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π Breeding back
Breeding back is a form of artificial selection by the deliberate selective breeding of domestic animals, in an attempt to achieve an animal breed with a phenotype that resembles a wild type ancestor, usually one that has gone extinct. Breeding back is not to be confused with dedomestication.
It must be kept in mind that a breeding-back breed may be very similar to the extinct wild type in phenotype, ecological niche, and to some extent genetics, but the original gene pool of that wild type was eliminated with its extinction. A breeding-back attempt cannot actually recreate the extinct wild type of the breeding target, as an extinct wild type cannot be resurrected through it. Furthermore, even the superficial authenticity of a bred-back animal depends on the quality of the stock used to breed the new lineage. As a result of this, some breeds, like Heck cattle, are at best a vague look-alike of the extinct wild type aurochs, according to the literature.
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- "Breeding back" | 2016-02-05 | 49 Upvotes 7 Comments
π Induced Demand Is Real
Induced demand β related to latent demand and generated demand β is the phenomenon that after supply increases, price declines and more of a good is consumed. This is entirely consistent with the economic theory of supply and demand; however, this idea has become important in the debate over the expansion of transportation systems, and is often used as an argument against increasing roadway traffic capacity as a cure for congestion. This phenomenon, more correctly called "induced traffic" or consumption of road capacity, may be a contributing factor to urban sprawl. City planner Jeff Speck has called induced demand "the great intellectual black hole in city planning, the one professional certainty that everyone thoughtful seems to acknowledge, yet almost no one is willing to act upon."
The inverse effect, or reduced demand, is also observed (see Β§Β Reduced demand).
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- "Induced Demand Is Real" | 2022-04-07 | 31 Upvotes 60 Comments
π Virtual queue
Virtual queuing is a concept used in inbound call centers. Call centers use an Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) to distribute incoming calls to specific resources (agents) in the center. ACDs hold queued calls in First In, First Out order until agents become available. From the callerβs perspective, without virtual queuing they have only two choices: wait until an agent resource becomes available, or abandon (hang up) and try again later. From the call centerβs perspective, a long queue results in many abandoned calls, repeat attempts, and customer dissatisfaction.
Virtual queuing systems allow customers to receive callbacks instead of waiting in an ACD queue. This solution is analogous to the βfast laneβ option (e.g. Disney's FASTPASS) used at amusement parks, which often have long queues to ride the various coasters and attractions. A computerized system allows park visitors to secure their place in a βvirtual queueβ rather than waiting in a physical queue.
In the brick-and-mortar retail and business world, virtual queuing for large organizations similar to the FASTPASS and Six Flags' Flash Pass, have been in use successfully since 1999 and 2001 respectively. For small businesses, the virtual queue management solutions come in two types: (a) based on SMS text notification and (b) apps on smartphones and tablet devices, with in-app notification and remote queue status views.
Discussed on
- "Virtual queue" | 2015-12-26 | 73 Upvotes 23 Comments
π Hawking's Time Traveller Party
On June 28, 2009, British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking hosted a party for time travelers in the University of Cambridge. The physicist arranged for balloons, champagne, and nibbles for his guests, but did not send out the invites until the following day, after the party was over.
The party was held at the Gonville and Caius College on Trinity Street (52Β° 12' 21" N, 0Β° 7' 4.7" E) at 12:00 UT on June 28, 2009. In preparing for the event, Hawking said he hoped that copies of the invite might survive for thousands of years, and that "one day someone living in the future will find the information and use a wormhole time machine to come back to my party, proving that time travel will one day be possible".
Hawking waited in the room for a few hours before leaving, and no visitors arrived. He regarded the event as "experimental evidence that time travel is not possible".
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- "Steven Hawking's time traveller party" | 2024-09-17 | 21 Upvotes 18 Comments
- "Hawking's Time Traveller Party" | 2024-05-09 | 16 Upvotes 6 Comments
π Dishwasher Salmon
Dishwasher salmon is an American fish dish made with the heat from a dishwasher, particularly from its drying phase.
