Casio GW-BX5600 and GBD-200: "MIP" dot matrix display pixel counts

Good evening.

My understanding is that the "MIP" displays of some modern Casio digital watches, such as the GW-BX5600 and the GBD-200, are actually dot matrix displays.

But what are the pixel counts of these two display models?

Having looked at a high-resolution photo of the GBD-200 that I found online, it appears to me like the horizontal pixel count is in the order of 180 pixels.

--22:37, 10 March 2026 (UTC) Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 22:37, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

The GBD‑200’s MIP display is 176×176 pixels, which is close to your estimate.

Other models:

* GBD‑200: 176×176

* GBD‑100: 128×128

* GBD‑H1000: 240×240

* DW‑H5600: 240×240

* GBD‑H2000: 240×240

MIP technology is improving, and newer models tend to have denser, higher‑resolution displays. But the pace is slow because the market is niche and the main user‑facing benefit is extreme battery life, not visual fidelity. ~2026-91009-6 (talk) 12:13, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

Awesome, thank you.

Resolved

--Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 21:59, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

Transitional Fossils

Evolution

Second Law of Thermodynamics vs. Evolution

Pieces of World Cup trophy falling back to Earth

I just saw on a YouTube video that the background story to the 1994 video game Soccer Kid says that the alien pirate Scab tried to steal the World Cup trophy by pulling it from Earth to his spaceship but the trophy hit a passing asteroid on the way and smashed into pieces. The pieces then fell back to Earth.

This struck me as wrong. Assuming the asteroid is far away from Earth not to crash into it, shouldn't the pieces have fallen down on the asteroid as it was the dominating body of mass where the trophy was smashed? JIP | Talk 01:33, 8 March 2026 (UTC)

That would depend on the mass of the asteroid as well as the force with which it smashed into the cup. If it was a massive asteroid at slow speed then the cup pieces would settle on the asteroid, but that is impossible. The pieces would either fly off into space or fall to earth. Shantavira|^{feed me} 08:32, 8 March 2026 (UTC)

At typical interplanetary speeds of a few tens of kilometres per second before the collision, the pieces (if the trophy wasn't vaporised) would most likey move much faster than the escape velocity of the asteroid (no more than a few meters per second). The pieces would end up in heliocentric orbit, but they might hit Earth again in the future. PiusImpavidus (talk) 09:27, 8 March 2026 (UTC)

(edit conflict) It also strikes me as wrong that the disappearance of a World Cup trophy was not a major news item at the time, and also that alien pirates would be interested in such trinkets as World Cup trophies. Surely, this is a projection of base human traits on unsuspecting aliens, so we need to invoke the doctrine of artistic licence. Restricting ourselves to physics as we know it, even a tiny asteroid, with a mass comparable to that of the trophy, will almost certainly have enough kinetic energy to smash it, if not into oblivion, then to smithereens. Surely, even if the asteroid was quite massive, their velocities will now be much higher than the escape velocity, so they will not be captured by the asteroid. If the asteroid was in an orbit around the Sun – a reasonable assumption – a relatively large amount of its momentum, tangential to the orbit and probably directed away from Earth, is transferred to the pieces, which, it seems in the narrative, were already moving away from Earth before the collision occurred and are now scattered into orbits moving even farther away. Some of these orbits may intersect Earth's orbits so after months or years one piece or another may be intercepted and give a brief flash as a meteor. There is zero chance of them conspiring to give some kind of meteor shower.  ​‑‑Lambiam 10:40, 8 March 2026 (UTC)

@Lambiam: ...also that alien pirates would be interested in such trinkets as World Cup trophies – I tell you, they are definitely not very intelligent. Would any intelligent being fly across the Galaxy just to steal a cow...? --CiaPan (talk) 06:50, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

Counter-intuitive impedance

It is well-known that the input resistance of an infinite chain of four-terminal elements, each consisting of a 1-ohm resistor in series and another across the output terminals, is the golden ratio, about 1.618 ohms. Each added element increases the number of parallel paths, so the input resistance falls steadily from its initial value of 2 ohms. A similar analysis, for the case of replacing the shunt resistor in the element with a capacitor of reactance 1 ohm at the applied frequency, shows that the input impedance of an infinite chain is very nearly 1.3 - 0.625i, this having a magnitude of about 1.443 ohms. The initial input impedance is 1 - i with a magnitude of root 2, about 1.414 ohms. So the added parallel paths do not give a steady reduction in magnitude, which seems counter-intuitive.~2026-15082-11 (talk) 15:49, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

But this is the nature of complex numbers. Ruslik_Zero 18:55, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

A popular chatbot that claims the advantage of having no biological brain or intuition whatever nevertheless claims "I have thought" about the question as follows. I need to compute the input impedance of a ladder circuit. The first module has a series resistor (1Ω) between IN and OUT, and another 1Ω resistor from OUT to ground. So, the input impedance seems like 1Ω in series with 1Ω to ground, but wait, the OUT node is only connected to a resistor to ground. After thinking it through, I realise the input impedance is 2Ω in series.

For two modules in series, the impedance is R1 + the impedance seen from node A to ground, which is R2 in parallel with (R3 + R4). This gives 5/3Ω.

For an infinite chain, the impedance from node A to ground satisfies X = 1 || (1 + X).

Working through the RC-modules

I’m calculating the impedance for a module with a series 1Ω resistor and a shunt capacitor with reactance -j1Ω. For a single RC-module, the input impedance is 1 - jΩ, with a magnitude of √2. For two RC-modules in series, the impedance from node A is calculated as Z_A = (1 - 3j)/5, giving a total input impedance of 1.2 - 0.6jΩ, with a magnitude of 1.342Ω.

For an infinite chain of [RC circuits], the impedance equation becomes Z = 1 + (-j || Z), leading to a quadratic equation. Solving this gives Z ≈ 1.30 - 0.63jΩ, with a magnitude of 1.442Ω. ~2026-15106-48 (talk) 22:06, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

see continued fraction Golden ratio#Continued fraction and square root and Khan, Shahryar (22 January 2024). "Resistors, Continued Fractions and the Golden Ratio". fiveby(zero) 23:32, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

The intuition is correct for resistors; it is Rayleigh's monotonicity law. catslash (talk) 23:42, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

Saying that "this is the nature of complex numbers" hardly addresses the specific query. I accept, from the numerical results, that the impedance magnitude does not decrease with each added path (sometimes it does, sometimes it increases), but was hoping for a reasoned explanation as to why there is not always an increased current flow for a given applied voltage when the shunt capacitor in the first element is given an extra parallel path.~2026-15082-11 (talk) 16:08, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

"First element" is ambiguous - I meant the capacitor closest to the new element.~2026-15082-11 (talk) 16:20, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

It is like an arago spot that counterintuitevely appears in the center of a circular shadow. Sometimes you need to accept that your intuition leads to a wrong conlusion. Ruslik_Zero 20:40, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

Anything in characteristic impedance help, the derivations? iterative impedance? Your chain of resistors and capacitors is like a transmission line w/o inductance or conductance. Instead of starting with first element and adding more, start with and infinitely long transmission line and add more, the characteristic impedance doesn't change. Start with an infinite chain already and add one more element, the iterative impedance does not change. fiveby(zero) 21:34, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

A counterintuitive or seemingly paradoxical result, such as the OP's observation that adding a current flow path to a finite RC ladder may increase rather than decrease the input impedance magnitude, both piques our intellectual curiosity and motivates us to seek a better understanding of how it could happen. A near-parallel result is Braess's paradox the counterintuitive result in traffic network theory showing that adding a new road or bypass can make overall traffic flow worse. Similarity of the paradoxes is only partial: Braess's paradox arises because drivers act selfishly, each being too tempted to choose their own fastest route especially when it is novel, while the collective result becomes worse for everyone. However electrons flowing inevitably from negative to positive potential in a circuit are not like selfish conscious drivers. The two paradoxes here identified do have similar negative corollaries: A road network planner who is ignorant of Braess's paradox may never realize that traffic flow in his network can be improved by closing off a particular road. A circuit designer who needs to reduce the input impedance magnitude of an RC ladder might without the OP's help never realize that can be achieved by cutting out components. ~2026-15106-48 (talk) 17:22, 11 March 2026 (UTC) (edited)

For the RC case, does it help the intuition to consider the fact that going into the ladder, the currents in each section lag those in the previous section by (I reckon) about 38.6683°? So after about 9.30996 sections, the currents are the reverse of what you want. catslash (talk) 18:14, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Have you calculated 360° / 38.6683° ≈ 9.30996 ? Why ? Current is reversed by a 180° shift. The OP's intuition was about the magnitude of the input impedance which is a measurement blind to phase. ~2026-15106-48 (talk) 20:01, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Yes, just that. Because the input current is the sum of the capacitor currents. The magnitude of the sum is less than sum of the magnitudes unless all terms have the same sign – which they haven't. Also, as you spotted, I was stupid and should have said 4.65498 sections. catslash (talk) 23:22, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

On reflection, my answer could be better. Intuition does not rest on numbers. Try this: In both the resistive ladder and the RC ladder, whether finite or infinite, the input current is the sum of the rung (shunt) currents. In the resistive ladder all the rung currents flow in unison and so do actually add. Conversely, in the RC ladder, the rung currents are out of step and so partially cancel, giving a reduced total (i.e an increased-magnitude impedance). catslash (talk) 00:16, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

Mutation

A complicated question about consuming junk food

If I do OMAD (One-meal-a-day fasting), which is less harmful to health: eating junk food for two minutes every day or eating junk food for one hour every month? ~2026-14733-34 (talk) 12:04, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

That's a question for your doctor. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:05, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

I assume the two-minute daily junk food feast is not your whole single daily meal. Eaten in moderation, so-called "junk food" is not by itself particularly harmful. An unbalanced diet is. If the unbalanced and therefore unhealthy diet consists largely of junk food, it is particularly unhealthy. Also, overeating is unhealthy and overeating on junk food is particularly unhealthy. Eating moderate amounts of junk food in addition to an otherwise healthy diet is not harmful to one's health.  ​‑‑Lambiam 23:19, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

What if they're allergic to something in the junk food? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:47, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

And what if they are tube-fed?  ​‑‑Lambiam 10:33, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

Same as if they're allergic to anything in the normal or super healthy food. --CiaPan (talk) 11:27, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

Is this diagram meaningful?

It's used at Electromagnetic_pulse#Effects. If it illustrates wireless power, why are there wires?  Card Zero  (talk) 10:12, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

We'd have to ask the creator, but their last contribution was the addition of the diagram, so we are not likely to receive a response. Next to the wires, which I think would be absent in the case of a solar flare, lightning strike or nuclear detonation, there is also a curious mislabeling throughout the diagram: what looks like a wire is labeled "Magnetron", what is presumably the magnetron is labeled "Microwaves", what looks like intended to represent the microwaves is unlabeled, and the irrelevant base of the light "bulb" is labeled "Capacitive coupling through air". There are also curious dashed arc segments as if the radiation is reflected by the "bulb". If the purpose is to explain in a diagram how an electromagnetic wave induces a gradient of electric potential across a circuit, it is IMO not helpful. (The article Electromagnetic pulse also does not attempt to explain this.) It is probably just as helpful to illustrate this with a bolt labeled "EMP" directed at an explosion star labeled "KABLOOEY!".  ​‑‑Lambiam 11:36, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

I may have to revert this edit, too. I suppose football players are a kind of fauna.  Card Zero  (talk) 13:33, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

The peculiar labels on the diagram give an illusion of an explanation where there is none. The phenomenon to be demonstrated is lighting by an external electromagnetic field of a fluorescent lamp with no galvanic wired connection. This can be seen in a video here. The short video shows a fluorescent tube that is hand held without wires. Cause and effect are demonstrated by presenting the tube in two positions: A) far from a radio frequency source - TUBE UNLIT and B) close to the radio frequency source - TUBE LIT. My suggestions for a more helpful diagram are:

• show a hand held tube and a generic "Radio wave source", no wires visible
• show alternative situations A and B by either a two-part diagram or together alternately in an animation
• the diagram title is STRONG RADIO FIELD DETECTED BY FLUORESCENT TUBE. This avoids the concept "wireless powering" that could mislead one to think this is a practical way to use fluorescent lamps.
• I advise against adding text beyond the essential labels "Radio transmitter" and "Fluorescent light bulb". I don't feel we can adequately teach the electromagnetic field and its near-field coupling to the tube in a single diagram. ~2026-15106-48 (talk) 13:42, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

Thank you, I remembered demonstrations using fluorescent tubes, and was surprised by their absence from the Wireless power transfer article, although Tesla is pictured doing something similar. "Capacitive coupling" is incorrect in this context, isn't it? The edit summary for the diagram was "Added photo of Electro Magnetic Radiation", which I think describes all photos except for unexposed ones and this diagram.  Card Zero  (talk) 13:53, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

Such a diagram is better suited for use in Wireless power transfer § Inductive coupling than in Electromagnetic pulse § Effects.  ​‑‑Lambiam 14:25, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

Any practical value of the interesting contrivance of converting Non-ionizing radiation (em source) to Ionizing radiation (within lighting tube) and back to non-ionizing radiation (light) was probably exhausted during Nicola Tesla's efforts to promote what turned out by 1906, to everyone except Tesla, to have been a towering waste of money. Even after suggested improvements, the diagram will look for a home. A future (red link) List of conjuring tricks might accomodate it. ~2026-16372-61 (talk) 13:02, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

Pregnancy

How soon after giving birth can a girl get pregnant again? ~2026-16378-24 (talk) 18:15, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

See Lactational amenorrhea#Return of fertility which, although emphasising the effects of breastfeeding, contains information directly relating to the question. It's written rather (too?) technically, but in short – it depends on the circumstances of the individual, and 'almost immediately' is within the range of possibilities. Other responders may be able to answer more fully.

(I have assumed in good faith that this is a general question about human biology, and not a request for medical advice, which Wikipedia cannot give. If there is any possibility that this relates to a current real situation, the in-person advice of a health professional must be sought – the ramifications of potentially creating a new human life are far too serious to trust to internet enquiries.) {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} ~2026-76101-8 (talk) 20:53, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

According to this source, fertility can return as early as 21 days after childbirth. This source concurs. There is, of course, no guarantee that this is the absolute minimum.  ​‑‑Lambiam 10:57, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

Crossword Unconsciousness

In Linklater's "Waking Life", two characters have a conversation concerning a study about crossword puzzles:

"They isolated a group of people over time, and they monitored their abilities at crossword puzzles, right, in relation to the general population. And they secretly gave them a day-old crossword, one that had already been answered by thousands of other people, right. And their scores went up dramatically, like 20 percent. So it's like once the answers are out there, people can pick up on 'em."

