I’ve known a number of people who thought that “heat lightning” was a seperate type of lightning from the kind you hear thunder from. :rolleyes:
Huh?
The only possible reasoning I can think behind this is that he thinks if there is a full moon, it will “pull” more dirt to the surface.
(Seriously) Does that mean that the guy I saw in Michael Palin’s “Pole to Pole” was faking it when he demonstrated this by simply walking across the equator less than 100 yards? I’ve been faked out before, but even Cecil said the Coriolis effect exists.
When I was 19, I visited my grandfather in North Carolina for a few months. We were canning applesauce, and he told me that if I was on my period I couldn’t help. The applesauce would spoil if I did. I was on my period, but I was too embarassed to tell him, so I helped. The applesauce did not spoil.
A couple of weeks ago, we had a potluck at work. A woman whose mother has owned a restaurant for 30 years brought in a pasta dish with chicken. When I mentioned that I didn’t think she should leave it out for four hours until lunch because it could make someone sick, she replied that it was okay, because the chicken was cooked. I talked her into refrigerating it, but I couldn’t bring myself to eat any. Remind me never to go to her house for dinner, and just to be safe, not her mother’s restaurant, either.
Wait… Wasn’t this true a long long time ago- Well not the metal getting into the food just that you shouldn’t leave food in the can i nteh fridge. Like back when they were actually TIN cans.
Then there’s the fact that carbon dating isn’t used for rocks anyway…
sigh A cooked dish, espeically one that is (I’m assuming) in an acidic tomato-based sauce, isn’t going to spoil in the span of a few hours at moderate temperature. Most–I’d venture to say virually all–food poisoning comes from either undercooked food, or handling cooked food with contaminated utensils or surfaces. (In commerical kitchens, different utensils, cutlery, and cutting/prep surfaces are used for meat and produce just for this reason.)
Cooked meat is starting from a point of essentially zero bacterial count and has to grow from there; it’ll be a day or more before a significant environmental bacterial infestation is in evidence. Unless you have a compromised immune system, you can eat that roast chicken that has been sitting on the counter since lunch, no huhu. Contrarywise, refrigeration doesn’t prevent bacterial growth, though it does retard it somewhat, and it does nothing against toxins like botulinum toxin once it has been produced.
So, x-out that bad science that makes you believe that unrefrigerated cooked meats spoil in the span of a few hours. You are more likely to catch something from an unwashed or improperly handled salad than a cooked leg-o-lamb.
Stranger
Okay, that makes me feel a little better about it, Stranger, but I think I’d still have a hard time eating it. But I can’t help but remember that somewhere I read that when you cook a turkey, you only have 45 minutes of it sitting out before it has grown enough bacteria to make you sick, so I always think of that. Not true?
Yes it exists, but it’s not this “end-all” effect some people seem to think. I can go into my bathroom right now and make the sink spin clockwise, then make it go counter-clockwise, and then back to clockwise again. On a large scale, like hurricanes, yes, it will make it spin, but to think that “a toilet can NEVER go the opposite way the coriolis effect says it should” is wrong.
Well, considering you should let it rest for at least thirty minutes, you now have only fifteen minutes to eat it? Seems doubtful.
I once heard an American tourist insisting that this was true when I was in Kakadu in the Northern Territory. He’d “learnt it at school” apparently.
Short Version: I have no idea what he could have possibly showed. It was a complete and total fake. The magnitude change of the coriolis force from 50m north of the equator to 50 m south would be infinitesimal.
Slightly Longer Version: the magnitude of any acceleration due to the apparent Coriolis force is 2*(omega)(sin[latitude])(velocity). Omega is the rotation of Earth (once per sidereal day~7.292x10-5rads/s). Sine of the latitude at 50m away from the equator is ~4.492x10-4. Any vibration from walking will be orders of magnitude higher than the effect from the earth’s rotation.
::starts looking for Micheal Palin:: You got some 'splainin to do! :mad:
Dowsing, divining, water witching. I’ve known people who get very angry when you question these practices.
He uses a square pan for the water. When he walks away from the equator, he then turns around and releases the drain at the bottom. His turning sets the water in motion. He turns clockwise when he walks north, counter when south. Or vice versa.
Just heard on the (local Fox affiliate) news tonight: A woman in Israel married a dolphin today. The anchorpersons commented thusly:
“She married the fish in a civil ceremony.”
“Yeah, but a dolphin is not a fish.”
“You’re right, it’s a porpoise.”
“Exactly. Anyway, that’s just sick.”
“Yeah, that’s bestiality, and it’s illegal here.”
Perusing a variety of on-line sources, I see 2 hours as being the generally recommended maximum time span one should leave food out without being refrigerated. I think that is unduly cautionary, but 45 minutes is certainly an extreme; heck, you can figure a joint of prime rib or sliced meat at the deli to be sitting around for a couple of hours or more before your order comes in.
The amount of bacterial growth that will make a person sick varies from individual to individual–children, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems are most subceptible, of course. A healthy adult that eats meat and doesn’t take undue pains to avoid exposure to bacteria can tolerate quite a bit of contamination without undue distress. A vegetarian, by virtue of a relatively bacteria-free diet (and possibly other factors) may be more subject to bacterial infestation, although there are obviously other health benefits to a low-meat diet that may offset this. I can personally attest to having eaten hours-old roasted poultry–often the single greatest offender in food contamination, given the amount of bacteria in the raw meat–without any ill effects, and although it has become an unadvisable practice today, I used to eat steak tartare with my grandfather on a not-infrequent basis without complications. (Modern epicurians should know that ground fresh roast in a clean meat-grinder is reasonably safe as far as bacterial growth, but ground beef in packages sitting on the grocerers shelf are not.)
Again, most cases of food poisoning come from either incompletely cooked meats, improperly handled cooked meat or produce via contaminated surfaces/utensils, or previously contaminated uncooked produce. Here and here are some specific technical information regarding food-borne pathogens. Bear in mind that recommendations are based upon the extremes of subceptibility; if you are a relatively healthy adult person, the “two hour rule” is overly exclusionary, and heating said food in a microwave long enough to get the core above 140 degrees will kill most common pathogens. OTOH, no reasonable amount of heating will destroy sublimated toxins like botulin or the prions that cause spongiform encephalopothies. So, don’t go eating any brains, regardless of what your zombie uncle moans.
Stranger
I forgot to mention, he demonstrates that water spins clockwise in the north and counter in the south. Not only is it a sham, but he gets it backwards!
Maybe we were just lucky, but on Thanksgiving the turkey was done a good 3 hours before we were ready to eat. We left it on the counter – still stuffed – the entire time. All of us diners remain, to this day, relatively undead.
Re: the full moon stuff.
More light at night. More activity at night.
Hey! Look at Meeeeeeeee[sub]eeeeeeeee.[/sub] Splat. Ooops. Lost another one.
I used to tell people that made this claim that we can test it right now. Let me drop your sandwich onto this steaming pile of dog crap, you count to 5 and pluck it out. Then prove your theory to me.