HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: smith-jeff@CS.YALE.EDU (Jeff Smith)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
Subject: Re: Drinking beer through a straw
Date: 31 Jul 92 16:23:08 GMT
Organization: Yale University Computer Science Dept., New Haven, CT 06520-2158

In article <1992Jul30.195514.6912@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> scramer@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Steve K Cramer) writes:
>The reason you get drunk quicker is because of the strychnine inbedded in the
>straw. Straws have strychnine in them to "hold" them together. No kidding.
>This goes for plastic straws too.

Also, if you drink beer through a straw six times, you can be
decalred legally insane!


				smith
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: smills@news.weeg.uiowa.edu (MuffinHead)
Subject: Re: Why does it feel better after a thunderstorm?
Keywords: (Mythical) air ionisation?
Organization: University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 23:31:54 GMT

asiivo@cs.joensuu.fi (Antti Siivonen) writes:

>rf@cl.cam.ac.uk (Robin Fairbairns on ely.cl.cam.ac.uk) writes:
>>2. Is there a significant effect from ionisation patterns?

>	Yes, if there are negative ions in the air, like after the storm you 
>	feel better than when there are positive before it. 

   A cyclist named John.. um... er... M<something> I think, I forget. Anyway,
he was trying to break the x-country record across the U.S. He had a small
negative ion generator mounted on his handlebars.
   If one could have lightening around ones car while driving on long trips, 
one wouldn't get as groggy. Perhaps one should stop babbling now.


-- 
_____________________________________________________________________________
$ smills@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu $   Fish must get awfully tired of sea food.  $
$ MuffinHed@aol.com           $               -Dudley Moore, "Arthur"       $
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: harvey@indyvax.iupui.edu
Subject: Re: Why does it feel better after a thunderstorm.
Organization: Indiana University
Date: 30 Jul 92 12:54:28 -0500

In article <1992Jul30.035127.5415@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu>, bwatson@nyx.cs.du.edu (bruce watson) writes:
> In article <1992Jul30.122605.19312@chv.dsir.govt.nz> srcriro@chv.dsir.govt.nz writes:
>>Jon Rossie <jrossie@leopard.cs.indiana.edu> complains that the thunderstorms in
>>Indiana dont carry the sense of relief and well-being of those on the East
>>Coast.
>>[stuff deleted]
>>Are the "dead" thunderstorms of Indiana carried on the Fohn wind off the
>>Rockies? (Pardon if my geography is a bit off.)
>
> The foehn winds of the Rockies (called the Chinook by those who were here
> first) don't make it as far as Indiana. Their weather is influenced by
> the Canadian fronts and air masses and the thunderstorms arise from
> the ground heating during the hot summer days.

By this part of the summer it doesn't cool off much after a thunderstorm here.
And it stays pretty humid.  Maybe on the east coast it cools off more since
you're close to the ocean.

We've been having an awful lot of T-storms this summer too - every other day
it seems like.  I wonder if we'll continue to get a lot of precip. this winter.
I keep looking at the front lines on the weather map and they keep reminding
me of the how far the glaciers advanced in the last ice age...

--
James Harvey    IUPUI OIT Technical Support/Networks
harvey@iupui.edu  uucp: iugate!harvey  bitnet: harvey@indyvax
From: AUDMH@ASUACAD.BITNET
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
Subject: Re: SI system (Was Re: Byte me : ) (Was Re: Writing portable code))
Date: 21 Jul 92 20:13:18 GMT
 <1992Jul8.193133.6770@iscnvx.lmsc.lockheed.com> <BrL6Mr.4FF@world.std.com>
Organization: Arizona State University

In article <BrL6Mr.4FF@world.std.com>, dpbsmith@world.std.com (Daniel P. B.
Smith) says:
>
>BTW -- why isn't there metric time? Ten hours per day, 100 seconds per
>hour?

Well, it might have something to do with the relative uselessness of a
"second" that is 86.4 (current) seconds long. :-)

David Hungerford  AUDMH@ASUACAD.BITNET  Opinions?  Mine, all mine!!!
From: rf@cl.cam.ac.uk (Robin Fairbairns)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
Subject: Re: SI system (Was Re: Byte me : ) (Was Re: Writing portable code))
Date: 25 Jul 92 16:54:27 GMT
Reply-To: rf@cl.cam.ac.uk (Robin Fairbairns)
Organization: U of Cambridge Comp Lab, UK

In article <84340@netnews.upenn.edu> pws@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Paul W. Shaffer) writes:
>In article grante@aquarius (Grant Edwards) writes:
>>dpbsmith@world.std.com (Daniel P. B. Smith) writes:
>>: [some omitted]
>>:
>>: BTW -- why isn't there metric time? Ten hours per day, 100 seconds per
>>: hour?
>>: 
>>
>
>Does anyone know why almost ALL cultures, all around the world, use the
>60 seconds/minute, 60 minutes/hour division of time?  I think I know...
>
>Spoiler alert...