I couldn't find a source for this study anywhere. The full conversation implies a "telepathic sharing of experiences", maybe akin to something like Morphic Resonance or more loosely Genetic Memory, but I don't think either are very feasible (on account of being very theoretical or pseudo-scientific). But to me, the idea of the answers of a crossword puzzle being subconsciously proliferated by the people who solved them is not ridiculous. Could people solve these puzzles more easily because their answers have been integrated into the subconscious of their peers who had solved them before?

Do any such studies exist? Fzinu (talk) 18:52, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

Monica England Nottingham University. https://earlybirdstreehouse.wordpress.com/2014/12/01/the-crossword-puzzle-phenomenon-by-monica-england/

MR does not rely on brains, it was supposedly responsible for chirality of DNA etc. Greglocock (talk) 20:22, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

Sheldrake, who was named a fellow of the Institute of Noetic Sciences in May 1989, describes England's experiment in the 2011 edition of his 1988 book The Presence of the Past: Morphic Resonance and the Habits of Nature:

     In 1987, the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), near San Francisco, California, offered an award for the best student research on morphic resonance. An independent panel of judges assessed the entries, and the results were announced in 1991.²⁹
     The winner of the undergraduate award was Monica England, a psychology student at the University of Nottingham, England. Her test was stimulated by anecdotal evidence that some people find it easier to do newspaper crosswords the day after they have been published than when they first appear, an effect that could be due to morphic resonance from thousands of people who have already done the puzzle.
     The experiment involved two puzzles from a London newspaper, the Evening Standard1, which was not distributed in Nottingham. The newspaper kindly co-operated by supplying two unpublished puzzles a week before they appeared: the ‘easy crossword’ and the ‘quick crossword’. The easy crossword had simple cryptic clues, and the quick crossword single-word clues that required synonyms as answers.
     Monica England tested about 50 students the day before the crossword puzzles were published in London, and a further 50 the day after. Both groups of participants were also given two control puzzles, which had been published in the Evening Standard two weeks earlier. The participants were given ten minutes with each crossword to solve as many clues as possible.
     On average, participants solved significantly more clues with the easy puzzle after it had been published than before. There was no change with the control crossword. By contrast, with the quick crossword there was no significant difference in the test crossword relative to the control.

---

29. Institute of Noetic Sciences Bulletin (Autumn, 1991).

I haven't found an online copy of the Autumn 1991 issue of the Institute of Noetic Sciences Bulletin, nor in fact of any other issue either.  ​‑‑Lambiam 22:13, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

Many thanks everyone ! resolved ! Fzinu (talk) 05:27, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

Cold fusion benefits

Imagine that the 1989 experiment announcing cold fusion had been replicated and become a common process. What benefits would be derived from it? The primary benefit from ongoing nuclear fission reactions is related to its heat; other benefits, e.g. the production of technetium for nuclear medicine, is minor compared with the heat effects. I can't understand how we'd benefit significantly from converting hydrogen into helium through a process that's cool enough to be conducted on a tabletop; helium reserves are non-renewable, but helium production is hardly a major aspect of the world economy. Nyttend (talk) 05:40, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

There's actually a helium shortage developing right now due to the Iran war (helium is captured as a by-product of natural gas extraction, so it's closely linked to oil and gas production) and helium (used as a coolant for superconducting magnets) is one of the main operating costs for an MRI scanner (estimates online vary, but all have the cost of helium for an MRI machine at tens of thousands of dollars a year). It would be good if hospitals didn't face big price fluctuations and possible shortages every time a war breaks out in a gas producing nation. Smurrayinchester 09:00, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

Only some, far from all, natural gas fields contain significant helium, so there's a correlation between natural gas producers and helium producers, but this correlation isn't overwhelmingly strong. It appears though that Qatar has become a large producer of helium in recent years.

Even cold fusion would release heat and even at 370 kelvin this heat could be used to run a heat engine. A heat engine running at a kilokelvin would be better, as it has higher efficiency. A megakelvin doesn't improve efficiency that much and comes with some problems. I think that nuclear fusion at 1200 K could be considered cold fusion, but it would be great for power generation. PiusImpavidus (talk) 11:19, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

Our article on cold fusion says that the reason they thought it was successful was that they measured excess heat. Perhaps it was cool enough to be conducted on a tabletop at the scales they were experimenting with, but at industrial scale it would have produced enormous amounts of heat (to turn turbines or whatever) without the difficulty and expense of containing the wildly hot plasma that to my understanding is one of the key obstacles to "hot" fusion power. -- Avocado (talk) 20:47, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

Cheap IR Scanner

I've been looking into tech to scan for animals in a yard. Normal IR won't work. It is the wrong bandwidth. The IR scanners I've found are rather expensive - and they don't even have screens anymore. They use your phone for the UI. They are just the camera. For the task of just a yes/no sensor - is there a warm body in that direction? How cheap of a device can I get? What is it called? ~2026-16820-81 (talk) 17:01, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

If it's just detecting the presence of a (warm) body in a given direction, why not just wire up a digital infrared thermometer (IR gun)? cmɢʟee τaʟκ (please add {{ping|cmglee}} to your reply) 17:38, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

The question "is there a warm body in that direction?" suggests that you want to control the direction. I presume, though, you mean, "in the (fixed) direction" of the yard. There are many IR motion detectors on the market, from cheap to expensive. It is not easy, though, to find enough technical details to see if they will be satisfactory for your purpose. I presume you want a good sensitivity but no alarms for every scurrying squirrel and also not for every time the sun starts shining onto the yard.  ​‑‑Lambiam 17:51, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

I would like to be able to point it at a bush and know if there's a hedgehog in there. Point it at a tuft of grass. Is there a hedgehog in there? Point it at the pile of leaves in the corner. Is there a hedgehog in there? When I know the yard is safe, I can mow without worry of mowing over another hedgehog that just rolls in a ball instead of running away. It is a laziness device - instead of stamping around kicking through all the grass, I want to stand on the porch and just point. ~2026-16820-81 (talk) 18:07, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

Another hedgehog :( ... it does sound like an infrared thermometer is your cheap option. I suppose hedgehogs lurk in piles of leaves because they provide insulation, though, which will spoil this plan. The scanning system mentioned in that article sounds useful (one thermometer plus a rotating mirror), though I don't know what industrial equipment source you'd need to buy it from. It would take advantage of the hedgehogs staying still.  Card Zero  (talk) 18:55, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

Average dates

(This is not a homework.)

How to calculate average of dates of recurring events whose dates cannot be pre-determined, such as weather events like first day above 10°C or melting of snow? For example, if some event has happened on 5 March in 2026, 28 February in 2025, 3 March in 2024 and 4 March in 2023, how to calculate the average of these dates in these four years? Does it involve taking ordinals of these days in a common year? --40bus (talk) 06:57, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

I don't know if there is a standard way of doing this. One thing you can do is first convert the dates to fractions by dividing their ordinal positions in their year by the number of days in that year. 4 March 2023 was the 63rd day in a year of 365 days, resulting in 63/365 ≈ 0.1762. 3 March 2024 was also the 63rd day, but now in a year of 366 days, so its fractional value equals 63/366 ≈ 0.1721. Then compute the average of all these fractions, for the example approximately 0.1704. Since most years are common, multiply this by 365 to get an ordinal position, about 62.20. After rounding this corresponds then to 3 March. (In a leap year the expected ordinal position is 0.1704 × 366 ≈ 62.38, corresponding to 2 March.)  ​‑‑Lambiam 08:22, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

Leap years cause a problem here, since if you compute the average number of days from the start of the year then converting that into a date is going to depend on the year. For example the 100th day of 2026 is April 10, but the 100th day of 2028 is April 9. So I think you have to expect an error on the order of a day no matter what. That being said, spreadsheet programs typically have a host of built-in time and date related functions to help streamline date computations. For example in LibreOffice Calc I created a column for the input dates, a column for the year using the YEAR(date) function, a column of the first of the year as =DATE(year,1,1), and a column for the number of days since Jan 1 using DATEDIF. Note that the program stores dates as real numbers with the day (since some global start date) being the integer part. So you can get the difference in days between two dates as just the difference. You can now just take the rounded average of the last column, add that to Jan 1, and call that the average date. FWIW I got Mar. 3. --RDBury (talk) 15:00, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

If a majority of the sampled years are leap years, this may result in 1 January being the average date of the New Year's Eve events.  ​‑‑Lambiam 22:35, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

Well, in the many New Year's Eve celebrations I've been involved in, the festivities have usually extended well into 1 January – quite how far is usually lost in the alcoholic mists, but in some cases actually into 2 January. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} ~2026-76101-8 (talk) 16:10, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

It may depend on context; for example, in climatology, one might want to translate from calendar dates to something like "days after the solstice" or "days after the vernal equinox"; see e.g. https://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2020/04/nenana-ice-classic-2020/ --JBL (talk) 00:54, 7 March 2026 (UTC)

One could translate dates to Sun-Earth vectors and average the latter. —Antonissimo (talk) 21:35, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

The angular speed of the Earth around the Sun is, by Kepler's laws, inversely proportional to the square of the distance, which, at aphelion, is about 3.4% larger than at perihelion. This would mean that dates around 4 July (aphelion) get almost 7% more weight than days around 3 January (perihelion). The sampled event dates would need to be widely dispersed for this to be of noticeable influence, though, in which case the notion of an average date for the event probably makes little sense.  ​‑‑Lambiam 10:10, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

I think for your purposes of calculating per-year-based data, you'll want to do directional statistics over something like ${\displaystyle e^{2\pi it/T}}$ where ${\displaystyle t}$ is the time of your event as measured from a reference epoch (if you're working from dates alone, pick a standard time of day to place them) and ${\displaystyle T}$ is the length of a year.

This is closely related to the orbital vector calculation someone else suggests. The downside is that going back to dates won't be as nice, but if you ignore the 400-year part of the cycle you can roughly get dates based on leap/first after/second after/third after as your estimate. Sesquilinear (talk) 20:33, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

Consider an event taking place on 1 January in common years but on 31 December in leap years. (So the 2024 event takes place 730 days after the 2023 event, but the 2024 and 2025 events take place on subsequent days. The directional average will then point at 1 January instead of 1 March.  ​‑‑Lambiam 23:04, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

I think trying to track that as a yearly event should give you an average pointing somewhere near the New Year. Imagine observing those events from the perspective of someone using a calendar that instead started near the (Northern Hemisphere) summer solstice. It wouldn't read as something that happened once a year except on average. Sesquilinear (talk) 23:37, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

Are there different methods for an elliptic curve point to a suitable hyperelliptic curve cover than Weil descent?

I ve a curve defined on an extension field but with a point whoes coordinate lies in the base prime field (same coordinate as the prime field version of the curve).

As you know, in the case of applying index calculus, this is largely regarded as impossible as the Weil descent decrease the prime degree (which simplify discrete logarithms computations). But are there really no other methods to lift suchs points to an hyperelliptic curve?

My purpose would be for pairing inversion. I m meaning I can invert type 3 pairings on hyperelliptic curves, so it would be usefull in terms of computational Diffie Hellman if I can move the computations of pairings from bn or bls curves to hyperelliptic curves. ~2026-11394-20 (talk) 23:13, 8 March 2026 (UTC)

Ignorant Monty Hall

Imagine you're faced with a Monty Hall problem, but unlike in the canonical example, the host is ignorant. (In other words, as far as the host knows, #3 could have been the car.) When he asks you whether you want to switch from 1 to 2, is your chance of winning at all affected by the choice? I know the correct answer for the canonical problem is "yes, switch", but I've never understood why, so I don't know whether the host's ignorance would affect the answer. Nyttend (talk) 06:53, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

An easy way to analyze the problem is as follows. We assume that the initial placement is random and that the contestant had rather win a car than a goat. Before any doors are opened, there are three placement patterns with equal probabilities:

1. C G G
2. G C G
3. G G C

Because of the perfect symmetry we may restrict the analysis, without loss of generality, to the case that the contestant initially picks door 1. The contestant knows at this point that the probability there is a car behind the chosen door is 1 in 3; if they further completely ignore what the game host is doing and stick to their guns whatever, they'll end up going home with the big prize with probability 1/3. In the original problem, with an informed game host, the latter now has the choice of opening either door 2 or door 3. Again, without loss of generality, assume they open door 3. The contestant should realize that if they don't switch, their chance of winning is (as we saw before) unaffected: it is still 1/3. Since the car is not behind door 3 and the probabilities need to still add up to 1, the initial 2/3 probability of doors 2 and 3 combined remains now with door 2 alone.

With an ignorant game host, opening door 3 and revealing a goat eliminates pattern 3. We have, by symmetry, with equal probabilities:

1. C G G
2. G C G

Clearly, there is no point in switching. This is in fact the naive analysis most people apply to the original Monty Hall problem, not taking into account that in the setting the game host is careful not to open the door with a car behind, breaking the naive symmetry.  ​‑‑Lambiam 08:48, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Strait of Hormuz passage via Oman and UAE

Amid recent strait crisis and maritime disruption, isn't it possible for tankers to bypass Iran via Omani and UAE territorial waters in the south, around Musandam Peninsula? Particularly, given the two-way traffic where the incoming lane is on Iranian side, isn't it possible to reorganize it by merging both ways to the Omani-UAE side? As I understand, the width of territorial waters there allows it, even if Abu Musa island is occupied by Iran. Brandmeister ^talk 09:53, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

I guess the threat is that Iran would attack shipping in the strait, regardless of whose territorial waters the ships are in. It's a war. There's no reason to expect such niceties to be observed. After all, nobody seems to be respecting the integrity of Iranian airspace. Chuntuk (talk) 10:17, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

Maybe. One can be curious if putting some destroyers in the strait near Oman and UAE would deter that... Brandmeister ^talk 10:30, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

Destroyers ... a/k/a targets. DOR (ex-HK) (talk) 02:19, 8 March 2026 (UTC)

Where was this picture painted?

