Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2023 March 11

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March 11[edit]

Extraterrestrial panda threat[edit]

New asteroid the size of 27 pandas could hit the Earth in 2046 - ESA, NASA[1]

It is remarkable how astronauts, next to their busy misson in a spacecraft, have the ability and time to discover far-away small asteroids. Oh, yes, what was the question? Erm... Can anyone think of a more ludicrous, inappropriate and misleading size comparison published in an otherwise reputable news medium?  --Lambiam 17:23, 11 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps this question regarding the media's sensibilities is better placed on the humanities desk? --Modocc (talk) 17:41, 11 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
As a means of explaining the size of an asteroid, the panda is an absurd unit of measure. As a means of attracting new readers to the Jerusalem Post, using the panda as a unit of measure is highly effective. AndyTheGrump (talk) 17:51, 11 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
They could have used smoots instead, which are at least an established (though very local) measure, though subject to the same fallacious conflation of length with volume and mass. Acroterion (talk) 17:56, 11 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, obviously an inappropriate use of pandas as a measure of length. What they should have done is used the panda as a measure of volume, and stated that the asteroid was the size of 19,683 pandas. CodeTalker (talk) 17:59, 11 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I'm assuming they mean these pandas rather than these. It reads like a headline in The Onion - either that or April fools day came early this year. MarnetteD|Talk 18:05, 11 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Often the size of the Moon, Sun and Solar System are compared by lengths, hence they should have said its length is a bit "longer" than 27 pandas instead of being "bigger" than those. That they choose 27 Pandas is part political and part comical. They then inaccurately reported that only 27 would hit. Modocc (talk) 18:14, 11 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
The media quoted scientists that thought the Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 impact on Jupiter would not be visible due to its small size. My elder friend who understood from the chemistry of the Jovian atmosphere and the impacts' enormous KE informed me that he knew those scientists were wrong, not that the reporters were too. Modocc (talk) 19:31, 11 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
They added insult to injury by referring to the pandas "laying down" rather than "lying down". Nails on chalkboards. -- Jack of Oz [pleasantries] 19:40, 11 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
It's not a stretch laying down pandas when players lay down dominoes and cards too. Modocc (talk) 20:24, 11 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
In the sentence, it is the pandas who are doing the laying down. Were they playing mahjong? It is a bit awkward, though, with front and back legs fully extended out.  --Lambiam 09:30, 12 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
A mistake per The Cambridge Dictionary perhaps. But if someone says they "found the chalk they use laying about" instead of "lying about" like a cat, it doesn't [faze]phase me in the least. According to the cited grammarians "lay" requires an object. Yes. But, if I were to ask "Did they lay the brick?" and they reply "The brick is laid." there is no explicit object[agent] (being the person(s) who laid it), but it is implied. The same with its usage here, I think. Modocc (talk) 13:31, 12 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
It doesn't faze you. nagualdesign 18:56, 13 March 2023 (UTC) [reply]
"The brick is laid" is in the passive voice whereas "Did they lay the brick?" is active. In the active voice word order is subject-verb-object. Passive uses object-verb-agent, though the agent is often missing. Consider: "did they lay the brick"; what was being laid? Conversely: "The brick is laid"; what was laid? So we have "The brick (object) was laid (verb)" and optionally "by the builder(agent)". HTH, Martin of Sheffield (talk) 15:14, 12 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks. I mistook the agent for the object because with parsing I'm inattentive. So the pandas are frozen in space and were laid into place. To say "...bears be lying down..." is ambiguous and misleading, causing one to believe they arranged themselves. The bears should be the object of "laid" or "be laying" (not that they are). Modocc (talk) 16:40, 12 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Perhaps the pandas were laying down measuring rods? Or perhaps they lay down their arms? Mitch Ames (talk) 09:52, 12 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
They must be too busy lying down napping in a straight row or eating their bamboo stocks to be taking up arms (weapons) and properly measuring the things around them. But they are cute. Modocc (talk) 14:29, 12 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Last year it was giraffes, which, as explained by physicsworld.com on April 1st, is part of a new scale ranging from blue whale to tardigrade, and this was all inspired by the Daily Mail which had reported that an asteroid was "half the size of a giraffe".  Card Zero  (talk) 07:03, 13 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Waiting to be hit by an asteroid the size of 1,968 Venezuelan poodle moths.  --Lambiam 10:14, 13 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Given that if it hits, it will do so on Valentine's Day, what is the expected impact, measured in arrow head equivalents? Mitch Ames (talk) 01:14, 14 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Food combination preferences[edit]

