Tell me a little-known fact.

I knew bees made hexagons for the honeycomb and the element Carbon has a hexagon shape.

But I didn't know Saturn had that shape.

Hexagon is a shape from nature, not a man-made formation. So I'm not surprised. But I am interested in the mechanics of it.

There is so much nitrogen oxide sequestered in the frozen tundras that once it melts it will cause another Permian 'event'.

 NO, Saturn does not have that shape. But there is a weather system in the part of Saturn's atmosphere around the planet's north pole which does have that shape. There is carbon compound known as the benzine ring. It is composed of 6 carbon atoms in a hexagon formation, joined to hydrogen atoms facing inwards. Chemists like to draw this molecule as a simple hexagon with a circle inside of it, because the electrons in carbon atoms are shared equally between the atoms. Benzine has a strong aroma and its derivatives are sometimes called aromatic compounds. It's a carcinogen. My chemistry teacher told me this at school.


As regards hexagonal cells in a hive, that shape is structurally very stable. The same is true of triangles, but here my knowledge runs out.

samsung is a Christian company: sam=3 song=star= god-jesus-holy spirit

There is so much nitrogen oxide sequestered in the frozen tundras that once it melts it will cause another Permian 'event'.

Do you mean methane?

As regards hexagonal cells in a hive, that shape is structurally very stable. The same is true of triangles, but here my knowledge runs out.

Bees use a hexagonal structure because it maximizes the number of cells in a given space, while minimizing the amount of wax (metabolically expensive to produce) necessary to do so.
Essentially, what the bees are doing is making circular cells (by puking up wax while pivoting around a central point). Each row is staggered so that each circular cells is placed halfway between  two cells in the previous row. Because very little material is used, the shape of the new cell is distorted  by the proximity of adjacent cells, forming a hexagonal pattern.
  They don't make triangles or octagons etc because those shapes would be a result of an inefficient placement pattern (eg octagons), and/or because the bees technique of essentially just sticking circles together doesn't lend itself to forming other geometries (eg triangular cells).

The comment on African Killer bees reminded me how they get the hive to calm down. They introduce bees known as “docile Italian males” to the hive.

Chills them right down.

The longest covered bridge in the world is in Hartland, New Brunswick.

The second tallest smokestack in the world, and second tallest structure in Canada is the Inco Superstack.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inco_Superstack

The comment on African Killer bees reminded me how they get the hive to calm down. They introduce bees known as “docile Italian males” to the hive.

Yep, but it's a temporary measure at best.
The reason why European hives get Africanized, but not vice versa is because of mating schedules.
Africanized drones develop faster (Africanized bees in general do, making them more resistant to hive parasites like varroa mites, which is why the Africanized strain was developed in the first place) and therefore leave the hive earlier than their European counterparts.
  As virgin queens are usually out before drones, the first drones she'll encounter will be the Africanized ones, meaning that her future hive will have a much higher chance of being the brood of an Africanized drone.

   Introducing other non-Africanized drones is only useful if they can beat the African drone mating schedule (ie drones from a greenhouse hive that has had a head start in its development cycle).

  When I was working on a bee farm, Africanized bees were just spreading north through the USA, and were estimated to reach the Canadian border withing a year or 2. There was a lot of discussion of what to do about it, and eventually they figured the easiest way at the time would be to cloister the queens for a week or two during the early part of spring until after the European drones were out and about.
   It was easier than it sounds, mostly because their main business was queen breeding, so they had nooks and techniques at hand that would make separating out queens easier. (Still a godawful job).

This was a while ago, so I'm sure things are different now.

The highest tides in the world are in the Bay of Fundy. They rise so high and so quickly that the St. John River reverses. The reversing falls. Stompin' Tom Connors sang about them.

The highest tides in the world are in the Bay of Fundy. They rise so high and so quickly that the St. John River reverses. The reversing falls. Stompin' Tom Connors sang about them.

I gather you're an East Coaster. hahahahaha

The highest tides in the world are in the Bay of Fundy. They rise so high and so quickly that the St. John River reverses. The reversing falls. Stompin' Tom Connors sang about them.

I can see Saint John Harbour from my office’s lunch room.

