Weird News of the World Thread - Part 2

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[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Sea Snail Teeth Are The Strongest Known Biological Structures

Step aside, spider silk — you've just been replaced by the limpet as the creature with the strongest biological material known to science. It's a discovery that could result in high-tech materials even tougher than Kevlar.

The new research shows that the teeth of limpets — conical shaped sea snails (Patella vulgata) that scour rocks in shallow waters — feature a tensile strength of between 3 and 6.5 gigapascals (GPa). Compare that to the previous record holder, spider silk, which has a tensile strength around 1.3 GPa.

Limpets have evolved these incredibly durable teeth to help it rasp over rock surfaces when feeding on algae. Otherwise, its teeth would just whittle away to nothing.

The toughness lies in its ability to pack thin material fibers into a small space, which produces high volume segments of reinforcing nanofibres. Remarkably, it's a "natural design" that's optimized towards theoretical strength limits. These teeth are approaching, or have already approached, a kind of fitness peak for bio-material strength.

"[Our] observations highlight an absolute material tensile strength that is the highest recorded for a biological material, outperforming the high strength of spider silk currently considered to be the strongest natural material, and approaching values comparable to those of the strongest man-made fibres," note the authors in their study, which now appears at the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

The discovery could help improve synthetic composites used to build cars, aircraft, boats, and — you guessed it — dental fillings.

http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/12/105/20141326

Who would have guessed that?

 

[Duran Man]

I didn't know sea snails had teeth. I learned something today.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

The Student Debt Situation Is Very Bad, Obviously

Student debt, like global warming, is one of those rare categories of news in which the latest news is always worse, never better. How are the very latest numbers? Bad!

A new report from the New York Fed shows where we stand as debtors as of the end of 2014: we stand in pile of sewage, and all of that sewage is labeled "debt," and we are trying to pass out resumes to sewer monsters, and it's tough. This is where the average American college graduate stands today (in the sewer). Of all of our debt, nothing is as worrisome as our god damn student loans, which have risen to a total of $1.16 trillion—more than any other form of debt in America except mortgages. (And a mortgage at least comes with a house!) The delinquency rate on student loans is more than 11%, far higher than any other form of debt, probably because, haha, they gave those big loans to students, which is obviously stupid.

A breakdown from Bloomberg:

The average balance for each borrower has grown by 74 percent in the last decade, mushrooming from $15,000 per person in 2004 to $27,000 in 2014, said the report, which was based on a nationally representative sample taken from anonymous Equifax credit data.

Most borrowers actually have less than $27,000 in debt. The average is skewed higher by the 1.8 million people — a small proportion of all borrowers— with extreme debt (as in, pushing $100,000).

Eventually we will either let people get rid of their student loan debt via bankruptcy, or America will develop an entire class of well-educated street urchins, ready to act as a skilled servant for mere pennies. (This is called "TaskRabbit.") Win-win.

http://www.ny.frb.org/newsevents/news/research/2015/rp150217.html

I remember growing up that the endgame for school was always college, so glad I saw through that BS and did something with my life that I wanted to learn that I could teach myself. DJing/Producing and telemarketing have me on track to make $100k this year and I have practically no debt

 

[Teelie]

I see student loan debt as far more dangerous than the government's debt but you won't see politicians even touching that (might upset their corporate masters sponsors).

 

[KevanG]

Student debt is ****ed up. Everyone goes on about how important it s to get a higher education but they refuse to mention that you can wind up owing $40-50k in debt and wont be able to pay it off for decades without a very high paying jobs which most people wont get for a long time. It's stupid as ****.

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

Sea Snail Teeth Are The Strongest Known Biological Structures

Spoiler

http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/12/105/20141326

Who would have guessed that?

I read that on a French online newspaper too, I find this kind of things fascinating.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Exactly How Many People Will Get Cancer From Soda?

You, the American soda consumer, should be aware that your precious swill contains a chemical called 4-MeI, which has the unfortunate side effect of giving humans cancer. How many of you will get a deadly disease as a direct result of this chemical? Consumer Reports kindly figured out the answer.