Why most people typically avoid certain food combinations, such as fish with milk, vegetables and fruits in a single salad, white wine with red meat (where red wine is preferred), etc.? Is it more on a evolutionarily hardwired level, similar to avoidance of bitter taste associated with toxicity, or a psychological result of stereotypes? If it's the former, possible risks are interesting (digestive damage, production of toxic substances from peculiar food combination, etc.). 212.180.235.46 (talk) 21:03, 11 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure your examples are good ones. See poached fish for example. Historically you're right that red meat and red wine went together, but that would be in a multi-course and multi-wine meal. Most folks now just drink what they enjoy, not what Jeeves tells them. Martin of Sheffield (talk) 22:19, 11 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Technically, the Tomato is a berry, which makes it a fruit: culinary definitions of "vegetable", "fruit" etc. are rather imprecise. The avoidances you mention are a matter of long-outmoded ideas about nutrition, or just temporary (in the longer term) fashions.
Some particular preparation methods are necessary (see Cassava), but few if any combinations of separately nutritious foods are (in my experience) "bad" for one – I websearched "Are any food combinations toxic or bad for you", and glancing at the first few results, almost all of the combinations mentioned are ones I regularly eat, or have occasionally eaten, without any ill effects whatsoever.
You may find Food and drink prohibitions of interest for some cultural rules, some of which may have been thought to have been justified by supposed ill effects. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.198.55.125 (talk) 00:26, 12 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
There are lots of fruit/vegetable salad combos. Clarityfiend (talk) 05:08, 12 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Well, from my perspective there are various combinations that I would not eat, for example, a mix of apples and potatoes, a sausage with hot chocolate, a fish with honey, etc. Yet I can't explain exactly why and feel like it's subconscious (but I've noticed such combinations usually involve something salty and sweet at once, i.e. opposite tastes). 212.180.235.46 (talk) 07:53, 12 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
What about this dessert that Fred and Barney liked: Ice cream with ketchup. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 08:06, 12 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
The sweetness of the fruit may balance the tartness of a vinaigrette dressing.  --Lambiam 08:42, 12 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
It is not clear how universal the patterns of preference and avoidance of certain culinary combinations are. If these vary across cultures, they are clearly not hardwired. I suppose that most present-day Western diners would not want chicken breast with sugar for dessert, but there you are. I was not aware of avoiding the combination of fish with milk. The Dutch may soak herring that is too salty in milk.[2] The rule for not pairing red meat with a white wine stems from an idea that the taste of white wine is too subtle to be drunk with fatty cuts of roast beef. Generations of epicures have pretended to enjoy the taste of tannic red wines with their red meat while secretly longing for a milder refreshing white.  --Lambiam 09:21, 12 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Ashkenazi Jews traditionally eat latkes, a type of potato pancake, during Hanukkah, and a traditional topping for latkes is apple sauce. You can find this dish at any IHOP restaurant. If you Google "dish incorporating apples and potatoes", you can find dozens of dishes from a wide range of cultures. Fish is commonly served in cream sauces in many cultures, and it is easy to find herring packed in sour cream in many countries. Try Googling "honey glazed garlic salmon", and report back. Cullen328 (talk) 09:39, 12 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Latkes with applesauce are yummy! :) ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 12:54, 12 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
If you're including apple sauce, it is also a traditional accompaniment for when roast pork is the Sunday roast (as mentioned in that article). And roast potatoes are generally an element for any Sunday roast. For that reason at least in NZ, I think many roast meal takeaway shops are likely to have Apple sauce (and will almost definitely have roast potatoes), see e.g. [3]. Nil Einne (talk) 20:39, 12 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Age matters too. For me anchovies are still too fishy for pizza, although I can see myself acquiring a taste for it now. Long ago, I acquired a taste for grits only after they were topped with cheese, but now they are just fine with butter. See our article on acquired taste for detailed research on this topic. In addition, as a young child I rejected mac and cheese for several years because of my association of it with a stomach flu I had. So there are a lot of factors. See our lengthy article on food choice. Modocc (talk) 18:52, 12 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Possibly durian and alcohol: http://smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/death-by-durian-fruit-69125850 states "scientists at Japan's University of Tsukuba recently discovered that durian makes it much more difficult for the human body to break down alcohol. In a test tube, they combined durian extract with aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), the enzyme that functions as the liver's main weapon against the toxic byproducts of alcohol metabolism. The durian—probably because of its high sulfur content—nearly knocked out the ALDH enzyme, inhibiting it by up to 70 percent" cmɢʟee⎆τaʟκ 03:04, 18 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I was going to make some joke about how hard a durian daiquiri hit me. And so led down the rabbit-hole to [4]. DMacks (talk) 20:35, 18 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
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