry. While crystals, according to the classical crystallographic restriction theorem, can possess only two-, three-, four-, and six-fold rotational symmetries, the Bragg diffraction pattern of quasicrystals shows sharp peaks with other symmetry ordersβfor instance, five-fold.
Aperiodic tilings were discovered by mathematicians in the early 1960s, and, some twenty years later, they were found to apply to the study of natural quasicrystals. The discovery of these aperiodic forms in nature has produced a paradigm shift in the fields of crystallography. Quasicrystals had been investigated and observed earlier, but, until the 1980s, they were disregarded in favor of the prevailing views about the atomic structure of matter. In 2009, after a dedicated search, a mineralogical finding, icosahedrite, offered evidence for the existence of natural quasicrystals.
Roughly, an ordering is non-periodic if it lacks translational symmetry, which means that a shifted copy will never match exactly with its original. The more precise mathematical definition is that there is never translational symmetry in more than nΒ βΒ 1 linearly independent directions, where n is the dimension of the space filled, e.g., the three-dimensional tiling displayed in a quasicrystal may have translational symmetry in two directions. Symmetrical diffraction patterns result from the existence of an indefinitely large number of elements with a regular spacing, a property loosely described as long-range order. Experimentally, the aperiodicity is revealed in the unusual symmetry of the diffraction pattern, that is, symmetry of orders other than two, three, four, or six. In 1982 materials scientist Dan Shechtman observed that certain aluminium-manganese alloys produced the unusual diffractograms which today are seen as revelatory of quasicrystal structures. Due to fear of the scientific community's reaction, it took him two years to publish the results for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2011. On 25 October 2018, Luca Bindi and Paul Steinhardt were awarded the Aspen Institute 2018 Prize for collaboration and scientific research between Italy and the United States.
Discussed on
- "Quasicrystals" | 2019-09-02 | 54 Upvotes 8 Comments
π List of really, really stupid article ideas that you should not create
An article about or described by any of the following can be safely assumed to fit into the set of unnecessary articles:
- You, your family, or the organization you work for.
- Your band, which has only sold 47 copies of its one album. Even if you think it will sell 48. Or maybe 49! Or, if you get really lucky, you can pay off the record store owner so that he may buy one and your sales will have gone up to fifty!!! Keep dreamin', brotha.
- Your imaginary friend or your imaginary friends that don't even exist.
- The religion, language or even country that you made up with your friends in school one day.
- The street you live on, unless it is on a Monopoly board. But since it is highly unlikely that you live on a Monopoly game board, we suggest that you not even try.
- Any one of the 16 distinct regions in the PokΓ©mon video game series or lieking mudkipz, or hering dat someon lieks mudkipz. Remember, not everyone is a PokΓ©mon fanatic.
- A stunt or trick only you have ever attempted, probably unsuccessfully.
- Any movie you made yourself which has never been seen by more people at one time than can fit in your basement. Even if you have a really big basement.
- Individual songs that have never been released as a single nor seen radio play, unless they're twenty minutes long or have led to a phone number becoming unusable or even have questioned the essence of music itself.
- "(Anything) in popular culture." Anything at all.
- Likewise "Hysterical Realism in the Works of (insert neither hysterical nor realistic author here)".
- Your dormitory, university residence, or any suite therein.
- Stuff nobody but that guy who changes his Spock ears more often than his underpants cares about, or the equivalent thereto. For example, a song about a custom map of a video game, unless you are famous and the song managed to release as a single.
- Anything about which you cannot be buggered to write one complete sent
- Subjects that cannot be studied, or the knowledge of which amounts only to the fact that it pertains to another topic. A favourite line from a movie or catchy lyric, a potent phrase used in argument, juicy facts of interest to fans, a punch-line or zinger; these are all very interesting, but usually all that can be informatively written about topic "X" is: "X is a _______ found in _______."
- Just about everything listed on Wikipedia:Millionth topic pool.
- For that matter, Wikipedia:Millionth topic pool.
- Anything about your cat or dog and how cute it is (or your hamster, degu, or chinchilla).
- Exploding Whales, or indeed Exploding Wales, or even Exploding Wales. Or blowing up any other animals, for example, exploding mice, or even exploding Velociraptor, for that matter. Most things that implode are pretty much off the list too, with a few exceptions.
- Anything written under the influence of recreational substances or while tired and emotional.
- An article about another article, written after the use of aforementioned substances.
- A fork of an existing article for the sole purpose of adding some humor.
- The weather in London. Not even a redirect. (Wowee).
- Your guild in World of Warcraft or similar time wasters. Just because you have
no lifea personally fascinating hobby doesn't mean you get to tell the world about it. And don't write about this guy in your guild who wiped your raid, either. - Something you just saw on YouTube and, possibly, laughed at.
- Something you just put on YouTube.
- An article that haz badly grammar and/or speelling. Including, bad punctuation!!