Eh?

>Five thousand years ago, in what is now Iraq, the civilization of Sumer
>grew in the fertile valley between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.  They
>used a number system based on *60*, which they used to measure, among other
>things, time.
>
>Over the centuries, other units have replace base-60 in length and weight,
>but, all around the world, time is still divided into 60's.
>
>Comments?

I have long assumed that the Sumerian fixation on multiples of 60 was
the basis of our time system.  I have been _told_ that it's the basis
of the degrees-minutes-seconds method of measuring angles.

I assume the reason the method stuck was related to the "convenient
measures" rule of thumb that's already been mentioned.  Of course,
dividing the day into 24 hours in a base-60 system requires a certain
amount of imagination:

a) the Sumerians were nearer the equator than I am, so that their days
   and nights were more nearly of equal length, and more nearly
   constant, so the unit might as well be the length of the day/night
b) it's a good idea to divide the day into forenoon and afternoon;
   having done that you might as well divide the night as well

Aha! we have a factor of four - so each `unit' was 6 hours long. 
6 - 60 - who's complaining?
--
Robin Fairbairns, using the facilities of the U of Cambridge
Computer Lab, for which permission is gratefully acknowledged...
[A lost soul who's been made redundant by Laser-Scan after 17 years]
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU (Carl J Lydick)
Subject: Re: SI system (Was Re: Byte me : ) (Was Re: Writing portable code))
Reply-To: carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU
Organization: HST Wide Field/Planetary Camera
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 10:54:45 GMT

In article <1992Jul22.073657.15765@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz>, ecmtwhk@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz (Thomas Koenig) writes:
>Surely, the only correct measurement of time is the microfortnight.

That is, indeed, the unit used for the SYSGEN parameter TIMEPROMPTWAIT for the
VMS operating system.

$ MCR SYSGEN SHO TIMEPROMPTWAIT
Parameters in use: Active
Parameter Name            Current    Default     Min.     Max.     Unit  Dynamic
--------------            -------    -------    -------  -------   ----  -------
TIMEPROMPTWAIT              65535         -1         0        -1 uFortnight 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carl J Lydick | INTERnet: CARL@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU | NSI/HEPnet: SOL1::CARL

Disclaimer:  Hey, I understand VAXen and VMS.  That's what I get paid for.  My
understanding of astronomy is purely at the amateur level (or below).  So
unless what I'm saying is directly related to VAX/VMS, don't hold me or my
organization responsible for it.  If it IS related to VAX/VMS, you can try to
hold me responsible for it, but my organization had nothing to do with it.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: jvmg9796@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Doc)
Subject: Re: 9 essential amino acids
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1992 20:30:43 GMT

ccuppern@s.psych.uiuc.edu (Cyndi Cuppernell) writes:


>I attended a class on meatless cooking recently, and the instructor
>kept talking about the 9 essential amino acids.  I always thought
>there were only 8 essential aa's.  She got her information from
>some book, whose name escapes me at the moment.

It depends on who you ask. The following is from Hunt & Groff, _Advanced
Nutrition and Human Metabolism_ (c) 1990:

Functional Classification of Amino Acids

I. Indispensable amino acids (negative N balance results whenever there is
a deficiency.)
	
	A. Totally indispensable: lysine and threonine.  No metabolic 
	precursor can substitute for these amino acids; omission from diet 
	can lead to serious nutritional and metabolic effects.

	B. Carbon skeleton indispensable amino acids: histidine, isoleucine,
	leucine, methionine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, and valine.  The keto
	or hydroxy acid of each amino acid can be converted into its respective
	amino acid through transamination.

II. Conditionally indispensable amino acids: cysteine, tyrosine.  Can
reduce the requirements for methionine and phenylalanine, respectively.
Furthermore, under certain conditions cys and tyr may become indispensable
themselves.

III. Acquired indispensable amino acids (may become indispensable in 
immaturity, in states of metabolic disorder, and/or during severe stress):

	A. Possibly indispensable amino acids: cysteine and tyrosine. These
	two amino acids may become indispensable in the neonate.