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- "Dishwasher Salmon" | 2023-04-16 | 466 Upvotes 371 Comments
π Strowger Telephone Switch (1891)
The Strowger switch is the first commercially successful electromechanical stepping switch telephone exchange system. It was developed by the Strowger Automatic Telephone Exchange Company founded in 1891 by Almon Brown Strowger. Because of its operational characteristics it is also known as a step-by-step (SXS) switch.
Discussed on
- "Strowger Telephone Switch (1891)" | 2016-11-24 | 22 Upvotes 12 Comments
π Ocean Temperature
The ocean temperature varies by depth, geographical location and season. Both the temperature and salinity of ocean water differs. Warm surface water is generally saltier than the cooler deep or polar waters; in polar regions, the upper layers of ocean water are cold and fresh. Deep ocean water is cold, salty water found deep below the surface of Earth's oceans. This water has a very uniform temperature, around 0-3Β Β°C. The ocean temperature also depends on the amount of solar radiation falling on its surface. In the tropics, with the Sun nearly overhead, the temperature of the surface layers can rise to over 30Β Β°C (86Β Β°F) while near the poles the temperature in equilibrium with the sea ice is about β2Β Β°C (28Β Β°F). There is a continuous circulation of water in the oceans. Thermohaline circulation (THC) is a part of the large-scale ocean circulation that is driven by global density gradients created by surface heat and freshwater fluxes. Warm surface currents cool as they move away from the tropics, and the water becomes denser and sinks. The cold water moves back towards the equator as a deep sea current, driven by changes in the temperature and density of the water, before eventually welling up again towards the surface.
Ocean temperature as a term is used either for the temperature in the ocean at any depth, or specifically for the ocean temperatures that are not near the surface (in which case it is synonymous with "deep ocean temperature").
It is clear that the oceans are warming as a result of climate change and this rate of warming is increasing.:β9β The upper ocean (above 700 m) is warming fastest, but the warming trend extends throughout the ocean. In 2022, the global ocean was the hottest ever recorded by humans.
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- "Ocean Temperature" | 2023-05-13 | 87 Upvotes 53 Comments
π Non-photo blue
Non-photo blue (or non-repro blue) is a common tool used in the graphic design and print industry.
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- "Non-photo blue" | 2015-11-21 | 138 Upvotes 41 Comments
π Brainbow
Brainbow is a process by which individual neurons in the brain can be distinguished from neighboring neurons using fluorescent proteins. By randomly expressing different ratios of red, green, and blue derivatives of green fluorescent protein in individual neurons, it is possible to flag each neuron with a distinctive color. This process has been a major contribution to the field of connectomics, traditionally known as hodology, which is the study of neural connections in the brain.
The technique was originally developed in 2007 by a team led by Jeff W. Lichtman and Joshua R. Sanes, both at Harvard University. The original technique has recently been adapted for use with other model organisms including Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans, and Arabidopsis thaliana.
While earlier labeling techniques allowed for the mapping of only a few neurons, this new method allows more than 100 differently mapped neurons to be simultaneously and differentially illuminated in this manner. The resulting images can be quite striking and have won awards in science photography competitions.
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- "Brainbow" | 2020-07-26 | 16 Upvotes 3 Comments
π Freedom to Roam
The freedom to roam, or "everyman's right", is the general public's right to access certain public or privately owned land, lakes, and rivers for recreation and exercise. The right is sometimes called the right of public access to the wilderness or the "right to roam".
In Scotland, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Austria, Czech Republic and Switzerland, the freedom to roam takes the form of general public rights which are sometimes codified in law. The access is ancient in parts of Northern Europe and has been regarded as sufficiently basic that it was not formalised in law until modern times. However, the right usually does not include any substantial economic exploitation, such as hunting or logging, or disruptive activities, such as making fires and driving offroad vehicles.
In England and Wales public access rights apply only to certain categories of mainly uncultivated land.
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- "Freedom to Roam" | 2024-05-01 | 24 Upvotes 43 Comments