- Any meme, no matter how popular or important.
- Anything you don't know the title of.
- Your wiki or blog. It's probably not internationally famous. If it is, well go ahead, but let's face it; your blog of cute cats is not internationally famous (three readers is not fame).
- Your new invention or research paper that will change the world. It will undoubtedly fail.
- Anything about your cat named Bubba or your dog named Max. No one cares. Trust us.
- Your nomination for the Noble (or even Nobel) Peace Prize.
- Anything about how you were abducted by aliens.
- An article on the dream you had last night. No matter how long you describe it, it will never be interesting: Even if dreaming that you were the inventor of the chalk board who had to overcome obstacles from the evil book binding lobbyists deeply moved you to tears upon waking up.
- An article on the person that knocked on your door while you was writing the article about your dream last night, causing you to forget about the dream (but Iβll be honest, I feel for you).
- An article about Wikpiedia, Wikipaedia, Wiokipedia, Wikipeedia, Wikipeadia, or any other Wikis that appear to be Wikipedia but aren't.
- An article about the media response to the Wikipedia article about the barely notable thing that shouldn't even have an article (recursivity has its limits, even here).
- The difference between Hoagy Carmichael and Stokely Carmichael.
- An entry promoting your hilarious web series about Wikipedia.
- Recreating this dumb list.
- Anything about hashtags. #IHateHashtags
- Anything about how fat you are or how much weight you're losing (trust us; no one cares).
- Headlight flashing β I know, it's preposterous, even for Wikipedia. But when you're done laughing and/or crying, follow the link. It really exists.
- Assumptions about the conclusions of scientific publications that you have seen the titles of, but not read.
- Your self-published book.
- McGannahan Skjellyfetti.
- An article about your friend's latest selfie. Or, for that matter, selfie stick. They are banned in most places anyway.
- Lists of times at which commercial breaks occurred during a sporting event.
- Your personal opinions about your boyfriend or girlfriend.
- An article on discussing the differences between you and your close friends. It does not matter to most people in the world.
- An article about how Tyson Foods is run by a bunch of chicken fuckers because the main article is protected from vandalism by the legions of Internet trolls.
- Yet another list of Google doodles.
- A new sex position that you and your boys theory-crafted one night.
- Times Scooby-Doo has defied the laws of reality.
- A list of celebrity couples names for couples that you wish would get together but as of now haven't.
- Your stupid esoteric programming language you made up to 'test the boundaries of computer programming language design'.
- Any article related to odorous gas clouds, but particularly smelly farts.
- Your youtube channel, unless you have millions of fangirls.
- Your opinion and/or fascination about outer space, even if there are lots of unusual exoplanets out there. Yes, we know. They're weird. No need to tell us that.
- Your opinion on time traveling to have dinner with the members of Bone Symphony or Bone Thugs-n-Harmony or Boney M. or The Right Honourable Bonar Law
- The time you laughed about someone eating a red 5-pound gummy skull while wearing a jetpack while driving a limousine at 5 a.m. on a Tuesday in August 2018.
- An article that uses templates to perform math for no apparent reason besides your entertainment
- Your anus and how it had very good funny time with girl.
- The time you laughed at someone living in Fortnite (Chapter 1), even though I get that they were eaten by a Black hole. Oh well, they came back!
- Posting a video of yourself saying the n-word.
- Posting an image of yourself falling off the Burj Khalifa.
- Singing any Cardi B song.
- Posting 69 (nice) useless messages made by bored editors of Wikipedia.
- Your low-effort school play of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!"
- A list of times you pinged @everyone on your Discord server.
Discussed on
- "List of really, really stupid article ideas that you should not create" | 2014-07-24 | 20 Upvotes 6 Comments
π Sabbath mode
Sabbath mode, also known as Shabbos mode (Ashkenazi pronunciation) or Shabbat mode, is a feature in many modern home appliances, including ovens and refrigerators, which is intended to allow the appliances to be used (subject to various constraints) by Shabbat-observant Jews on the Shabbat and Jewish holidays. The mode usually overrides the usual, everyday operation of the electrical appliance and makes the operation of the appliance comply with the rules of Halakha (Jewish law).
Discussed on
- "Sabbath mode" | 2015-03-21 | 93 Upvotes 168 Comments
π Weierstrass Function
In mathematics, the Weierstrass function is an example of a real-valued function that is continuous everywhere but differentiable nowhere. It is an example of a fractal curve. It is named after its discoverer Karl Weierstrass.
The Weierstrass function has historically served the role of a pathological function, being the first published example (1872) specifically concocted to challenge the notion that every continuous function is differentiable except on a set of isolated points. Weierstrass's demonstration that continuity did not imply almost-everywhere differentiability upended mathematics, overturning several proofs that relied on geometric intuition and vague definitions of smoothness. These types of functions were denounced by contemporaries: Henri PoincarΓ© famously described them as "monsters" and called Weierstrass' work "an outrage against common sense", while Charles Hermite wrote that they were a "lamentable scourge". The functions were difficult to visualize until the arrival of computers in the next century, and the results did not gain wide acceptance until practical applications such as models of Brownian motion necessitated infinitely jagged functions (nowadays known as fractal curves).