	B. Possibly indispensable due to genetic disorders or acquired 
	disease states: cysteine, tyrosine, arginine, and citrulline*

	C. Possibly indispensable due to extended periods of large 
	intakes of amino acids (eg, total parenteral nutrition): cysteine,
	tyrosine, arginine, possibly citrulline* and taurine+

IV. Completely dispensable amino acids (extensively synthesized in the body
and not essential componenets of the diet): alanine, glutamic acid, aspartic
acid, glycine, serine, proline, glutamine, asparagine

*Citrulline is not used in protein synthesis, but along with arginine, it
plays a crucial role in the urea cycle.  Both citrulline and arginine may
become essential in disease states where hyperammonemia occurs.

+Taurine, like citrulline, is not used in protein synthesis but normally
occurs in high concentrations in the body.  A deficienct of taurine has 
been indicated in abnormal reintal functioning, particularly among young
children who have been maintained for long periods on TPN.  Also some
concern exists for infants who are being fed cow's milk because cow's
milk has a low taurine content.


...so you see, it's not quite so simple. :)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: qb7g6@fel.tno.nl (Maarten Landzaat)
Subject: Re: Why does it feel better after a thunderstorm?
Keywords: (Mythical) air ionisation?
Organization: TNO Physics and Electronics Laboratory
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 09:32:12 GMT

rf@cl.cam.ac.uk (Robin Fairbairns on ely.cl.cam.ac.uk) writes:

>We've been suffering hot, sticky weather for several days, and then we
>had a spectacular thunderstorm.  (Note, not as hot or sticky as I've
>experienced in N America, nor yet as spectacular a thunderstorm, but
>pretty good.)

>Now, `folk' wisdom here says that after such a thunderstorm,
>everything feels fine again: the stickiness no longer grabs you, and
>you generally feel OK.  Modern-thinking `folk' suggest that it's to do
>with the distribution of ionisation in the atmosphere (I paraphrase).

>Simple analysis shows:

>1. Before the storm, the humidity is likely to be high (>=95%), and
>   the temperature sure as hell is high.
>2. After the storm, the humidity is presumably 100%, in view of the
>   buckets of water that the skies have blessed us with, but the
>   temperature is certainly lower.
>3. There's certainly a lot of electricity involved, dancing about the
>   sky in really beautiful patterns.

>Questions:

>1. Do human bodies feel happier in 100% humidity at 23\degrees C than
>   in 95% at (say) 30\degrees C?
>2. Is there a significant effect from ionisation patterns?

There's usually bad weather on the transition between a low- and high
pressure zone. I guess that the lower air pressure after a storm 
is one cause of feeling better.

I don't believe in the ion theories. Those little boxes supposedly
emitting happiness (negative ions, I recall) didn't do anything for me.
-- 
Maarten J. Landzaat (analyst/programmer, bass player, Atari/midi freak)
BSO/Aerospace & Systems			Mail: Spuistraat 97
Email: maarten.landzaat@fel.tno.nl	      1012 SV  Amsterdam
Phone: +31 20 6266098			      The Netherlands
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: slagle@lmsc.lockheed.com (Mark Slagle)
Subject: Re: Drinking beer through a straw
Reply-To: slagle@lmsc.lockheed.com
In-reply-to: lsh1@Ra.MsState.Edu's message of Wed, 29 Jul 1992 20:44:01 GMT
Organization: You wouldn't ask this if you'd seen my desk.
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 92 04:24:58 GMT

In article <lsh1.712442641@Ra.MsState.Edu>, lsh1@Ra.MsState.Edu (Shane Hebert) writes:

> I like beer.  My favorite brand is Miller Lite.
> Then Bud (either Light or regular).

Do you also like carbonated urine?  
Adequately chilled, of course.
--
----
Mark E. Slagle                                 PO Box 61059
slagle@lmsc.lockheed.com                       Sunnyvale, CA   94088
408-756-0895                                   USA
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: slagle@lmsc.lockheed.com (Mark Slagle)
Subject: Re: Drinking beer through a straw
Reply-To: slagle@lmsc.lockheed.com
In-reply-to: fnord@panix.com's message of 29 Jul 92 14:44:08 GMT
Organization: You wouldn't ask this if you'd seen my desk.
	<1992Jul29.144408.21601@panix.com>
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 92 04:21:22 GMT

In article <1992Jul29.144408.21601@panix.com>, fnord@panix.com (Cliff Heller) writes:

> You may have inadvertently hit on something there.  It's not that you
> swallow less air, but, in the case of a carbonated beverage, you swallow
> lots of CO2 when you drink through a straw.  Because, you need to have a
> seal around the straw in order to maintain the vacuum, the CO2 will not be
> able to escape the way it would drinking from a cup.

