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April 15

Britannica

Does the Encyclopaedia Britannica use metric or imperial units first in its articles? As it prefers British spelling over American, does it also use metric units first in things that are measured in metric in the United Kingdom (such as temperatures)? --40bus (talk) 17:26, 15 April 2024 (UTC)

@40bus: It seems to be a mix [1] has 4,700 km (2,900 miles) but [2] has 52 °F (11 °C), with 42 °F (5.5 °C) and about 23 inches (585 mm) RudolfRed (talk) 19:42, 15 April 2024 (UTC)

Note that metrication has only been partially adopted in the UK. See Metrication in the United Kingdom. Shantavira|^{feed me} 08:37, 16 April 2024 (UTC)

April 16

What happened to the guy at the beginning of this video?

[3]

Also, is the location really in Tennessee, and if so, where specifically? 142.117.133.114 (talk) 09:38, 16 April 2024 (UTC)

Here he was mud diving in the Netherlands and here in the UK. And here in New Zealand. Sadly, after he disappeared while mud diving in Tennessee, he was never heard of again. This should be a sobering lesson for all of us.  --Lambiam 19:20, 18 April 2024 (UTC)

“lakipadada” or “lakipadaja”

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

---

Early Indonesians, particularly the Bugi people and Makassar people from Sulawesi, created navigational charts known as “lakipadada” or “lakipadaja”. These charts were made using various materials, including shells, wood, and bamboo, and they depicted ocean currents, wind patterns, and celestial navigation points. The intricate designs and detailed knowledge encoded in these charts facilitated navigation across the vast Indonesian archipelago. Do we have anything about these charts? ◅ Sebastian Helm 🗨 15:42, 16 April 2024 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

NCEI

Does the NCEI have any data in metric units? It seems that non-US climate data is reported in Fahrenheit. But the same data is also in KNMI Climate Explorer, and there in metric units. So, is there any data in metric units there? --40bus (talk) 16:54, 16 April 2024 (UTC)

If necessary, it is trivial to convert a data column from one unit to another. Because temperatures are often rounded to the nearest integer, being in Fahrenheit provides a little more precision than Celcius. But, that is not an argument to always use Fahrenheight. I am simply pointing out that being in Fahrenheight does not mean it is unusable data. As an example, you can use =(F1-32)/1.8 in Excel to get the value in F1 as Celcius. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.136.148.8 (talk) 18:25, 17 April 2024 (UTC)

Almost all non-US climate data is recorded by the respective nations it belongs to in Celsius. If an American agency is reporting that data in Fahrenheit, that agency must be doing a conversion itself. As the person who wrote the program to convert Australia's climate data to Celsius back in the 1970s, I find that rather amusing. HiLo48 (talk) 00:19, 18 April 2024 (UTC)

April 18

GA electoral College, 2016 election

Hi. In 2016, the 16 Republican Electors, from the electoral College of Georgia, all voted for Donald Trump and Mike Pence. But how did the vote consist? How did the voters fill out their ballots? Thank you very much. 2.39.110.85 (talk) 12:31, 18 April 2024 (UTC)

The vote totals for each state can be seen at 2016 United States presidential election#Results by state. Side note: there is no "electoral College of Georgia". The electoral college is the collection of all electors from all the states (and DC). --User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 13:04, 18 April 2024 (UTC)

The ballot might say "Donald J. Trump (President) and Michael Pence (Vice President)", but you are really voting for a "slate of electors pledged to vote for a specific presidential and vice presidential candidate". See United States presidential election#The popular vote on Election Day. 2600:1702:2670:B530:45F1:4B99:55AD:C545 (talk) 12:47, 21 April 2024 (UTC)

April 19

Smoking on an airplane in the 1960s

Do we have to stop smoking during take-off₤ and landing? -- Toytoy (talk) 01:09, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

Yes.

You have a time machine? Clarityfiend (talk) 09:59, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

Yes, myself (I was there at the time). DOR (ex-HK) (talk) 19:36, 20 April 2024 (UTC)

Smoking is not allowed during take-off or landing or when the illuminated signs read "No Smoking", nor at any time in the toilets. Ash trays are provided in the arms of the chairs. On leaving the aircraft, do NOT smoke until you are inside the terminal building.

