Groucho's Fact Hunt

Seamus Colemole · July 9, 2015

Philw said:
How can that be true? Don't understand how it can have the most Easterly?

Great thread though. Will have to find some cool facts to contribute

http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/nsewusa.htm

Philw · July 9, 2015

Seamus Colemole said:
http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/nsewusa.htm

Hmmm. May well be in the Eastern Hemisphere, but it's still West of the rest of the US. By that method of determining it, whatever the end of Russia is there is it's most Westerly point...

Seamus Colemole · July 9, 2015

Philw said:
Hmmm. May well be in the Eastern Hemisphere, but it's still West of the rest of the US. By that method of determining it, whatever the end of Russia is there is it's most Westerly point...

Hhhhhhmmm yeah that does sound a bit odd. I'd assume the 180 degree line goes round the edge of Russia but through the middle of the last few Aleutian islands.

I don't think the lines of longtitude are technically straight like in that pic and are jaggered.

But i'm slightly confused now.

Groucho · July 9, 2015

Seamus Colemole said:
Hhhhhhmmm yeah that does sound a bit odd. I'd assume the 180 degree line goes round the edge of Russia but through the middle of the last few Aleutian islands.

I don't think the lines of longtitude are technically straight like in that pic and are jaggered.

But i'm slightly confused now.

Maybe it's due to the curvature of the Earth - it may be more easterly at the very top, at it's closest to the North Pole where the planet's arc would take it east as well as north?

This is just a guess folks.

Jamo Martinez · July 10, 2015

JammyP said:
Paul woke up one morning in his top floor bedroom at the Asher's home in Wimpole Street with the tune for 'Yesterday' in his head. There was a piano by the bed and he went straight to it and started playing. "It was just all there," he said. "A complete thing, I couldn't beleive it."

Although at that point it had no lyric, Paul was worried that the tune itself might have been unconsciously plagiarized, and that what had seemed like a flash of inspiration may only have been a surge of recollection. "For about a month, I went round to people in the music business and asked them wether they had ever heard it before," he said. "Eventually it became like handling something into the police. I thought that if no-one claimed it after a few weeks then I would have it."

He then came up with the provisional title 'Scrambled Eggs' and began singing 'Scrambled eggs, Oh you've got such lovely legs', simply to get a feel for the vocal.

Known in the trade as a dummy lyric. The lyric to the old standard 'Tea for Two' was actually just a dummy lyric. The writer took it to his producer or manager (can't remember all the details or even who the hell wrote it) who loved it. The writer then said he'd get back to him when he'd written the real lyric only to be told not to change it. It was great as it was. Became a massive hit back in the day.

Jamo Martinez · July 11, 2015

The Nobel Peace Prize medal depicts 3 naked men with their hands on each others shoulders.

More people use blue toothbrushes than red ones (Get in!!).

The numbers we use, known as Arabic numerals, are actually Indian. We call them Arabic because it was the Arabs who introduced them to Europe.

Tramps_mate · July 11, 2015

Seamus Colemole said:
Hhhhhhmmm yeah that does sound a bit odd. I'd assume the 180 degree line goes round the edge of Russia but through the middle of the last few Aleutian islands.

I don't think the lines of longtitude are technically straight like in that pic and are jaggered.

But i'm slightly confused now.

Groucho said:
Maybe it's due to the curvature of the Earth - it may be more easterly at the very top, at it's closest to the North Pole where the planet's arc would take it east as well as north?

This is just a guess folks.

I'm lost with your confusion. Some of the Aleutians are in the east. Lat and longs are straight too plus they converge whereas eastings and northings are parallel.

Seamus Colemole · July 11, 2015

Tramps_mate said:
I'm lost with your confusion. Some of the Aleutians are in the east. Lat and longs are straight too plus they converge whereas eastings and northings are parallel.

I posted the pic above to demonstrate how Alaska can be the most Easterly, and Westerly state of the US. It shows how the Aleution Islands cross over the 180 degree line seperating East and West.

Thats the simple bit.

I think the confusion comes from when @Philw pointed out that the far East point of Russia in that pic also crosses over the 180 degree line, which should then make that part of Russia the most Westerly point (using the Alaska logic).

Yet when i look it up on google it says the most Westerly part of Russia is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaliningrad_Oblast

which is a small bit of land North of Poland.

Tramps_mate · July 11, 2015

Seamus Colemole said:
I posted the pic above to demonstrate how Alaska can be the most Easterly, and Westerly state of the US. It shows how the Aleution Islands cross over the 180 degree line seperating East and West.

Thats the simple bit.

I think the confusion comes from when @Philw pointed out that the far East point of Russia in that pic also crosses over the 180 degree line, which should then make that part of Russia the most Westerly point (using the Alaska logic).

Yet when i look it up on google it says the most Westerly part of Russia is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaliningrad_Oblast

which is a small bit of land North of Poland.

Ah right OK..

iirc there is a kick in the line, I think it may well be at the edge of Russia..

Tramps_mate · July 11, 2015

Seamus Colemole said:
I posted the pic above to demonstrate how Alaska can be the most Easterly, and Westerly state of the US. It shows how the Aleution Islands cross over the 180 degree line seperating East and West.

Thats the simple bit.

I think the confusion comes from when @Philw pointed out that the far East point of Russia in that pic also crosses over the 180 degree line, which should then make that part of Russia the most Westerly point (using the Alaska logic).

Yet when i look it up on google it says the most Westerly part of Russia is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaliningrad_Oblast

which is a small bit of land North of Poland.

Then there's this..

Jamo Martinez · July 11, 2015

Just looking at that map, I've reached the conclusion that their are actually more than 7 seas on the planet.

Jamo Martinez · July 12, 2015

Bilko said:
Peters map,have a google of this,it appears the world maps are wildly not accurate.in land mass size Greenland looks roughly the same size as Africa,when apparently Greenland is 14 times smaller.
there's errors all over the world map and a good read in wikipedia.

I heard that South America is much larger than it appears on the maps.

degsy · July 12, 2015

Seamus Colemole said:
Hhhhhhmmm yeah that does sound a bit odd. I'd assume the 180 degree line goes round the edge of Russia but through the middle of the last few Aleutian islands.

I don't think the lines of longtitude are technically straight like in that pic and are jaggered.

But i'm slightly confused now.

The line of longtitude are straight, but for convenience, the time zones, which are based on Longtitude ( can't be any other way ) swerve around sticky out bits of territory.

COYBL25 · July 12, 2015

The area around the - Green Bank Radio Telescope in West Virginia is known as the " Quiet Zone ".This is due to severe restrictions being placed on the use of anything that can emit radio waves, which interferes with the the telescope .

The use of wifi and microwave ovens is prohibited within a 20 mile radius of the telescope. Only one AM radio station is permitted. Petrol cars are not allowed within a mile of the telescope due to interference from the spark plugs.

This is policed by specially equipped detector vans that have special equipment on board which pin points the use of anything emitting radio signals.