It's unfortunate that 4-MeI gives people cancer, but soda executives have little choice but to add it to the beverages you drink, because it plays the important role of... let me just check here... ah, yes, the role of making soda brown. And if we didn't add deadly chemical brown coloring to soda, where would be, as a society? Life is not perfect.

Consumer Reports went to the trouble of analyzing 4-MeI levels in soda samples and then doing a little math and here you go, Diet Coke addicts:

Among the more than half of Americans age 6 to 64 who drink soda on a typical day, it turns out that the average intake ranges from a little more than one 12-ounce can to nearly 2.5 cans a day...

Our analysis shows that at this level of consumption, we would expect to see between 76 and 5,000 cases of cancer in the U.S. over the next 70 years from 4-MeI exposure alone. "We don't think any food additive, particularly one that's only purpose is to color food brown, should elevate people's cancer risk," says [toxicologist Urvashi] Rangan. "Ideally, 4-MeI should not be added to food."

Ideally, this carcinogenic chemical should not be added to food on purpose because we know that will cause dozens or possibly thousands of cancer deaths in the coming decades. But what are you gonna drink—Sprite? Come on.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2015/02/another-reason-to-cut-back-on-soda/index.htm

That is kind of insane

 

[Duran Man]

It's a good thing I don't drink that sh**.

 

[Teelie]

It also sounds somewhat dubious but then everything gives you cancer so I kind of roll my eyes at the latest "it's giving you cancer" scare whenever one pops up.

 

[KevanG]

I always find the *insert name here* will give you cancer headlines funny because if you add them all up then almost everything you could possibly see and hear of will give you cancer in any amount no matter what.

 

[squeekness]

We're all doomed.

 

[Teelie]

I always find the *insert name here* will give you cancer headlines funny because if you add them all up then almost everything you could possibly see and hear of will give you cancer in any amount no matter what.

I'm tempted to one day actually do an all-inclusive "IT GIVES YOU CANCER!!!" thread and list each and every possible thing that can give you cancer, especially the most absurd like staying up all night long (which seriously, can give you cancer).

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

Being alive can give you cancer.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Walmart Is Giving Raises. Walmart Is Feeling the Pressure.

Retail death star Walmart has just announced that it will be giving raises to all of its low-level hourly workers this year, and setting a minimum wage of $10 an hour next year. Walmart can see which way the wind is blowing.

Walmart, the largest company in America, with a value of $270 billion and sales of half a trillion dollars per year, does not do things to be nice. Its business model, in fact, is to squeeze suppliers and workers for every last cent in order to drive down prices to their lowest possible point and sell huge volumes and drive local small businesses to bankruptcy. They are the very embodiment of ruthlessness in business.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon wrote that the company decided to give employees raises to $9 an hour this year, and $10 an hour next year, because of corporate conscience: "We're always trying to do the right thing and build a stronger business. We frequently get it right but sometimes we don't. When we don't, we adjust... When we take a step back, it's clear to me that one of our highest priorities must be to invest more in our people this year."

Doug McMillon is lying. It is true that the Walmart corporation and its executives are always trying to build a stronger business, but it is clearly not true that this faceless machine for selling enormous quantities of manufactured good is "always trying to do the right thing." In fact, Walmart is so committed to holding down the wages of its workers—keeping them in poverty—that it consistently fights any attempts of employees to organize, even as the company's owners have grown to become some of the richest people in the world. Dozens and dozens of current and former Walmart employees have explicitly described to us how Walmart is a bad place to work. The Walmart corporation does not do things for its workers in order to help its workers, out of kindness. To the Walmart corporation, workers are tiny gears grinding in a very large global machine.

Walmart is giving raises to its workers for one simple reason: it has to. The company is smart enough to see that the ongoing protest campaign against it by its own poor employees demanding a living wage will not end. It will not end, just like the similar campaign by fast food workers will not end. Not only will the cries of low-paid workers not end; they will be heard. Walmart knows that these demands must, eventually, be met. Because they are eminently reasonable. And more to the point, because America is a nation that is starting to realize in a very public way the the economic inequality that has been choking us for three decades now is unsustainable. The Walmart corporation and its well-paid executives and fabulously wealthy owners understand this simple truth: there are many, many more people who identify with Walmart workers than there are people who identify with the richest family in America.