The highest tides in the world are in the Bay of Fundy. They rise so high and so quickly that the St. John River reverses. The reversing falls. Stompin' Tom Connors sang about them.

That's pretty cool!

In Normandy there is an area of flat-lands that are pretty well known. It's strongly recommended not to walk on these plains, because, while they're covered with reeds and grass, they're actually under the high-tide mark. The tide comes in over the plains at over 20km/h, which is faster than most people can run for more than a minute or 2.

Reading this thread makes me feel really uneducated    I don't know how you can retain (let alone know) this kind of stuff.  Kyndo in particular!

Reading this thread makes me feel really uneducated    I don't know how you can retain (let alone know) this kind of stuff.  Kyndo in particular!

Nah, I'm like Forrest Gump (without the mental issues, mostly) in that this conversation is following (weirdly) things I know from past experience.
   Also, I'm a lot dumber when I don't have access to the interwebz.

The reason that plants grow upward is not  because it is the direction of the sun.  It is due to gravity and molecules which concentrate higher as they move toward the bottom (roots). This also signals which parts to be roots/stem.
Which is why so much research has been done about growing plants in space. (Also because of radiation concentrations are much higher.)

The reason that plants grow upward is not  because it is the direction of the sun.  It is due to gravity and molecules which concentrate higher as they move toward the bottom (roots). This also signals which parts to be roots/stem.
Which is why so much research has been done about growing plants in space. (Also because of radiation concentrations are much higher.)

I wonder if plants can differentiate between angular momentum (a 'pushing' force) and true gravity (a 'pulling' force).  Might explain why plants grown in centrifuges simulating Earth gravity still don't do so well.

NO, Saturn does not have that shape. But there is a weather system in the part of Saturn's atmosphere around the planet's north pole which does have that shape. There is carbon compound known as the benzine ring. It is composed of 6 carbon atoms in a hexagon formation, joined to hydrogen atoms facing inwards. Chemists like to draw this molecule as a simple hexagon with a circle inside of it, because the electrons in carbon atoms are shared equally between the atoms. Benzine has a strong aroma and its derivatives are sometimes called aromatic compounds. It's a carcinogen. My chemistry teacher told me this at school.


As regards hexagonal cells in a hive, that shape is structurally very stable. The same is true of triangles, but here my knowledge runs out.

Amateur chemists and those still in high school.

Once you get to your first semester of chemistry at uni, drawing benzene with a ring in the middle will get you a big fat zero.

This is because benzene, as you said, is an aromatic compound and is incredibly stable. One main reason for this stability is that benzene has an alternating sequence of C-C and C=C bonds. The electrons don't stay put and are constantly moving around the ring, thereby causing the C-C and C=C positions to shift back and forth by one position (hence the ring + circle).

As shown below:



As a chemist either at uni or post uni, you are expected to draw benzene showing its single and double bonds, so you can work out its reaction mechanism and demonstrate the movement of electrons and changes in bonds/polarity. In such cases, you only need to draw one version of the molecule.

Fact 1
The terms key change and modulation are often used interchangeably when they're distinct in application. A key change usually involves shifting up a semitone, particularly with Disney songs to give the final chorus a boost. K-pop and K-ballads seem to abuse this to an obscene degree. Personally, I usually find these type of key changes as cheesy and outdated as the mullet.
Modulation is a lot more subtle, tasteful and deliberate as it usually  involves borrowing, or using, one or a few key notes from parallel major/minor scales, negative harmony or modes i.e. a natural minor borrowing the sharp 6th from Dorian.

Where the above key changes crudely 'lift' the song like a fat cheerleader, the possibilities of skillful modulation are near infinite, just as one could add almost any topping on bread.

Fact 2
The term anti-semitism while a rather popular misnomer and has become conventionally understood, is still a misnomer nonetheless.  Anti-Semitism typically refers to prejudice or hostility to those belonging to the Jewish faith. The term 'semite', however, refers to speakers of the semitic languages which includes: Arabic, Aramaic, Hebrew, Tigrinya, Aramaic and others. The term anti-semitic therefore refers to prejudice against speakers of these languages, which is not restricted to people of any one race, nationality, ethnicity or faith.