The National Guard of Paris Departs for the Army doesn't say where the foreground depicts, although its says that the Pont Neuf, the Tuileries Palace and the Louvre are visible in the background. But the since the Tuileries is on the Right Bank, downstream from the Pont Neuf, could it be Pont Royal or could it have been painted from the Pont au Change? If it is the right bank 7-arched side of the Pont Neuf, where is the rest of the Ile de la Cité? The more I look, the more confused I become. Also, what is the dome on the left-hand side? Any assistance would be welcome. MinorProphet (talk) 11:43, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

Pretty sure it's from Pont Neuf, about here. Compare the later photograph. The bridge in the background is Pont Royal, the dome is Les Invalides. In the painting, the plinth (is that the right word) is without the Equestrian statue of Henry IV, which was torn down during the revolution. --Wrongfilter (talk) 12:16, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

Confirmed. The bridge in the distance is the Pont Royal (5 arches), the Pont Neuf is in the foreground, bottom right. The Pont des Arts (1804) and Pont du Carrousel (1834) didn't exist yet. On the far left of the painting you can see Quai de l'Horloge number 41, still standing there today (with some modifications). The painter was remarkably high above the street though; there's no building with a convenient window where he painted from. Or he used a point of view different from his own. The point of view is near the top of the modern-day streetlight with the "careful, pedestrians" sign opposite Quai de l'Horloge 39. PiusImpavidus (talk) 16:47, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Excellent detective work, many plaudits to you both. The tall house on the far left of the painting appears be the left-hand one of the two which are visible if you turn the Maps view round 180° (fr:Place Henri-Robert fr:Rue Henri-Robert). Thus the view appears to be painted from the western end of the fr:Quai de l'Horloge, since you can see the river on the very lower right of Cogniet's painting, see map and reverse photo. I was wondering what the officer at the very front of the picture is looking up at, but it would seem to be a tree or a bird. Or one of the trio of ladies waving garlands... Congratulations, many thanks. MinorProphet (talk) 16:54, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

Since Quai de l'Horloge 41 is the mirror image of the building on the other side of fr:Rue Henri-Robert, it seems possible that Cogniet could have painted most of the left-hand side of the picture from the inner corner of No. 41, and then slightly shifted the view of the right-hand side, as if from No. 39, as PI says. Anyway, I updated the The National Guard of Paris Departs for the Army with your suggestions, hope it makes sense. Thanks again. MinorProphet (talk) 22:33, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

Resolved

- mostly...

A minor quibble: @Wrongfilter: - You said that the dome is that of Les Invalides. But this official POP (Plateforme du Patrimoine) page cited in the The National Guard of Paris Departs for the Army article, details the Monnaie de Paris on the fr:Quai de Conti as one of the subjects in the painting. This pic shows almost exactly the building immediately to the right of 41 Quai de l'Horloge in our original painting by Cogniet, with its distinctive upper central portion just jutting out behind the balcony.

Howewever, this second pic from the Monnaie de Paris article says that the dome on the right is that of the Institut de France, which was founded as the Collège des Quatre-Nations in 1661.

As you can see, the dome of the Invalides is rather different, and it's much further away than the Pont Royal as this map shows. I remember visiting Napoleon's tomb a very long time ago and being almost overwhelmed - the only comparable memorial for me is Nelson's tomb in the crypt of St. Paul's. Best wishes, MinorProphet (talk) 01:52, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

Oh, yes, you're right. I only checked that Invalides already existed at the time, but wrongly relied on my vague memery of its location. I wasn't even aware of the Institut de France. A trip to Paris would be nice now... --Wrongfilter (talk) 06:35, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

For what it worth. This website states that "The background, in particular the perspective on the Seine and the tent in which the conscription takes place, partly reproduces an engraving by Berthault after a drawing by Jean-Louis Prieur dated 1802.". The engraving can be seen here - AldoSyrt (talk) 08:01, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

Wow, that's worth quite a lot! Good work, eh? Large number of similarities with the Berthault engraving, and more links than you could shake a stick at. I was wondering who the gesturing figure on horseback behind the troops was, and it will be one of the following:

Pétion (Jérôme) (1756-1794), avocat, premier président de la Convention et maire de Paris;
Maison (Nicolas-Joseph) (1771-1840), pair et maréchal de France;
Thiébault (Paul-Charles-François) (1769-1846), général de division et écrivain;
Odiot (Jean-Baptiste Claude) (1763-1850), militaire puis orfèvre (gold/silversmith).
Also, Théroigne de Méricourt (Anne-Josèphe) (1762-1817), femme politique, héroïne de la Révolution Française - I wondered what the garlands were, they are laurel wreaths, as the website explains. Anyone care to do some identifying? MinorProphet (talk) 10:03, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

Tentative identification: the gesturing figure on horseback in front of the plinth could be Jérôme Pétion de Villeneuve, and the foremost officer at the head of the Garde could be Nicolas Joseph Maison aged around 21 who our article says was a Captain in one of the Paris Volunteer battalions (is that the same as the Garde Nationale?), and was painted at least twice more by Coignet as our article shows. Another portrait of Theroigne de Mericourt is here, and a list of others in the same book is here. Both Villeneuve and Mericourt were Girondins and suffered accordingly. Paul Thiébault (b. 1769) would have been aged around 23. The portrait of J-B Odiot (a soldier from age 16) dates from 1822, but this painting from 1814 shows him in military uniform (white plume, on foot). MinorProphet (talk) 12:50, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

I updated The National Guard of Paris Departs for the Army with pertinent information, thanks to all who have contributed. Maybe I could email the Versailles website people to see if they have further info on the individuals identified so far. MinorProphet (talk) 17:14, 7 March 2026 (UTC)

Another's date

Good morning. What does etiquette say about dancing with other peoples's dates at proms and other formal or casual events? Can you do it? ~2026-24671-3 (talk) 06:25, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

Starting at the other end of the question: my elderly parents used to talk about an "Excuse Me" dance at Cambridge Uni balls during the early 50s, during which either partner could be whisked away by an interloper without fear of retribution. Don't know about the dance-floor morals of the current young things. MinorProphet (talk) 09:04, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

I'm no longer such a young thing either, but I've always thought of this as a "read the room" situation -- there are too many variables. It all depends on what your relationship to them is (stranger? close friends? something in between?), what their relationship to each other is and their perception of the impact of this "date" on their relationship (e.g. are they there purely as friends, as a new couple, a long time couple, a first date, a feeler toward turning a friendship into something more?), and their personalities. -- Avocado (talk) 12:02, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

Again, a very long time ago in high-class society (or maybe even nowadays), the debutantes used to be given a little dance card listing the evening's dances (waltz, two-step etc.), and the young gentlemen would write their names against the desired number. "May I have the pleasure of the next dance?" "Oh, I'm taken for this one...and it seems, for the rest of the evening. So sorry!" MinorProphet (talk) 14:00, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

My memories of massive raves from around 1995 to 2000 are necessarily altered by the stunning pills everyone was boshing at the time (Rolls-Royces, Mitsubishis, AK-47s). It really didn't matter who you danced with, everyone was just totally loved-up and utterly into the perfectly-timed massive breaks: we were all feeling exactly the same beat, in exactly the same way: there were no limits. The Orange Theme by Cygnus X and Barber's Adagio by William Orbit will live for ever, as it were. MinorProphet (talk) 18:14, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

Register of artists at Art Barcelona

Is there any register of all artists who have taken part in Art Barcelona since its foundation in 1990? --KnightMove (talk) 08:05, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

When did Child Life magazine cease publication?

I'm researching Child Life magazine (1922 - circa 2007) for a new Wikipedia article. I've found all relevant information except for when it ceased publication. Google AI and a Facebook post state 2007, but that's not reliable, and can't be referenced. On newspapers.com I found an article showing it was still published in 2005, but I'm stuck looking for a reliable publication end date. Karenthewriter (talk) 16:20, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

ISSN 0009-3971 LCCN 25-13815 ? LOC has v.1-v.25 (1922-1946), v.27-v.86:no.4 (1948-2007:July/Aug.) fiveby(zero) 17:07, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

As Child Life merges with our popular Children's Digest starting with the September/October 2007 issue...

— "To our loyal friends at Child Life". Child Life. Vol. 86, no. 4. Saturday Evening Post Society. July–August 2007.

I don't know if that link will work for everyone but Gale has 1994-2007 and you can access thru WP:Library and search for the ISSN. fiveby(zero) 17:29, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

Thank you so much, The Gale info is just what I needed! My trusty Children's Periodicals of the United States by R. Gordon Kelly is a lifesaver for most children's magazine articles I write, but it was published in 1984, so I was left with trying to find online information about when Child Life ended, and it apparently wasn't a newsworthy event when it ceased publication after 85 years in print. Karenthewriter (talk) 21:26, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

You're very welcome, it is nice to see questions here which are for article work. 2007 a bad year for magazines it seems. fiveby(zero) 22:01, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

So, Where was this picture painted? doesn't count? :> MinorProphet (talk) 17:27, 7 March 2026 (UTC)

Oh, you're an old hand around here...expect complaints not compliments. fiveby(zero) 18:39, 7 March 2026 (UTC)

As someone said to me once: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but whips and chains excite me," MinorProphet (talk) 19:58, 7 March 2026 (UTC)

User:Karenthewriter, if you have this kind of questions in the future, and you know anyone associated with a major university, ask that person to access Ulrichsweb for you; this database can give you this kind of information, and far more, for an immense range of serials. Nyttend (talk) 09:29, 7 March 2026 (UTC)

Alas I have no connections to major universities or big-city libraries. But thanks for the information, it may help others. Karenthewriter (talk) 17:19, 7 March 2026 (UTC)

I would suggest that a large number of academics in colleges and universties all over the world are more than willing to give assistance to WP editors who contact them in good faith to improve our articles. They are—of neccessity—cautious about contributing directly: but the few times I have contacted university doctors and professors by email to further my understanding of certain subjects, I have received nothing but unstinting encouragement and good advice. One of them even said ^{[citation needed]} WP:OR? that Wikpedia is indeed one of the main interfaces between academia and the general public: I would not hesitate to contact them. We are all in the same business. MinorProphet (talk) 17:58, 7 March 2026 (UTC)

It wouldn't even have to be an academic — undergraduate students at major universities have access to vast arrays of databases. Nyttend (talk) 11:01, 8 March 2026 (UTC)

Incidently, in the UK, and I imagine in many other countries, University libraries are in principle open to the public, and other specialist institution libraries may at their discretion admit non-members of the institution.

It is usually necessary to approach a library and apply for a membership card, which grants admission, and might or might not permit borrowing where this is allowed (in my day, certain high-demand books were not borrowable even by students, and reading them in situ was booked by the hour) but this is usually granted to anyone who is clearly a serious researcher (in the broad sense).

When I was a professional editor for commercial non-fiction publishers, I regularly travelled to London to visit and use the Library of University College London or that of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, as well as consulting various museums.

Sometimes one just has to leave the desk, shlep to a library and hit the stacks. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} ~2026-76101-8 (talk) 01:29, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

European Union

Taiwan

Progressive Tax and Robin Hood

Mussolini's ministries

Mussolini government notes that Mussolini himself served as the minister for several portfolios (as well as serving as prime minister), but always ad interim. Some of them were short-term, e.g. he was interim public works minister for five months in 1929, but others he retained for a long time, e.g. he was interim interior minister for seventeen years. Why was he merely interim for years? Seems odd that he would neither appoint someone else, nor appoint himself as permanent, in these long-term cases. Nyttend (talk) 18:46, 8 March 2026 (UTC)

Perhaps Mussolini thought it would create a bad impression if, next to serving as Head of the Government, Prime Minister, and Secretary of State, he also appointed himself (other than, out of necessity, as an ad interim measure) to ministerships. People might even have whispered he aspired to dictatorial powers.  ​‑‑Lambiam 12:00, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

Or they might have called him a poohbah. Chuntuk (talk) 11:43, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

I tried to read and understand page 51 and prior from here but failed miserably....Mussolini’s ‘sub-government’: the interim government in which he held an average of six portfolios from a total of between 16 and 17, from a minimum of two to a maximum of nine. Something to do with the Fascist Grand Council vs. council of ministers? fiveby(zero) 18:13, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

This means that in the interim govt. there was a total of 16 or 17 ministerial seats/portfolios, of which Mussolini held between 2 and 9 at any time, averaging around 6. MinorProphet (talk) 17:11, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

Are there reliable sources to prove that Brazil was involved in the Atlantic slave trade?

If there are reliable sources to prove that Brazil was involved in the transatlantic slave trade, then should the latest edit request on Talk:Atlantic slave trade be implemented? ~2026-15009-97 (talk) 14:44, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

I can't upload sources on Wikipedia because of CAPTCHA. ~2026-15009-97 (talk) 14:45, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

Brazil was a colony of Portugal until 1815 and only declared independence in 1822. The trans-Atlantic slave trade into Brazil was outlawed in 1831. The trade volume in the intervening nine years, during the first three of which Brazil was engaged in the Brazilian War of Independence, is probably not enough to earn Brazil admission to the Hall of Infamy of major Atlantic slave trading nations, based on trade volume. Denmark, the last and least of those mentioned as such, had been hauling enslaved Africans for centuries before the trade was banned.  ​‑‑Lambiam 16:27, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

This source (which is lengthy) is pertinent. Extracts:

"More than two million African slaves were imported into Brazil between 1800 and 1850, three-quarters of a million or more during the 1830s and 1840s when the trade was entirely illegal under the terms of the Anglo-Brazilian treaty of November 1826 . . . and the Brazilian law of 7 November 1831".

"Finally, however, the British government’s decision in 1850 to permit the British navy to enter Brazilian territorial waters and ports in pursuit of illegal slave ships, in blatant violation of Brazilian sovereignty, was largely responsible for persuading the Brazilian government to enact new legislation against the slave trade and for the first time effectively to enforce it."

An associated AI summary reads "Between 1822 and 1831, Brazil imported a high volume of enslaved people, estimated to be several hundred thousand, as the trade remained active immediately following independence."

See also our article Slavery in Brazil: "Brazil was the last nation in the Western world to abolish slavery, and by then it had imported an estimated 4,000,000 slaves from Africa. This was 40% of all slaves shipped to the Americas."

Hope this helps. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} ~2026-76101-8 (talk) 17:39, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

The "lengthy" source, Brazil: Essays on History and Politics, qualifies as a reliable source. It is not possible to deduce a numerical value directly from the data as presented for the volume of the slave trade to Brazil during the period of nationhood, but this must have been close to, possibly even over, one million, an order of magnitude more than Denmark's volume.  ​‑‑Lambiam 12:18, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

The American Cyclopaedia (1883) p. 217 gives the number of slaves emancipated at the partial abolition of Brazilian slavery in September 1871 as 80,000. Alansplodge (talk) 21:40, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

Christopher Tolkien

I've been reading The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien and we're at the stage where nearly all the included correspondence is to his son, Christopher, who is in the Royal Air Force. As our article mentions, Christopher joined in July of 1943 and in January 1944 was sent to South Africa for training. In January 1945 he was commissioned and stationed back in the UK. It's not clear if he ever saw active duty, in the sense of combat missions, etc. against an enemy. Is Tolkien's wartime timeline typical? Without meaning to besmirch his service in any way, the training seems very long. Would it normally take pilots 18 months to go from the enlistment centre to active duty, especially during a war? Our article at Military_recruit_training#United_Kingdom provides a few lengths of training, none of which last so long. Matt Deres (talk) 14:47, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

Christopher did not see combat. He finished training in early 1945. It is well documented that he arrived back in the UK on March 31, 1945. Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945 (again, well documented). There were no operational deployments from his station (Tern Hill) between those dates as the war was pretty much over. There was concern he could be deployed to the Pacific, but that didn't happen. ~2026-91009-6 (talk) 11:47, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

This article, Pathway to Pilot - Second World War from the RAF Museum says:

The time taken to qualify as a pilot could vary. At the start of the war it could be as little as six months (150 flying hours). On average it took between 18 months to two years (200-320 flying hours).

