Today I Learned (TIL)

VolvoHeretic said:

TIL that there is such a thing as a Vortex Cannon and I want one. 

Please note the internet celebrity's stupidity as he has himself shot in the head with the thing and complains of a concussion after about the 3rd or 4th round.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/JSm7Tp8iv3o?rel=0

 

My really old idea: a weaker version of this thing could have applications in railroad safety. People don't always hear the train. I think whether this has application at all would come down to calibration. If you smack every wayward pedestrian off their feet, no good, but if you can tap them on the back of the head... maybe?

In reply to Mike (Forum Supporter) :

The Prodrive turbo-friendly (as these things go) "Rocket" antilag system was a turbocharger up-pipe with a combustor inside it... that had geometry engineered to make those vortexes, aimed at the turbo.  It spun the turbo with a well engineered pressure ring and not just brute-force pop-bang-BANG-BANG exploding things in the exhaust manifold.

Skip ahead to 6:50ish for the vortex goodness.

One enterprising autocrosser built such a system for a Honda S2000 after copying the setup from the patents.  The videos are amazing... sitting at the start line at a fairly low engine RPM, but the turbo is spinning 100k+ and ready to instantly make power.

It worked VERY well but needed a small nation's GDP in Inconel to fabricate, and even then it constantly required repair and maintenance.  Not a problem if you are a major WRC team where such expenses are a drop in the bucket and you have dozens of people to work in the background, more of a problem if you're a lone privateer.

In reply to Mike (Forum Supporter) :

Your saying to mount the cannon onto the train engine? Nice idea. Good for herds of moose and bears also.

In reply to VolvoHeretic :

Yeah, basically. I'm sure there are limits to the forward speeds at which such a thing would be effective, so it'd probably be useful only in a narrow scope of cases.

TIL:

The name "UB40" was selected in reference to an attendance card issued to people claiming unemployment benefits from the UK government Department of Employment. The designation UB40 stood for Unemployment Benefit, Form 40.

I always thought it was a submarine thing.

TIL that the Allies laid pipelines under the English Channel to supply gasoline to support the D-Day invasion.

TIL that Chevy apparently no longer makes a V6-powered truck (at least in the US). Since trading in her original (2019) black Colorado WT for the gray 2022 WT that she has now The Dancer has said that she eventually wants to go back to having a black one, and the current one has started having a very annoying problem where she can't get the key out of the ignition when she shuts it off and puts it into park- it's apparently not an uncommon problem with them related to a microswitch in the shifter assembly (I've never had an issue with it, but I think I shift it into park a bit differently than she does). As it's a known problem and the truck is still under warranty, it should be something they will fix (usually by replacing the shifter assembly from what I've read)- but it's also a reason to take a look and see what trading up to a new one would look like.

The current Colorado trucks are a new generation that started last year so are considerably different than the 2019/2022's which were the same generation/platform- and the only options for engines are turbo-I4's, which she's not happy about as she has always had and preferred the power of a V6 (she may change her mind after driving one of the new turbo-4's though). My biggest concerns with getting a new truck would be a) interest rate on the loan compared to what we have now and b) with it being a new generation of Colorado, the hard shell cover we have on the current one may not fit on the new one (the bed is likely the same overall dimensions, but I'm not sure the mounts would still work), which would be another $1k+ expense.

Honestly, I'm a bit surprised that they still don't make an electric or hybrid Colorado- given the truck is our primary traveling vehicle, and electric wouldn't likely work well, but a hybrid would help with the massive amount of City miles that she puts on it driving it around for work.

In reply to Ashyukun (Robert) :

Have her drive one.  The turbo 2.0 fours in our Volvos make notably more torque than the 3.6 V6 in our van.

Mike (Forum Supporter) said:

VolvoHeretic said:

TIL that there is such a thing as a Vortex Cannon and I want one. 

Please note the internet celebrity's stupidity as he has himself shot in the head with the thing and complains of a concussion after about the 3rd or 4th round.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/JSm7Tp8iv3o?rel=0

 

My really old idea: a weaker version of this thing could have applications in railroad safety. People don't always hear the train. I think whether this has application at all would come down to calibration. If you smack every wayward pedestrian off their feet, no good, but if you can tap them on the back of the head... maybe?

Its really easy to make one of these out of a garbage can. 

In reply to Duke :

At some point if she is serious about wanting a newer (or more accurately, black...) one she's going to have to. I'm thinking she'll be OK with the engine, and will love some of the newer stuff on it like the birds-eye camera view of what's around the truck (parking it can be a challenge for her at times- though at times moreso for me since she only drives the truck but I drive the slightly-smaller QX4 and the much smaller E46). I'm pretty set on getting one with the dual-zone climate control as well so she can make her side as hot or cold as she wants and I can keep mine where I'm comfortable at the same time.

Ashyukun (Robert) said:

The current Colorado trucks are a new generation that started last year so are considerably different than the 2019/2022's which were the same generation/platform- and the only options for engines are turbo-I4's, which she's not happy about as she has always had and preferred the power of a V6 (she may change her mind after driving one of the new turbo-4's though). My biggest concerns with getting a new truck would be a) interest rate on the loan compared to what we have now and b) with it being a new generation of Colorado, the hard shell cover we have on the current one may not fit on the new one (the bed is likely the same overall dimensions, but I'm not sure the mounts would still work), which would be another $1k+ expense.

The turbo-4 Colorado is rated for 700lbs more towing capacity than the old V6s. The new GM turbo-4 is a seriously stout piece (9500lb towin capacity in the Silverado!) and it's smooth and very reliable. Guarantee the tonneau cover will not swap though. The 2023 Colorado/Canyon is an entirely new beast fromt the ground up. 

