Meaningless Question of the Day

[Sagar]

What do you call a group of jellyfish?

[Draknor]

That depends.

Are said jellyfish a group from the church choir, or are they a gang from the South side of the bay? Really now, we need more information to make an informed decision.

[DinbinFanfoom]

What do you call a group of jellyfish?
A "smack".

[Biaxin]

Hey,

It's a gaggle of geese.

Would it be a giggle of gays?

[Sagar]

Dinbin, you are either more full of useless information than I am...

Or you have the same page-per-day calendar.

A "Smack" it is!


OK.. so what is a blue moon and how often does it occur?

[DinbinFanfoom]

Dinbin, you are either more full of useless information than I am...
You have NO idea... 8)
OK.. so what is a blue moon and how often does it occur?
When a month has two full moons, the 2nd is called a "Blue Moon". I think they happen roughly every 30 months.

[Drax]

What do you call a group of jellyfish?

I'd say a jam session.

And Dinbin, according to Aananla, it's ~every 41 months. ;)

[DinbinFanfoom]

And Dinbin, according to Aananla, it's ~every 41 months. ;)
Bah. :P :P :P

[Sagar]

I thought it was once every 6 years.

[Aananla]

And Dinbin, according to Aananla, it's ~every 41 months. ;)
Bah. :P :P :P

Actually I said; On average, there will be 41 months that have two Full Moons in every century, so you could say that once in a Blue Moon actually means once every two-and-a-half years.

...so Dinbin was correct. 2.5 years = 30 months. :P

Here's a clicky to the "Official Blue Moon Calculator (http://www.obliquity.com/astro/bluemoon.html)" if you are so inclined to do the math. :roll:

[Greebo]

And people think I have too much time on my hands?

[Aananla]

Another Meaningless Question;

Is glass a liquid or a solid?

[Draknor]

Well, since windows tend to flow, becoming thicker near the bottom over many years, liquid.

To the birds that run into them, though, I'd imagine they feel pretty solid.

[Zyzzyx]

IIRC, glass is considered a supercooled liquid.


My grandparent's house had some old windows, where the glass was slightly thicker on the bottom of the pane than on the top. This was REALLY noticeable at various houses, castles, etc, when I was on a trip in Great Britain many years ago...

[GravenStone]

Another Meaningless Question;

Is glass a liquid or a solid?

Glass is a fluid, not a liquid .... waiting for the Chem E twins to weigh in on this one to help back up/flesh out my claim. 8)

[Drax]

Glass is a fluid, not a liquid .... waiting for the Chem E twins to weigh in on this one to help back up/flesh out my claim. 8)

Yep.

So I have a twin? Bet he's a charming and handsome as I am.

...

Meaning very of each!! :evil:

[Zyzzyx]

Ok, so what's the semantic (technical?) difference between fluid and liquid?

[Caranthir]

Actually, to the best of my recollection from my Materials classes, glass is a composite.

[Drax]

First off, a liquid is a specific state of matter (solid, gas, sublime solid, plasma being others), whereas fluid can be a liquid or gas. More specifically, fluids have free-flowing molecules, has no fixed state (a la solids), and exhibits little to no resistance to outside stress (gaseous pressure (Ganlron, you know what I'm talking about ... :wink:).

A fluid's volume may be changed but a liquid's volume can never change. (Neglects vapor pressure and similar effects, as these would change the dynamics of the system... So I guess this point's moot. :roll:)

There are more specific differences, but these are off the top of my head. If you are still interested (and if I remember to do so), I can check it out in a few books here in the lab or at home. I graduated 3.5yrs ago, so it's been awhile... *sigh*

[Caranthir]

Ok, pulled out my Intro to Engineering Materials book. Glass is 'a noncrystalline solid with composition comparable to crystalline ceramics.'

[DinbinFanfoom]

The definition of solid/liquid via a viscosity threshold is arbitrary. The answer is "nobody is sure yet".

http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/Glass/glass.html

BTW: The "windows thicker at the bottom" thing is a myth. In the olden-days, glass was spun to flatten it, causing it to be thicker at the edge of the spinning surface. Not until forming glass by floating it on liquid came onto the scene was there "flat" glass.

[Drax]

Glass is 'a noncrystalline solid with composition comparable to crystalline ceramics.'

Huh, 's'at right. Heh, well, didn't have much contact with glass composition and such in my classes.

Thanks, Caranthir. I guess...

It is, after all, a meaningless question, but then again ...

Knowing is half the battle!

[Sagar]

In my materials classes, we considered glass a fluid with an extremely high viscosity. Depending on how the glass is made (with strengthening agents, mineral fillers, etc) it can either be a pure liquid or a composite.

This is kind of like the question: Is light a particle or a ray? And the answer is.. yes. It exhibits characteristics of each.

Some argue that glass is a liquid with an ultrahigh viscosity (since it does, in fact, flow). Others say its effectively a solid due to its physical characteristics.

I've always held with the liquid folks. When a pure substance "freezes", i.e. goes from a "liquid" to a "solid", there is a measurable change in the molecular structure of the substance as it changes state. At normal use temperatures, glass exhibits no such change in molecular structure. Instead, the molecules are randomly distributed and aligned just as they would be in a liquid state. Thus the designation "liquid".

[Zyzzyx]

Now THAT is an explanation I like...

[Ganlron]

(gaseous pressure (Ganlron, you know what I'm talking about ... :wink:).


i think ye've confused me with gaulron again

[Drax]

Nope, I've seen how high and heard *cough, cough* how loud you do your ... "flying" kick...
:oops:

[Ganlron]

what i meant is that ye must of confused with me with gaul if ye think i find that sort of thing funny

[Crikette]

I'd say a jam session.

Ok, ya lost me after this. :lol:

Geeks :P

[Straxus]

I'd say a jam session.

Ok, ya lost me after this. :lol:

Geeks :P

I seem to recall that there is a band in the STL area with a similar name. He may still be a geek, but at least he's a geek in touch with the local music scene. :P

Besides, I was a textbook "geek" for years as an engineering student. There's nothing wrong with geekness. Despite having migrated to my cool-as-all-hell new profession, I still enjoy watching Star Trek. :lol:

[Crikette]

Bah, I meant "geek" in the nicest sense of the word...Drix is a geek and I love him! :D

[Drax]

I'd say a jam session.

Ok, ya lost me after this. :lol:

Geeks :P

I seem to recall that there is a band in the STL area with a similar name.

Haha, you give me too much credit. ...
It was a joke.

Jellyfish. Jam session.

*walks away from the thread, chuckling to himself.

[Sagar]

Doncha just HATE having to explain yer jokes?

Speaking of jokes that had to be explained, my wife's secretary didn't get this one:

Why is sex like Bridge?


If you don't have a good partner, you'd better have a good hand.

She said, "I don't get it! I mean, I had sex under a bridge once but that wasn't funny."

[Aananla]

She said, "I don't get it! I mean, I had sex under a bridge once but that wasn't funny."

:shock: :D

[Drax]

Doncha just HATE having to explain yer jokes?

Yeah, I do. I mean, otherwise ... what's the point? :)

For instance, I own this shirt that is Far Side -like. It has a picture of a lady frog (one wearing an apron and a bow) opening up her front door to her house. Outside the door, is a frog in a sealed jar. The caption reads: "Honey, Junior's home from college."

I cannot recall how many times I had to try to explain this joke to others. I think, of the hundreds of people who saw this shirt, only a couple handful "got it" the first viewing, and fewer than that on successive viewings. I eventually learned to say "It's a sight-gag. If you don't get it, you probably weren't meant to..." In a nice way, o'course.;this is paraphrased. ;)