SAFETY ON BOARD - early 1960s passenger safety instructions, AustAir Jet Services. Alansplodge (talk) 10:33, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

There was reasoning behind it. The materials used in planes and airports were flammable. It was a lot of wood and glue. Even if it didn't catch fire, they didn't want little burn holes in everything. Smaller planes are affected more by turbulence. So, having smokers dropping cigarrets during takeoff and landing was an issue. Further, having them toss their cigarette on the floor and stamp it out, burning the carpet in the airport, was a problem. One solution is an ashtray. If we assume most smokers are willing to use an ashtray instead of just tossing the butt on the floor, the burns will be reduced. Because there is no way to truly stop smokers from smoking on flights, ashtrays are still required on many flights. Some people ask why we have them if you aren't allowed to smoke. They are there because some people are not capable of survining a flight without smoking and need the ashtray to avoid burning things by doing something stupid like dropping a lit butt in the trash full of paper towels and tissues. 75.136.148.8 (talk) 12:14, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

Have you been on a flight in the last couple of years on which smoking, while not allowed, was condoned? You can get arrested for that and be put on a no-fly list.^[4] There are ashtrays on the lavatory doors, but not elsewhere.  --Lambiam 13:26, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

I can't afford to fly around, but my brother works with international doctor programs and does experience smoking on flights. 75.136.148.8 (talk) 14:19, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

I suppose that if somebody DOES illegally light-up, there needs to be a place where it can be safely extinguished. Alansplodge (talk) 11:16, 20 April 2024 (UTC)

That's why there are ashtrays on the lavatory doors.  --Lambiam 18:33, 21 April 2024 (UTC)

And airliners may sometimes be sold or leased out or chartered to organisations which will permit smoking? {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 151.227.134.31 (talk) 19:36, 20 April 2024 (UTC)

I would be very surprised if that were the case. The no-smoking rules are set by a country's ministry's of transportation (or equivalent agency) and apply to all aircraft operating on its territory, privately-chartered ones included. Xuxl (talk) 13:52, 21 April 2024 (UTC)

But, Xuxl, unless all such national ministries worldwide enforced non-smoking when an aircraft's cabin was last fitted out, there would have remained the possibility of it being (e.g.) chartered to operate in a territory where smoking was permitted, in which case one would have wanted the ashtrays to be available. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 151.227.134.31 (talk) 15:36, 22 April 2024 (UTC)

Try to find a territory where smoking on an airplane is allowed. ICAO bans smoking on all flights between member countries indirectly, by treating smoking as an act against the safety of the aircraft, which is already banned. The same resolution (from 1993) that put forward this interpretation urges all member countries to ban smoking on domestic flights as well. See here for a summary. Xuxl (talk) 17:24, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

April 20

Random booming sound outside?

So yesterday, I heard this booming noise that kinda sounded like a firework after it exploded. It was 10:30 PM, clear skies, just another regular day. After I heard the noise, I went to Google and searched "what's that booming noise I heard outside" and pulled up a video saying it was because of snow pushing against the road. I was like, "Bro, what? We don't have snow where I'm from." (which is California.) Have any of you experienced the same thing? Thanks, TWOrantula^TM (enter the web) 14:38, 20 April 2024 (UTC)

Kyiv? ——Serial Number 54129 14:42, 20 April 2024 (UTC)

Nope, I'm from California. Also, we don't have any bombs (as far as I know). TWOrantula^TM (enter the web) 14:44, 20 April 2024 (UTC)

Dang it. I think I misinterpreted your response. TWOrantula^TM (enter the web) 14:44, 20 April 2024 (UTC)

I've heard that sort of thing in the Northeast US. Don't know what it was. Jc3s5h (talk) 15:11, 20 April 2024 (UTC)

Sonic boom? DuncanHill (talk) 15:14, 20 April 2024 (UTC)

Older Wikipedia editors finally going out more...? Martinevans123 (talk) 17:20, 20 April 2024 (UTC)

Sonic boom sounds likely. I was woken up by a loud bang in the middle of the night a few years ago, it turned out to be two RAF fighter jets that had been scrambled to investigate an unresponsive airliner (nowhere near a military airbase). Alansplodge (talk) 21:22, 20 April 2024 (UTC)

It could be an earthquake that was too small to feel. Presumably there is a web site where you could check for that. --142.112.220.50 (talk) 19:20, 20 April 2024 (UTC)

Where I was yesterday here in south-eastern Australian there were a lot of booms, but we knew they were from bird-scaring "cannons" (usually propane based) to keep birds away from grape and other fruit crops. But I suspect it's not the season for ripe fruit in your area. Maybe something similar though. HiLo48 (talk) 23:44, 20 April 2024 (UTC)