So yes, it seems to be within the norm for that stage of the war. Note that RAF Tern Hill was home to various training units, so it's possible that Tolkien Jnr was still learning his trade at the war's end; if not, he was flying with one of the communications flights based there, using light transport aircraft rather than warplanes. Alansplodge (talk) 19:41, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

Some more detail from Addenda and Corrigenda to The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide Revised and Enlarged Edition (2017) Vol. 1: Chronology:

27 January 1945: Tolkien has a constant cough, and has to thaw a frozen cistern. Having qualified in his training, Christopher Tolkien is commissioned in the general duties branch of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, with the rank of Pilot Officer on Probation (Emergency).

February 1945: Christopher Tolkien is posted back to England from South Africa, arriving home on 31 March. He will then be posted to Tern Hill, Market Drayton in Shropshire.

28 June 1945: Christopher Tolkien transfers to the Fleet Air Arm, the air service of the Royal Navy. He is now in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve.

27 July 1945: Christopher Tolkien gains the rank of Flying Officer (War Substantive) in the Fleet Air Arm. It is feared that he will be sent to the Pacific, as the war with Japan had not yet ended; in the event, he will not see action.

Alansplodge (talk) 21:22, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

Well done - thank you very much. I suppose it takes the time is takes, but that timeline must have been a huge burden. At that time, new models of aircraft were under constant development. By the time you'd spent two years learning to fly an X, they'd already be obsolete and on to model Y or Z. Matt Deres (talk) 13:57, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Most of the training would be done using basic trainer aircraft (such as the de Havilland Tiger Moth) and advanced trainers (usually the T-6 Texan) learning the general skills involved. Only the final part of the course would be on the frontline aircraft you had been selected to fly, which would be at an operational conversion unit. In the early part of the war, pilots were expected to complete their operational training with their frontline squadrons; this worked if the unit was not heavily engaged, but in 1940, it led to pilots being thrown into combat part-trained resulting in heavy losses. Alansplodge (talk) 14:21, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Euromissile Crisis

I am trying to look for information on the Euromissile Crisis on Wikipedia. It is currently a redlink and most roads of searching leads to NATO Double-Track Decision. What connection do the two have? Further, as a meta question, should there be an article on the Euromissile Crisis specifically? ✶Quxyz✶ (talk) 00:59, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

"What connection do the two have?" is potentially answered by the second sentence of that article. --Golbez (talk) 02:10, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

I don't understand and I am asking for help. The wording is unclear for me. ✶Quxyz✶ (talk) 02:17, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Yeah, google "Euromissile" "SS-20" site:en.wikipedia.org doesn't find anything else and NATO Double-Track Decision does not explain well. Try this article. From reading that source there probably should be a Euromissile Crisis stand-alone article. fiveby(zero) 02:26, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

That article is a lot better at explaining the actual crisis than ours. I'll probably write up the article once I am familiar with relevant literature if someone doesn't beat me to it. Thank you! ✶Quxyz✶ (talk) 02:40, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Should be Euromissile crisis lowercase 'c'? Watchlisted both anyway. fiveby(zero) 02:50, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

According to Google Ngram viewer, Euromissile Crisis has been more pupular than Euromissile crisis since 2018. The Cuban Missile Crisis is also captialized. I am going to start off writing as Euromissile Crisis but an RM down the line can change that. ✶Quxyz✶ (talk) 14:42, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Google Ngram Viewer gives me a different result, also since 2018.  ​‑‑Lambiam 16:45, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

"Euromissiles" (SS-20,Pershing II,GLCM) seems another popular way to allude to the crisis. Think i'll merge the current Euromissile article into HOT (missile) once the crisis article is started to make way for a redirect? fiveby(zero) 17:08, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

I am not really too sure. Anyways, I have started a draft here. ✶Quxyz✶ (talk) 21:04, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Here is another article: "War Scares and (Nearly) the End of the World: The Euromissiles Crisis of 1977–1987". The viewpoint presented in this article is rather different: instead of a problem with a lack of dominance of NATO missile power, it was the Soviet side being scared by the NATO's actual dominance that might have triggered a war, laying a connection to Able Archer.  ​‑‑Lambiam 09:29, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

fwiw I apologize for my snark. Hard to stay mad at a fellow Iowan+hurricane fan. --Golbez (talk) 14:53, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

No worries! This definitely was not my peak of intuition and I think that the Double-Track article is just generally poorly worded on top of that. ✶Quxyz✶ (talk) 14:58, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

It is poorly worded. Even that second sentence of the lead is ambiguous: "NATO planned to deploy more medium-range nuclear weapons in Western Europe after the Euromissile Crisis." Does it mean the planning took place after the crisis or that they were planning to have a crisis first and then deploy the weapons? — Kpalion^(talk) 09:03, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

Sutton Coldfield derailment (1955) photograph

The "Report On The Derailment which occurred on 23rd January 1955 at Sutton Coldfield" (see Sutton Coldfield rail crash) tells us:

a photograph was taken of the train from the Four Oaks station footbridge... The photographer was Mr. A. Reason, an engineering apprentice, who lived nearby and took a great interest in railways

Was the photograph ever published? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 17:49, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

van Wart, died in or near Birmingham 1903

Who was Mr van Wart, who was the first person cremated at Birmingham Crematorium, on 3 October 1903, and was he related to Henry van Wart? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 17:47, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

The surname is unusual, and Henry van Wart had two sons, so considering the location and year it is very likely that this Mr van Wart was one of his sons. Apparently, these sons were named Irving and Henry Jr. (see here, page 16, under "Birmingham, England"). Irving is said to be "of New York", leaving Henry van Wart, Jr., as the prime suspect.  ​‑‑Lambiam 12:07, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

HvW Jnr died in 1878: d:Q136388141. Maybe a grandson, but I am looking for sources to confirm. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 12:22, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

In fact, Henry seems to have had at least five sons, although there is some confusion as to the exact number of his children; see Talk:Henry van Wart (if anyone could resolve that I'd be grateful).

None of them, nor the grandchildren listed via (which may be incomplete) are shown as having died in 1903 (although some lack dates). Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 13:34, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

I now have a news clipping (Birmingham Daily Post, 3 October 1903, p.8) mentioning the death of George van Wart around this time:

The Late Mr. George Van Wart.—In our brief reference to the deceased on Thursday last, we described him as the last surviving member of his family, instead of his generation. We are reminded by Mr. Wilfrid Van Wart, a grandson of Mr. Henry Van Wart, that he and two brothers and two sisters, with their children, are still living to perpetuate the family.

George was presumably the son, born 1817, of Henry, and if so was described a "Wine & Spirit Merchant, of Birmingham, England".

Unfortunately the BNA scan of the Thursday, 1 October, edition is very poor and effectively unsearchable. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 16:00, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

Freeman's Exmouth Journal - Saturday 03 October 1903, p 4 col 4, Deaths, "VAN WART, - September 29, at Clearwell, Portland Avenue, in his 86th year". DuncanHill (talk) 13:12, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

Birmingham Daily Mail - Saturday 03 October 1903, p 3, col 4, "Funeral of Mr George Van Wart". "The funeral of Mr. George Van Wart, a member of a family which once played an important part in the commercial affairs of Birmingham, took place this afternoon. The proceedings were of a very quiet character, and the mourners, Mr. and Mrs. Reginald Parker, Mr. Oscar Van Wart, Mr. R. B. Van Wart, and Mr. W. V. W. Kell, drove from the Union Club, Colmore Row, to the Crematorium, Perry Barr, whither the copse had been removed from Exmouth, where death took place last Tuesday. In accordance with Mr. Van Wart's wishes his remains were cremated. This is the first ceremony of the kind that has been performed at Perry Barr." Will email this and the Exmouth to you forthwith. DuncanHill (talk) 13:28, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

Excellent, thank you. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 13:35, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

Just in case people find this in the future and wonder, W V W Kell was Washington Van Wart Kell, seems to have been on several company boards around Birmingham, related to both the Van Warts and the Muntzes. The Union Club building still stands, architect was Yeoville Thomason, Mr Reginald Parker worked for Nettlefolds, later Guest Keen and Nettlefolds, as secretary and later director (this connects with the Joseph Chamberlain family), Mrs Reginald Parker was a daughter of William Van Wart, the Birmingham merchant and friend of Washington Irving. The Chamberlains, as regular readers will recall, owned Kynochs which made bullets for Boers and Britishers during the Boer War which Joseph Chamberlain started and David Lloyd George opposed. DuncanHill (talk) 14:22, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

Henry Van Wart, George's father, was both a friend and brother-in-law of Washington Irving, having married the latter's sister (indeed, George was one of Irving's nephews and nieces for whom "Rip Van Winkle" was written, on a visit to Birmingham).

There are several Williams in the family; where does yours fit in? Is he William Van Wart (1813-1868), brother of George? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 14:52, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

The Yellow Scale: Self-portrait or portrait of Baudelaire?

In The Culture of Yellow: or The Visual Politics of Late Modernity, Sabine Doran (Director of the German Program at the University of California, Riverside) writes that The Yellow Scale depicts Charles Baudelaire. She doesn't mention the prevailing consensus (which is stated without caveat on Wikipedia) that it's a self-portrait, so it's not like she's actively proposing an alternative, but I found an article on an art blog (https://artschaft.wordpress.com/2020/06/04/the-journey-within-frantisek-kupkas-self-portraits/) saying "there’s still some debate whether this portrait shows the Czech-born artist himself or Baudelaire or even someone else." I can't find any scholarly sources for this, but I wonder if the picture should be conclusively referred to as a self-portrait on the article.

Here's the relevant passage from the Doran book:

"The Czech painter based his portrait on one of Nadar’s daguerreotype photographs of Baudelaire. The poet, imagined as a sick man on an Oriental lounge chair, appears tortured by the spiritual malaise he himself named ennui, with one hand clasping a yellow book (the reading of which appears to have just been interrupted) and the other languorously clutching a cigarette. Baudelaire literally embodies the yellow tonalities that reveal his sickly appearance. Kupka captures Baudelaire’s deteriorating health (due to frequent exposure to alcohol, opium and hashish) as a kind of self-fulfillment of his negative vision of lust and decay, which became the reality of Baudelaire's own life, darkened by sickness and despair. Kupka mixes a realistic portrait of the poet with an abstraction in monochrome yellow, saturating, as it were, with the narrative of decline that encapsulates the artist, his psychological and physiological state, as well as his work (the yellow book)." (p.71-72)

Not that it couldn't be both (Self portrait as Charles Baudelaire), but IMO it does resemble the Baudelaire photo a lot more than it does Kupka's other self-portraits (he has a beard in all the rest, and in several self-portraits painted in the years after The Yellow Scale his hairline seems perceptibly less receded). WP:NOR of course but the intuitive plausibility does seem important.

Would appreciate any insights/sources. I'm also curious how to even mention the Doran source in the article when it doesn't directly present an opposing viewpoint but neglects to mention the prevailing one. Thanks!

Kaspar Hauser (talk) 06:50, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

Here is how someone (non-RS, but knowledgeable) describes the controversy:

It is generally believed that this painting was inspired by an 1855 daguerreotype photograph of the French Symbolist poet Charles Baudelaire, whom Kupka greatly admired. In fact, there’s still some debate whether this portrait shows the Czech-born artist himself or Baudelaire or even someone else. Those who believe that The Yellow Scale shows a depiction of the French poet get easily swayed by Baudelaire’s tumultuous life and end up enmeshing it with Kupka’s art. They see decay in this mass of yellow, illness and encroaching death in the blue-green tones of the skin, and warning in the yellow book as embodiment of Baudelaire’s literary vision of lust and decadence.

The text, especially a later passage, implies that the author adheres to the viewpoint that this is a self-portrait.

The Nadar daguerreotype is more likely this one than that linked to above.  ​‑‑Lambiam 13:20, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

Online copy of Methodism in Dorset: A Sketch, by John S Simon

Methodism in Dorset: A Sketch, by John S Simon: published by James Sherven, St Mary St, Weymouth in 1870.

A hard copy is held in the library of the Dorset County Museum in Dorchester UK.

Hoping to find an online copy. I've tried archive.org, hathitrust, etc.

Thanks. Shtove (talk) 10:21, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

I couldn't find an online copy either, but Library Hub Discover shows there are further hard copies in York Minster Library and the libraries of the Universities of Birmingham, Cambridge, Liverpool and Manchester. It also lists a 44-page John S. Simon pamphlet, published the year before your book, called Methodism in Dorset, Revised by the Author and Reprinted from the Methodist Magazine. Perhaps the 1870 work is an expanded version of the 1869 one? The article in the Methodist Magazine can be seen here, pages 335–344 and 431–443. --Antiquary (talk) 10:54, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

Yes, very helpful, so thank you - that link is new to me and does contain most of the details I wanted ... but not the crucial detail! I'm trying to confirm the presence of Olaudah Equiano at a particular place and time, and the secondary source from which I started has clearly relied on the information in the magazine but without clear citation, and yet asserts that extra detail that I imagine is included in the 1870 publication. Shtove (talk) 10:07, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

Where to find secondary sources for Internet addiction disorder

Now, I've been mostly editing Wikipedia by mostly correcting grammar. Now, I want to help out in bigger ways. For example, the page for Internet addiction disorder says that it relies too much on primary sources, but where do I find secondary sources? Angrythewikipedian (talk) 17:24, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

Many of the references in our article Internet addiction disorder are of secondary sources. Here are a few more:

• Zhang, L (2009). "The applications of group mental therapy and sports exercise prescriptions in the intervention of Internet addiction disorder". Psychological Science (China). 32 (3): 738–741.
• Salicetia, Francesca (June 2, 2015). "Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD)". Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences. 191: 1372–1376. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.04.292.
• Trigo, M (August 13, 2021). "Internet addiction disorder: When technology becomes a problem". European Psychiatry. 64 (suppl. 1): S641. doi:10.1192/j.eurpsy.2021.1703.