Discussed on
- "Weierstrass Function" | 2023-08-22 | 21 Upvotes 2 Comments
π Mosuo Women
The Mosuo (Chinese: ζ©ζ’; pinyin: MΓ³suΕ) are a small ethnic group living in Yunnan and Sichuan provinces in China, close to the border with Tibet. Dubbed the 'Kingdom of Women' by the Chinese, the Mosuo population of about 50,000 live near Lugu Lake in the Tibetan Himalayas 27Β°42β²35.30β³N 100Β°47β²4.04β³E.
Scholars use diverse terms and spellings to designate the Mosuo culture. Most prefer 'Mosuo' some spell it 'Moso', while a minority use neither term, but refer to them as the Na people.
The Mosuo people are known as the 'Kingdom of Women' because the Na are a matrilineal society: heterosexual activity occurs only by mutual consent and mostly through the custom of the secret nocturnal 'visit'; men and women are free to have multiple partners, and to initiate or break off relationships when they please.
Discussed on
- "Mosuo Women" | 2019-06-07 | 105 Upvotes 62 Comments
π The man who did not have a conversation in over 50 years
AndrΓ‘s Toma (5 December 1925 β 30 March 2004) was a Hungarian soldier taken prisoner by the Red Army in 1945, then discovered living in a Russian psychiatric hospital in 2000. He was probably the last prisoner of war from the Second World War to be repatriated.
Because Toma never learned Russian and nobody at the hospital spoke Hungarian, he had apparently not had a single conversation in over 50 years, a situation of great interest for the fields of psychiatry and psycholinguistics.
Discussed on
- "The man who did not have a conversation in over 50 years" | 2023-09-30 | 213 Upvotes 61 Comments
π Inca Road System
The Inca road system (often spelled Inka road system and known as Qhapaq Γan meaning "royal road" in Quechua) was the most extensive and advanced transportation system in pre-Columbian South America. It was at least 40,000 kilometres (25,000Β mi) long. The construction of the roads required a large expenditure of time and effort.
The network was composed of formal roads carefully planned, engineered, built, marked and maintained; paved where necessary, with stairways to gain elevation, bridges and accessory constructions such as retaining walls, and water drainage system. It was based on two north-south roads: one along the coast and the second and most important inland and up the mountains, both with numerous branches. It can be directly compared with the road network built during the Roman Empire, although the Inka road system was built one thousand years later. The road system allowed for the transfer of information, goods, soldiers and persons, without the use of wheels, within the Tawantinsuyu or Inka Empire throughout a territory with an extension was almost 2,000,000Β km2 (770,000Β sqΒ mi) and inhabited by about 12 million people.
The roads were bordered, at intervals, with buildings to allow the most effective usage: at short distance there were relay stations for chasquis, the running messengers; at a one-day walking interval tambos allowed support to the road users and the flocks of carrying llamas. Administrative centers with warehouses for re-distribution of goods were found along the roads. Towards the boundaries of the Inka Empire and in new conquered areas pukaras (fortresses) were found.
Part of the road network was built by cultures that precede the Inka Empire, notably the Wari culture in the northern central Peru and the Tiwanaku culture in Bolivia. Different organizations such as UNESCO and IUCN have been working to protect the network in collaboration with the governments and communities of the six countries (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina) through which the Great Inka Road passes.
In modern times the roads see heavy use from tourism, such as the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, well known by trekkers, connecting Ollantaytambo with Machu Picchu.
Discussed on
- "Inca Road System" | 2019-12-01 | 90 Upvotes 26 Comments
π Grandma Gatewood
Emma Rowena (Caldwell) Gatewood, known as Grandma Gatewood, (OctoberΒ 25, 1887 β JuneΒ 4, 1973), was an American ultra-light hiking pioneer. After a difficult life as a farm wife, mother of eleven children, and survivor of domestic violence, she became famous as the first solo female thru-hiker of the 2,168-mile (3,489Β km) Appalachian Trail (A.T.) in 1955 at the age of 67. She subsequently became the first person (male or female) to hike the A.T. three times, after completing a second thru-hike two years later, followed by a section-hike in 1964. In the meantime, she hiked 2,000 miles (3,200Β km) of the Oregon Trail in 1959. In her later years, she continued to travel and hike, and worked on a section of what would become the Buckeye Trail. The media coverage surrounding her feats was credited for generating interest in maintaining the A.T. and in hiking generally. Among many other honors, she was posthumously inducted into the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame in 2012.
Discussed on
- "Grandma Gatewood" | 2023-01-10 | 121 Upvotes 19 Comments