If it sounded like a firework what makes you think it wasn't just a firework? And why do you think a worldwide web search engine would know what's happening at that instant at some unspecified location? Shantavira|^{feed me} 08:06, 21 April 2024 (UTC)

Well, for one, I didn't see any bright lights in the sky. Also, it's not Fourth of July. I used Google because... well, it was the only idea I had xd TWOrantula^TM (enter the web) 19:07, 21 April 2024 (UTC)

Many things can boom and be audible from quite far away. Hail cannons (no reason to believe that they work, but enough farmers believe it anyway), boulders tumbling down a mountain, mining, demolition work (not that likely at 22:30, but they may have waited for good weather), criminals blowing up each other's property (or, accidentally, innocent people's property), fireworks (illegally set off) to celebrate a victory of one's favourite sports team, accidental gas explosions, labs making ecstasy or crystal meth blowing up, military exercises ... Endless possibilities. Maybe you can look around to see any damage in your area, check the local news or poll the local gossip. PiusImpavidus (talk) 09:23, 21 April 2024 (UTC)

A transformer explosion is quite loud and not uncommon. See [5] for some information. —Amble (talk) 04:09, 25 April 2024 (UTC)

April 23

Are these actual gold bars or what?

The Toronto Pearson International Airport heist of 2023 has been in the news again recently because a number of people have been arrested for the crime. A large part of what was stolen consisted of bars of gold, which have not been recovered (police believe the gold was melted down so it could not be traced). Since it would be impossible to photograph the actual gold that was stolen, news reports have often illustrated the theft with other bars of gold—for example, these photos: [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

My question is about this photo [11] which I saw used in that way. It caught my eye because I've never seen a depiction of bars of gold shaped like that: for one thing, they would not stack together well. The color also looks a bit odd, but as the other photos show, that could be a matter of lighting. What the shape of those objects does remind me of is cases for eyeglasses. Is it possible that they are actually gold-colored cases of plastic or something, intended to hold small bars of gold? Or are there actual gold bars that shape, or what? Just curious. --142.112.220.50 (talk) 16:20, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

The article gold bar discusses minted bars (which are very finely made, by cutting and pressing a flat gold sheet) and cast bars, which is what you get when you pour metal into a mold - and are thus rather irregular. The bars in your photo look, broadly, like the latter. Gold is sold (at retail) in some pretty small sizes, such as 1 or 5 gm, so that might very well be what that photo shows. Gold bars for sale (legitimately) will almost always be stamped with the originating mint's name, the mass and purity, and often a serial number - those in that last photo don't. So it's certainly not impossible that the photo (which is surely either a file photo or a stock photo) is of actual small-mass cast gold ingots. But (as with all stock photos) it's certainly possible that it's just any old thing shown as an illustration. -- Finlay McWalter··–·Talk 20:34, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

Good point about the absence of stamped text. It occurred to me to see where the earliest instance tineye.com could find of that same image was: it turned out to be yahoo.com, and using the Wayback Machine to read it, I found that it was a Bloomberg news item from 2022. And it showed the image without a caption, so I'm still none the wiser as to what it actually shows. --142.112.220.50 (talk) 07:39, 24 April 2024 (UTC)

April 24

NorCal or SoCal?

Question: Are any of these cities NorCal or SoCal?

• San Jose
• Morgan Hill
• Aptos
• Redwood City
• Crescent City
• Watsonville

Follow-up question: Where/what divides California into two? TWOrantula^TM (enter the web) 04:44, 24 April 2024 (UTC)

See SoCal and NorCal. 41.23.55.195 (talk) 06:27, 24 April 2024 (UTC)

Few people seem to be able to agree on where the dividing line between Northern and Southern California lies, or if it exists at all.

From Does this curious spot mark the dividing line between Northern and Southern California? Alansplodge (talk) 11:04, 24 April 2024 (UTC)

What about East California? DuncanHill (talk) 18:25, 24 April 2024 (UTC)

The coastal elites have a one-dimensional view of California, in the sense that they really only consider moving along one axis, which is called North/South but is really more Northwest/Southeast. That said, there is indeed an Eastern California, and it's lovely, particularly along Highway 395. --Trovatore (talk) 20:10, 24 April 2024 (UTC)

As a direct response, I would consider all of those cities to be NorCal, with the possible exception of Watsonville, which is arguably Central Coast. --Trovatore (talk) 20:11, 24 April 2024 (UTC)