However, it is not immediately clear how to use this. The first complaint slapped on the article ("This article needs more reliable medical references for verification or relies too heavily on primary sources.") can hardly be taken seriously in isolation. An (IMO) more serious complaint is the other one: "This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations." Unfortunately, the (now retired) editor who added this did not do us a great service. This long article contains many inline citations; I counted 283. It is possible that some potentially disputable statements in the article are insufficiently supported by directly corresponding inline citations, but identifying those will be a major effort – and then finding a specific secondary source supporting them (if any) is another major effort. Editors who find insufficiently supported statements on an article with dozens, in this case even hundreds of locally referenced statements should signal them locally and not slap such a generic template on the whole article, leaving an almost impossible task to others.  ​‑‑Lambiam 11:26, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

Win a pony!

In the 1950s, Grape-Nuts ran a promotion where children would send them names for ponies, and the best suggestions won actual ponies.

Leaving aside the question of what their mothers might have said to the winners, do we know anything about what names won the competition? Marnanel (talk) 18:03, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

Three names came up in later advertising. Honey Bean became the name of Dale Evan's pony in commercials. Silver Trigger was noted as being inspired by Roy Rogers' horse, Trigger. Lucky was noted as a common, good name. It seems the only information available is one-off news articles from the time that sometimes note the winning name submission. ~2026-16820-81 (talk) 12:18, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

Presumably Silver Trigger also referenced the Lone Ranger's horse, Silver. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} ~2026-76101-8 (talk) 02:46, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

Re-checking Olympic country codes (motivated by Aruba)

According to List of country codes: A–K, Aruba has the IOC code ARU. How can this be rechecked and verified/falsified for sure resp. a timeframe be given for the actual usage of this code? Why should Aruba have a code when it's a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and does not compete in its own right? Official website olympics.com does not have an authoritative list available. Country pages there, like e.g. with GER for Germany, are not complete because many countries like e.g. Afghanistan do not compete and have no NOC (thus, no page like this), but well an IOC code. So, the lack of an ARU subpage is no counterproof. Several pages somewhat affiliated with the Olympics and/or representing some sports organization have lists that often include Aruba, but often also not (example, counter-example). How can this be clarified for good? --KnightMove (talk) 12:23, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

But there is an ARU subpage - https://www.olympics.com/ioc/aruba . Nanonic (talk) 17:33, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

Your premise "Aruba . . . does not compete in its own right" is false.

Aruban athletes competed as part of the Netherlands Antilles between 1952 and 1984; Aruba has competed independently in every (Summer) Games since 1988; it sent six athletes to the 2024 Games. See Aruba at the Olympics. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.193} ~2026-76101-8 (talk) 02:57, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

Ok, thank you very much. --KnightMove (talk) 05:54, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

Semi-excludable anti-rival goods

Do "semi-excludable anti-rival goods" exist? Yes, the question is a combination of the 2 ways to expand the fourfold model. Based on the fact that "excludability can be measured on a continuous scale", I think the answer is yes, but I'd like to seek others' opinion. Alfa-ketosav (talk) 15:50, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

You're using a semi-excludable anti-rival good right now! Wikipedia is semi-excludable. You can use it for free, but there are features that are excluded if you don't create a membership. Some articles are protected at one time and not another so only select people can edit them. Then, it is anti-rival. It is more valuable the more people use it. If nobody used it, it would lose value. In combination, it is a semi-excludable anti-rival good. ~2026-16820-81 (talk) 19:02, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

OP

In the French film Rust and Bone Ali takes FWB Stephanie to a nightclub then races off with another woman and she is miffed. When they meet the following day she upbraids him for his tactlessness and he replies "Je suis OP". My knowledge of colloquial French begins and ends with "d'ac" so I'm curious. Doug butler (talk) 12:28, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

Hmm, I found the word "opé" (operational, ready), but wouldn't know if that would fit in context. , . There's also the similar sounding "au pied" (to heel), but that might fit even worse. How do the subtitles translate the sentence? 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 12:39, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

The sentence from the film is indeed "Je suis OP". See the meaning above (OP=opé. same pronunciation). If you can read French see the explanations/the context here []. - AldoSyrt (talk) 12:57, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

Hmm, I might need to add some spoilers here, but the text mentions Stephanie having a wheelchair, and being "sexuellement opérationnelle" (sexually operational), so it might be related to her being "operational, functional", and having been 'surgically operated'. There's apparently a similar expression 'OP' / 'opé' in the French trans community for gender-affirming surgery, that might be related in context. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 13:08, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

"Je suis OP" is said by Ali who is not disabled, but he might make a reference (I did not see this movie). - AldoSyrt (talk) 14:25, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

You know, like Stephanie getting angry and jealous for beeing stood up for a walking/ non-disabled person (what's the terminology?), shouting out something like "I might have a wheelchair, but I can still have sex! Wanna try me?" which at least makes sense in a French dramatic film... 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 13:14, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

So Ali is open ["opé" (operational, ready)] to deepen their FWB relationship. She's in love and he hasn't a clue, so it's significant that in the Sam crisis, she's the first person he rings. Thanks AldoSyrt, for the French language link — what a lovely resource. Doug butler (talk) 22:00, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

Ah, oh yeah, sorry, I misinterpreted it, it's a more colloquial synonym for "Je suis prêt", basically. From what I can see, it's usually spelled opé unless in cellphone texting and similar. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 23:35, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

Minimax/A+

Good afternoon. Can anyone translate the text in this video? https:(two haypens)youtu.be/_Pm7KoYfoac?t=152&si=K8Ej3b9wXwlDwFAv at 2:31. ~2026-24671-3 (talk) 16:49, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

For convenience, text reads:

Az A+ tévécsatornán most következő animációs filmek nem ajánlottak gyermekek számára, ezért a filmeket korhatár jelzéssel láttuk el. Kérjük, figyeljen a jelzésekre!

GalacticShoe (talk) 21:43, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

Google Translate turns this into:

The following animated films on the A+ TV channel are not recommended for children, so the films have been marked with an age restriction. Please pay attention to the signs!

 ​‑‑Lambiam 22:27, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

Thanks! ~2026-24671-3 (talk) 18:20, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

A few questions

1. Can English suffixes -ic, -al, -ous and -ation be added to native Germanic English words, for example bookic, bookous, bookal and bookation? For example, can the suffix -ous pertaining to elements such as in words chlorous and sulfurous be added to element names such as gold, silver, copper, iron and tin?
2. Does English have equivalent of German Zustandspassiv (sein + past participle)? This form is used differently from normal Vorgangspassiv (werden + past participle in simple tenses, sein + past participle + worden in compound tenses).
3. Is There is he correct?
4. Which is the closest equivalent to Finnish kevättalvi? Late winter and early spring?
5. Can object pronouns be used in passive sentences in English? In Finnish, subject pronouns (usually) cannot.

--40bus (talk) 06:27, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

1. Lackadaisic(al), Icelandic, helleboric, murderous, groundation. Adding -ous to vernacular names of what are now known to be elemental substances is not conventionally done, but it is not an unlawful activity.  ​‑‑Lambiam 09:08, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

Filmic, also vampiric (Slavic) and ergotic (Gallic?); withdrawal, wintrous, and beration. And wikt:copperous ... from Latin cuprum, from Cyprus (that's where copper comes from). I'm not allowing your helleboric, it's pretty much Ancient Greek.  Card Zero  (talk) 09:33, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

I'm not sure if the -ic suffix pertaining to language groups is related to the -ic suffix that OP was asking about, though. And "Icelandic" may be a unique case from all the other "-ic" languages: most countries with "-land" have the formula for the name of their language Country name minus '-land' plus 'ish'. English "-ish" is most definitely of Germanic origin, deriving from proto Germanic -sk. But in Englisb that would mean for Iceland their language would. be called "Iceish" which would sound really stupid. So perhaps -ic - which can just as easily derive from -sk as -ish could - came about in English for that reason. ~2026-15971-79 (talk) 21:23, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

2. You can say, this plate is broken and the author is known, but this is usually analyzed as a past participle having turned into an adjective. While not that usual, you can find phrases though like the bottle was opened  with a stative sense where the bottle was open is more common.  ​‑‑Lambiam 09:44, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

3. You could say "There is he", but it would sound weird. Normally you would say "There he is." ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 10:39, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

"Werewolf?" "There, wolf. There castle." {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} ~2026-76101-8 (talk) 23:04, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

"Walk this way..." (A visual joke that goes back a lot farther than 1974.) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:32, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

Blucher! MinorProphet (talk) 17:19, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

4. As it approaches the vernal equinox, it is "late winter". Shortly after the vernal equinox, it is "early spring". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 10:42, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

There is no standard term in English for the period comprising both late winter and early spring, but "late winter/early spring" (or some typographical variant such as "late winter–early spring") is fairly common. However, unlike the Finnish approach, this can be used for the transition between any two subsequent seasons – or months, for that matter.  ​‑‑Lambiam 23:11, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

This reminds me that I need to book my Yasujiro Ozu tickets at the local film club. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 12:28, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

Though having religious connotations, the terms Eastertide and Lententide also roughly correspond to this period. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} ~2026-76101-8 (talk) 16:04, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

I think I've seen "thaw" used as a name for the intermediate season between winter and spring. — Kpalion^(talk) 01:16, 7 March 2026 (UTC)

Note that there are two definitions of the seasons in use; meteorological seasons (which use calendar months) and astronomical seasons (which work from the equinoxes and solstices). See The difference between meteorological and astronomical seasons. Alansplodge (talk) 18:02, 8 March 2026 (UTC)

1. We have bookish but none of your suggestions are English words. We also have golden, silvery, coppery and tinny. For resembling iron, probably "iron-like" as irony is something completely different. Alansplodge (talk) 22:19, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

'Ferrous' would be used for iron. 'Ironous' would be erroneous. ~2026-15582-65 (talk) 16:02, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

If I recall correctly, 'irony' meaning 'something like iron' was used as a joke in the 'Uxbridge English Dictionary' segment of an episode of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} ~2026-76101-8 (talk) 22:01, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

Megg Rayara Gomes de Oliveira's last name

What is Megg Rayara Gomes de Oliveira's last name? Some websites that sell books by her (Amazon) use "Gomes de Oliveira, Megg Rayara", some websites (Black Women Radicals) use "Oliveira, Megg Rayara Gomes de", some (Race and Equality dot org) use "de Oliveira, Megg Rayara Gomes". Is one of these more standard or common? Olivevert (talk) 02:04, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

Here's an old Portuguese book that treats Gomes de Oliveira as a surname. In the index it lists

Gomes de Oliveira António.
Gomes de Oliveira Manoel.

 Card Zero  (talk) 09:58, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

Presentations of the form "last name, preceding names", commonly used for collation purposes, are suitable for English names and commonly used in the Anglosphere, but may be less suitable for other naming customs.

The typical pattern of a complete Portuguese name is:

personal name(s) + mother's surname + father's surname,

in which only the last of each of the parent's two surnames is copied. However, this is not always strictly followed, and name bearers do often not use (and are not knoen by) their full names. Miguel Arraes de Alencar was the son of Maria Benigna Arraes and José Almino de Alencar e Silva; the part "e Silva" of his father's surname was dropped; he was known as Miguel Arraes, with only his mother's surname. And the full name of his daughter Ana Lúcia Arraes de Alencar does not include part of her mother's name, Célia de Sousa Leão, but copies both of her father's parental surnames. In any case, Rayara seems to be a personal (given) name, and by far the most likely is that Gomes is Megg Rayara's mother's surname and de Oliveira her father's.

Different systems of collation in the Anglosphere may have different rules for what they consider to be the "last" name of Portuguese names in presentations of the form "last name, preceding names". Perhaps the most common is to use the father's surname, which would give "de Oliveira, Megg Rayara Gomes", with the variation "Oliveira, Megg Rayara Gomes de" if the rule is used that particles like "de" are disregarded in collation. So there is no one correct answer; it depends on rules that lack a common standard. One issue in formulating such rules is that one needs to be able to distinguish surnames from given names and that one needs to know the parents' names – for the full name of Ana Arraes it should be "Arraes de Alencar, Ana Lúcia" and definitely not "Alencar, Ana Lúcia Arraes de". (For Megg Rayara, a further complicating factor is that this is commonly used as her name, also by herself, as if Rayara is a surname.) Also, one needs to know that the name is Portuguese; for Spanish names the rules are very different.  ​‑‑Lambiam 11:57, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

Looking for a non-English word

Resolved

 – Umweltkomplexitätsreduktion it is. Viriditas (talk) 01:13, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

The weather is very chaotic in the US right now. This got me studying Ventusky models. In the process of doing this, I experienced something that I can't find an English word to describe. The best way I can describe it is as follows: when I was younger, the world, the planet, seemed very large, almost too big to comprehend. But now the planet feels very small, very much like a spaceship Earth. The feeling I'm describing is somewhat the opposite of sublime, but existing antonyms don't really describe it. Surely, there's a word out there for this? I suppose what I am talking about is very similar to the overview effect, but that's not what I'm getting at. I'm talking about the feeling of the world shrinking, whereas before, it was larger. Viriditas (talk) 22:38, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

Jadedness? 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 02:09, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

They are here all night, folks. Try the veal. Viriditas (talk) 02:50, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Should it describe how you feel, or how the planet feels to you? In the latter case, might insignificant cover it?  ​‑‑Lambiam 09:25, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

No, but you are closer than others. See below. I'm talking about a word that expresses a feeling of compression in size. Viriditas (talk) 20:42, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Oh dear. We have an article on Weltschmerz.  Card Zero  (talk) 10:07, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

It seems that you have become part of the System. -- ~2026-16176-44 (talk) 10:15, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Can you explain a bit more? I've given the idea some more thought based on the strange replies up above (I assumed y'all could read my mind and was disappointed). The closest I can come to describing the word is a scene from Asimov's "The Last Question", where one of the disembodied, transhuman minds zooms in and out of the original Earth, lost somewhere in the universe. Viriditas (talk) 20:46, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

It was just that your feeling that the world has become much smaller reminds me of Niklas Luhman's famous point that the main function of social systems seems to be the reduction of environmental complexity. When you're on your own you have to interface with all the elements around you - when you're embedded into a group others will take over some of that interfacing for you and thus reduce the complexity of the world around you. (That may not quite reflect your situation I'm aware)-- ~2026-16176-44 (talk) 21:18, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Okay. So what word best describes the perception of the world getting and feeling smaller? Viriditas (talk) 21:37, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Umweltkomplexitätsreduktion? -- ~2026-16507-03 (talk) 08:20, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

