Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2014 February 8

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February 8

Hamstring injuries

It seems to me that I hear of hamstring injuries more often than other tendon injuries, e.g. I think American football has hamstring injuries more commonly than injuries of the Achilles' tendon and all other tendons put together. Why is this the case: is it confirmation bias, or are hamstring injuries really more common, and if so, why? Nothing at hamstring or tendon, and hamstringing is the act of intentionally injuring the hamstring, rather than unintentional damage. Nyttend (talk) 06:07, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

Start here and then see where it leads you. --Jayron32 06:17, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

Hamstrings are plural - in fact there are 4 muscles with their associated tendons involved, and so they are 4x more likely to be injured than just one tendon. It's not really confirmation bias, but a similar thing I suppose: it's one name for a group of different things, any one of which could go wrong and still receive the name of "busted hamstrings". --TammyMoet (talk) 13:16, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

• I don't believe this is true. I think that sprained ankles are by far the most common tendon injuries. The thing about a sprained hamstring is that it tends to be a serious injury, because the hamstring is such a large tendon. Sprained ankles frequently recover in a week or two, if the damage is not too severe. Looie496 (talk) 20:58, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Forced plant bulbs

I've seen a lot of pots of forced spring plants grown from bulbs in the shops just lately (Narcissus, hyacinth etc.) and it struck me that all of them are planted with most of the bulb above the soil, rather than under it as you would plant them in the garden. Clearly you couldn't plant them like that outside as they would be eaten by the local wildlife. Does exposing them help with the forcing process or is it so they don't rot if they are over-watered? Richerman (talk) 19:58, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

My gut reaction is: that this is a modern sales and marketing gimmick (i.e., it looks nice to see the plant growing out of a bulb). Way back, I can't remember seeing anything of the bulb exposed. To aid forcing doesn't make sense. The very moment the first shoot see daylight... it is if off and growing vigorously. Buried below ground (and I agree I guess here) this would only be a couple of days longer for the first shoot to see day-light. Commercially, this doesn’t make much sense either, because below ground they are protected from over-night frosts. So it suggest (to me) that these plants you see are propagated in heated glass-houses. If you live above the latitude of 45 north or south, these may well be hot-house propagated plants to get them ready for sale in February. So the over-night frost problem would not occur in this type of growing environment. Therefore, the bulbs can both be above ground, and add the visual appeal of the plant.--Aspro (talk) 22:13, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

• Each flower has different conditions for planting. Hyacinths can be planted underground to regrow each spring, see: "Hyacinthus orientalis" about "well-drained, but not dry soil". Also, Narcissus or paperwhites can be grown from underground bulbs. Another related plant is the gladiola group. The amaryllis will flower from bulbs planted at the surface. To protect from wildlife, a low fence (or upright-brick barrier) has been recommended, but plants in light flowerpots are subject to tipping and digging by animals. Wikipedia has been hindered from documenting the care-and-feeding of plants, due to avoidance of "how-to" text; however, other Wikipedians might provide more information about bulbs planted half-deep in the soil. -Wikid77 (talk) 22:53, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

I had tried googling "why are forced bulbs exposed?" and got nowhere, but not long after I posted this I thought of googling "forcing bulbs in pots" (duh!) and found a few sites that give instructions on how to do it. They say that with tulips and hyacinths the tips can be exposed, but I think this one gives a clue where it says "Ideally, bulbs should be planted in pots at the same depth as bulbs grown outside, but this isn't always possible with larger bulbs. The solution to this problem is simple: just make sure the pot is deep enough to allow at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) of moist soil mix beneath the bulb." I think, as Aspro said, it's for aesthetic appeal, as more can be crammed into a smaller area if they're on the surface - which may also have a cost implication as smaller pots can be used. To answer Aspro's question I live in the north-west of England, but to be honest it's a bit irrelevant as a large proportion of the bulbs seem to be grown in The Netherlands anyway. Oh, and I should have said, the ones I'm talking about are meant for display indoors on the windowsill rather than outside. Richerman (talk) 23:44, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

Well Amsterdam is actually 52° latitude North.--Aspro (talk) 00:40, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Here is something about forcing bulbs. When they are ready to go you need to give them light and 'Warmth'

Once you remove your bulbs from cold storage, allow three or four weeks to bloom time.

Wake the bulbs gradually, starting with about two weeks of indirect sunlight and 60 degree temperatures

So, the average temperature in Amsterdam at this time of year means they have been raised in a heated glass house.--Aspro (talk) 01:00, 9 February 2014 (UTC)