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[OFF TOPIC] General Chat
Posted

Well, someone just dimmed the lights over California. We had the cool semi-circle shadows in the shade too.

“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair” - Nelson Mandela

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[OFF TOPIC] General Chat
Posted
23 minutes ago, heywoodu said:

Massive coincidence. I was reading a CNN piece on the Hamas attacks, where they wrote about using SunCalc (a website) to geolocate/time certain videos. Right, I checked the website out, noticed that if you click on a place it shows the next solar eclipse (partial or full) and saw that here in the Netherlands in March 2025 there is a 24% eclipse happening. Cool. Clicked on Brazil out of curiousity and....turns out there is a large partial to almost full eclipse in large parts of the America's......today :yikes: 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_October_14,_2023

 

Seriously, the coincidence. It's not like these things happen on a daily or even monthly basis. So if you're in the Americas, read up a bit and enjoy (with care for your eyes, obviously)!

Yep, it’s come in causal conversations and on the news the few days. We had a similar solar a couple years ago, so there doesn’t seem to be as much hype at the moment.

“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair” - Nelson Mandela

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[OFF TOPIC] General Chat
Posted

Definitely feels like this is going to escalate more before there’s any chance at (the very least) a ceasefire.

“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair” - Nelson Mandela

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I’m just going to “spit-ball” with laundry list of ideas and potential connections to science.

 

1) Bobsleigh design/mechanics as it relates to aerodynamics, friction, and weight distribution.

 

2) Evolutionary advantages/disadvantages when it comes to swimming. With swimming, you could also talk about the “super suits” and why they were so effective a decreasing times. 
 

3) Energy return in shoes. Hot topic in athletics at moment. You could also look into energy return in different surfaces (grass, sand, mud, asphalt, concrete, cobblestone)

 

4) The breathing techniques behind free diving. 
 

5) There’s quite a bit you could go with head injuries in various sports (football, American football, rugby, cycling, bobsleigh, skateboarding, etc.)

 

6) I believe there’s data that states female athletes are suffering joint injuries at a higher rate than men (at least in football), maybe you could look into the scientific theories about that. It’s a bit of a research hot spot in the U.S. at the moment.

 

7) Wheel hardness in skateboarding and in-line skating. You could look into the chemicals used and how it affects performance in various environments/disciplines.


8) There was that guy who went skydiving without a parachute a few years back (landed in a large net), surely there’s something about physics there.

 

9) tidal forces and how they impact surfing. Tidal bore surfing might be an interesting case study.

 

10) The science behind a lot of the para sports is probably interesting (sit-skis, racing wheelchairs, tandem bikes).
 

11) You could do a case study on athletics with unique biological advantages like Eero Mäntyranta. Link: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/magic-blood-and-carbon-fiber-legs-at-the-brave-new-olympics/


 

ESPN had/has a nice series of short videos on sport science. I’m not sure if this playlist is available outside the US (I’m also pretty sure it’s not complete), but I’m sure you could clips on YouTube. Link: 

 

 

Hopefully you find some of that helpful @ManuCHIL

“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair” - Nelson Mandela

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Does the “IB” in the title stand for “International Baccalaureate,” or does it mean something else? Just curious since that’s what IB means in California.

“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair” - Nelson Mandela

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[OFF TOPIC] Politics Thread
Posted

I can definitely see the downside of having too many parties represented in European nations, but as someone whose lived under the infamous two party system, I do envy the level of political representation in that case.

“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair” - Nelson Mandela

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[OFF TOPIC] Politics Thread
Posted
4 hours ago, Agger said:

Well. You barely have a threshold while Slovakia's is at a rather high 5%. Eventhough it's good news that Republika didn't make it that's too high for my opinion. Almost 1/6 of all votes were "wasted" on parties who weren't elected.

They could try to remedy those “dead” votes by reallocating them to the voters next party of choice. They’d have to change the law to allow ranked-choice voting though.

“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair” - Nelson Mandela

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[OFF TOPIC] Politics Thread
Posted (edited)

Progressive Slovakia way off those numbers according to Reuters and AP. It’s looking more like another populist victory :(
 

Quote

“Fico also campaigned against immigration and LGBTQ+ rights and threatened to dismiss investigators from the National Criminal Agency and the special prosecutor who deal with corruption and other serious crimes.”

 

Link: https://apnews.com/article/slovakia-parliamentary-election-15902118682938d08c24ff7d0269656a

…So Slovakians basically looked at the current GOP (to draw parallels to the US), and thought, “I want that.” How unfortunate.

Edited by Olympian1010

“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair” - Nelson Mandela

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[OFF TOPIC] Politics Thread
Posted
55 minutes ago, hckošice said:

in some other villages the polling stations are also in some pizzerias or pubs :p

I voted from a community hall at my local skatepark/public pool during the 2022 General Election. In other elections, I voted at a local nature preserve and a public library.

“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair” - Nelson Mandela

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[OFF TOPIC] Politics Thread
Posted
12 minutes ago, Grassmarket said:

At enormous expense, at glacial speed and at a great distance from the places where the crimes were committed.  It took 25 years for the :YUG & :RWA tribunals to complete their work for example. A highly paid career for many lawyers, interpreters & other lucky western functionaries, but not necessarily justice for the victims.

Sure, the international judicial process isn’t quick. However, the world now has a very good idea of what transpired in both the Yugoslav Wars and the Rwandan Genocide. Of course, not everyone who played a role in those was tried. It wasn’t a perfect or ideal solution.
 

International courts are only as strong as nations let them be. They are flawed, like the UN, but they are still better than nothing. They are tools. People just need to advocate for a better use of them.

“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair” - Nelson Mandela

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[OFF TOPIC] Politics Thread
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Grassmarket said:

Agree, the whole concept of “International Law” is basically a way for Western lawyers to earn big bucks & travel First Class & stay in luxury hotels. Take the International Court away from The Hague, locate it in Bolivia & pay local salaries & you would never ever hear of it again.

Of course, comments like this also undermine the important work those courts have done in prosecuting war criminals and other high profile international criminals.

Edited by Olympian1010

“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair” - Nelson Mandela

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[OFF TOPIC] Politics Thread
Posted

Poland v. Ukraine getting a lot of attention, but the India v. Canada drama is just as interesting too. These geopolitical spats are coming too quick to keep up with this week.

“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair” - Nelson Mandela

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Well, if you’re going to find a crafty way to advertise it…

 

Happy birthday to the (at present) only Slovakian I know @hckošice

 

Very Funny Oops GIF by America's Funniest Home Videos

“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair” - Nelson Mandela

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[OFF TOPIC] Politics Thread
Posted

“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair” - Nelson Mandela

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[OFF TOPIC] Politics Thread
Posted

@heywoodu I haven’t bought Nestle products in years. They were caught taking water from a spring in California during the drought when they didn’t even have a license to do so. Not to mention all the allegations about child labor and whatnot.

“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair” - Nelson Mandela

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[OFF TOPIC] General Chat
Posted

Yeah, CNN+ was comically short-lived. I don’t know anyone who wanted it. Their channel model was 24/7 news, even with some peripheral shows, I don’t think interest was ever there.

 

CNN+ was a dumb failure, but nothing beats the rise and fall of Quibi when it comes to streaming apps.

“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair” - Nelson Mandela

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