Darn tootin'. Viriditas (talk) 01:10, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

My strange reply is because you required a non-English word, implying that you wanted to be reminded of a loanword that you'd forgotten.  Card Zero  (talk) 21:39, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

I appreciate your response, but I was not referring to weltschmerz, but I see that I led you astray by pointing to sublime as the opposite. I was only using that word to capture the emotional flavor of that which was unbounded, which it appears others have mistaken for other meanings. My mistake. Viriditas (talk) 21:53, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

I still don't know why you're ruling out English words. Are you confident that you've tried them all? If you like we can coin a word and say that you have a *weltgepresst feeling, though the resonance with depressed may annoy you. People sometimes say the world is getting smaller, though this is more often said about advancements in transport and communication than in the context of weather forecasting.  Card Zero  (talk) 10:04, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

I'm ruling out English words because I don't think we should think or rely on the limitations of any one language to describe an idea. Viriditas (talk) 10:39, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

Thereby limiting the total vocabulary available. Sometimes English does have a term that is virtually untranslatable, such as smarmy. If the context is that of feeling, one can use puny, as in, "we feel puny in comparison to the size of the universe".  ​‑‑Lambiam 11:14, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

Cute, but the problem here is English itself, which is why I am looking at other languages. For whatever reason, the English language attaches negativity to ideas such as the one I described, which pollutes any idea that tries to describe it. Viriditas (talk) 15:31, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

I'd call it the Galaxy Song feeling. — Kpalion^(talk) 09:27, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

Two questions

1. Why many languages have directly adopted English term weekend instead of calquing it, such as Danish, French and Polish?
2. Is this sentence correct: This I never do. This sentence would emphasize this. --40bus (talk) 20:54, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

   @40bus:

   1. What do you suggest the Danish, French and Polish for "weekend" might be otherwise? Bazza 7 (talk) 21:18, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

   Danish: helg. French: fin de semaine. Polish: koniec tygodnia (or something similar). --40bus (talk) 21:33, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

   They do use fin de semaine in Quebec, Canada because they wanted to reduce the usage of loanwords. JuniperChill (talk) 21:48, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

   Similarly the Spanish fin de semana. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:14, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

   Polish uses the unadapted loanword weekend /ˈwikɛnt/ a lot. Koniec tygodnia can be more ambiguous and in some contexts it could be even understood as the end of the working week. — Kpalion^(talk) 09:17, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

   2. More likely to be "I never do this.", with this emphasized. English prefers SVO word order, which you have been informed about several times previously. Bazza 7 (talk) 21:18, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

   Are there any other of six possible orders of subject, verb and object that are commonly used in English without adding any additional words? --40bus (talk) 21:33, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

   Not replying to your follow-up, but This I never do most emphasises the 'never'. It is grammatically correct but somewhat old-fashioned; and would more usually be spoken as "I never do this." As previously mentioned, English emphasises meanings less (than some other languages) by varying word order and more by vocal emphasis. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} ~2026-76101-8 (talk) 00:06, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

   I don't think it's as simple as emphasis. This is a quote about Marienbad: Fat and thin people come here — the fat get thin, and the thin get fat. The correct thing is to walk up and down hill for hours each day. This I never do. Why the choice of word order? Elsewhere, I found the phrase used in various theological texts. It sounds calm and final, with a sagacious tone, played for comic effect in the quote.  Card Zero  (talk) 09:13, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

2. I don't think it's formally incorrect, but it comes across a bit forced. I am not a native speaker, though. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 21:35, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

"This I never do" could be used poetically, but seldom in normal conversation except maybe to be somewhat funny. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:14, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

It occurs in the lyrics of Ariana Grande's "Twilight Zone". GBS also finds prose occurrences of this phrase as well as of the grammatically similar "This I rarely/often/always do".  ​‑‑Lambiam 10:41, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

2. This I disagree with (the replies by Wakuran and Baseball Bugs, not the original question). It's uncommon, but it shouldn't/wouldn't raise an eyebrow (at least my eyebrow). Clarityfiend (talk) 10:43, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

Do you disagree with the claim it occurs in the lyrics of Ariana Grande's "Twilight Zone", or that GBS finds prose occurrences of this and grammatically similar phrases? Or do you disagree with my replying at all?  ​‑‑Lambiam 11:35, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

Wrong indentation. Clarityfiend (talk) 11:37, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

The phrase/sentence "This I find shocking" is used with some frequency, such as by The Sunday Times (behind a paywall but visible in a search), etc. Clarityfiend (talk) 11:34, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

1. In the Abrahamic tradition, the first day of the week is Sunday, and in many cultures it still is (or until fairly recently was) considered so. Calquing weekend in the locally dominant language for a period comprised of the end of one week plus the start of the next week may have felt strange. In some cases, the language already had a term for Saturday + Sunday long before English, like Greek, inheriting its term from Byzantine Greek σαββατοκυριακόν.  ​‑‑Lambiam 11:29, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

1. Although a six day week was a standard in most industrial nations until the late 19th century. The idea of not working on Saturday (initially only Saturday afternoon) emerged in the 1890s in the north of England, partly because football matches were played then. Hence the reason that the English term was loaned into several other languages. Alansplodge (talk) 15:55, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

Dutch borrowed the word weekend in the first quarter of the 20th century (source: Van Dale etymological dictionary) and uses it alongside the calque weekeind(e). The form weekend (Dutch pronunciation /'ʋik.ɛnt/) has the slight disadvantage of forming a homophone with limited confusion risk with wiekend, the tip of the sail of a windmill or the tip of a rotor blade of a wind turbine or helicopter. That, and keeping the Dutch /e/ vowel of week, may have been reason to prefer the calque. PiusImpavidus (talk) 17:07, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

Monday morning conversation in a Dutch workplace. "Where is Jan? He is never late for work, not even after the /'ʋik.ɛnt/. – Didn't you hear? The poor sod got hit by a /'ʋik.ɛnt/."  ​‑‑Lambiam 11:38, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

Tibetan Buddhist debating

I am editing a transcript of a discussion about Tibetan Buddhist debating. I haven't been able to track down a spelling for the word heard by the transcriber as "tarksay" (or "tarkshay"). I assume it's a Tibetan term. "They have sort of stylized debates just to perfect their knowledge of the teaching and sharpen their wits. This is called (?)tarksay and it is also included in their examinations for their Geshe’s degree when they pass out from one of the big monastic colleges. The Gelugpas attach very great importance to this ?tarksay." Any suggestion would be appreciated. Shantavira|^{feed me} 09:12, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

Probably rtags gsal. Based on what I read at Lhasa Tibetan § Phonology, I think this may well be heard like "tarksay". Here the "phonetics" are given as taksel, while the Wikipedia article says that syllable-final /l/ is often realized as a lengthening of the preceding vowel.  ​‑‑Lambiam 10:17, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

I hope nobody uses its resemblance to "talk-say" to posit a link or loaning between English and Tibetan, or something. I've seen worse in pseudo-linguistics. {The poster formerly knwn as 87.81.230.195} ~2026-76101-8 (talk) 22:59, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

It would provide an example of "hear-say".  ​‑‑Lambiam 10:24, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

Mongolian

What are the two forms of Mongolian used in the translations of the UDHR preamble here ("Хүмүн бүри төрүжү…", "Хүн бүр төрж…")? ~2026-16491-33 (talk) 05:33, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

Wiktionary has a Mongolian entry for just one of the words in the first Cyrillic text, бар, but with a meaning ("tiger") that does not fit. On the other hand, Wiktionary has entries for many of the words in the second Cyrillic text. For the first of these words, хүн, Wiktionary states that it is inherited from Classical Mongolian kümün, which fits the first word of the first Cyrillic text. A similar situation holds for the later word нэр, said to be inherited from Classical Mongolian ner-e. So a reasonable guess is that the first text is Classical Mongolian. The text in the traditional Mongolian script corresponds with this Classical Mongolian version, whereas the two audio recordings are of the second version, in contemporary Mongolian.  ​‑‑Lambiam 11:29, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

Questions

1. How common is it to use 24-hour clock in weather forecasts in the US?
2. Do English speakers associate some times in 24-hour clock with year numbers? For example, would 20:26 bring year 2026 to mind? Would they e.g. hold a minute of silence at 19:45 on the anniversary of VE Day?
3. Is the phrase o'clock ever used with 24-hour clock, such as nineteen o'clock?
4. Is 0:01 spoken as oh oh one?
5. If rake is pronounced as [reɪ̯k], race as [reɪ̯s] and rage as [reɪ̯d͡ʒ], then how would [reɪ̯g] be spelled?
6. Why word phrase is not spelled frase?
7. Is there any language where letter combination ⟨oe⟩ is pronounced /ø/?
8. Are there any words in English that end in /h/ sound? In Finnish, most such words are interjections, and for a pattern hVh exists a word from every vowel: hah, heh, hih, hoh, huh, hyh, häh and höh.
9. Is there any language where ⟨ya⟩ is pronounced as a diphthong [y̯a]?
10. Is there a name in English for a period comprising both the last days of a month that ends and the first days of a month that starts, like Finnish e.g. maalis-huhtikuun vaihde?
11. Is it possible to say already yesterday, such as I did already yesterday? In this sentence, already forms a constituent with yesterday, rather than the verb.

--40bus (talk) 05:12, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

1. Not very.

2. Only as a joke.

3. Seldom.

4. It could be.

5. Probably rague.

6. It's from Greek.

11. "Are you going to the store?" "I did already, yesterday." ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:43, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

7: German. It's normally spelled ö, but oe is acceptable and commonly used in some proper nouns or when there's a technical reason not to use the Umlaut. PiusImpavidus (talk) 09:36, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

5. The -gue ending implies that the word passed through French, as in vague and rogue. I'm amused that you'd reach for silent letters instead of spelling the word *raig, as in raid, rail, and rain.  Card Zero  (talk) 17:34, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

4. The usual format for times on the 24-hour clock is dd:dd, so one minute past midnight would normally be written as 00:01, most likely pronounced like zero-oh-one.  ​‑‑Lambiam 10:16, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

In Finnish, leading zeros are rarely used and 0:01 is pronounced nolla nollayksi. --40bus (talk) 13:01, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

7. Also in French when the digraph œ cannot be used for technical reasons, as in "oeuf". --KnightMove (talk) 15:19, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

It is not entirely accurate. In standard French (France) bœuf (or boeuf) is pronounced \bœf\. But the plural form bœufs (or boeufs) is prononced \bø\. The same for œuf/œufs, but you could also say œufs (plural): \œf\. In fact, letter "o" is not pronounced, it's an etymological letter. bœuf from latin bŏvem (<- bos) and œuf from latin ovum. - AldoSyrt (talk) 18:17, 17 March 2 026 (UTC)

I guess you meant another letter than "o"? "s"? 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 21:58, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

I don't get your question. In French the letter "s" as a mark of plural (at the end of a word) is almost never pronounced. If œuf(s) were spelled euf(s) it would be pronounced in the same way and the French language would be simpler to spell and to learn. - AldoSyrt (talk) 07:57, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

but euf could also be pronounced like French "uf", German "üff", couldn't it? -- ~2026-17002-63 (talk) 09:59, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

No French word with the trigram "euf" pronounced \yf\ comes into my mind. There are very few words with the digram "eu" pronounced \y\. Eu, eue, eus, eues, eut and eût from the verb avoir are all pronounced \y\. - AldoSyrt (talk) 13:01, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

Is bœufs ever pronounced /bœf/? --40bus (talk) 21:10, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

No, not by Francophone speakers.  ​‑‑Lambiam 21:42, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

Plural forms that are shorter than their singular forms (in speech, although not in text) are apparently very rare, cross-linguistically. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 21:58, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

7 Addendum: Cf. Goethe, in Fraktur there often were no Umlauts for majuscules until the 20th century, cf. Karl May's "Der Oelprinz". Even in written language <Oe> was used. The Duden explicitly admonished this practise: "Über die Trennpunkte. - Ä, Ö, Ü, nicht Ae, Oe, Ue" (Ä, Ö, Ü, not Ae, Oe, Ue, Duden 1926, p. XXV)--~2026-16889-29 (talk) 16:07, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

10 - How about the turn of the month? Of course that leaves it somewhat open how narrow or wide a time interval is meant. -- ~2026-17002-63 (talk) 16:29, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

Quarry quarry quarry

Fuente de Petróleos, a current Did You Know, says that the monument features a "quarry pillar", linking the word to our quarry article which is about quarries, the main source of building stone. In the sidebar it list "quarry" as the medium, again linking to the article, and later on it speaks of another part being made out from "quarry stone", linking for a third time so that we can again check what a quarry is and reassure ourselves that the stone wasn't found in a forest or the sea.

Would it be wrong of me to change all these to say stone, or is quarry a technical term in monumental sculpture?  Card Zero  (talk) 14:55, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

My suggestion is to describe the pillar as "a pillar of quarried stone". This article on the fountains of Mexico City states for almost everything it describes that it is (de) cantera, so this aspect is, apparently, of some significance to Mexican culture. But there is no point in overlinking.  ​‑‑Lambiam 16:14, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

Thank you, cantera led me to es:Cantera#En_México where it says (translated) "In Mexico, a specific type of volcanic rock (volcanic tuff) characteristic of several regions of the country is also known as quarry." I edited the article accordingly, but couldn't steal the es wiki's references, because it has none.  Card Zero  (talk) 18:22, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

Meta horror

Good afternoon. I was wondering : Are there any other meta horror films (complete with actors playing themselfs) that use the metaness for serious horror rather than comedy? The only one i can thing of is Wes Craven's New Nightmare. I'm not sure if Scream counts, because it's more of a comedy. There's also Seed of Chucky, but that's, at least in my opinion, a 100% comedy, not horror. ~2026-24671-3 (talk) 16:57, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

• TV Tropes has an entire article of films where someone directly threatens the audience. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ~2026-12839-58 (talk) 22:49, 4 March 2026 (UTC)

Metacinema. I remember the ending of the original Tales from the Crypt. Pretty funny. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 01:24, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

More an instance of breaking the fourth wall than meta in the sense that the work refers to itself as if existing in its fictional universe.  ​‑‑Lambiam 12:56, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

Wait! I renember another one. The 2014 version of The town that feared sundown. ~2026-24671-3 (talk) 06:13, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

Actually named The Town That Dreaded Sundown. From our plot description of its 1976 predecessor, I gather that that one too ended with a meta twist.  ​‑‑Lambiam 12:10, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

Opinion

Sorry if this question is too subjective, but does it also seem like the TV Tropes entry for Enough was written by a mysoginist? Particually the YMMW page. What the hell is so wrong about abused women taking back charge from abusive husbands and not taking crap from them?! ~2026-24671-3 (talk) 22:26, 8 March 2026 (UTC)

What is "YMMW"? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:16, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

I think it originated as an initialism for "Your Mileage May Vary", although I do not understand the significance of the phrase in this context. When you visit a TV Tropes page for a film, like this one for Enough, you see a horizontal ribbon under the film's title with clickable buttons, one of which is labeled

 ⛽ YMMV 

It leads to a page with another list of tropes allegedly discernible in the plot of the film.  ​‑‑Lambiam 02:26, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

As you can read above, we don't answer requests for opinions.  ​‑‑Lambiam 02:27, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

TV Tropes pages (like Wikipedia) have their own discussion pages (it´s above the title of the movie at the right). "YMMW" means that the tropes of the page are considered subjective. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ~2026-15028-18 (talk) 14:48, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

Australian Grand Prix article check please

Hi, I'm new to the vocabulary and names in the area. I started this page and GalacticVelocity08 expanded it (thanks!!!). I would appreciate if you could expand it in next 1-2 days:

• n:Formula 1 season opens at Australian Grand Prix
• n.b. docs: 'inverted pyramid' article structure at the site

Possibly CC Island92 and DH85868993 as edited some page here about related topic.