I will say that the new Colorado has the absolutely disastrous new GM infotainment system that requires your phone to be paired to the vehicle over wi-fi, and requires an active (and expensive) data susbscription through OnStar, in lieu of Apple CarPlay/Android Auto. It's clunky, slow and prone to issues and customers absolutely loath it. Also, GM went the absolutely moronic route of completely eliminating the headlight switch, so the headlights are now controlled through the radio touchscreen to turn them on and off, and they use the auto high beam (which doesn't work great) to change modes. 

NickD said:

Ashyukun (Robert) said:

The current Colorado trucks are a new generation that started last year so are considerably different than the 2019/2022's which were the same generation/platform- and the only options for engines are turbo-I4's, which she's not happy about as she has always had and preferred the power of a V6 (she may change her mind after driving one of the new turbo-4's though). My biggest concerns with getting a new truck would be a) interest rate on the loan compared to what we have now and b) with it being a new generation of Colorado, the hard shell cover we have on the current one may not fit on the new one (the bed is likely the same overall dimensions, but I'm not sure the mounts would still work), which would be another $1k+ expense.

The turbo-4 Colorado is rated for 700lbs more towing capacity than the old V6s. The new GM turbo-4 is a seriously stout piece (9500lb towin capacity in the Silverado!) and it's smooth and very reliable. Guarantee the tonneau cover will not swap though. The 2023 Colorado/Canyon is an entirely new beast fromt the ground up. 

I will say that the new Colorado has the absolutely disastrous new GM infotainment system that requires your phone to be paired to the vehicle over wi-fi, and requires an active (and expensive) data susbscription through OnStar, in lieu of Apple CarPlay/Android Auto. It's clunky, slow and prone to issues and customers absolutely loath it. Also, GM went the absolutely moronic route of completely eliminating the headlight switch, so the headlights are now controlled through the radio touchscreen to turn them on and off, and they use the auto high beam (which doesn't work great) to change modes. 

Yikes, that doesn't sound good. I doubt she'll worry too much about the headlight switch (if the lights behave decently), but she'll hate it if the phone connection is more problematic (and if you have to pay to do the same thing that was free using CarPlay before). 

Ultimately though we're going to have to go in and look over and drive one of them and see what we think. 

NickD said:

Also, GM went the absolutely moronic route of completely eliminating the headlight switch, so the headlights are now controlled through the radio touchscreen to turn them on and off, and they use the auto high beam (which doesn't work great) to change modes. 

Glad to see that GM is continuing their grand old tradition of inventing byzantine new solutions to simple ergonomic questions that were solved perfectly decades ago.

That as far back as 400 BC you could have ice in the desert.

In reply to Duke :

Stupid GM, they probably eliminated the manual choke knob too.

I drive predominantly GM vehicles.  I haven't touched a light switch in well over ten years.

TIL that being on vacation a month ago apparently noticeably reduced my average respiratory rate- somewhat counterintuitively. Yesterday when getting ready for bed, my phone popped up a notification that it had detected an increase in my respiratory rate (thanks to my watch, I'm assuming). Since I didn't have any idea of why, I pulled up the data and it turned out that it had picked up that over the week or so that I was on the cruise with The Dancer at the end of last month & the beginning of this month, my average respiratory rate was 8.5 breaths/min but after getting back (and before, I looked) it was around 13 breaths/min- about half again higher. 

I was curious, so I looked it up- and respiratory rate is apparently quite tied to stress levels. It's just shocking to me that my resp. rate was so much lower when we were on vacation than before and after (well, before doesn't surprise me as much- this has been a hectic summer). It also somewhat surprises me given I was still worrying about having to get everyone where we needed to be and keep everyone safe in foreign cities, dealing with long flights and frustrating airport security, and being mildly seasick for the first day that I was apparently that much less stressed over that week.

In reply to Ashyukun (Robert) :

Asking for a friend, what does sex on a cruise do to your respiratory rate?

VolvoHeretic said:

In reply to Ashyukun (Robert) :

Asking for a friend, what does sex on a cruise do to your respiratory rate?

No clue- I usually take my watch off for anything like that so it wouldn't have the data anyway. 

I was curious how my heart rate had done on the cruise compared to 'normal' and looked at the averages for it as well- interestingly, it didn't vary really change much when on vacation. With the exception of the fact that I could see that it had hit a higher max rate than usual on the day we were in Paris and had to essentially jog from the Eiffel Tower to the Arc de Triomphe to not miss the excursion bus back to the ship... the guide had slightly undersold how far it was between the two, saying it was a half-hour walk where instead it took us 45 minutes at just under a run.

In reply to Ashyukun (Robert) :

Possibility it has anything to do with being at sea level and the thickness of the air there? Not that KY is CO or anything, but makes me wonder. 

TIL cats can get kidney transplants and they are actually highly successful. You have to adopt the donor cat and you end up with two cats with one kidney each. The surgery costs about $15,000 and it's about $1000 per year after that for the anti-rejection drugs.

Sarah Young said:

TIL cats can get kidney transplants and they are actually highly successful. You have to adopt the donor cat and you end up with two cats with one kidney each. The surgery costs about $15,000 and it's about $1000 per year after that for the anti-rejection drugs.

TIL that people will spend a fortune to save a cat.  (I really like cats but no way I would do this.)

TIL that grapefruit has only existed for about 300 years.

P3PPY said:

In reply to Ashyukun (Robert) :

Possibility it has anything to do with being at sea level and the thickness of the air there? Not that KY is CO or anything, but makes me wonder. 

Interesting idea- I'm not sure. I wouldn't think it would make that much of a difference- it looks like I'm about 1000 ft above sea level here at home, which looks to be about a 3% change in air density.

TIL that peanut butter and butter on a Hawaiian roll is a great breakfast option 

TIL the "Success Kid" turned 18.  (he kinda looks like Chumlee)