> Now, what possible difference could swallowing CO2 make?  You burp it up
> anyway. 

Not all of it.  Some of it makes it into your bloodstream.
I have a vague recollection of some study that showed that
drinking liquor with carbonated beverages resulted in some
measurable differences when compared to the same quantity
of alcohol combined with plain water.  Can't recall any
salient details, but it might have been some combination
of an oxygen problem combined with an increased uptake of
alcohol into the blood, or an interference with disposal
of it.
--
----
Mark E. Slagle                                 PO Box 61059
slagle@lmsc.lockheed.com                       Sunnyvale, CA   94088
408-756-0895                                   USA
Newsgroups: folklore.urban,alt.folklore.science
From: mikkelson@breakr.enet.dec.com (snopes)
Subject: Re: Hot water
Organization: Salivation Army
Date: 21 JUL 92 11:48:36    


 In rec.martial-arts, ninjam@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Marty) writes:

>On the same subject, I've also heard that warm or hot water is
>more readily absorbed into the body than cold.  So the
>general idea being that you should drink warm water to replenish
>your body's water after a workout.

  This is not a good idea in colder climates, because you'll freeze more
  quickly afterwards.

 - snopes

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|"[Disney's machine] has placed a Mickey Mouse hat on every little developing |
| personality in America.  As capitalism, it is a work of genius; as culture, |
| it is mostly a horror."   --   Richard Schickel, "The Disney Version"       |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  David P. Mikkelson   Digital Equipment Corporation   Culver City, CA  USA  |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: slagle@lmsc.lockheed.com (Mark Slagle)
Subject: Re: Drinking beer through a straw
Reply-To: slagle@lmsc.lockheed.com
In-reply-to: krikket@meltdown.chi.il.us's message of 28 Jul 92 09:53:52 GMT
Organization: You wouldn't ask this if you'd seen my desk.
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 92 04:22:35 GMT

In article <krikket.5407@meltdown.chi.il.us>, krikket@meltdown.chi.il.us (D. 'krikket' Krick) writes:

> According to Uncle Cecil, if I remember correctly, is that you do get drunker
> faster if you drink beer through a straw.  Reason:  The alcohol surface area
> is greatly expanded (due to less volume at a time) and is therefore asorbed
> into the body faster than if you were guzzeling it...

In other words, Uncle Cecil didn't have the slightest
idea either.
--
----
Mark E. Slagle                                 PO Box 61059
slagle@lmsc.lockheed.com                       Sunnyvale, CA   94088
408-756-0895                                   USA
Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 17:40:50 -0400 
From: "Andrew C. Plotkin" <ap1i+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: Scanned record players
	<1992Jul20.130334.3762@einoed.in-berlin.de>

Excerpts from netnews.alt.folklore.science: 20-Jul-92 Re: Scanned record
players Adrian Le Hanne@einoed.i (710)

> There was a company which produced at least a prototype of a laser scanner
> turntable for LP's in the eighties. I once read an article about this in
> some hifi magazine, so i'm pretty sure about this. Price was way over 
> $6000 dollars so it certainly never hit the market...

But the *right* thing to build would be a Laser Anything Scanner.

It looks like a xerox machine, with a big glass plate on top and an
opaque flap that covers it. You put a disk on the plate, data side down.
The laser underneath scans around, locates it, figures out the format,
and plays it. Once you've got that much, all you need is software to
read anything you want. You can play CDs, LPs, 45 RPM singles,
flopticals, bar codes, fingerprints...
If the plate is big enough, you can put several disks down and it will
play all of them in sequence. 
The only problem is two-sided formats, like phonograph records. Maybe
the top could be a large hood, with a mirror set at 45 degrees and more
lasers in the backplane.

Anybody want to build one?

:-)

--Z
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: scramer@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Steve K Cramer)
Subject: Re: Drinking beer through a straw
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 19:55:14 GMT

The reason you get drunk quicker is because of the strychnine inbedded in the
straw. Straws have strychnine in them to "hold" them together. No kidding.
This goes for plastic straws too.


Steve
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: kherron@ms.uky.edu (Kenneth Herron)
Subject: Re: Scanned record players
    <1992Jul20.043618.3831@news.columbia.edu> 
    <1992Jul20.061300.5689@ptcburp.ptcbu.oz.au> 
    <1992Jul27.042956.6286@news.columbia.edu>
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 12:29:43 GMT
Organization: University Of Kentucky, Dept. of Math Sciences

gmw1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Gabe M Wiener) writes:

>>It was a small red VW Beetle car model. The pickup needle stuck down from
>>underneath, and the record was played when the car was running around on
>>the stationary record, following the grooves. According to the German hifi
>>magazine "Audio", it worked, but only for a few seconds at a time...