I was confused because unclear which drivers were kicked out on which days and why.

Many thanks.

Regards, Gryllida 03:11, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

Going to do my best to explain this:

No drivers are eliminated or kicked out. There are three stages of qualifying: Q1, Q2, and Q3. All drivers participate in Q1. The top 16 drivers from Q1 advance to Q2. The six drivers who were "eliminated" still participate in the race, they just don't advance to the following rounds. Therefore, whoever finishes between 16th - 22nd in Q1 starts the race from that position. This is repeated for Q2 (six drivers "eliminated, 11th - 16th determined from whoever finishes in those position during Q2), and the top ten drivers move on to Q3. The finishing order of Q3 determines the starting order for 1st to 10th.

There were drivers who did not participate in practice sessions/qualifying due to technical issues or crashes. This does not mean that they were eliminated. Drivers who didn't participate in qualifying can still take part in the race with permission from the oversight body, which is almost always granted. That's what happened for Stroll, Verstappen, and Sainz this weekend. this article might explain it better than I did, and I'd be happy to try to clarify further! GalacticVelocity08 (talk) 19:18, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

Thank you, GalacticVelocity08. This is still cryptic to me but at least starting to clear up. Now information is in the article I linked, but sources are missing for it. I guess you took the information from the Wikipedia page. What are the best sources to include with that, to support the added information? In Wikinews, when a page is in edit mode, there is a 'Source' button to add a source, it adds it in the correct format (or tries to). Gryllida 09:58, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

And to add to the complications, two drivers did qualify but failed to take the start: Nico Hülkenberg and Oscar Piastri, with mechanical failure and a crash on the way to the grid respectively. So we have: 22 drivers show up; 19 that managed to qualify; 22 that were permitted to start; and 20 that actually went racing. ~2026-31477-0 (talk) 08:25, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

Ooh. How come 19 qualified, but even more (i.e., 20>19) went racing? I thought on Saturday they have to 'qualify' and only those who 'qualified' are allowed to 'race' on Sunday. Gryllida 09:55, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

Technically, drivers have to set a time within 107% of the fastest time to demonstrate that they and their car are capable of meaningfully participating in the event. But there are occasions when this doesn't happen. These are the three drivers that GalacticVelocity08 mentioned. They were unable to set a representative time in the qualifying session, but were able to convince the race organisers that they would have been able to (either by having set a good enough lap time in an earlier practice session, having a teammate in an identical car that was clearly fast enough, or by having extensive experience with an F1 car and the Melbourne circuit).

The rule is there to stop obviously hopeless entries from being a danger to those around them (back in the 90s you had as many as 30+ drivers turn up for 26 spots in the race, many of them with machinery that was genuinely awful) but nowadays, with a more consistent grid, this isn't as much of a problem. Besides, no one would have been happy for Max Verstappen, a 4 time World Champion and in maybe the 3rd fastest car, to go home on Saturday afternoon because he happened to have a spin before he completed a lap. Much more entertaining to let him start at the back 20th and race up to 5th. ~2026-31477-0 (talk) 11:34, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

I see, thanks. Soon, I will be going to search for sources for the page linked above, as someone expanded it but did not add sources. Help would be most appreciated as now I will be away for around 10 hours for sleep. :-) Gryllida 11:38, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

Christianity and Harry Potter

Harry Potter and His Dark Materials

Regarding the article about the band "Love Sculpture"

Love Sculpture. This article mentions that the group second LP (Forma & Feelings) was released in December 1969. However, this information is not publicly available in the references section. Could one of the contributors clarify the source of this article claim? Historically, the oldest evidence of this record dates back to 1970. The only possible mention of December 1969 comes from an encrypted Google Books file, "Records and Recording - Volume 13 - Page 12," which suggests this date. So, is Wikipedia referencing that magazine, or where else did they get that date from?Oxpetals (talk) 04:12, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

Also posted on the talk page of the article.  ​‑‑Lambiam 08:15, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

Discogs is user-generated, so not a reliable source, but the page for the album mentions an initial release in 1969. --Viennese Waltz 09:13, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

Haha, sorry 😅 I posted that information a while ago. The thing is, up to this point, Wikipedia is the only public article that mentions "December 1969." Regarding what I wrote on Discogs, it's clear that the LP was pressed and recorded in 1969, but not released at that time. However, I suspected that the Wikipedia article was connected to an issue of "Records & Recording" magazine (not available to read). This would have confirmed "December 1969" as the official release date. That's why I asked how you all came across that information. Oxpetals (talk) 11:58, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

Pinging User:Derek R Bullamore, who wrote a significant part of the band's article (although not the bit about the album's release date) and might know more. --Viennese Waltz 13:23, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

This is Derek. The only time I added any meaningful information was in June 2009 (and that had nothing relating to that album's issue). As you can see that was a long time ago, and the date given then for the release of Forms and Feelings was January 1970. It was eventually altered to December 1969 here in June 2023 by an IP (surprise surprise, no source was given). It took me long enough to look back and locate what I have given so far here - I will take your word for the fact that only Wikipedia shows a December 1969 release date. Frankly I would find a reliable source that states January 1970 and insert both details in the article. Then, at least ideally (ha ha), anyone wishing to change that would need to provide a source that gives the earlier date.

You could read through the editing history of Love Sculpture's article and note just how much claptrap has been weaved in and out over the years. I am old enough to remember when both of their albums were released - he says, editing whilst smoking a gnarled old pipe, stroking a wheezy old dog whilst wearing zip-up slippers (me, not the mutt) ! - Derek R Bullamore (talk) 15:34, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

The liner notes to a 2008 CD reissue of the album state that: "Such legal wrangling delayed the release of the record still further, with the album finally appearing in February 1970 as 'Forms and Feelings' (Parlophone PCS 7090)", see . --Wrongfilter (talk) 15:48, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

Oh, well done - that pretty much tops and tails it. Probably those liner notes are as good as anything, in the circumstances, to use as the reliable source. Back to my pipe; roaring fire; annoyingly ticking, and bells ringing every few seconds, albeit hopelessly out of time grandfather clock; and my steam driven telly, which is currently showing "The Woodentops" as part of Watch with Mother. - Derek R Bullamore (talk) 16:01, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

Actually, Wikipedia was the second source that suggested "late 1969." That means the only thing left to clarify is what "Records & Recording" says, and the information in the Wikipedia article would either be completely discarded or reconsidered. When I asked Google Books, they suggested I consult the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I'll look there if I'm lucky. I know that this magazine is apparently originally British, but I'll see how much they can help me. If anyone knows of a British information archive that might have this magazine, their recommendation would be very helpful. Oxpetals (talk) 22:49, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

Records and Recording, Volume 12, Number 11, of August 1970, has a list that I think starts on page 8, under the heading
new releases 1.

Page 12 has a section:

PARLOPHONE

Love Sculpture. Forms and Feelings. S PCS 7090.

Joe Venuti's Blue Four. PMC 7091.

Hollies sing Hollies. Tape S 8X-PCS 7092; Musicassette S TD-PCS 7092.

No year is given in this section. Some entries in other sections do have 1969.  ​‑‑Lambiam 17:13, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

I did enter "which British information archive would hold past copies of the magazine Records & Recording circa 1969/1970 vintage ?" in Google AI mode and got a few potential suggestions; including the British Library, Rockmine Music Paper Archive, World Radio History, and the British Newspaper Archive (BNA). The National Archives' Discovery Catalogue was also mentioned. How productive any of these would prove is not for me to say, but they are all worth exploring if you need the definitive. - Derek R Bullamore (talk) 22:56, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Do you think some issue of Records and Recording may contain different information than the one from which I copied the Parlophone section above?  ​‑‑Lambiam 23:07, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

It would be good to investigate. After all, the albums mentioned were definitely not new releases on August 11th. Oxpetals (talk) 01:34, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

The entries explicitly mentioning 1969 were of releases that were at least seven months old, but they were still included.  ​‑‑Lambiam 13:30, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

Does that mean R&R Vol 12 and 13 are mid-1970s issues? Do you know the publication interval for this magazine? Oxpetals (talk) 12:08, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

Films with troops of Amazons on horses

In the beach battle of Wonder Woman (2017 film), we see Amazon cavalry (so, many of them) on horses. Which other films contain this element? (Google and AI results are less reliable than persons who have seen such films, I suppose) --KnightMove (talk) 16:55, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

The trailer for War Goddess (1973), aka The Amazons, shows them on horseback. Clarityfiend (talk) 22:28, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

This article about the documentary Amazon Women Warriors depicts them firing their bows on horseback. Clarityfiend (talk) 22:30, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

The poster for Les Amazons du temple d'or (presumably Golden Temple Amazons), listed but not linked in Jesús Franco filmography, shows Amazons wielding their weapons on horseback. Clarityfiend (talk) 22:36, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

I'm sure you've seen this already, but just in case, our article at Amazons has a section on modern media: Amazons#Film_and_television that has a list of titles you could peruse in your research. Matt Deres (talk) 12:51, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

Many thanks you both. --KnightMove (talk) 19:38, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

Help to identify music

https://www.ri-prese.com/ri-ve/clips/ri-2262-07/

ri-prese.com is a community where the users upload their video footages of Venice in past years.

This footage is a part of a longer film where the audio comment is in German.

I am interested what music is used in this footage, since Shazam dont recognize.

Is there someone that can kindly help to identify?

Many, many and many thanks in advance for all you can do!!! ~2026-16378-24 (talk) 18:12, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

I'm ashamed at Shazam. Even I, a classical music ultra-nerd, know that's "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:24, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

Shazam recognises specific recordings, not generic melodies. I'm not so sure that's "Sweet Caroline" myself. --Viennese Waltz 10:05, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

... and my Shazam did recognize this specific recording as "Sweet Caroline" from the album je t'aime 6 - Traummelodien (1978) recorded by the Orchester Anthony Ventura (Werner Becker). ---Sluzzelin talk 13:28, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

Paralympics closing

Who was that 1-legged dancer? She's gorgeous. Also Sofia blowing out the "eternal" flame.

Dissapoining all the athletes are not on the floor dancing righ now (like london 2012).Psephguru (talk) 21:19, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

Was she wearing pantyhose? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:07, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

She was there twice. You'd have to have googgles to see that.Psephguru (talk) 13:08, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

Would having googly eyes do?  ​‑‑Lambiam 16:44, 16 March 2026 (UTC)}

Maybe we can google it. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} ~2026-76101-8 (talk) 22:55, 16 March 2026 (UTC)

By chance, was it Giorgia Greco? ~2026-16820-81 (talk) 12:10, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

Ballot of Florida presidential Electors

Looking at this ballot and others from Florida's presidential Electors, such as those from 2008 and 2012, aided by the voting certificates (I managed to find the one from 2012), I am inclined to think that the form of the names on the winning ticket was always the same. So, “Barack Obama and Joe Biden” in 2008 and 2012 and “George W. Bush and Dick Cheney” in 2000 (as seen in the image) and also in the 2004 vote? Thanks. ~2026-14207-64 (talk) 15:17, 5 March 2026 (UTC)

I think that in all US states, for each presidential election, the ballots used by voters to cast their votes will show, for each ticket, the names of the candidates for the functions of president and vice-president, in that order. I am not sure what you mean by "the form of the names", and since the form designers cannot know which ticket will be the winning one, the form(s) chosen are not governed by whether a ticket will be winning. Are "Donald J. Trump / JD Vance" and "Kamala D. Harris / Tim Walz" the same forms as "Barack OBAMA / Joe BIDEN"? Why "Kamala D. Harris" and not "Joe R. Biden"?  ​‑‑Lambiam 08:05, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

Candidates often have at least some say in how their names are presented, especially if they're not entirely conventional. "Jimmy" Carter and "Bill" Clinton, for example. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:42, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

A disclaimer that really should accompany most ballot‑related questions: the rules governing ballots and election procedures are primarily set at the state level. Each state writes its own election laws, and those laws can differ quite a bit.

The Federal government’s role is limited. It determines how many electors each state receives, enforces certain civil‑rights protections, and sets some broad constitutional requirements. But the mechanics of elections — including ballots, candidate name formatting, filing rules, and how electors are chosen — are left to the states.

These issues only become “federal” when a dispute is appealed into the federal courts, and historically the Supreme Court has often emphasized that elections are largely a state matter unless a constitutional question is involved.

A lot of the questions people ask seem to assume that Congress or federal agencies design the detailed rules for ballots and election procedures. In reality, state law governs almost all of it, and that’s why answers often begin with: “It depends on the state.” ~2026-91009-6 (talk) 13:48, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

A lot of questions about the US that I see from posters who are not US citizens fall under this same sort of thing. Outsiders are really quite surprised how much the states matter in how the US functions. --User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 16:56, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

This question is specifically about Florida.  ​‑‑Lambiam 23:11, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

Baby Globe

With Wikipedia's 25th birthday, I was wondering if there was a comprehensive list of all the pages, or page themes, with baby globe appearing. I understand if not, since this is a pretty niche feature, but it would be nice to know Bluefus (talk) 07:44, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

Where have you seen a Wikipedia "baby globe"? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:43, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

Here. Long is the way (talk) 19:22, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

I'm an old fart still using a decade old skin, so the birthday feature isn't available for me (AFAIK), but could you not activate the birthday feature, click on the baby globe image, and then use the "What links here" tool? Matt Deres (talk) 19:29, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

Clicking on the image has no effect. It is a gif hosted on the website of the Wikimedia Foundation:

https://wikimediafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/WP25_BabyGlobe_CELEBRATION_NEUTRAL_LOOP_transparent.gif.