Walmart is giving its workers raises. It is doing so because it doesn't have a choice. This is a good example of rising public anger accomplishing something. Just a couple of dollars an hour, for now. More, soon.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wal-mart-raise-u-wages-141731580.html

I did not expect to read about that this morning

 

[Teelie]

It's a good start to an otherwise awful place to work at. I worked briefly at WalMart and this is only a drop in the piss bucket of problems they have.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Heroic Canadian Accidentally Rescues Old Man He Mistook for Seal

On Monday, retired local politician Charlie Parker was shoveling snow in front of his Nova Scotia home when he noticed a small dark figure crawling across the road in the distance. Figuring the creature for a lost seal, Parker went to investigate. As he walked closer Parker realized the seal was actually an old man, who by now was lying face down in the road.

Hours earlier, Gerald Whitman left his home to go for his dialysis treatment. Road closures forced him to take a detour and eventually his car ended up stuck in the snow. Not wanting to be trapped, Whitman left his car and struck out for nearby house. After taking a break and sitting down, the 73-year-old found he couldn't stand up and decided to crawl instead.

"After about an hour, I thought, "Well, if this is what it's going to be - I made peace with the Lord and said 'If it be your will, so be it," he told the CBC. "And I just stopped. Apparently it wasn't his will."

Not long after, Parker found a body lying in the road. To his surprise—and perhaps disappointment—it turned out not to be a new seal friend but instead a gentleman he knew.

"I turned him over," Parker told the CBC. "It turned out to be a gentleman I knew — he had been my former banker."

From the CBC:

He slung Whitman's arm around his shoulders and pulled him along. For the last bit, Parker tried to fetch a toboggan, but couldn't dig it free. He returned and told the elderly man to get up.

The two men managed to get to Parker's house where the former politician's wife, Marilyn, and their dog warmly received the visitor. Whitman was covered in heaps of blankets and Parker spooned him coffee, as he couldn't grip a mug.

Forty-five minutes later, once a snowplow had cleared the roads, an ambulance arrived and Whitman was treated by paramedics. Later, he made it to his dialysis treatment.

"[Parker] thought I was a seal. On behalf of all seals, I'd like to thank him for his interest," Whitman said.

The seal-loving accidental hero, meanwhile, remains humble. "I'm sure I didn't do anything different than anyone else would have," Parker said.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-...es-elderly-nova-scotian-in-blizzard-1.2960612

You guys have a problem with loose seals up in Canada eh?

 

[BrollySupersj]

Exactly How Many People Will Get Cancer From Soda?

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2015/02/another-reason-to-cut-back-on-soda/index.htm

That is kind of insane

I gave up soda in 2013, haven't looked back since, don't miss it. Quit cold turkey too, I had one last sprite, and then that was it, never drank any again. Except for a few mistakes where I ordered some fruity drinks that had soda in them, but I was unaware. Now when my family members drink soda, or anyone really, I'm just like "really?".

 

[Teelie]

You sound like one of those people who after they quit smoking looks down on everyone else who still does.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

A Test Of Nevada's Solar Tower Project Torched Over A Hundred Birds

In what's turning into a public relations headache for the solar industry, news has emerged that a recent test of the 110-megawatt Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project in Nevada resulted in some 130 birds catching fire, when they flew into an area of highly concentrated solar energy.

As KCET's Rewire is reporting, the incident happened last month, but the news is only emerging now. According to Rudy Evenson, Deputy Chief of Communications for Nevada Bureau of Land Management in Reno, the birds were likely drawn to a glow created by the concentrated solar energy above the project's sole tower.

As noted by E&E reporter Phil Taylor, plants like this one are a huge problem for birds. He describes the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, a similar but larger plant in California's Mojave Desert:

The 45-story "power towers" shine with sunlight reflected by 350,000 heliostat mirrors spread across an area four times the size of New York's Central Park. Receivers atop the towers heat to nearly 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, boiling water to turn turbines that crank out 392 megawatts — power for more than 100,000 houses.

This intense heat would incinerate any bird that flies within the "flux field" between the mirrors and the towers.

The smaller Crescent Dunes plant includes 17,500 heliostat mirrors that collect and focus the sun's thermal energy to heat molten salt flowing through a 54o-foot (16 meter) tower.