>Yes, I saw the issue.  I still have it somewhere.  It was an April issue.
>I also have the sequel that came out about a year or so ago with the CD
>model with the sportscar.  

>Some people will believe *anything* 

Well, some people also saw it demonstrated on the David Letterman
show.  Except the version he demoed was a VW bus.
-- 
Kenneth Herron                                           kherron@ms.uky.edu
University of Kentucky                                      +1 606 257 2975
Department of Mathematics           "Thanks to the magic of the slow-motion 
camera, we can now show you how ugly the inside of someone's mouth can be."
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: cshort@nmsu.edu (Spmg*d, Lord of Potted Meat Product)
Subject: Re: Ice 9
Organization: Computing Research Lab
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 10:30:39 GMT

>>>>> On 22 Jul 92  17:48:28 EST, Bill.Hartwell@f99.n121.z1.FidoNet.Org (Bill Hartwell) said:

Bill>  -=> Quoting Larry Jones to All <=-

 LJ> Yes indeed.  Anybody made any ice 9 lately? ;-)

Bill> I certainly hope not!

<pulling on vanilla ice snow cap

ice 9, baby!

c.


Bill>  * Origin: NineJackNine / 608-256-5697 / Madison WI / (1:121/99.0)

--

                                                                      |S
  |------------------------|                                          |P
  |don't fear the hippie   |-------------------------------           |L
  |he's got mind control-dm|    spamgod is: cshort@crl.nmsu.edu       |E     
  |------P|-----i was driving at the speed of light and turned on my  |E
         E|   headlights. the light piled up on my windshield like----|N ----|
         A|   wet toilet paper.            ----------------|Yak Cheese Abuser|
	 C|				                   |-----------------|
         E|
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
From: lsh1@Ra.MsState.Edu (Shane Hebert)
Subject: Re: Drinking beer through a straw
Organization: Mississippi State University
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 13:20:12 GMT

sut@dsbc.icl.co.uk (Secure Unix Team KID01) writes:

>In article <1992Jul28.153046.14901@panix.com> fnord@panix.com (Cliff Heller) writes:
>>Any truth to the rumour/legend that you get more drunk if you drink
>>beer/alcohol through a straw?
>>
>>   2) When you drink through a straw, there is not suddenly a greater
>>quantity of alcohol being consumed.
>>
>>
>I thought it was 'cos you swallow less air when you drink though a straw.


I have also heard that when you drink through a straw, you tend to drink
faster than without the straw.  Drinking faster == more alcohol in your
tummy in a shorter period of time == get drunk faster....


+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                   |    Shane Hebert                      | Disclaimer:      |
|    This space     |    hebert@erc.msstate.edu            |    My opinions   |
|     for rent!     |    hebert@ee.msstate.edu             |    are my own.   |
|                   |    lsh1@ra.msstate.edu               |                  |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
From: rf@cl.cam.ac.uk (Robin Fairbairns on ely.cl.cam.ac.uk)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science
Subject: Why does it feel better after a thunderstorm?
Keywords: (Mythical) air ionisation?
Date: 22 Jul 92 13:51:55 GMT
Reply-To: rf@cl.cam.ac.uk (Robin Fairbairns)
Organization: U of Cambridge Computer Lab, UK

We've been suffering hot, sticky weather for several days, and then we
had a spectacular thunderstorm.  (Note, not as hot or sticky as I've
experienced in N America, nor yet as spectacular a thunderstorm, but
pretty good.)

Now, `folk' wisdom here says that after such a thunderstorm,
everything feels fine again: the stickiness no longer grabs you, and
you generally feel OK.  Modern-thinking `folk' suggest that it's to do
with the distribution of ionisation in the atmosphere (I paraphrase).

Simple analysis shows:

1. Before the storm, the humidity is likely to be high (>=95%), and
   the temperature sure as hell is high.
2. After the storm, the humidity is presumably 100%, in view of the
   buckets of water that the skies have blessed us with, but the
   temperature is certainly lower.
3. There's certainly a lot of electricity involved, dancing about the
   sky in really beautiful patterns.

Questions:

1. Do human bodies feel happier in 100% humidity at 23\degrees C than
   in 95% at (say) 30\degrees C?
2. Is there a significant effect from ionisation patterns?
--
Robin Fairbairns, using the facilities of the U of Cambridge
Computer Lab, for which permission is gratefully acknowledged...
[A lost soul who's been made redundant by Laser-Scan after 17 years]
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science