You'll find some webpages with this image here.  ​‑‑Lambiam 23:03, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

In discussions regarding whether to activate the baby globe on EnWP, I remember feeling some reticence on the part of WMF representatives to list exactly which pages would be affected. I think they wanted to retain the fun of keeping it a secret. ~2026-15228-45 (talk) 15:42, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

Opening that page made my browser asplode. Doubtless it would go down well in certain countries and among certain sectors of the populace, but for me it is utterly infantile and does WP a major disservice. Personally, if I had anything to do with it, I would tie myself into a sack and throw myself down a well at midnight. MinorProphet (talk) 18:08, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

I'm sorry to hear about your browser and hope it was not an expensive model. My condolences.  ​‑‑Lambiam 18:35, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

Well actually, some Dubai-based Tik-Tok influencers persuaded me to take out a second mortgage on my house to upgrade said Firefox-fork browser running on Win XP, and then basically forced me to invest in what I now realize is a dark web AI-type crypto-Ponzi-style scam: I have since lost my job, my partner, and my home. I am now living under a hedge trying to fend off my creditors. I wish I had had the guts to try Librewolf. MinorProphet (talk) 23:04, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

NB This why your head a splode MinorProphet (talk) 04:26, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

Something to cheer you up. fiveby(zero) 03:28, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Does this help? -- Avocado (talk) 12:02, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

No. I could use a vast and varied vocabulary to describe my innermost thoughts, but the use of the wholly scurrilous epithets which spring to mind would instantly void my continued existence here. MinorProphet (talk) 16:49, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

come on, it's so cute!! ltbdl (jump) 03:19, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

I absolutely agree, but Wikipedia/Wikimedia/Foundation in its majestic entirety is absolutely NOT CUTE. Have you hung around WP:ANI for a while, or found out about the exalted panoply of WP:Bureaucrats etc.? Some people just want to be mini-bosses here, and I bet that a number of them have never contributed a useful single paragraph with fully-formed refs to a current article that expands the sum of current human knowledge. Changing a WP:Category does not count, in my opinion, although it increases your number of edits. There is now a huge layer of what I would call gnomes on steroids whose sole purpose is to control what we, as contributing editors, can actually do. The further up you go, the more likely you are to come into contact with horrendously unsympathetic managerial types with unacknowledged parental issues whose funerals I shall not be attending. At least there's WP:NOTDEMOCRACY, but it looks more and more like an autocracy or a kakistocracy every day. I look forward to WP:NOTCUTE, eh? MinorProphet (talk) 15:01, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

...what? ltbdl (operate) 01:55, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

To sum up: the image is cute, but Wikpedia is not. MinorProphet (talk) 17:24, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

It's an extension of Jimmy Wales. Would you expect it to be any different? ~2026-16820-81 (talk) 11:14, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

Question for Americans, Europeans and Canadians

This is not a discussion forum. DOR (ex-HK) (talk) 18:03, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Is your city, town facing problems of fuel shortage, petrol, diesel, LPG gas, cooking gas shortage right now, due to recent Iran war? ~2026-15717-12 (talk) 06:23, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

In America we're seeing some price increases. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 08:51, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

There are no reports in the mainstream media of actual shortages. Assuming the news is not censored, the answer is therefore no. This may change if the unprovoked wars keep going on for a year or so.  ​‑‑Lambiam 08:58, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Europe: Price increases, but no actual shortage, and that wasn't expected anyway. The last tankers that passed the Straight of Hormuz before the war started haven't reached Europe yet. They need about a month, going around the Cape of Good Hope. There is a slight effect of tankers changing destination while already underway. Furthermore, there are strategic reserves and other sources of oil, like the US, Canada and Venezuela.

You see: by first taking over Venezuela, then starting a war in the Persian Gulf, then annexing Canada, Trump tries to monopolise the world oil supply. PiusImpavidus (talk) 10:25, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

32 countries have agreed to release stocks from their emergency oil reserves to help offset disruption. Alansplodge (talk) 14:07, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

I filled up with gas yesterday. No gas shortage. All pumps full. My total cost was $45 instead of the usual $40. So, I didn't go by McDonalds on the way into work and it all evened out. I'm sure that somewhere, someone is suffering. The news can always find someone, somewhere to push whatever narrative they require. ~2026-91009-6 (talk) 16:08, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Helppp

My friend who has never contributed to Wikipedia and only reads Wikipedia thinks editing wikipedia is a extremely long and tedious and hard thing and she thinks she has to be "approved" to be a writer on Wikipedia or something. How do I explain to her its actually not that hard? Wordsonwordsonpagesonwordshello (talk) 19:54, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Why do you want to do that? It doesn't seem like your friend wants to contribute, which I would have thought was a prerequisite for being useful here. AndyTheGrump (talk) 19:56, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

no she really does want to contribute but she just thinks it's what I said above Wordsonwordsonpagesonwordshello (talk) 20:00, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Don't tell her, show her. Find out what she wants to do. Show her how to do it. The 'really not that hard' things shouldn't be difficult to demonstrate, and you really shouldn't be encouraging anyone to do the hard things (e.g. starting a new article) until she has more experience, and has the commitment. AndyTheGrump (talk) 20:05, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Okay thank you so much! Wordsonwordsonpagesonwordshello (talk) 20:08, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Please tell your friend that there's ways of doing Wikipedia, and then there's not. It would be futile to pretend that editing here in a meaningful way is anything other than a massive learning curve, tending towards the perpendicular. All of us are always learning, because nothing is fixed, neither 'knowledge', nor the underpinning software that allows us to express ourselves here and in editing articles. Depending on her choice of subjects, perhaps 50% of her efforts may well be taken up with battling against genuine assholes, barrack-room lawyers who will invoke WP:WANKY_RULES in their sleep, experienced WikiShits™, and various other assorted trolls (IPs or registered editors,) who may seek to do her down at every opportunity. Many of her initial efforts will likely be reverted by editors who have been here for many years, should be more forgiving but aren't, and generally don't treat noobs kindly. Do not give up. Everyone who's been here for a year or two will agree.
I suggest she should begin at the very beginning, choosing subjects she's in interested in, fixing spellos, grammar, sorting Dab pages in eg alpha order, adding Wikilinks, etc. She will need to have complete confidence that any actual statements she makes are (essentially) incontrovertibly true (hah!) (eg you know how to spell, how to look up 'facts', are aware of Reliable Sources and how to cite them,) eg {{cite web}}, {{cite book}}, and knows how to refute moronic assertions without resorting to aggressive invective or personal attacks. Be nice in your edit summaries. Almost anything can be achieved in one or two clicks, not all of them necessarily useful. Beware. As the carpenter said, "measure twice, cut once." Show Preview is your friend. Plus, Don't blank the Main Page. NB I am guilty of most of the above infractions, except the last.
And yes, there is indeed 'approval' to be gained, but it comes silently from the community: and although it may take a very long time, it is well worth the effort. Ars longa, vita brevis. MinorProphet (talk) 19:06, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

THANK YOU!!!!!!! Wordsonwordsonpagesonwordshello (talk) 19:30, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Looking for a Wikipedia article about a woman

These are the things I remember:

1. Black woman born in West Africa but educated in the United States Northeastern area.
2. No longer alive, she flourished during 1800s or 1900s.
3. Doctor or nurse or something similar.
4. Possibly "first" something (for example first African woman who went to Hardvard med school etc).
5. She returned to Africa to practise medicine.
6. The article is quite short.
7. The article pageview count is very low.
8. The article has a black and white image of her in medical attire with a white hat looking away from the camera to the viewer's left. In the image she is youngish and her legs are not visible.

Forgive me for being too vague. There might even be mistakes! It's the photo that stuck with me. I'd call it epic. Aloysius Jr (talk) 23:40, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

Edit: It was silly of me to ask this. It was out of desperation. Barely anyone knows that the article even exists. I don't know how I stumbled upon it. I did a ridiculous amount of searches and found nothing. Don't waste your time with this. Aloysius Jr (talk) 13:29, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

I found Anna DeCosta Banks, the photo and some other aspects of your description match but other aspects don't (she wasn't born in Africa or returned there). You could try looking through the linked articles at List of African-American women in medicine, although the list is quite long. --Viennese Waltz 09:02, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

Thank you. I checked all the names but I did not come across her. Aloysius Jr (talk) 11:23, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Alice Woodby McKane? She wasn't born in West Africa, but was the "only black female physician in Georgia in 1892". She graduated from the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, which is sorta northeastish. She and her husband (also a physician) opened a hospital and "a nurse training school" in Monrovia, Liberia. (She did not go to Hardvard, or even Easyvard.) Clarityfiend (talk) 11:59, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

Also, it seems highly unlikely that a woman would have come from West Africa to study at an institution of higher learning in the United States in the 1800s and early 1900s. It was very difficult for native-born American women to do so at that time, much less foreigners. Clarityfiend (talk) 01:18, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

No luck. I might be imagining some parts but I'm certain this article exists with that image. I will update this post if I find her. Aloysius Jr (talk) 11:23, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Among firsts, we have Mary Eliza Mahoney (May 7, 1845 – January 4, 1926), the first African American to study and work as a professionally trained nurse in the United States. She was US-born, though, and did not work in Africa.  ​‑‑Lambiam 20:38, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

Not her unfortunately but thank you. Aloysius Jr (talk) 23:38, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

@Aloysius Jr: How about perusing the pictures in Wikimedia for African American physicians and African American nurses? Clarityfiend (talk) 13:13, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

Or more generally physicians from Africa, nurses by country, nurses, etc. Clarityfiend (talk) 13:26, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

Avram Grant date of birth (2)

To be precise, the first two sources, those relating to personal information, both in the template and in the biography, where the real name and place of birth (which are certainly accurate) are listed, however, give inaccurate dates. The first is May 4, 1955, and the second is May 6, 1955... ~2026-15905-96 (talk) 18:58, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

Is there a question hiding in here?  ​‑‑Lambiam 09:12, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

No, I didn't actually ask a question. I just wanted to point out that the dates are incorrect. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ~2026-16200-74 (talk) 12:54, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Where are you seeing that? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:11, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Source number 1 :https://www.bdfutbol.com/en/l/l95067.html

Source number 2: https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news/avram-grant-out-of-the-blue-820382.html -- ~2026-16219-17

Those turn out to be incorrect sources for birth date, but may be useful otherwise. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:17, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

Humans eating cat food

I just saw an episode of the Swedish version of the original British TV show Taskmaster. The competitors had to eat a delicacy of their choosing. The options included, among others, chocolate, durian and cat food.

One of the competitors chose cat food. She smothered the food with whipped cream and fruits, and still had to fight to keep from gagging at the end.

Now I've obviously never eaten cat food. What makes it so difficult for humans to eat it?

I'm just asking out of curiosity. I'm not going to try this out for myself. JIP | Talk 23:53, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

Not having dined on cat cuisine either, I think it's just the idea of eating pet food that made her gag. People can eat cat food, just not for prolonged periods. Similar reaction for me to the prospect of eating haggis (the gagging part, not the safe part). Clarityfiend (talk) 01:09, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Also, whipped cream and fruits with meat and gravy??? Maybe that's the reason. Clarityfiend (talk) 01:11, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Agreed. That combo sounds like it would be nearly as foul if it were filet mignon in the place of the cat food. Very weird choice.

Well, that and also cat food in the first place. Why choose cat food when you could choose chocolate?

As an aside, there are stories -- don't know how true they are -- of elderly people in poverty on fixed incomes eating cat food (usually the nicer brands, at least) because they can't afford meat intended for humans. -- Avocado (talk) 02:00, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

PKD famously said that he was so poor as a science fiction writer starting out that he could only afford to eat horse meat. Viriditas (talk) 02:05, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Keep in mind there are different grades of cat food. I used to buy human grade cat food for my pet from a company in Canada until they changed their recipe. It was basically edible and looked and smelled good. Now, the average kind of cat food you buy in the store is not that. It uses rendered meat and the smell is incredibly bad, enough to make people vomit. Being curious, I once put a can of both side by side to see which they preferred over a period of a week. It seemed to vary depending on their mood, but the sense I got was that the cat preferred fast food over heathy food. Viriditas (talk) 02:03, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

In the EU, wet cat food is generally safe for (occasional) human consumption, due to strict and strictly enforced regulations. I don't know if the same can be said about North-American cat food (but if it was allowed to be imported to the EU, it should be safe). Whether it is also palatable to humans is a different issue; this will depend on the consumer's taste. Some people gag at the smell of liver while others' mouths start watering. Chicken-based cat food is the most likely not to be offending to human palates. Did the episode of the TV show give some information about the specific cat food formula?  ​‑‑Lambiam 09:09, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

I'm fairly certain it is completely different in the US, hence why I had to import human grade cat food from Canada. It really is night and day. I think the reality is that most pet food in the US does not meat human safety standards. For what it is worth, the reason I started doing this was to bypass the melamine pet food contamination scandal that occurred in 2007, which killed thousands of pets in North America. The first recalls occurred in March 2007, but I knew something was very wrong before that and tried to alert my local vet to no avail. As it turns out, all of the food my local vet was selling to their customers was contaminated. My cat was on the verge of death at the time, but I nursed him back to health by throwing out all of his food before the recall was ever announced and feeding him only nutrients and supplements from an eyedropper, combined with fresh chicken, fish, and baby food. It worked, and he lived another 14 years, eventually dying at the age of 21. Viriditas (talk) 23:57, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

@Lambiam: No, the episode didn't give any further information about the cat food. There were at least four delicacies: cat food, durian, chocolate and extra-strong chili pepper. Each delicacy was tried by at least one contestant. JIP | Talk 22:36, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

Do animals perceive time at different speeds than humans?

Recently, I came across the notion that animals are able to perceive time in a manner different from that of humans, such as the possibility that small animals perceive time “slower” because their neural processing speed is greater. Are there scientific data available to support this notion, and if so, how is it measured or compared between different species? A Strained Living 31 (talk) 05:26, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

@A Strained Living 31 Have you read our article Time perception#Time perception in vertebrates? Shantavira|^{feed me} 07:51, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

While the underlying biophysical processes may be different, there is no scientific method for comparing the speeds subjectively experienced by different individuals, even between two human minds. See also the articles What Is It Like to Be a Bat? and Inverted spectrum.  ​‑‑Lambiam 08:00, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

Or even the same human mind. Like when athletes talk about how things seem to slow down when they're "in the zone" or whatever. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 16:44, 18 March 2026 (UTC)