Oddities, curiousities and strangness in history

I am so glad you have found this show Ally- its one of my favourites- may I also recomend on the same channel the News Quiz with Sandi Tosvik and that perannial classic Just a Minute. And if you ever have a hankering for some quality classic BBC RAdio 4 comedy I recommend looking up Round the Horn- that broke the mold of comedy for everything that followed- from the Goons to Monty Python to the Young Ones and Blackadder and beyond.

Latest episode is up Ally- and its from Swansea.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01ks3v9/Im_Sorry_I_Havent_A_Clue_Series_57_Episode_4/

As an occasional listener to Radio4, I sometimes catch nuggets of ISIHAC- this week it just so happened to be the last segment of Pick of The Week before the Archers started...


Wow, glad to see Swansea doing so well- I'll try and catch some of those shows soon then!

That's all well and good, but sleeping through class is actually the best approach. Don't believe me? I can prove it with made up numerology!

The common shorthand for sleeping is "zzzz", as in "catching z's".

Z + Z + Z + Z
26+26+26+26 = 104

The only way to go beyond perfect and get extra credit is by snoozing instead of studying.

Is that what you're up to on your carrot farm, Dave?

Dave, where you come from, do all girl carrots have penises?

when they start strolling around marking their teritory then you can worry.

Eldorion wrote:That's all well and good, but sleeping through class is actually the best approach. Don't believe me? I can prove it with made up numerology!

The common shorthand for sleeping is "zzzz", as in "catching z's".

Z + Z + Z + Z
26+26+26+26 = 104

The only way to go beyond perfect and get extra credit is by snoozing instead of studying.

no. no. no. you're wrong. many in my class, as much as half of the people, were sleeping, half of the rest of em were on tetris battle or some other gaming devise/facebook, and the rest (about 5 people) payed more or less attention and two, me and one other, acutally took notes. let's just say that too many has to go the year twice and many have changed "line", going work thingi education. or sport.

Orwell wrote:Dave, where you come from, do all girl carrots have penises?

That's a male carrot, Orwell. Not being a farmer it may be a little tricky for you to tell them apart sometimes, but it's really pretty easy. See below:

Those were 'girl carrot' legs, or I'm no judge!

Ah, I can relate to that confusion based on some of my trips to the city. Personally I'm of the school of thought that believes it doesn't matter what the legs look like if the other bits aren't right.

yeah Orwell, you are such a townie.

The one on the rights hung like a cucumber

Did you say cucumber?


Don't even ask me about my potato patch....

LMFHO, hahaha

I'm gonna slowly walk away and pretend that never saw this.

I had no idea you were in the novelty veg market Dave! What an interesting farm you must have!

you are scaring me Dave. with your mutant veggies.

'Scientists in the US have created a free swimming artificial jellyfish.
The team members built the replica using silicone as a base on which to grow heart muscle cells that were harvested from rats.
They used an electric current to shock the Medusoid into swimming with synchronised contractions that mimic those of real jellyfish.
Because jellyfish use a muscle to pump their way through the water, the way they function - on a very basic level - is similar to that of a human heart.
The researchers say this makes the animal a good biological system for using as a study model in tissue engineering.
They used silicone to fashion a jellyfish-shaped body with eight arm-like appendages.
Next, they printed a pattern made of protein onto the "body" that resembled the muscle architecture of the real animal.
They grew the heart muscle cells on top, with the protein pattern serving as a road map for the growth and organisation of the rat tissue. This allowed them to turn the cells into a coherent swimming muscle.
When the researchers set the Medusoid free in a container of electrically conducting fluid, they shocked the Medusoid into swimming with synchronised contractions. The muscle cells even started to contract a bit on their own before the electrical current was applied.
"I'm pleasantly surprised at how close we are getting to matching the natural biological performance, but also that we're seeing ways in which we can probably improve on that natural performance. The process of evolution missed a lot of good solutions," said John Dabiri, professor of aeronautics and bioengineering at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena.'- BBC

I find these two comments; 'The muscle cells even started to contract a bit on their own before the electrical current was applied.' and 'we're seeing ways in which we can probably improve on that natural performance. The process of evolution missed a lot of good solutions'- I find particularly intriguing.

And at which point when you mimic life using biological components are you creating life? And if we end up at the point where we create life does that mean, as we won't have built in a soul, that life doesnot require a soul? And therefore such a thing is unlikely to exist.
Or conversely if it proves impossible to create life does that mean its because we dont know how to make the 'soul' component?

I bet there must be planets out there with silicon based lifeforms anyway. Is that the same thing? er probably not the same as silicone?

chris63 wrote:

Oh dear, now i am crying and can't seem to stop.