Rewire describes the recent incident in Nevada:

According to Evenson, workers testing the plant moved approximately a third of the project's ten thousand mirrors to focus sunlight on a point 1,200 feet above the ground, approximately twice the height of the power tower at Crescent Dunes.

The test started at 9:00 a.m. on January 14, Evenson told Rewire. By 10:30, biologists working on the site began noticing what have become known as "streamers," trails of smoke and water vapor caused by birds entering the field of concentrated solar energy (a.k.a. "solar flux") and igniting.

By the time the test ended for the day at 3:00 p.m., biologists had counted 130 such "streamers." A subsequent test on January 15 reduced the number of mirrors aimed at the focal point above the tower, said Evenson, and that apparently ended the injuries to birds.

The ensuing mitigation procedures, which include repositioning the plant's mirrors to reduce the intensity of solar flux, has allowed the subsequent testing of the plant, and with less risk to wildlife.

Looking ahead, and given the future potential of these concentrated arrays, the solar industry is going to have to tread very carefully. Killing or maiming most bird species, whether it's deliberate or inadvertent, is illegal under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

http://www.kcet.org/news/redefine/r...d-during-test-of-solar-project-in-nevada.html

Damn, didn't know solar power could just straight smoke birds like that

 

[Docker2.0]

You sound like one of those people who after they quit smoking looks down on everyone else who still does.

Yep! If anything he should be more empathatic.

 

[KevanG]

A Test Of Nevada's Solar Tower Project Torched Over A Hundred Birds

Damn, didn't know solar power could just straight smoke birds like that

Well, they need to take more precautions about things like that or Peta will come and start breaking things because they don't understand the difference between making a point and ****ing up that point.

Yes I'm still bitter about them ****ing up historical sites.

 

[Victarion]

It's a good thing I don't drink that sh**.

One of my professors said that your stomach converts something in the sweetener into what's more or less a form of pesticide.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Mo'Nique Can't Book Jobs in Hollywood Anymore Because of the 2010 Oscars

Mo'Nique was featured in this week's Hollywood Reporter claiming she's been blacklisted from Hollywood, in large part because of how she handled the 2010 Oscar campaign for the movie Precious.

Mo'Nique ended up winning the best supporting actress award for her role in the Lee Daniels film. But after spending the better part of a decade putting out multiple projects a year, she abruptly stopped acting—a five-year hiatus, according to her IMDB profile.

Now she's back, focusing on an independent film. And as she tells it to THR, that's not exactly her choice—she's been told she's too difficult and too expensive to book.

What I understood was that when I won that Oscar, things would change in all the ways you're saying: It should come with more respect, more choices and more money. It should, and it normally does. Hattie said, "After I won that award, it was as if I had done something wrong." It was the same with me. I thought, once you won the award, that's the top prize — and so you're supposed to be treated as if you got the top prize.

I got a phone call from Lee Daniels maybe six or seven months ago. And he said to me, "Mo'Nique, you've been blackballed." And I said, "I've been blackballed? Why have I been blackballed?" And he said, "Because you didn't play the game." And I said, "Well, what game is that?" And he gave me no response. The next thing he said to me was, "Your husband is outbidding you." But he never asked me what [salary] we were asking for.

The crux of the issue seems to be the fact that she declined to campaign for her Oscar, calling it "an award [she] didn't ask for," and, it would seem, wasn't paid to promote.

And though she ended up winning anyway, it seems execs are done with Mo'Nique professionally—she tells THR Daniels offered her several roles she couldn't ultimately book, including Oprah Winfrey's part in The Butler, a spot on Empire and a part in Daniel's Richard Pryor biopic.

"Each of those things that he offered me was taken off the table. (Laughs.) They all just went away. But that's just part of the business, you know?"

Daniels generally confirmed the story to THR, saying in a statement that "Mo'nique is a creative force to be reckoned with."

"Her demands through Precious were not always in line with the campaign. This soured her relationship with the Hollywood community. I consider her a friend. I have and will always think of her for parts that we can collaborate on. However, the consensus among the creative teams and powers thus far were to go another way with these roles."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/monique-i-was-blackballed-winning-774616

That is a really weird story, I guess Hollywood can be pretty brutal sometimes