Mildly interesting

[mark]

@George-K probably more than all the Giraffes that are walking the planet.

[bachophile]

USS Arizona on the East River, New York 1916.

[jon-nyc]

@bachophile

Cool. No doubt heading out of the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

[jon-nyc]

Liszt’s writing desk.

[bachophile]

@jon-nyc I’ve been to Lizst’s home in Budapest.

[jon-nyc]

@bachophile

Me too.

[jon-nyc]

Hawa Majal in Jaipur. built 1799.

[mark]

There is no antidote for a blue-ringed octopus bite. However, if you can get a ventilator to breathe for you for 15 hours, you survive with no side effects

[George K]

@mark said in Mildly interesting:

There is no antidote for a blue-ringed octopus bite. However, if you can get a ventilator to breathe for you for 15 hours, you survive with no side effects

Tetrodotoxin

It's not as simple as that. Unlike classic paralytics (curare), TDX is a sodium-channel blocker whose effects are far wider-reaching than simply blocking the interaction of nerve and muscle.

This actually "paralyzes" the nerve itself.

It is the same shit as in pufferfish.

[mark]

@George-K so, you will not be fine if you are vented for 15 hours?

[George K]

@mark said in Mildly interesting:

@George-K so, you will not be fine if you are vented for 15 hours?

Perhaps, perhaps not. It's not as simple as a paralytic (curare-type) drug.

Curare and drugs that I used act by physically blocking the receptor on the muscle side of the synapse between muscle and nerve. So, if the nerve fires, the muscle doesn't see the neurotransmitter.

TTX works on the sodium channel, which causes the nerve to fire.

Note that many of these symptoms are not related to muscular paralysis.

[jon-nyc]

[kluurs]

How hard drives work. here

[mark]

This is a 773 gram polished Chinga meteorite. The quarter-cut specimen was found in Turvinskaya, Russia and has been cut and polished on two sides. The rest of the meteorite retains its natural light brown crust, creating a dramatic contrast.

More details/photos: http://bit.ly/3E46k3j

[mark]

[Sweet Meteor]

@mark I pwned you hours ago.

[jon-nyc]

I stumbled upon the Wikipedia entry for Kmart.

This is remarkable:

At its peak in 1994, Kmart operated 2,486 stores globally, including 2,323 discount stores and Super Kmart Center locations in the United States. As of April 16, 2022, that number was down to nine, including just three in the continental United States.

[mark]

@jon-nyc Huh. I thought it was all gone long ago.

[jon-nyc]

@mark

That’s part of what’s remarkable. Why keep 3 stores around?

[LuFins Dad]

@jon-nyc @mark I was doing a little shopping at a Kmart in Herndon, VA as recently as 10 years ago. They replaced it with a Big Lot’s I believe.

The experience was much more low rent than Walmart, though they had many of the same goods.